The environmental quality of the Catlins is high, a recent survey reveals, but there is no room for complacency.
Tourism Catlins has begun quizzing residents in 16 different spots around the area, asking them to assess the quality of their environment.
The first results give the entire area a rating of eight out of 10 with one being the poorest level and 10 the best.
The lowest ranking was Tunnel Hill (seven out of 10) while the Chaslands had the highest rating of nine.
Tourism Catlins projects co-ordinator Kim Dodds, who gathered the information, said the survey was a recommendation from the Catlins Tourism Strategy document which suggested regular assessments of the state of the environment be a high priority.
"Our environmental quality is high but we will need to be on the alert for possible downward trends," she said.
Residents in the 16 different locations - from Fortrose to Kaka Point - were asked to assess eight different environmental factors in their patch.
These included the amount of litter, human-crowding levels, water quality, wildlife numbers, habitat health, wildlife diversity, habitat diversity and air quality.
"The co-operation received from residents was very good and many also provided additional information to back up their assessments."
When all assessments were charted and averaged over all locations, a definite trend became apparent, Mrs Dodds said.
"LItter-free quality and human crowding levels received the poorest ratings and are, therefore, of the most concern while habitat diversity and air quality received the best ratings."
The group also received reports from councils and the Department of Conservation which showed similar good ratings with the exception of water quality.
Tourism Catlins plans to repeat the assessments four times a year so it can start seeing seasonal trends and monitor long-term patterns.
