Scoop has an Ethical Paywall
Work smarter with a Pro licence Learn More

Local Govt | National News Video | Parliament Headlines | Politics Headlines | Search

 

Canterbury Weedbuster Awards announced

Media Release

September 18, 2014

Canterbury Weedbuster Awards announced

Environment Canterbury and the Department of Conservation today announced winners of the biennial Weedbuster Awards.

The recipients were Charlesworth Wetland Reserve Maintenance Team, Christchurch (Winner - Overall Excellence), Gillian Giller, North Canterbury (Winner – Private Land), Helen Chambers, Governors Bay (Highly Commended – Private Land) and Sumner Environment Group (Winner – Public Land).

The ceremony was attended by Hon Nicky Wagner, Associate Minister of Conservation, who presented the awards.

Weedbusters are dedicated local people tackling weeds in their communities and collectively making a difference. Weedbusting groups are small but tenacious, and the battle never stops. Nationally there are around 150 registered Weedbusters groups, and many other groups are doing similar work.

On top of that are the many Kiwis who are weedbusting in their own back yards and on their lifestyle blocks and farms, removing weedy ornamental species and replacing them with ones that aren’t going to “jump the fence” and invade natural areas.

South Canterbury farmer Tom Lambie is Environment Canterbury Commissioner responsible for biosecurity and pests. He says Canterbury’s amazing landscapes, iconic flora and fauna and unique environments are under threat from weed pests.

“The national Weedbusters programme is a great example of how the community and a range of organisations can work together sharing their knowledge, skills and resources to meet a common goal of controlling pest plants in our natural areas, and for agencies to celebrate members of our community together,” Mr Lambie said.

Advertisement - scroll to continue reading

Are you getting our free newsletter?

Subscribe to Scoop’s 'The Catch Up' our free weekly newsletter sent to your inbox every Monday with stories from across our network.

“Once weeds have established in the wild they are very costly and difficult to control and the damage they cause is sometimes irreversible. Weedbusting takes good identification skills, control technique knowledge, perseverance and dedication over a long period to get results - attributes all the nominees for these awards have demonstrated. Without the Weedbusters partnership and commitment by all, New Zealand would be a very different place.”

Award judge Jon Sullivan is Senior Lecturer in Ecology at Lincoln University. He says the Weedbuster Awards are a chance every two years to “celebrate the actions of the many individuals and community groups out there on their weekends keeping their precious corners of New Zealand nature free from the worst weeds”.

Saluting the winners, he said: “Every time I judge these awards, I come away encouraged and amazed by the sheer volume of weeds being removed from our natural areas by individuals and community groups every month. Nature in and around New Zealand's cities would be a much weedier place without this cheerful army of weekend warriors.

“All the nominations for the Weedbuster Awards underscore how much of our environment is kept clean and green by the actions of Kiwis quietly getting stuck in and doing the right thing. It's fantastic.”

Background

Weedbusters is a weeds awareness and education programme that aims to protect New Zealand's environment from the increasing weed problem. Pest animals and plants (weeds) are the greatest threat to New Zealand's biodiversity. People play a large part in spreading environmental weeds, often without knowing it, and Weedbusters aims to educate people and raise awareness to turn this problem around. More information - www.weedbusters.org.nz

Weedbusters is supported by a variety of organisations, NGOs and all regional councils and unitary authorities.


© Scoop Media

 
 
 
Parliament Headlines | Politics Headlines | Regional Headlines



Gordon Campbell: On Dune 2, And Images Of Islam


Depictions of Islam in Western popular culture have rarely been positive, even before 9/11. Five years on from the mosque shootings, this is one of the cultural headwinds that the Muslim community has to battle against. Whatever messages of tolerance and inclusion are offered in daylight, much of our culture tends to be hostile to Islam when we’re sitting in the dark, with popcorn.
Any number of movie examples come to mind, beginning with Rudolf Valentino’s role (over a century ago) as the romantic Arab hero in The Sheik...
More


 
 


Government: One-stop Shop Major Projects On The Fast Track

The Coalition Government’s new one-stop-shop fast track consenting regime for regional and national projects of significance will cut red tape and make it easier for New Zealand to build the infrastructure and major projects needed to get the country moving again... More

ALSO:


Government: GPS 2024: Over $20 Billion To Get Transport Back On Track
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has released the draft Government Policy Statement (GPS) on Land Transport, outlining the Coalition Government’s plan to build and maintain a transport system that enables people to get to where they need to go quickly and safely... More

ALSO:

Government: Humanitarian Support For Gaza & West Bank

Winston Peters has announced NZ is providing a further $5M to respond to the extreme humanitarian need in Gaza and the West Bank. “The impact of the Israel-Hamas conflict on civilians is absolutely appalling," he said... More


Government: New High Court Judge Appointed

Judith Collins has announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister Jason Scott McHerron as a High Court Judge. Justice McHerron graduated from the University of Otago with a BA in English Literature in 1994 and an LLB in 1996... More

 
 
 
 
 
 

LATEST HEADLINES

  • PARLIAMENT
  • POLITICS
  • REGIONAL
 
 

InfoPages News Channels


 
 
 
 

Join Our Free Newsletter

Subscribe to Scoop’s 'The Catch Up' our free weekly newsletter sent to your inbox every Monday with stories from across our network.