Integrating Catchment with Coastal Managemnt: A Survey of International and New Zealand Best Practice

A study to identify best international and local practice for integrated coastal and catchment planning and management (ICCM) was undertaken for the Auckland Regional Council (ARC). Internationally, several best practice elements are identifiable, including political leadership; cross sector collaboration; stakeholder engagement; improved capacity building; provision of adequate resourcing for both planning and implementation phases; good governance and clear institutional frameworks; monitoring and evaluation of outcomes that leads to adaptive management; and the presence of a strong catchment manager or champion. Key learnings from the project include the various scales at which ICCM works; legislative and organisational frameworks and the incorporation of regional planning issues and rural and urban land uses into catchment planning; integration of biophysical, economic, social and cultural issues and progressive phasing in of related issues; applicability to both greenfield and brownfield developments and a range of collaborative models, including ‘bottom-up’ (community and/or iwi-led), ‘top-down’ (regulatory or ‘expert’ led) and partnership approaches. The project also framed an aspirational goal of building industry capacity and collegiality and community capacity for ICCM.