People who've dedicated themselves to improving and protecting our water quality and environment were celebrated at the Freshwater Champions Aotearoa awards ceremony at Te Papa in Wellington.
The ceremony was held yesterday.
Cawthron Institute has run the awards for over a decade, previously known as the the National River Awards.
This year there were more than 50 nominations from across New Zealand in consideration for the accolades. The judges had to choose five winners.
One of those is the Burke Family who run Pukekauri Farms at Katikati in the Bay of Plenty.
Over more than two decades they've taken what was considered the most environmentally degraded farm in the Western Bay of Plenty, and turned it around.
Assessors described them as "genuine trailblazers". John Burke from the Burke family speaks to Jesse.
Photo: Cawthron
