We’re proud to have received a gold award at the 2022 Selwyn Responsible Business Awards. Our environmental efforts are never complete, but it was great to hear we’re on the right track.

The judge’s comments gave us plenty to work on for future years too, particularly around eco-system restoration in the Selyen region and beyond. We’ll also continue with our focus on the promotion and planting of New Zealand native species. Here’s what they had to say:

“It was a pleasure to be shown around Southern Woods and see the initiatives the business is taking to limit negative impacts on ecosystems. As Southern Woods is a large distributor of native plants, it will have ecological benefits beyond what we can recognize by looking at the nursery itself. If Southern Woods continues to distribute native plant species and provide customers with good information about ecological restoration, then it will play a key role in restoring lost ecosystems in Selwyn.”

“While ecological loss is one of the biggest issues facing this district, efforts to educate the public and increase native planting efforts are the second most effective thing we can do beyond preventing further loss of intact ecosystem remnants. There are a few initiatives that stood out in Southern Woods, one was to minimise plastic waste by converting to a system using reusable trays. The business is minimising water waste, providing educational information to customers and demonstrating native planting to customers in the green space that’s in progress currently.”