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.
