Tasman District has significant coastal ecological resources including:
As part of the Tasman Resource Management Plan review a project has been commissioned to identify the sites of significant marine indigenous biodiversity under Policy 11 of the New Zealand Coastal Policy Statement. The project is a multi-stage project and the first stage (in collaboration with Nelson City Council) was completed in 2023. Cawthron (with Salt Ecology, Davidson Environmental and Niwa) undertook a literature and spatial data search and have produced a series of map layers and reports regarding what is known about marine indigenous biodiversity in Nelson/Tasman. The Stage One project brings together and combines data from different sources to provide an important data source for coastal planning and restoration.
The following four reports have been received.
Tasman and Nelson Coastal Marine Environments: Bathymetry and Hydrosystems
This report discusses the mapped data relating to the Bathymetry (seabed depth etc) and Hydrosystems (e.g. estuary type) in Nelson Tasman. The marine habitats were considered under Policy 11 for importance and rarity and the report also contains a summary of environmental variables and vulnerabilities for the estuaries, such as eutrophication and sedimentation.
Tasman and Nelson Coastal Marine Environments: Habitats and Indigenous Biodiversity
This report identifies key mapped data relating to marine habitats and indigenous biodiversity in Nelson Tasman in accordance with requirements of Policy 11. The report and map contains over two hundred layers, with many of the layers consolidating previously separate maps e.g. the broadscale mapping projects and combines several data sources to produce a single layer regarding the location of specific species. The report also identifies information gaps and discusses and ranks the mahi required to fill the void.
Tasman Coastal Marine Environments: Effects of Activities
This report considers the effects of human activities on marine habitats and indigenous biodiversity. The map includes spatial data for a range of activities effects , such as fishing, sedimentation and land based contaminants and the reports discuss the effects of those activities.
Tasman Coastal and Marine Environments: Historical Data
This report considered the topic of historical biodiversity data. The report reviews information on the distribution and composition of marine habitats and biodiversity, such as mussel reefs that historically occurred within the coastal region, but are no longer present. Historical information on where species and habitats used to occur will be used to support the identification of restoration sites under Policy 14 of the New Zealand Coastal Policy Statement.
Maps
The maps referred to in the above reports are too large (datawise) to be made readily available for the public and currently can only be viewed through a specialised map viewer. Some of the maps also have restrictions on how they can be used. Tasman and Nelson are working on developing a more accessible version of the maps and a link will be provided here once completed.
This report was completed in February 2022 and is a baseline survey of the indigenous bird values of the Tasman district coastline.
