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Environmental Research Scheme

This gazetted document is the Ministerial Direction for investing Foundation funds in the Environmental Research Scheme from 1 July 2010.

Objectives of the Scheme

The objective of the Scheme is to fund environmental research that underpins the management, use protection and enhancement of species natural ecosystems, land, marine and freshwater resources, climate and atmosphere within New Zealand and Antarctica.

The Scheme will support research, science and technology that is intended to be of benefit to New Zealand.

It is also expected that the scheme will support relevant research that contributes to unlocking the innovation potential of Māori knowledge, resources and people as outlined in the Vision Mātauranga policy framework.  International collaboration will be supported where this is relevant and of benefit to the objectives of the Scheme.

It is expected that the Scheme will encourage research to demonstrate re-use and sharing of data, both within the RS&T system and between it and end-users.

Indicators of success

If successful the Scheme will generate and support the uptake of research, science and technology that will contribute to:

  • enhancing and supporting the ecological functioning, recovery and resilience to threats of New Zealand’s natural and indigenous environments (encompassing land, freshwater and marine ecosystems and their components). 
  • maintaining and enhancing the environmental knowledge base and informing actions by government and business to enable sustainable management of New Zealand’s natural resources and environment, and mitigate or adapt to the impacts of global processes such as climate change.

The above indicators will be measured by the Foundation at a sector level and will provide some indication of the success of the Scheme.

Nature of the Scheme

The scheme will achieve its objectives by supporting research, science, and technology in the following six areas:

  • Land and freshwater resources – RS&T that underpins sustainable use of soil and water resources and enhances their productive capacity for current and future generations.
  • Climate and atmosphere – RS&T that improves our ability to predict, mitigate and adapt to the impacts of climate change, and improves our ability to anticipate and manage future impacts of global processes, such as ocean/climate interactions.
  • Marine resources – RS&T that underpins sustainable use of living marine resources and which will also ensure sustainable production for future generations. 
  • Terrestrial ecosystems – RS&T that enables protection and maintenance of our natural indigenous land and freshwater ecosystems, and enables improved ecosystem functionality across whole landscapes. 
  • Marine ecosystems – RS&T that enables protection and maintenance of marine biodiversity and ecological health of marine ecosystems.
  • Antarctica – Antarctic ecosystems are preserved for future generations and resources are used sustainably, in line with New Zealand's international commitments.

Tools for Allocating Funding

Research, science and technology supported under this Scheme must in each case fit one of the following Tools (PDF; 313kb):

  • Science-led contestable funding – investing through a contestable process in research, science and technology and related activities.
  • Long term non-contestable funding - using non-contestable processes to invest in research, science and technology and related activities.
  • Partnerships – support research, science and technology and related activities that provide for early and ongoing user engagement in research, science and technology and develop user-capability in engaging productively with researchers.
  • Commercialisation and technology and knowledge transfer support – research to increase the stream of commercial prospects from publicly-funded research, science and technology, and supporting and equipping users to engage with research organisations and applying the results of publicly funded research, science and technology.

Estimated Funding

An estimate of the amount of funds required to be allocated by the Foundation for the purposes of the Scheme is $74.25 million in 2010/11, excluding GST.  Actual funding available will be published each year in the annual Estimates of Appropriation.

Estimated Period of Operation

I estimate that the Scheme will operate for a minimum of three years from 1 July 2010; however I anticipate reviewing this notice by 1 July 2011.

Monitoring Agency

The Ministry of Research, Science and Technology will monitor and review the Scheme.

Performance Measures

Annual performance measures for the Scheme will be published in the annual Estimates of Appropriation.  Additional performance measures to measure progress will be specified in the Output Agreement.