New Zealanders’ perceptions of the environment and quality of environmental management

Abstract

This study reveals that preferences for allocation of government spending on aspects of the New Zealand environment are related to concerns for the state of the environment and quality of management. Drawing upon selected data from a survey of New Zealand perceptions of the environment and its management, it is found that moderate increases in funding were preferred for seven aspects of the environment. Investigation of perceptions of quality and availability found most people had few concerns. However, people were concerned about how parts of the environment are changing. Levels of concern differed with regard to perceptions of current quality of management and changes in quality of management. Investigation of associations between perceptions and preferred national budget allocation found that changes in most perceptions would impact upon preferences for funding allocation. In addition, for some aspects, differences between preferred institutional arrangements for management were related to preferred levels of funding allocation.