Turqouise lakes and tawny tussocks draw more than a million tourists to the South Island’s Mackenzie Basin each year. But many believe irrigation-fuelled intensive farming – on former Crown-owned leases, often, within easy view of the highway – is ruining landscapes and sending mixed messages to turn tourists off.
New Zealand has too many cows for a pasture-based system. Having intensified and overstocked areas suitable for dairying (Taranaki, Waikato), farmers have relentlessly expanded into completely unsuitable areas (Canterbury, the Mackenzie Country, Southland)
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Land Information New Zealand has been pulling up its socks since the Government changed two years ago.
One-hundred-and-thirty of the world’s smallest and rarest wading bird are being released into the Mackenzie Basin this week, off the back of a major trapping programme.
Mr Robson said as an individual – just a citizen of New Zealand, he had seen some things he felt he could not walk past. “The animal welfare issues, I don’t know how anybody could see that and just turn a blind eye. And the huge loads of pollution into our waterways and estuaries and coastal environment, if you think you can do something about it then you should.”
Wanaka-based volunteer Anne Steven joined others for two days to help with the clean-up job.
A US study has found 2300 to 12,594 nitrate-attributable cancer cases annually in the country, of which 54-82 percent are colorectal cancer cases.
Nitrates get into the water supply through the use of fertiliser and effluent from farm animals, and because it is a highly soluble chemical and not removed by normal filtration it can seep deep into aquifers.
ECan is writing a letter to Clark asking for “well-designed studies” on the relationship between nitrates and health as a Government priority.
