Taranaki environment winners 'shining examples' for rest of NZ

Thursday, 10 October 2019

Taranaki environment award winner Katie Sinclair, 18, organised beach clean-ups along the coastline.

People power in Taranaki is an example to the rest of the country when it comes to restoring the environment, but he region could not be complacent, leading ecologist says.

Professor Bruce Clarkson, University of Waikato deputy vice-chancellor, was guest speaker at the annual Taranaki environmental awards in New Plymouth on Thursday night.

Taranaki environmental award winners Rex and Janice Carroll have planted thousands of native trees along stream banks on their farm.

The 17 environment award winners included a bushman helping to re-home kiwi, students using drones to monitor stream health, habitat and predators, and farmers helping plant and fence more than 13,000km of stream bank to support water health.

Clarkson said the region was on the right track but still had more work to do.

Taranaki environmental award winners Vickers Quarries have protected land near Egmont National Park using bunds.

Taranaki environmental award winners David and Karen Peat have planted thousands of willow and poplar to prevent erosion.

* Third generation family farm takes out top Taranaki award

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University of Waikato deputy vice chancellor Professor Bruce Clarkson said Taranaki could not be complacent about its success in restoring the environment.

'Taranaki can't stop now. We cannot be complacent,' he said.

'Significant challenges, including the climate change emergency and the arrival of new diseases such as myrtle rust, mean that conventional approaches will be inadequate in scale and magnitude.

University of Waikato deputy vice chancellor Professor Bruce Clarkson is an interanationally renowned environmentalist.

'Only with collaborative partnerships that empower and support community level action can these challenges be met.'

The internationally renowned researcher and expert on restoring ecological health singled out the local community for the collaborative and voluntary work over the past 30 years to restore ecological health across the region.

'A good number of the sites I documented at the beginning of my year career more than 40 years ago are now in better condition than previously and many of our native birds have been returned to areas they have been absent from for decades,' he said.

TRC chairman David MacLeod said the award winners were 'shining examples' of how Taranaki individuals, industry, business, and community organisations are helping make large-scale improvements to Taranaki's freshwater health and other ecosystems region-wide.

'It's contributing to the region's best freshwater ecological health in the past 24 years – it's impressive.'

The 17 Taranaki Environment Award winners were:

Rex and Janice Carroll (Environmental leadership in dairy farming) - The Carrolls fenced and planted nearly 6500 native plants on the property.

Kevin Stokes (Environmental action in the community) - Stokes devoted 200 volunteer hours a year to the Taranaki Kiwi Trust, locates kiwi eggs and takes them to Rotorua for hatching and brings chicks back for release in Taranaki.

Ngamatapouri School (using innovative technology to understand the local environment and to inform their community) - The 12 pupils at this remote school are working as scientists, technical innovators and researchers as they come to grips with their community's No 1 threat, flooding, and water health.

Coral and Norton Moller, Oākura Farms (Environmental leadership in dairy farming) - More than 9km of stream banks and wetlands have been fenced and planted at Oākura Farms as a result of the long-term commitment of owners Coral and Norton Moller.

East Taranaki Environment Trust (Environmental action in the community) - The trust brought precious kōkako back to eastern Taranaki bushland where they are now thriving along with kiwi.

Streamline Limited Partnership (Environmental leadership in dairy farming) - Paul, Susan, Shawn and Joanne England run a 146-hectare dairy farm at Manutahi that demonstrates how their farming practices support this. Fencing and planting waterways and wetlands has been their priority since 2009.

Kaitake and Oākura community (Environmental action in the community) - The Kaitake and Oākura community is a stunning example of an entire populace pulling together to achieve a common goal – NZ's first possum free area on mixed land on the mainland.

Ben Plummer, of Drone Technologies NZ (Environmental leadership in business) - The business provides quality drone footage, adapting methods to suit requirements and a range of environmental purposes.

Vickers Quarries (Environmental leadership in business) - The 36ha Vickers quarry at the top of York Road is one of the region's largest and also the strongest environmental performer.

Tim and Sue Hardwick-Smith (Environmental stewardship, leadership in land management) - The Hardwick-Smiths have adapted management practices to suit different land types across their 1500ha sheep and beef farm at Mangamingi, guided by their TRC farm plan.

Omata School (Environmental action in Education) - Students are making outstanding efforts to ensure Taranaki's native biodiversity is supported, including establishing lizard lounges, setting up bird feeders, targeting predators and ensuring native invertebrates have good habitats.

Scott and Julayne Thompson, Ngamatapouri Land Company Ltd (Environmental leadership in land management) - Scott and Julayne Thompson keep the environment in clear focus as they develop the production potential of their leased 2700-hectare Rimunui Station in the Waitotara Valley, where sheep and beef graze on 610 hectares of pasture.

Moturoa School (Environmental action in Education) - Moturoa School's Beach Guardians are doing much more than regularly clearing plastics and other waste from Ngāmotu Beach, as important as this task is. They've also analysed what they've collected in their regular beach clean-ups and taken action to prevent more of it arriving.

Corteva Agriscience (Environmental leadership in business) - The company has built on an already excellent record of ensuring no stormwater leaves its Paritūtū site without careful checks to ensure it is good enough for the Lower Herekawe Stream and coastal waters.

South Taranaki Forest & Bird (Environmental action in the community) - Members of South Taranaki Forest & Bird are working to protect and restore native biodiversity at two privately owned sites east of Eltham, trapping predators including possums, goats, mustelids, feral cats and rats, and eliminating pest plants across 1000ha.

David and Karen Peat (Environmental leadership in land management) - David and Karen Peat have been tackling soil erosion for 25 years on Mangapapa Station, their 3500-hectare sheep and beef farm in the Waitotara Valley.

Katie Sinclair (Environmental action in the community) - Katie Sinclair walks the talk as an enthusiastic advocate for the coastal environment, organising and conducting beach clean-ups around Opunake, analysing the source of rubbish and debris, encouraging community action and supporting like-minded organisations.