Abstract
The New Zealand region contains untapped natural mineral, oil, and gas resources while also supporting globally unique and diverse faunal communities that need to be managed sustainably. In this paper key information from the international literature is reviewed that can underpin an Environmental Mining Management System which includes elements of Environmental Risk Assessment, Environmental Impact Assessment and Environmental Management Planning. This paper focuses on four developing areas of seafloor mining activities presently being undertaken or planned in the New Zealand region: hydrocarbons (oil and gas), minerals, ironsands and phosphorite nodules. A number of issues with the implementation of environmental management systems are identified including the difficulty of assessing new marine activities or technologies and the need for standardised reporting metrics. Finally, the development of ecosystem-based management and marine spatial planning is discussed which will be required to enhance environmental mining management frameworks in New Zealand.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 178-192 |
| Number of pages | 15 |
| Journal | Marine Policy |
| Volume | 84 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Jul 27 2017 |
Bibliographical note
KAUST Repository Item: Exported on 2020-10-01Acknowledgements: This review has been developed using funding from the Enabling Management of Offshore Mining (EMOM) project, MBIE contract C01X1228. We have received useful input and comments from other project team members and the stakeholder steering group for the EMOM project. We thank Olivia Johnston (Cawthron Institute), Alison MacDiarmid, Rob Bell and Chris Hickey (NIWA) who all provided helpful comments on the structuring of the review. We also wish to thank the anonymous reviewers and the editor for their valuable comments which improved the quality of this manuscript.
