Chris Howe: Sustainability in New Zealand: it's all about people
The future of New Zealand as a sustainable nation will become a reality only if everyone in our diverse society gets involved. Acting sustainably should not and must not be the preserve of the wealthy, the concerned or the “green”. It must be part of everyday life. But what will motivate people?
That’s where community–based conservation comes in. There are more than 3,000 community conservation projects in New Zealand. A survey of just 41 WWF–funded community groups showed 1,700 volunteers donating a quarter of a million hours a year. One farmer reported saving $40,000 a year on drainage and chemicals after planting along watercourses. Yet another project takes 12 excluded students a year on an alternative education programme, saving the Ministry of Education around $130,000.
But the impact of these projects is far, far greater than the direct environmental, social and economic benefits.
Here’s what one community project worker said: “… there were eight or ten other people in the nursery. I wasn’t interested in the environment but now I know about eco–sourcing and how to grow trees from seed. I believe that all the people who worked here before took something away with them...[they had] more environmental awareness.”
And here’s the view from a farmer: “The Trust bought land next to my farm. I helped them with planning and constructing the fence lines. I have a stand of bush on my farm which I have put into a QEII. I wouldn’t have thought of doing that before…[and now] my son does trapping of ferrets and stoats and gets paid for that.”
These are people for whom the next step – changing the way they live their daily lives – is now just that, a step, rather than a huge, unknown leap. Multiply these kinds of shifts in thinking by, say, 40 or 50 people per project, and then by 3,000 projects, and the number of people involved makes movement towards a sustainable nation much more achievable.
Many New Zealanders are surprised to hear that WWF is about people and nature. But the more our work involves people, the more important it is. WWF funds community–based projects throughout the country, responding to their needs rather than prescribing solutions. If a group needs wheelbarrows, we’ll fund wheelbarrows. If they need travel costs for volunteers, then that’s OK as well. And if they need salaries for supervisors – we can help.
I suggest that when it comes to sustainability, winning the hearts and minds of New Zealanders is about responding to their needs and interests and, first of all, getting them involved in local, relevant action. Such support is a vital part of the nation’s move towards sustainability – just as vital as any amount of national policy development or communications campaigns. At present support for local, community–based action is scattered across any number of funding organisations, with different criteria, aims and reporting requirements. I’m not suggesting that we do away with this diversity, but I believe that a quantum increase in the support available for community groups to take action for conservation will deliver on far more than the trees they plant or the weeds they pull out.
People’s involvement in practical action is the first critical step towards a shift in lifestyle that will, in the end, be the deciding factor in whether New Zealand achieves its goal of becoming the world’s first truly sustainable nation.