About Us
Who participates in the Land and Water Forum?
The Land and Water Forum brings together a range of stakeholders consisting of industry groups, electricity generators, environmental and recreational NGOs, iwi, scientists, and other organisations with a stake in freshwater and land management. They are joined by central and local government participants in developing a common direction for freshwater management in New Zealand and provide advice to the Government.
The Land and Water Forum is the trading name for the Land and Water Trust. A Small Group, with around 30 participants, meets on a monthly basis and reports to the Plenary, which has a membership of 67 organisations (including active partners).
The Forum’s Process
The first phase of the Forum’s work lasted from August 2009 to August 2010 and resulted in the report A Fresh Start for Freshwater, which identifies a set of outcomes and goals for freshwater management and recommends a number of policy changes to achieve those. Public meetings to discuss the Forum’s Report were held around the country at the end of 2010 and the beginning of 2011.
The government issued a response to the Forum’s recommendations in September 2011, and asked it to carry on its consensus-building work and come up with recommendations on the methods, tools and governance processes required for setting and managing limits on water quality and quantity.
The Land and Water Forum was given a second mandate and reported to Government in the course of 2012, first on a general framework for setting limits, including the governance arrangements which would ensure the successful involvement of all stakeholders and in particular of iwi, and second on the methods and strategies required to achieve and manage those limits, through better land use management and improved allocation mechanisms.
In response to the Forum's recommendations, the Government issued its consultation document Freshwater reform: 2013 and beyond in March 2013. The Forum has discussed this document with Ministers.
The Forum met from time to time in 2013 and 2014 to assess the Government's response to our reports. Its response to the NPS-FM 2014, which it discussed with the government, is on our Resources page. It also considered what future role if any it might seek to play in relation to land and water management, and how it might best constitute itself in order to do so.
The Forum has now entered into Phase 3 of its existence, working through 2015-17 on advice to Ministers on managing within limits, further population of the National Objectives Framework and review of overall changes to water policy and implementation.