The Country
  • The Country home
  • Latest news
  • Audio & podcasts
  • Opinion
  • Dairy farming
  • Sheep & beef farming
  • Rural business
  • Rural technology
  • Rural life
  • Listen on iHeart radio

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • Coast & Country News
  • Opinion
  • Dairy farming
  • Sheep & beef farming
  • Horticulture
  • Animal health
  • Rural business
  • Rural technology
  • Rural life

Media

  • Podcasts
  • Video

Weather

  • Kaitaia
  • Whāngarei
  • Dargaville
  • Auckland
  • Thames
  • Tauranga
  • Hamilton
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Tokoroa
  • Te Kuiti
  • Taumurunui
  • Taupō
  • Gisborne
  • New Plymouth
  • Napier
  • Hastings
  • Dannevirke
  • Whanganui
  • Palmerston North
  • Levin
  • Paraparaumu
  • Masterton
  • Wellington
  • Motueka
  • Nelson
  • Blenheim
  • Westport
  • Reefton
  • Kaikōura
  • Greymouth
  • Hokitika
  • Christchurch
  • Ashburton
  • Timaru
  • Wānaka
  • Oamaru
  • Queenstown
  • Dunedin
  • Gore
  • Invercargill

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / The Country

Conservation Comment: Keeping it real is vital policy

By Nelson Lebo
Whanganui Chronicle·
13 Aug, 2017 06:00 PM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

No cost: Nelson Lebo and the Community Resilience Whanganui Curtain Bank, which has been hugely successful.

No cost: Nelson Lebo and the Community Resilience Whanganui Curtain Bank, which has been hugely successful.

I still remember the day a quarter-century ago when first I heard those words: "Let's not let the truth get in the way of a good story."

I thought he was joking when, in fact, he was in marketing. His plan for our organisation was to tell a story about sustainability that sounded good but had little basis in fact.

I still believe truth and accuracy matter, but it's clear they're under greater threat now than in the early '90s. We inhabit a world of fake news, alternative facts and social media echo chambers.

Read more: Conservation Comment: Kauri fate ill omen for future
Conservation Comment: Farmers have lost our respect

Social science researchers have long known people are more likely to believe research that reinforces their existing world-view.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Lately it seems this psychological preference has extended to all manner of ideas and opinions with no basis in research at all. Joe Bloggs can make something up, share it across the internet and it will be adopted as fact by people who use it to bolster their own opinions.

We're in an age when it's ok for someone with little or no training to act as though their opinion is as valid as that of a trained professional. Forget climate change and wealth inequality, the war on truth is the greatest threat to humanity.

To make good decisions, people need good information. Bad information clouds the issues, confuses people, and often results in misallocation of limited funds.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

From my observations of Whanganui, there's no correlation between a programme's funding and its efficacy. In fact, there seems to be an inverse relationship. A recent Chronicle headline on Whanganui's anti-smoking programme comes to mind: "Spent: $1.7m. Progress: 0".

This is especially true of environmental and sustainability projects, where the heaviest-funded ones have been the greatest failures, while some unfunded ones experience spectacular success.

The Community Resilience Whanganui Curtain Bank is a recent example of a hugely successful project without a budget. It joins the Whanganui Permaculture Weekend at the top of the table.

On the other hand, two highly funded community gardens were complete failures, but not long afterwards the council approved more funding for community gardens, throwing good money after bad. About the same time, the council's community and culture committee turned down a programme that had received rave reviews from participants. In both cases the decisions were based on bad information.

I don't know how it became my job to be a watchdog for the environmental movement, but it must have something to do with a distressing amount of false information, plagiarism and exaggerated claims in our local print media. I believe the arguments for environmental protection and eco-design speak for themselves; there's no need to "enhance" the stories, as this only weakens the movement overall.

Noted environmentalist Edward Abbey insisted: "Fidelity to fact leads eventually to the poetry of truth." Other people call it "keepin' it real". In that spirit, please consider:

So-called "biodegradable" or "compostable" plastics often cause more problems than they solve. Most are impossible to process in NZ and should be avoided.

Solar electricity is not cost-effective for most NZ households and has a larger carbon footprint than wind or hydro-power.

Passive solar home design is great. Those who say otherwise should be questioned on their motives.

Designing and building a cosy, energy-efficient home is not difficult or expensive and does not require certification.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

To be continued...

Dr Nelson Lebo is an eco-design consultant specialising in high-performance housing and holistic land management.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from The Country

The Country

‘Still there’: Removal of logging machine sent tumbling over cliff proving tricky

12 Jul 05:59 PM
The Country

The great 'goat menace' of 1949

12 Jul 05:00 PM
The Country

'Game-changer': Orchardist tackles seagull invasion with lasers

12 Jul 05:00 PM

From early mornings to easy living

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from The Country

‘Still there’: Removal of logging machine sent tumbling over cliff proving tricky

‘Still there’: Removal of logging machine sent tumbling over cliff proving tricky

12 Jul 05:59 PM

The damaged skidder remains stuck in a hard-to-reach location near the river.

The great 'goat menace' of 1949

The great 'goat menace' of 1949

12 Jul 05:00 PM
'Game-changer': Orchardist tackles seagull invasion with lasers

'Game-changer': Orchardist tackles seagull invasion with lasers

12 Jul 05:00 PM
'Come home': Family vintage tractor returns to original owner

'Come home': Family vintage tractor returns to original owner

12 Jul 05:00 PM
Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP