Abstract
This chapter provides an introduction to the environmental legislation contained in Brookers Environmental Legislation Handbook 2014.
It explains the parameters used to define "environmental legislation", thereby guiding which statutes to include in the volume and which to omit; provides a brief overview of the history of environmental legislation in New Zealand; introduces the reader to the body of environmental law principles that underpin recent legislation; and summarises a number of the key statutes contained in this volume.