Ecological Restoration 2013: The Waikato Story

24 September, 2013

Ecological Restoration 2013: The Waikato Story

The University of Waikato is taking the Waikato ecological restoration story to the world and New Zealanders will get a chance to hear it before they do.

Researchers from Waikato University, Waikato Regional Council, NIWA, Landcare Research and local groups including Waikato Biodiversity Forum, Waikato River Authority and Waikato Raupatu River Trust are working on projects to restore Waikato rivers, lakes and coastal and marine ecosystems, as well as researching how to restore, manage and monitor terrestrial biodiversity in urban and rural areas.

Now, Waikato’s top environmental scientists and practitioners are sharing their stories on restoring a full range of ecosystems across the Waikato region with the world. Next month they will present 10 coordinated talks in an invited symposium at the 5th World Conference of the Society for Ecological Restoration in Wisconsin, USA, to an audience of 2000 people.

The Director of the University’s Environmental Research Institute, Professor Bruce Clarkson, says, before they go, anyone interested in environmental matters has the opportunity to hear about the ground-breaking work at the University of Waikato´s free symposium Ecological Restoration 2013: The Waikato Story on Wednesday, October 2 on campus at the Gallagher Academy of Performing Arts starting at 9.30am.

“We thought it was important New Zealanders heard the story of the ecological restoration work that is underway in the Waikato before we took it overseas,” he said.

“This is a once-off opportunity to get a real understanding of the breadth of work being conducted across the Waikato by a large number of dedicated researchers from different organisations who are working together for the good of our environment.”

The Chief Executive of the Ministry for the Environment, Dr Paul Reynolds, will open the Hamilton symposium as its keynote speaker.
Free registration is available online at www.waikato.ac.nz/go/eri-registration

ENDS

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