Search to find Taranaki environmental heroes
Entries are open for the annual Taranaki Ballance Farm Environment Awards, supported by the Taranaki Regional Council, while nominations have closed for its own annual awards.
The council awards recognise initiatives to protect and enhance the environment at both a neighbourhood and regional scale. People can nominate themselves or their organisation, or others working in the environmental space anywhere across Taranaki. It can involve initiatives from school students to major corporates, from farmers to iwi and hapū, and from community to grassroots conservation groups. Winners will be announced in November.
The awards have five categories: Environmental Leadership in Business, sponsored by Taranaki Daily News; Environmental Leadership in Dairy Farming, sponsored by Fonterra; Environmental Leadership in Land Management, sponsored by Corteva; Environmental Action in the Community, sponsored by Methanex; and Environmental Action in Education, sponsored by Contact Energy.
The Ballance Farm Environment Awards, run by the NZ Farm Environment Trust, are open until October 15. The awards describe a farm as any business based on the productive or amenity use of soils or other natural resources, so can include any farming and growing from dairy, sheep and beef farms through vineyards.
The awards programme is a pan-sector forum for networking and the sharing of ideas and information among farmers/ to orchards and growers, agribusiness professionals and the wider community. All entrants are provided with feedback from sector experts and fellow farmers about their activities and potential areas of focus for the future.
The finals judging includes a range of awards categories from soil management, stewardship, wise water use and quality livestock through to agri-business, agri-science and the allimportant people side of the businesses. Taranaki Regional Council also sponsors a regional sustainability award, and it’s the second year of the new NZ Landcare Trust Catchment Group Award.
After two covid-affected seasons, organisers are looking forward to the awards getting back to normal with two rounds of judging and awards functions in late summer/autumn. Some things are still out of sync, including some 2022 winners field days being held while 2023 judging is underway, and the 2022 National Sustainability Showcase being held in November – instead of mid-year – at Te Pae Christchurch Convention Centre. This includes 2022 Taranaki supreme winners David and Samantha Turner of The Grange, a sheep, beef and dairy support property at Eltham.
Farmers, growers and catchment groups are encouraged to visit www.nzfeawards.org.nz to find out more, or to enter or nominate an entrant.