Natural Environment Bill

The Natural Environment Bill was introduced on 9 December 2025. The Bill is part of a wider programme of resource management reform. 

Find out more about our resource management reform programme.

The purpose of the Natural Environment Bill is to establish a framework for the use, protection and enhancement of the natural environment.

The Bill aims to:  

• safeguard the environment and human health
• improve certainty for all users
• take a proportionate and flexible approach to managing activities (including for agriculture)
• empower communities to decide how scarce resources are allocated
• provide additional tools to encourage natural resources to be used efficiently
• give more certainty about how Māori interests are provided for.

Goals in the Bill set out what the system must achieve and what can be regulated. The Natural Environment Bill goals are to:

• Enable the use and development of natural resources within environmental limits.
• Safeguard the life-supporting capacity of air, water, soil, and ecosystems.
• Protect human health from harm caused by the discharge of contaminants.
• Achieve no net loss in indigenous biodiversity.
• Manage natural hazard risks associated with the use or protection of natural resources through proportionate and risk-based planning.
• Provide for Māori interests through:
  • Māori participation in the development of national instruments, spatial planning, and natural environment plans
  • the identification and protection of sites of significance to Māori (including, wāhi tapu, water bodies, or sites in or on the coastal marine area)
  • enabling the development and protection of identified Māori land.

Read our overview of the new system and fact sheets that outline what the new system means for New Zealanders. 

Better planning for a better New Zealand: Overview of the new planning system

The New Planning System: What it means for Māori interests and Treaty settlements

The New Planning System: Protecting the Environment

The New Planning System: Making it easier to build and renovate your home

The New Planning System: Simplifying residential development

The New Planning System: Delivering the infrastructure we need

The New Planning System: Backing our primary sector

The New Planning System: Increasing certainty for the marine sector

The New Planning System: Role of local government

The New Planning System: Stronger direction and a plan for getting there

The New Planning System: Transitioning into the New Planning System

The New Planning System: Regulatory relief in the New Planning System

Resource management consent data report

Economic reports

Economic impact analysis of the proposed resource management reforms

Economic benefits of effective resource management

Unlocking the benefits of environmental data for resource management reform

Economic efficiency assessment for a new planning and environmental management system

Minister media releases

Read Minister media releases about the new planning system:

A better planning system for a better New Zealand (Beehive website)

Planning overhaul to unlock growth (Beehive website)

RMA replacement to reduce costs and drive on-farm growth (Beehive website)

Planning reform to unlock growth (Beehive website)

Cutting red tape to deliver the infrastructure New Zealand needs (Beehive website)

Boosting renewable energy through planning reform (Beehive website)

New system to make planning easier for everyone (Beehive website)

Transitioning to the new planning system (Beehive website)