Pollution control in Sweden as example

Press, Volume CXI, Issue 32634, 16 June 1971, Page 18

Pollution control in Sweden as example

New Zealand had much to learn from Sweden and the way in which it was organised nationally to deal with pollution and the physical environment generally, said Dr R. M. Kirk, a lecturer in geography at the University of Canterbury, yesterday.

Dr Kirk said Sweden had a central planning organisation which decided where money was to be spent, and which gave direction to environmental research. This meant that priorities were decided nationally, rather than at a local level. Added to this, there was a network of regional conservation officers who dealt with day-to-day matters, he said. Much of the public awareness of water pollution in Sweden came from the fact that 75 per cent of the population lived in the lowlands where there were a large number of lakes, Dr Kirk said. Serious pollution problems arose because of the processing methods of many paper, pulp and steel industries in the lowlands. He spent five months in the department of physical geography at Uppsala University on a study grant from the Swedish Natural Research Council. EROSION RESEARCH

While at the university, Dr Kirk carried out research into erosion, particularly on beaches and rivers, in which

he specialises. This involved work on instruments for measuring the power of waves. He hopes to carry on with this work at Kaikoura later this year. Dr Kirk said New Zealand did not have, to his knowledge, a national environmental organisation comparable to Sweden’s, especially with regard to research. Sooner or later, New Zealand would have to have this type of organisation, which would be responsible for practical and research work into the various forms of pollution, he said. In Britain, Dr Kirk spent five months investigating research into the physical environment, especially in regard to coastal regions. Britain had a national body, Nature Conservancy, which although not specifically involved in the field of pollution, was a Government organisation concerned with the physical environment, he said.

Before going to Britain Dr Kirk gained some teaching experience at a summer school at the University of Calgary, Alberta.