ENVR210 Practical Environmental Science and Management Assignment 1 2025 | Canterbury

ENVR210 Assignment 1

The situation

You are a planning expert. You have been hired to respond to (fictional)   ecological evidence from Dr SpongeBob SquarePants about a (fictional) proposal.  Neither   the  nature   of   the   activity  itself   nor   the   biological   particulars   of   the   species   isimportant for this exercise.   Instead, you should focus on the relationship between theenvironmental effects, their proposed management, and the relevant planning instruments.

The first 2 are covered in SpongeBob’s evidence; the latter comprises the NPSIB, and theRegional Policy Statement.

The question Whether, how, and to what degree does the fictional proposal meet the standards set in therelevant planning instruments.  To address that question, you need to have a deep and full understanding of both 1) theproposal, and 2) the standards set.   Workshop 3 starts building an understanding of theproposal; workshops 4 and 5 compare the proposal to the ‘hooks’, or standards set byplanning instruments.  By week 6, you’ll be ready to write your evidence.The processIn week 3’s workshop, you will start to prepare elements of an ecological impact assessment(EcIA).

This table will summarise 

(1) the biodiversity values affected; 
(2) the unmitigatedeffects described in Dr SquarePants’ evidence; 
(3) the mitigation actions described in thefictional evidence; and  
(4) the level  of significance of the “residual  effects” that remain following the proposed mitigation package.

All this information is within Dr Square Pants’evidence.  By reading SpongeBob’s evidence carefully and iteratively, you will be able to assess how the mitigation hierarchy has been applied in this fictional case by creating a table (which isthe heart of an EcIA).

Later in the term, you should return to that table and refine your answers to see if you still agree with your younger self.In weeks 4   and  5, you  will   build   on   your   understanding of the   proposal   by  identifying planning and policy ‘hooks’ that connect the fictional evidence to the relevant planning instruments (NPSIB, Regional Policy Statement).

You can think of the ‘hooks’ you find asbells at the top of a tall tower; ask yourself whether the proposal dings each bell and howstrongly.You will also need to choose a ‘hat’, and a name for yourself.  You can be the Applicant’s planning expert or an opposing group’s planning expert.  You will identify yourself as such inthe introductory material, just like Sponge Bob did.