Media Release, Earth Day 22 April 2013

Earth Day 22 April 2013 – ECO – Celebrate those who protect the Earth

Today, Earth Day, is a day for celebrating all the people who take action to protect the environment, says the Environment and Conservation Organisations of NZ, ECO.

“People who take the bus or walk instead of driving, people who skype instead of flying, people who stand up to those in power to protect their local, national or global environment, and the people who manage the land and waters carefully and well, all are being celebrated today. They are the people who make a difference,” says Cath Wallace, co-chair of ECO.

“It can be disheartening seeing the government dismantling the conservation and environmental protections that have been carefully put in place, and the liberties that surround dissent, but today ECO is saluting the many people who work for the environment and an open society.

“Take a bow, all the people on farms who leave the bush intact and fenced, those in innumerable community groups and hapu, in DoC, in councils and various government agencies who are protecting the environment.”

“People who control pests and weeds, the planners who are vigilant about consent conditions, the researchers and scientists who provide the scientific underpinnings for environmental protection, the policy people who keep the public good to the fore – they are all looking after Earth and deserve recognition and thanks.”

“So too do the people who turn out to keep mining companies out of sensitive environments, the environmental educators, the businesses who reduce their impacts, resist greenwash and make their environmental protection real, the investors who check the environmental credentials of companies before they invest, and the people who let the rest of us know which companies are environmentally sound and which are not.”

ECO has 55 member organisations and the people who work, usually unpaid within them, and all the other environment groups, deserve special mention and appreciation.

“Underpinning all this conservation and environmental work are the people who defend the laws and practices of an open society in which participation, respect for the public, social justice and the environment are protected.

“New Zealanders are a great bunch – we value the environment, work unpaid for it and the future, and do that in a great variety of ways. Make this Earth Day a celebration of New Zealand environmental values, of democratic processes and our open society, said Wallace.

ENDS

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