Calibre of award entrants praised

Champions of the Southland environment were acknowledged at last night’s 25th Environment Southland Community Awards.

Council chairman Nicol Horrell said the judges were impressed with the breadth and depth of the entries with everyone from runanga to farmers to cafe owners and school children entering.

“The judges were delighted by the community connections of entrants, the innovation, technology and sustainability on show, the growing environmental awareness of children, and the extremely wide scope of projects and initiatives being undertaken in Southland.”

The awards were the longest running awards in the regional council sector, he said.

“We are very proud of the calibre of entrants and the recognition they give to Southlanders working hard and doing the right thing for our environment.”

There were a record number of nominees this year from all corners of the region, which was fantastic to see, he said.

The 2021 judges were councillors Lyndal Ludlow and David Stevens and Environment Southland integrated catchment general manager Paul Hulse.

Popular with the region’s school pupils, Deep Cove Nature Guides programme won the Councillors’ special award.

Real Journeys staff are trained as nature guides and they accompany teachers and pupils into Deep Cove to help them explore the area and understand what is around them.

One of the region’s covenants, the Oreti Totara Dune Forest, also received an award.