Transforming New Zealand's Rural Communities to Enable Continued Economic Expansion
Image Source: Stuff NZ,2019. There are many interrelated factors when considering policy decisions, and with the shift towards carbon farming, many sheep and beef farmers around New Zealand are concerned about the changing landscape. Not just the visual factors, there is a focus on biodiversity, forest fires, loopholes in trading carbon credits, pollution laundering, displacement of lamb and beef farms and farmers along with the support structures and businesses that make up rural communities. The TVNZ Sunday report below informs about the switch to forestry that will likely reduce certain rural populations and force families to shift elsewhere. While these changes could seem problematic, the background problem is climate change, and more specifically, human behaviours such as fossil fuel burning, deforestation and agricultural practises. Would it be too ambitious to take such a broad view in the research and analysis phase of an IEM appro...