Forest and Bird Staff Member Reports on Study Exchange

Forest and Bird, Issue 302, 1 November 2001, Page 38

Forest and Bird Staff Member Reports on Study Exchange

orest and Bird’s lawyer, Kate Mitcalfe, recently had the opportunity to learn first-hand about environmental management and planning in northwest England. Kate was one of four New Zealanders selected to visit Lancashire and Cumbria in May and June, as part of a Rotary group study exchange. The exchange is designed to provide young professionals with a broader perspective on the field in which they work. Other members of the group included the national president of Young Farmers clubs, an environmental enforcement officer with the ManawatuWanganui Regional Council, and a policy analyst with the Ministry for the Environment. Kate describes the exchange as full and varied. "The group visited Sellarfield Nuclear Waste Reprocessing Plant, the Farmers’ Union, Cumbria Wildlife Trust, Friends of the Lake District, United Utilities, Lake District National Park Authority, Penrith Environment

Agency, English Nature, Carlisle City Council, Farmers’ Wildlife Advisory Group, Morcombe Bay Biodiversity Project....to name but a few!’ The members of the team stayed with Rotarians, spending three or four nights with each host. Kate’s last host was an agricultural lawyer, who represents the Upland Estate Owners. This group receives

considerable criticism from the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds for the culling of hen harriers, a threatened upland bird species, in order to protect grouse hunting on their estates. This is a popular (and exclusive) sport: needless to say there were some interesting dinner conversations! Kate discovered that the concept of conservation in

England is very different to that in New Zealand, as a result of the long history of human settlement. ‘Often the cultural landscape, the hedgerows and stone walls, obscures what is the natural environment. Ecosystem management and intrinsic values seem to be very new concepts in England.’ Despite the differences, Kate said there was a lot to learn. She considers that the experience has already made a positive contribution to her work at Forest and Bird. ‘After experiencing the strict regulatory environment in England, I realise how permissive the Resource Management Act can be, she says. Kate often defends the Resource Management Act as part of her role at Forest and Bird. After seeing a different system of environmental management in England, she is more convinced than ever that the RMA is innovative environmental legislation.