Editorial: Sense at last
OPINION: For the first time in many years, a commonsense approach is emerging to balance environmental issues with the need for the nation's primary producers to be able to operate effectively.
Lewis Road Creamery is moving to help a South Auckland community in its work to improve the health of a river.
The Wairoa River flows from the Hunua Ranges, through Clevedon and out to the Hauraki Gulf.
Land clearance and urban development have affected it for decades. Loss of native forest has cut into the habitat for wildlife, river banks have eroded and sediment and other pollutants have entered the water. Damming has changed the rivers natural flow.
Lewis Road Creamery, notable for organic milk, will match the public’s first $10,000 in donations to the project.
Georgina Hart, who leads Million Metres at the Sustainable Business Network, says the Wairoa River project is an example of how everyone can act to restore New Zealand’s waterways.
“Businesses that get behind waterway restoration are a help. We can’t leave it to someone else to clean up our rivers.”
Hart says more businesses are giving cash via the Million Metres platform.
Peter Cullinane, the founder of Lewis Road Creamery, says “we want to play our part”.
Along with the money the firm is encouraging its 200,000 followers support the crowdfunding goal and then join in on planting day to dig and plant trees.
The plants and trees will come from Te Whangai Trust, which assists long term unemployed and prisoners to gain work skills at its four nurseries in Auckland.
Million Metres hosts a crowdfunding website for local projects.
It has worked with 45 community groups and landowners and has raised $1.4m to help restore 52km of waterways with 300,000 trees.
Commercial fruit and vegetable growers are being encouraged to cast their votes in the Horticulture New Zealand (HortNZ) board directors' election.
A unique discovery by a Palmerston North science company, Biolumic, looks set to revolutionise the value and potential of ryegrass and the secret is the application of ultraviolet (UV) light.
A New Zealand company is redefining the global collagen game by turning New Zealand sheepskin into a world-class health product.
With further extreme weather on the way, ANZ Bank is encouraging farmers and business owners impacted by the recent extreme weather and flooding to seek support if they need it.
New Zealand must continue to educate Chinese consumers about the unique qualities of its red meat products and how they differ from competitors, says Silver Fern Farms chief executive Dan Boulton.
There are opportunities outside the farmgate for young farmers to further develop their skills, says 2025 Primary Industries Emerging Leader Award winner Bridie Virbickas.