The Protected Areas Network of New Zealand (PAN-NZ) was developed by Manaaki Whenua Landcare Research (MWLR) to aggregate and combine a series of distinct legally protected areas into a single mapping layer. By 2023, this map was out of date and incomplete, making it unsuitable for policy and regulatory purposes.
To address this, the Ministry for the Environment commissioned two reports. Firstly, by analysing the current state of the map and identifying any gaps or inconsistencies (report 1), and secondly, by workshopping use-cases and future direction (report 2).
This report identifies:
- Types and levels of legally protected areas
- Data gaps and data quality
- Current methodology for aggregating the existing data