BBC Earth Highlights Conservation Efforts At The Top Of The South

Conservation partnerships in the Marlborough Sounds are hitting the international stage today with BBC Earth releasing a 12-minute video highlighting how nature can help to solve the climate crisis. The video is part of a wider effort by BBC Earth to share extraordinary stories from across the world for its #OurFrozenPlanet campaign.

Viewers can watch the video on the BBC Earth Facebook page, which has over 17 million followers. The stories feature collective conservation efforts across the top of the South Island, such as work by the Te Hoiere/Pelorus Catchment Restoration Project and Picton Dawn Chorus.

The Kotahitanga mō te Taiao Alliance and Nature Conservancy (the New Zealand arm of a global environmental not-for-profit) worked with BBC Earth and the Moondance Foundation to produce the video. Marlborough District Council is a member of the Alliance, alongside other Te Tauihu and Kawatiri councils, iwi and the Department of Conservation.

“For Marlburians, we know that the Top of the South is a special place. We love sharing our stories with the world but we know there is still much work to do to protect and enhance our natural environment,” said Mayor Nadine Taylor.

“Our region has suffered two major storms in the last two years - the evidence points to the fact that climate change is bringing more frequent and more intense rainfall events to our part of the world.”

“Healthy ecosystems are a key part of mitigating the effects of climate change.”

“The Te Hoiere project is an exemplar project in New Zealand and now it’s an example internationally of what can be achieved when we work together for landscape-scale transformation. As a member of the Kotahitanga mō te Taiao Alliance, we know that our collective efforts are stronger than any one organisation.”

In addition to Alliance membership, Council is a partner in the Te Hoiere/Pelorus Catchment Restoration Project, a landscape scale restoration initiative that brings together the catchment community and supporting partner agencies to work together. Te Hoiere/Pelorus River is the largest river catchment that flows into the Marlborough Sounds and has been identified as an exemplar catchment as a part of the Ministry for the Environment's At Risk Catchments programme and by the Department of Conservation as one of its 14 Ngā Awa rivers across New Zealand.

To view the video: www.facebook.com/bbcearth

Further information:

Te Hoiere/Pelorus Catchment Restoration Project

Kotahitanga mō te Taiao Alliance

Picton Dawn Chorus

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