Appendix 1: Criteria for Determining Significance of Indigenous Biodiversity Boffa Miskell Ltd | Waihi North Project: Freshwater Ecological Assessment | Appendix 1: Criteria for Determining Significance of Indigenous Biodiversity Table 1-1 below is reproduced from the Waikato Regional Policy Statement 2016. It lists the criteria for assessing the significant of indigenous vegetation in the Waikato Region and is the basis of the significance assessments of the wetland and terrestrial habitats described in this report. Table 1-1: Criteria for determining significance of indigenous biodiversity (Taken from Waikato Regional Policy Statement 2016). Previously assessed site 1. It is indigenous vegetation or habitat for indigenous fauna that is currently, or is recommended to be, set aside by statute or covenant or by the Nature Heritage Fund, or Ngā Whenua Rāhui committees, or the Queen Elizabeth the Second National Trust Board of Directors, specifically for the protection of biodiversity, and meets at least one of criteria 3-11. Ecological values 2. In the Coastal Marine Area, it is indigenous vegetation or habitat for indigenous fauna that has reduced in extent or degraded due to historic or present anthropogenic activity to a level where the ecological sustainability of the ecosystem is threatened. 3. It is vegetation or habitat that is currently habitat for indigenous species or associations of indigenous species that are: • classed as threatened or at risk, or • endemic to the Waikato region, or • at the limit of their natural range. 4. It is indigenous vegetation, habitat or ecosystem type that is under-represented (20% or less of its known or likely original extent remaining) in an Ecological District, or Ecological Region, or nationally. 5. It is indigenous vegetation or habitat that is, and prior to human settlement was, nationally uncommon such as geothermal, chenier plain, or karst ecosystems, hydrothermal vents or cold seeps. 6. It is wetland habitat for indigenous plant communities and/or indigenous fauna communities (excluding exotic rush/pasture communities) that has not been created and subsequently maintained for or in connection with: • waste treatment; • wastewater renovation; • hydroelectric power lakes (excluding Lake Taupō); • water storage for irrigation; or • water supply storage; unless in those instances they meet the criteria in Whaley et al. (1995). 7. It is an area of indigenous vegetation or naturally occurring habitat that is large relative to other examples in the Waikato region of similar habitat types, and which contains all or almost
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