Two environmental projects in the Waitotara Valley are being hailed as models for the rest of New Zealand.
Ngamatapouri School and Ngamatapouri Land Company were among 17 Taranaki Environmental Award winners announced on October 10. The awards are run by Taranaki Regional Council (TRC).
Professor Bruce Clarkson, one of New Zealand's leading experts in ecological restoration, told the awards ceremony the "people power" shown by the winners was an example to the rest of the country.
"It provides a model for uniting a community together to restore ecosystem health at a region-wide scale, including freshwater health, native habitat and wildlife protection, and wetlands protection."
Ngamatapouri School was awarded for using innovative technology to understand the local environment and to inform its community, with the citation saying: "The 12 pupils at this remote school are working as scientists, technical innovators and researchers as they come to grips with their community's No 1 threat, flooding, and water health.