Environment

The Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment’s report has sparked volumes of commentary from the country’s academic sector.

The long-awaited report recommends a departure tax, stricter controls on commercial operations, and questions the public investment in the sector.

Tourism Industry Aotearoa says the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment’s latest report will not please everyone but deserves a hearing.

The Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment is embargoed until 2pm Thursday, not 2pm Wednesday. We regret the error.

Australasian tourism consultancy TRC Tourism is officially a zero carbon company.

The Climate Change Commission’s landmark report on decarbonising the economy has signalled a stronger focus on emissions from the tourism sector is in the pipeline.

Air New Zealand backs the new standards saying biofuels are “a necessary step” in reaching NZ’s net zero emissions by 2050 goal.

The Environmental Defence Society is calling for a strengthening of the Hauraki Gulf Marine Park Act 2000 to better protect the landscapes of the Hauraki Gulf Islands.

Rewilding the forests lining the Kawatiri/Buller River could provide a unique river landscape visitor experience.

Waiheke-based operator EcoZip Adventures has secured climate positive certification for the second consecutive year from not-for-profit Ekos.

Bingo Bonanza will be offsetting carbon emissions created by Kiwis when they are exploring New Zealand.

An independent assessment by Ekos showed Ziptrek’s total carbon calculation for its financial year was 17.48tCO2.

Domestic tourists accounted for 59%, or 7063 kilotonnes, of tourism consumption-based emissions in 2017, according to new data from Stats NZ.

Four hāpuku have been transferred from the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research’s Northland Marine Research Centre to the main Oceanarium exhibit at the National Aquarium of New Zealand.

New Zealand’s tourism rethink needs to forget old economic systems and focus on human values if the sector has any hope of reviving.

The funding, over four years, was part of the Government’s $1.3bn Jobs for Nature programme.

Conservation estate attractions could suffer more damage, become inaccessible or disappear, says a new report.

Researchers from Te Herenga Waka-Victoria University of Wellington’s Antarctic Research Centre say there is a strong link between human greenhouse gas emissions and increased melting of glaciers.

Ruapehu District Council has installed solar-powered ‘Big Belly’ compacting rubbish bins at 11 high traffic sites around Ruapehu.

The Commerce Commission has released guidelines to help traders understand their obligations when making environmental claims.

Owner Uwe Kroll said it was a first for a TOP 10 holiday park.

Pūkaha National Wildlife Centre has confirmed the existence of New Zealand’s long-tailed bat (Chalinolobus tuberculatus) in its forest reserve.

New Zealand’s tourism-related greenhouse gas emissions jumped 16.3% in a decade.

Senior NZIER economist Peter Clough said the future of tourism should be “green and local”.

Stats NZ is preparing to launch the regular research series into the sector’s greenhouse gas emissions.

Decarbonising tourism will include less reliance on long haul airline travel and more on rapid land transport, according to Dr Susanne Becken.

Work to improve safety and provide for the protection of the sensitive environment of the West Coast’s Ōpārara Basin is set to begin at alert level 2, says the Department of Conservation.

The Environmental Defence Society is supporting calls for a reset of the tourism industry to better protect the environment.

The Green Party is calling for $1bn to be invested in nature-based jobs over the next three years.

Five rare tūturuatu/shore plovers were relocated from their Christchurch captive breeding facility to pest-free Mana Island off the Wellington coast.

The Department of Conservation and Fisheries New Zealand will postpone public consultation on the proposed network of marine protection for the southeast South Island due to Covid-19 restrictions.

Queenstown Lakes District aims to become the country’s most sustainable tourism system in a new climate action plan being considered by council today.

Public submissions are now being called on regulations for the prevention of air pollution from ships contained in a 1997 protocol.

LGNZ has welcomed a new report that calls for central government policy makers to step up the pace on progressing a national strategy on climate change adaption having highlighting the threat to the tourism industry.

The industry is failing to adapt to the consequences, says the new research.

New Zealand’s first circular economy lab launches on Thursday, at GridAKL in the Wynyard Quarter, Auckland.

Tourism New Zealand planted a native tree for every guest hosted at a sustainability-focused breakfast at this week’s Asia Pacific Incentives Meetings Event in Melbourne.

Air New Zealand has diverted more than 890 tonnes of in-flight waste – five planes’ worth – from landfill two years on from the launch of Project Green.

Kāpiti Island Nature Tours founder John Barrett has called on the tourism industry to take immediate action to correct the current “gross mistreatment and abuse” of the environment.

A new ecosanctuary with a predator-proof fence on Golden Bay’s Cape Farewell has been opened.

The Rees Hotel is now a funder of the Frankton Traps group – an extension of a Queenstown predator-free project run by the Wakatipu Wildlife Trust.

The environment commissioner is right to be concerned over the impact of tourism on the environment, experts say.

Ziptrek Ecotours is the first Queenstown company to achieve Zero Carbon Business for 2019. 

A new study has been launched in a bid to improve understanding of the health risk of swimming in rivers.

The Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment’s report into the environmental impacts of tourism will be a key part of the government’s work into the tourism sector.

Simon Upton says unrestrained growth risks harming the environment and the industry.

New Zealand’s tourism industry has laid out a cautious welcome to the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment’s new report on the impact of tourism growth.

The Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment has signalled there will be a second investigation into the environmental consequences of projected tourism growth, having released his first report today.

A formal management plan for Te Oneroa-a-Tōhē/Ninety Mile Beach is underway, driven by an eight-member Te Oneroa-a-Tōhē Board made up of iwi and local government. 

Students and staff from Massey University’s College of Humanities and Social Sciences will undertake a drone project to gather footage for a film revealing land use, environmental issues and human-environment relationships in Aotearoa New Zealand.