Taiao Environment

The reports on this page provide communities with information about the health of the region’s environment at specific points in time. These reports summarise findings from Horizons’ environmental monitoring data, science reporting, and other technical work.

Climate change is one of the biggest environmental challenges we face and we’re seeing impacts now. Increasing temperatures, changes in rainfall patterns, more frequent droughts, and ongoing sea-level rise. Thirty years ago, the Ruahine and Tararua ranges were cloaked in snow for two to three months each winter; now, snow barely survives a week.

If you see something that looks wrong - different to what you normally see at that spot - it could be the result of an environmental incident. If it’s urgent and/or significant, call our 24-hour Pollution Hotline on freephone 0508 800 800 to report it when you see it.

Horizons' land management work focuses on reducing erosion, protecting soil health and encouraging sustainable use of our land resources. To carry out this work we lead and support a number of work programmes across the region including the Sustainable Land Use Initiative (SLUI).

Managing the region’s waterways is an important task, and we take great care and responsibility to ensure they can be enjoyed by all. We must balance the community’s desire to use freshwater with a responsibility to ensure it can sustain healthy habitats and support our recreational use.

Through education, regulation, and continuous monitoring, Horizons ensures the region’s air meets the National Environmental Standards for Air Quality and supports the wellbeing of our communities. The National Environmental Standards for Air Quality set the minimum level of air quality required to protect New Zealanders’ health.

The Horizons Region is susceptible to a number of natural hazards, including flooding. Learn more about how we manage those risks, and find out more about our work in the emergency management space, below.

We work with our communities to protect native New Zealand by controlling pest plants and animals that threaten our environment, farmland, wetlands, and forests.

Environmental education is about increasing knowledge and awareness of the environment and some of its associated challenges. Horizons’ education provision aims to excite our young people by helping them to explore and connect with their local environments and empower them to take action to create healthy ecosystems. Our education goal is that behaviours and actions lead to a positive environmental change.

Horizons’ District Advice team provides information and advice to members of the public on natural hazards and Horizons’ One Plan requirements for property developments as well as information for prospective property purchases, insurance matters and land valuation assessments. The most common advice sought is around flooding and residential development.