6 November 2014

Fourteen Taranaki organisations and individuals who ‘walk the talk’ have become the latest recipients of the region’s flagship Environmental Awards.

The Taranaki Regional Council tonight presented its awards for 2014 to a wide-ranging group including schools and a kindergarten, farmers, a meat processing plant, an oil and gas production station, a local authority and grassroots organisations working hard to protect natural biodiversity.

“Our winners tonight are people who walk the talk and actively demonstrate their commitment to Taranaki and the things that make it great,” says the Council Chairman, David MacLeod. “And make no mistake, one of the region’s biggest assets is its good environment.”

Tonight’s 14 awards were presented in five categories:

Environmental action in education

(category sponsor: Taranaki Daily News)

• Opunake Communities Kindergarten

• Manukorihi Intermediate School

• Patea Area School

Environmental leadership in land management

(category sponsor: Dow AgroSciences)

• Longview Ltd

• Kevin Bunn Family Farm

• Marshall Family

Environmental leadership in business

(category sponsor: Port Taranaki Ltd)

• New Plymouth District Council

• Silver Fern Farms Waitotara

• Todd Energy Ltd McKee Production Station

Environmental leadership in dairy farming

(category sponsor: Fonterra)

• Willcox Farms Ltd

• NRGE Farms Ltd

Environmental action in the community

(category sponsor: Methanex New Zealand)

• Volunteers of the North Taranaki branch of Forest & Bird

• Taranaki Kiwi Trust

• Rotokare Scenic Reserve Trust

Tonight’s awards take the total to 219 since they were inaugurated in 1993.

Mr MacLeod says the efforts of tonight’s winners, plus many others like them, are a major reason that the Council’s own monitoring data paints a picture of a region whose environment is doing well.

“Of course, there are aspects that need improvement,” he says. “And improvements are made possible by the sort of community spirit that we are celebrating with these awards tonight.”

He says an important feature of the awards is that there is no ‘supreme winner’.

“Or to put it more accurately, they are all supreme winners. The range of activities is so broad that it is not possible to judge the value of one against the other. Each is equally worth appreciating and celebration.”

Mr MacLeod also paid tribute to the five award category sponsors, whose support enabled the Council to make the presentations “in a fitting and celebratory style”.

Click on the link for more information about each winner:

2014 Environmental Awards winners

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