Kaikōura community reps recognised with top honours
Kaikōura Water Zone Committee chair Ted Howard and committee member Gina Solomon have both been recognised for their significant services to conservation.
Ted has been officially awarded a Queen’s Service Medal at a recent investiture ceremony and Gina was made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit last year.
The pair are both inaugural members of the Kaikōura Water Zone Committee, which formed around 12 years ago. Ted has chaired the committee since 2014.
The pair have both made significant contributions to the zone committee including developing the Kaikōura Zone Implementation Programme with the community and supporting local initiatives to protect and enhance environmental values in the area.
Pride in our people
Environment Canterbury Chair Jenny Hughey said she is pleased Ted and Gina have been recognised in this way.
"They are both such passionate and active community members who constantly serve others and their environment."
Jenny also said she is grateful for the mahi/work they have done in their communities.
"They also supported their water zone's efforts in the Waia Toa Clarence River catchment, which saw a million dollars of funding going towards weed and predator control," she added.
Jenny said they are helping create a better environment for all.
"We are immensely proud to work with them on this shared vision," she said.
Combined effort
Ted and his wife Ailsa McGilvary-Howard, who has also been honoured with a Queen's Service Medal, help protect Hutton's shearwater at the Kaikōura Peninsula nesting site and banded dotterel nests along the beaches of Kaikōura.
"They spend countless hours on the beach at South Bay working to protect the banded dotterels and accumulating previously unknown data about this endangered species," Jenny said.
Their protection work and awareness-raising initiatives aim to improve nesting areas and reduce predators of the rare birds. The pair also set up a system of local guardians for South Bay, who advise visitors to avoid the nesting areas when eggs and chicks are present on the beach.
Ailsa McGilvary-Howard (Photo credit: Government House).
Kaikōura Water Zone Committee chair Ted Howard (Photo credit: Government House).
Ted's unrelenting focus on conservation is evident through his many contributions in the community including the various organisations he's been involved with.
He is involved with Kaikōura Forest and Bird, the Hutton's Shearwater Trust and was the founding member and Treasurer of Te Korowai o te Tai ō Marokura and the Kaikōura Marine Guardians.
Gina's commitment to the community
Gina Solomon receiving her honour at Government House in Wellington last year (Photo credit: Government House).
Like Ted, Gina was also a founding member of Te Korowai o te Tai ō Marokura and a member of the Hutton's Shearwater Trust and Kaikōura Marine Guardians.
Gina has also served on the QEII National Trust Board, and she spent 15 years on the Nelson Marlborough Conservation Board including as chair for a period.
This is among the many other trusts and groups she's been a part of, including the Kaikōura Plains Recovery Project.
For more information
- Find out more about the awards
- Find out more on the water zone committee.