Focus on our 50th: The evolution of ‘Applied Ecology’

Boffa Miskell had grown significantly by 1989. The 'Think Big' economic development projects of the early part of the decade had given way to reformation of planning and local government institutions, and adopting better environmental policies.

After fifteen years as strictly a landscape architecture practice, Boffa Miskell hired ecologist Dr Judith Roper-Lindsay. Boyden Evans was one of the company directors then, and says Judith was the right person at the right time.

“Judith had worked with us on several projects, so it was an easy decision to make it a ‘permanent arrangement’, and much of that was due to Judith herself. Had it been a different person, it might not have worked out the way it did.”

Judith had a very strong landscape focus to the way she viewed her work, and that aligned with Boffa Miskell’s approach. And as the company’s project work was expanding beyond strictly a design-focus, the Resource Management Act (RMA) was soon to be enacted.

“We saw what was happening as an opportunity to expand our practice in response to the bill,” says Boyden. “Ecology was the logical direction to move toward, and Judith felt the same.”

“I wasn’t a research ecologist,” says Judith. “I considered myself an applied ecologist, and I called myself a landscape ecologist – a term coined by (NZILA founding member) George Malcom when we worked together at the (then) Ministry of Works and Development in Christchurch.”

In the 1980’s there was no official job for an ecologist within the Ministry, so George Malcolm created the term ‘landscape ecologist’ to place Judith and her skill set under the Landscape Design Section, where she provided environmental assessments and ecological advice on landscape management projects, natural resource studies and infrastructure projects.

“I’d always wanted to raise the profile of ecology and show that it’s not something that happens in a University lab,” Judith says. “It’s about the real world.”

At Boffa Miskell, Judith brought a more in-depth landscape ecology understanding and perspective to the work landscape architects were undertaking.

“Those bigger projects – landscape management, infrastructure, masterplanned development – needed a greater breadth of thinking and needed to tie ecological outcomes more strongly together with landscape outcomes,” says Rachel de Lambert. “We used to say that our ecologists answered the ‘so what?’ question.

“As landscape architects and later, as planners, we wanted more than just science and data; we wanted to know the outcome of what was being proposed and potential solutions. Someone who could give us the information, but also say ‘therefore, if you do this…’ and help us find opportunities to enhance habitat or mitigate impacts as part of project work,” Rachel continues. “Our focus was on providing beneficial outcomes and managing the impacts.”

That focus on environmental gains has remained a core tenet of practice for Boffa Miskell.

Judith explains, “I used to say ‘it’s not what you do, it’s the way you do it’ because so much of ecology in the early ‘80s was about protection and separating development from conservation. But my feeling was (and still is) that you can do most things – not everything, of course – it just comes down to where you do it and how you do it, and how you manage the process.”

Over the following thirty years, the number of ecologists grew to 40, and biosecurity became a separate discipline – now a team of 16 consultants. The scope of work has changed, too. After the Resource Management Act came related National Policy Statements and National Standards, all demanding a much more rigorous approach, an exponential increase in ecological surveys, and a renewed focus on ‘science-based’ work.

“When the RMA was enacted, many of us felt that it put into legislation much of what Boffa Miskell had been doing for years,” says Judith. “But along with that came much tighter guidelines. In the early 1990s ecological surveys essentially looked at the land and the water – vegetation cover, fish and birds. Reptiles, amphibians and bats weren’t really on the radar.”

“The increase in ecological specialism – herpetologists, bat specialists, frogs and snails – has increased the complexity of ecological analysis and, where that focus is new, the lack of Aotearoa-based science can be a challenge,” recalls Rachel. “We’ve had to look for new things; and if you look, you’ll find them. As the information and the science comes together, the landscape changes in that sense; and we need to respond to that and find solutions.”

Over the past decade, evolution of ecology at Boffa Miskell has, like the practice as a whole, made an incremental shift.

We’ve now started to interweave the cultural side with mātauranga Māori knowledge and values helping to frame our projects,” says landscape architect Gabe Ross. “So, you’ve got the art of landscape, the science of ecology, and now the cultural component Te Ao Māori beginning to tie it all together.”

Today, field work is frequently undertaken alongside Tangata Whenua, and cultural practices woven into the work such as observing times when fish surveys are undertaken.

“I think thirty years ago, there was a growing sense that Māori viewed the world in a similar way to landscape architects and ecologists, but we didn’t have the vocabulary at the time to fully express and explore that,” Judith says.

As Boffa Miskell moves into its next 50 years, responding to climate change and sustainable land and water management has become an integral part of most project work.

And although she left the company ten years ago, the ‘applied ecology’ that began with Judith Roper-Lindsay is again front-of-mind, as evinced by water-sensitive design and stormwater management in urban areas; coastal adaptation and mitigation; and large-scale biosecurity projects that look beyond recovery and restoration to proactively removing harmful species of plants and animals.

“Climate change and ‘sustainable land use’ – which is a very generic term for what Boffa Miskell has been doing for a long time – are fundamentally ecological issues,” Judith says.

“It isn’t just about rainforests and electric cars – it’s really about the land, the water and the people who are on them. And you have to know how the human ecosystem works before you make decisions.

“But today, decisions are usually made around a Cabinet or Council table, not out in the field. Spreading and sharing knowledge about ecosystems and values is crucial; and it must be done in integration with engineers and lawyers and government officials, and the public. Given the challenges we’re facing today, the communication and application of science and ecology in the real world are more important than ever.”

Find out more

Focus on our 50th: Moving forward as we look back
Focus on our 50th: Reflections from Don Miskell and Frank Boffa