By MILNE, Amy SOME of Southland's unique locals are the large, flightless birds found in the wild only in the Murchison Mountains of Fiordland. Takahe were considered extinct until the late Dr Geoffery Orbell rediscovered them in 1948.

By HARDING, Evan `We aren't talking a Fiordland National Park here. People aren't queuing up to get into (Stewart Island).

A PIONEERING helicopter pilot, a group of muttonbirders, a community-minded business and an environmentally aware school were the winners at this year's Southland conservation awards. The Department of Conservation awards evening was held last night at the Elmwood Gardens Function Centre.

MALCOLM MACKENZIE said he was "honoured and humbled" to be part of the New Year Honours list. "It's not so much for anything I've done but rather the acknowledgement of so many people.

By MCCARTHY, Phil AIR OPERATORS will need resource consents to access certain parts of Fiordland and the Southland Coast when a long-awaited coastal management regime comes into action.