Changing Drains Into Ecosystems
A drain is sometimes considered a negative word associated with depletion, exhaustion and loss of resources.
The Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment Dr Jan Wright has released the update to her 2012 report, Water quality in New Zealand: Understanding the Science.
The update re-canvases some of the issues the report initially raised and reviews the responses from Government, Parliament, and relevant sector organisations.
Wright says the initial report was designed to shine light into the often heated debate about New Zealand's water quality.
"My intention with this report was to provide a clear and simple guide to the science of water quality so that debate about our waterways was properly informed.
"The report has been largely successful in this respect and is currently being used as a reference by MPs, by journalists, and in schools and at least one university.
"A year and a half on from the release of this report there are still many serious issues with water quality in New Zealand, particularly nutrient pollution, and I'll be releasing a report focused on this matter in the near future."
The proposed retrenchment of Heinz Wattied's manufacturing presenced in New Zealand will be a blow to the wallets of more than 200 Canterbury vegetable growers.
The cost of running a New Zealand farm is now 27% higher than it was before Covid, putting sustained pressure on profitability acrfoss the sector, according to new ANZ research.
Rural contractors are getting guidance on how to deal with recent rising fuel prices.
An Ōpunake farmer with a poor effluent system has been fined $35,000 with a discount on the penalty discarded after he charged at a Taranaki Regional Council officer inspecting the ‘systematic problems’ on his farm.
The horticulture sector is under threat because of vulnerabilities of the country's transport infrastructure, according to a report commissioned by a collective representing a range of groups in the sector.
Silver Fern Farms chief executive Dan Boulton says the meat processor wants to find ways of getting product destined for Middle East markets into those markets as opposed to try and place them elsewhere.