Northland news in brief: Conservation Week and no spray register

Saving the Māui dolphin and other endangered species is the focus of Conservation Week next month.

Conservation events

Conservation Week this year will focus on the more than 4000 species of New Zealand's wildlife in crisis. As well as the Māui dolphin there are many lesser known endangered species including fungi, snails, insects, lizards and fish. The awareness week, from September 15 to 23, will involve events aimed at the Department of Conservation and the public helping turn around the odds for those at-risk species. Events will be organised throughout Northland, with schools, groups, businesses, councils and agencies encouraged to join in with their own activities as part of Conservation Week.

Spray register

Far North residents are being urged to sign up to a ''no spray register'' if they don't want contractors to use Roundup outside their properties. Council contractor Broadspectrum will start roadside weed spraying next month on council roads in southern parts of the Far North District. State highways won't be included.

Infrastructure manager Andy Finch said after renewed debate around the safety of glyphosate, Roundup's active ingredient, residents who didn't want the herbicide used outside their properties could join the no spray register by filling out a form available on the council website or from council service centres. They would also have to control weeds on the berm outside their properties and display "No Spray" signs. Spraying is due to start on September 3.

After a landmark court case in which Monsanto was ordered to pay $438 million to a US man who claimed Roundup gave him cancer, New Zealand's Environmental Protection Authority is reassessing glyphosate's safety rating. Finch said the council would be guided by the EPA's findings.

Science fair free to public

The 2018 Top Energy Far North Science and Technology Fair will be open to the public, free admission, at the Turner Centre in Kerikeri from 9am to 1pm today, and again at 5pm tomorrow, with the prizes to be presented at 6pm. Year 7-13 students from 13 schools, including Kaitaia, Russell and Broadwood, and some home-schooled youngsters, are competing for a raft of scholarships, cash prizes, and the chance to represent Northland at the national fair, with a total of 160 projects.

Crime-fighting forum

Corrections Minister Kelvin Davis will host a community forum at Toll Stadium, in Whangārei tomorrow, from 9am to 11.30am, looking at issues including offender education, training and employment, and how the community can help reduce re-offending. Davis will be the keynote speaker, while several community stakeholders, including education and training providers, as well as current and potential employers, will be there, along with former prison inmates who will talk about their experiences.

New Approach hui

A New Approach hui, hosted by Man Up Northland, which is affiliated to Destiny Church, is being held at Whangārei's ASB Stadium, in Kensington, tomorrow night. The free event, which features the X-Men Panel, offers a new approach for people wanting to be part of the solution to society's ills, organiser Robbie Johnson said. ''It's a new approach for people to turn their lives around.'' The event is at Toll Stadium from 6.30pm tomorrow.