Transforming Taranaki – Fresh water 2019

Taranaki community’s mammoth efforts to improve freshwater health at a landscape scale have been recognised by a national award.

The 25-year voluntary work by farmers, iwi, schools and community groups to fence and plant waterways, helping achieve some of the best results in Taranaki’s river and stream health in two decades, earned the 2019 Excellence Award for Environmental Well-Being from Local Government New Zealand.

“This belongs to our community,” Taranaki Regional Council Chair David MacLeod said as he accepted the award in Wellington last night (Monday 8 July7).

He says the thousands of people involved have invested “so much sweat, money and time” into fencing and planting rivers and streams on private land around Mt Taranaki since 1993. The voluntary scheme keeps stock out of waterways, cuts down effluent and nutrient run-off and shades streamwater to encourage native biodiversity.

More than 15,400km of Taranaki streambanks – about the length of New Zealand’s coastline – are covered under the voluntary programme. NIWA scientists say it’s likely one of the largest and longest-running restorative freshwater projects in the world.

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