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Thursday 17 May, 2012

River Accord up for Green Ribbon

The Manawatu River Leaders’ Accord led by Horizons Regional Council has been recognised for its contribution the environment as a finalist in the 2012 Ministry for the Environment’s Green Ribbon Awards.

The awards celebrate outstanding contributions by individuals, organisations, businesses and communities to protect and enhance New Zealand’s environment and Horizons is one of three finalists in the Public Sector Leadership category.

The Manawatu River Leaders’ Accord came about in 2010 when Horizons Regional Council invited community, industry and iwi leaders to come together and take ownership of the river and its challenges.

Six months on from that first meeting, the leaders signed a promise to take action which set out a clear focus, vision and goals to improve the state of the Manawatu River.

Horizons Regional Council chief executive Michael McCartney describes the Green Ribbon announcement as pleasing recognition for what had been a challenging time for the community.

“Cleaning up the river is not an overnight job. It will take time and considerable effort but the community has risen to the challenge and work to clean up the river is now well underway,” Mr McCartney says.

Nominations for the awards have increased, with 284 nominations received for 12 award categories.

All 35 finalists will attend an awards ceremony at Parliament Buildings on 5 June. Winners will be announced in each category and an overall supreme winner will be revealed.

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