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My wife and I have recently been in Dakar, Senegal, visiting family.
While on holiday here, there has been plenty of time to reflect on the events of the past year and the challenges facing us in 2024, and what better place than Dakar to think about water and air quality, waste disposal and land and coastal environmental management.
Dunedin, Queenstown and regional Otago will never be like Dakar and Senegal although the challenges around living with and maintaining our natural environment are shared.
Dakar should be a tropical paradise with its amazing coastline, coconut and palm trees providing much needed shade and a temperature even in the winter months consistently between 25 and 30°C.
However, the environmental issues here are overwhelming. Waterways are used as drains and less than half of the rubbish generated makes its way to landfills. Plastic waste is everywhere.
Beaches that should be stunning are littered with plastic water bottles and caps, plastic bags and sacks, disused fishing nets and other rubbish.
In order to address the problem, the Senegal government has made the use of single use plastic containers illegal, but with no way to monitor or enforce this law it is totally ineffective.
The Otago Regional Council has spent the last couple of years developing a revised land and water management plan and has a review of the coastal management plan in its sights.
As a country I like to think it is unlikely that we will trash our environment, but we do need to establish the highest standards around water quality, land use, air quality, landfills, and coastal management. We also need to be able to monitor compliance and take action against non-conformance.
But most importantly we need to be in this together, as we all benefit from a healthy environment.
We shouldn't have to be forced to protect the environment that sustains us, it should be a natural response to look after it.
The land and water management plan is well under way and close to notification, it is based on the concept of establishing priorities for our waterways. The highest priority is that our rivers must be healthy, and after that objective is confirmed or in some cases remedied, then we can use the water for drinking, irrigation, and recreational use. A healthy waterway is the highest standard.
The current National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management is based on this hierarchy, which seems both logical and desirable.
Our new coalition government would like to repeal this standard but why? Are they against healthy waterways?
Or is it because this standard has been defined in Māori as "Te Mana O Te Wai", a statement referring to the restoration, preservation and balance of water, environment, and people.
It doesn't matter what language is used to describe the highest standard and basis for water management, the objective is still the same and healthy waterways benefit us all.
Although attempts are under way to halt the environmental damage in Senegal, the camel has well and truly bolted.
In comparison, New Zealand is in the enviable position where we can still, with strong, decisive action, manage and protect our environment for our future generations.
— Tim Mepham is an Otago regional councillor.