From lists to action: species inventories to guide council biodiversity management

From lists to action: species inventories to guide council biodiversity management

Aotearoa New Zealand makes an important contribution to global biodiversity, with an estimated 80,000 species of native animal, plants, and fungi. A high proportion of these native species are found nowhere else in the world.

 

 

Photo by Carey Knox

 

In Aotearoa the Resource Management Act (1991) (RMA) regulates the effects of human activities on indigenous biodiversity, including native species. The RMA devolves responsibility for maintaining biodiversity to regional councils or unitary authorities, and territorial authorities.

However, many regional councils or unitary authorities do not have comprehensive lists of the native species they have in their region, even for relatively well-known groups, and it’s incredibly hard to regulate the effects of human activity on a species and its habitats when you don’t know it’s there.

To remedy the lack of knowledge of what species are in each region for select taxonomic groups, an Envirolink Advice grant led by the University of Otago – Ōtākou Whakaihu Waka compiled species lists by region council and unitary authority boundaries.

 

Photo by Oscar Thomas

 

Working with species experts, species lists were compiled for four taxonomic groups by each region across Aotearoa, and for another group for a reduced number of regions. These groups were amphibians, bats, birds, and reptiles by region across Aotearoa, and indigenous vascular plants for Nelson-Tasman (combined) and Southland regions only.

Dr Scott Jarvie, a terrestrial ecologist from the Otago Regional Council says: “accurate species lists provide councils with foundational documents to inform evidence-based decisions for the protection and management of regional biodiversity.”

To download the report, click on the link below:

Species lists for regional and unitary councils to inform biodiversity management(external link)

To download the species lists by taxonomic groups and/or region, click on the below links:

Amphibians of Aotearoa New Zealand by region. Envirolink Project spreadsheet 2025(external link)

Bats of Aotearoa New Zealand by region. Envirolink spreadsheet 2025(external link)

Birds of Aotearoa New Zealand by region. Envirolink spreadsheet 2025(external link)

Reptiles of Aotearoa New Zealand by region. Envirolink spreadsheet 2025(external link)

Indigenous vascular plants of Southland. Envirolink Project spreadsheet 2025(external link)

Indigenous vascular plants of Nelson-Tasman. Envirolink Project spreadsheet 2025