17 November 2012

New York Times on the 100% Pure NZ Myth

If you read nothing else online today, read this feature in the New York Times.

New Zealand’s Green Tourism Push Clashes With Realities

Mike Joy and Eugenie Sage are quoted on water quality problems

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According to new research, New Zealand is, per capita, 18th worst out of 189 nations when it came to preserving its natural surroundings.

"Dr. Joy said that for a country purporting to be so pure, New Zealand seemed to be failing by many international environmental benchmarks."
Last month, the New Zealand Ministry for the Environment released a survey showing that more than half of the country’s freshwater recreational sites were unsafe to swim in. Fecal contamination of waterways, caused largely by dairy farming — the source of 13.9 billion New Zealand dollars, or $10 billion, in annual exports, nearly a quarter of New Zealand’s total — was widespread.

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