Demand is increasing from all sectors of the community for readily available, high quality environmental information. In response to this, the Regional Sector, in partnership with the Ministry for the Environment and now Statistics New Zealand has developed an Environmental Monitoring and Reporting (EMaR) Framework.
The overarching objective of EMaR is to provide integrated regional/national environmental data collection networks and widely accessible reporting platforms.
Data will be available for central government, among others, for national reporting purposes. One of the key outcomes is the provision of environmental information for the Land, Air, Water Aotearoa (LAWA) website.
Data consistency is critical for national level reporting and comparison of variables between regions. This not only requires consistency in methods for data collection and handling between agencies, but also requires the data to be collected according to best practice for the specific parameter or variable.
The NEMS project is delivering clear guidance on processes, methodologies, and techniques to be applied as standard practice in environmental monitoring across New Zealand.