Taiwan looks to N.Z. for lessons in Conservation & Sustainability
2 March 2011
Media Release
Taiwan’s national television channel 8 TTV is highlighting Milford Sound as part of its focus on New Zealand as a world leader in conservation and sustainability.
Journalist and presenter Zoe Yih-Zu Lin and her crew, including two cameramen and a presenter/researcher, joined Real Journeys for a Milford Sound Overnight Cruise on board the Milford Mariner.
Ms Lin said the prime time current affairs programme called “Hotline”, was making a special series on countries with qualities it admires.
“Taiwan is a small country with a huge population, we are looking at what we need to do to improve over the next one hundred years.”
Ms Lin said her crew had travelled to Austria to look at its music and education, Singapore for its competitiveness and economic performance, Japan for its sub-culture, China for its water policy, and France for food and fashion.
They selected New Zealand to showcase because of its reputation in conservation and sustainability.
“New Zealand’s land is six times the size of Taiwan and there are only four million people. We have 23 million people, so we’re six times your population. Because land’s small in Taiwan and population’s big people are trying to survive first, sustainability is last. I can see the priority of the New Zealand population is for sustainability to be on top. The challenge for Taiwan is to think about the next generation – it’s the most important thing” said Ms Lin.
The crew arrived in New Zealand last month and took a Real Journeys overnight cruise in Milford Sound. They were particularly interested in and filmed Real Journeys’ recycling efforts (all waste is brought off all vessels and where possible, recycled or sent to a pig farm). They also wanted to know about the company’s fuel efficiency initiatives and were impressed with the care taken by the vessels not to disturb wildlife.
“I think it’s great, it’s something Taiwan needs to learn from New Zealand”, said Ms Lin.
The crew were joined at Milford Sound by Tane Waetford from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade and Jennifer Chang from the New Zealand Commerce and Industry Office in Taipei, before moving on to the West Coast to visit the glaciers.
The programme is expected to go to air in Taiwan in May.
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For more information or images, please contact:
Tsehai Tiffin - Marketing Communications Manager
Tel: + 64 3 442 4830
Mobile: 021 523 899
Email: ttiffin@realjourneys.co.nz
