Recycling just got smarter and brighter with new cleverly designed bins to improve recycling and collection launched by Associate Environment Minister Eugenie Sage today. In the Wellington CBD Eugenie Sage launched a set of four smart bins, one of 10 sets being rolled out across the city under a pilot initiative, which is part of a $1.7 million grant provided to The Packaging Forum from the Waste Minimisation Fund (WMF). “The new locally made bins stand out from the crowd...

A facility to recycle tyres and a project to reuse old photocopier toner are getting off the ground with support from the Waste Minimisation Fund, Associate Environment Minister Eugenie Sage said today. “These projects take waste that would have gone to landfills and use it for something useful. They are great examples of what needs to happen more in New Zealand,” Ms Sage said. “Significantly reducing waste going to landfill by 2020 is a goal of the Green Party’s confidence...

Possums, rats and stoats are the big losers in Budget 2018 and our forests, birds and other wildlife the winners, Conservation Minister Eugenie Sage announced today. “We need to invest in comprehensive predator control in order to save special wildlife like kiwi. We have a biodiversity crisis, where 82 per cent of native birds are threatened with or at risk of extinction,” says Eugenie Sage. An extra $81.3 million in operating funds for predator control over four years is part...

The roll-out of 20 innovative cleaning stations has started as part of the Department of Conservation’s efforts to reduce the spread of kauri dieback, Conservation Minister Eugenie Sage announced today. Stations will be installed on busy and high-risk DOC managed tracks in the kauri region, including the Kauri Loop track in the Hakarimata Scenic Reserve, near Huntly – the first track to have one of the new cleaning stations installed. Other tracks are in the Kauri Coast and Bay of...

In a world-leading conservation effort, mice have been successfully eradicated from Antipodes Island in the New Zealand Subantarctic, Conservation Minister Eugenie Sage announced today. Million Dollar Mouse, a joint initiative between the Department of Conservation (DOC) and funding partners the Morgan Foundation, WWF-New Zealand, Island Conservation and public supporters, has successfully delivered one of the most complex island eradication projects ever undertaken.  “This is huge news for conservation both in New Zealand and internationally,” Ms Sage said. “Special plants and...

Fisheries Minister Stuart Nash and Conservation Minister Eugenie Sage are accelerating work to improve protection of the nationally endangered Hector’s dolphin, after five were accidentally killed in a fishing net off Banks Peninsula. The dolphins were trapped in a commercial set net about six nautical miles north of Banks Peninsula on 17 February. The fisherman reported the incident to Fisheries Inshore New Zealand (FINZ) and to the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI). Mr Nash and Ms Sage have identified a...

Nominations for Conservation Boards have been reopened to ensure they reflect the diverse communities they serve, Conservation Minister Eugenie Sage announced today. The Department of Conservation re-opened the nomination process for recruiting a broader cross-section of members from the different communities each board represents on the Minister’s recommendation. The nomination process for the 2018 appointments was undertaken late last year and may have been affected by the Christmas holidays. The Department received 143 nominations for a total of 45 positions...

The May round of the Waste Minimisation Fund will target projects that build in reducing waste from the outset, Associate Environment Minister Eugenie Sage said today.  “We need to stop thinking that recycling is the answer to our waste problems when actually producing less waste in the first place is better for the environment and our country,” Ms Sage said.  “I hope to see projects come through that encourage a circular economy where we make, use and return products and...

New Zealand has joined the United Nations-led CleanSeas campaign to rid our oceans of plastic, Associate Environment Minister Eugenie Sage announced today. Ms Sage signed a pledge showing New Zealand’s commitment to the global CleanSeas campaign at the Volvo Ocean Race Village in Auckland. More than 40 other countries have already signed up. “Turtles and other wildlife are being killed by litter in our oceans. Also the issue of microplastic in our oceans and its effect on the food chain...

One of New Zealand’s rare bats is on its way to recovery after successful large-scale predator control in Fiordland, according to a new science report released by Conservation Minister Eugenie Sage today. The New Zealand Threat Classification System report on the conservation status of New Zealand bats updates the last review in 2012. The most significant change is the move of southern short-tailed bat from ‘threatened’ to ‘recovering’, largely due to DOC’s sustained control of rats, possums and stoats in...