Sustainable management, a sustainable ethic?

New Zealand legislated for sustainability by enacting the Resource Management Act 1991 (RMA). The RMA received the Royal Assent on 22 July 1991 and came into force as law on 1 October 1991. It restated and reformed “the law relating to the use of land, air, and water”, and is the principal statute governing the New Zealand environment. Despite the rhetoric of sustainable management, environmental law and governance in New Zealand continue to grapple with persistent challenges in relation to protecting biodiversity on private land, maintaining freshwater quantity and quality, and recognising Maori interests in resource management. New strategies are however emerging for promoting environmental justice and using the law to advance sustainability. My paper will therefore explore these aspects of the New Zealand experiment in legislating for sustainable management