MT RUAPEHU 19 SEPTEMBER 2018: Mt Ruapehu & DOC staff braved the fog and rain yesterday all in the name of conservation.

As part of Conservation Week 2018 the team set out to clean up the mountain environs picking up rubbish in the gullies below Turoa's Alpine Meadow and carparks where rubbish often accumulates.

RAL General Manager People & Performance Andy Hoyle says that Conservation Week is a great initiative to remind New Zealanders to look after and respect their environment.

"New Zealand is a beautiful place and we all need to work together to ensure this beauty lives on. Working on Mt Ruapehu we live and breathe the beauty of our setting every day and strive to protect it.

"Unfortunately we need to employ people to pick up rubbish every day around both Turoa and Whakapapa ski fields during the ski season. It's quite unbelievable that people don't use rubbish bins and throw rubbish out car windows, Conservation Week is a timely reminder to respect and look after the environment."

Mt Ruapehu is constantly expanding its sustainability initiatives in an effort to minimise the impact on the environment. This year that includes the mountain becoming Smokefree in May, acheiving Qualmark Gold Sustainable Tourism Business Accreditation last year, maintaining its industry leading ISO certification (International Benchmark for Environmental Best Practice), removing redundant structures from the mountain and plans are in place for a tussock rejuvenation project.

Yesterday staff found less rubbish than they expected, but still picked up plenty of bottle lids, lolly pop sticks, fragment of candy wrappers. "It doesn't matter how small the rubbish is, it all affects the environment and shouldn't be dropped on the ground," Andy says.

"The team will clean up at Whakapapa on Friday - hopefully it won't fill a flat deck ute like it did last year!"

ENDS

© Scoop Media