Forest & Bird Magazine 345 Aug 2012 by Forest & Bird

ISSUE 345 • AUGUST 2012 www.forestandbird.org.nz

People power How we saved the Mökihinui River

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ISSUE 345

• August 2012

Royal Forest and Bird Protection Society of New Zealand Inc. General Manager: Mike Britton Advocacy Manager: Kevin Hackwell Services Manager: Julie Watson North Island Conservation Manager: Mark Bellingham South Island Conservation Manager: Chris Todd Communications Manager: Marina Skinner Central Office: Level 1, 90 Ghuznee St, Wellington. PO Box 631, Wellington 6140. Tel: (04) 385-7374, Fax: (04) 385-7373 Email: office@forestandbird.org.nz Web: www.forestandbird.org.nz Auckland Office: 34A Charlotte Street, Eden Terrace, Auckland, PO Box 108 055, Symonds St, Auckland 1150. Tel: (09) 302-0203, Fax: (09) 303-4548 Email: n.beveridge@forestandbird.org.nz Christchurch Office: Tel: (03) 940-5522 Email: c.todd@forestandbird.org.nz Forest & Bird is a registered charitable entity under the Charities Act 2005. Registration No. CC26943.

Tiaki Taiao www.forestandbird.org.nz

Contents 2 Editorial 4 Letters 5 50 years ago 6 Conservation news

Nature of tomorrow

Meet the neighbours

Denniston high-fliers, EEZ Bill, In brief, Fiordland treasures, Land and Water Forum, Honda planting, biodiversity offsets seminar, bycatch appeal thank you, BirdLife’s 90th birthday, Mäui’s dolphins

Amazing facts about …

Backyard conservation

Cover story

Täiko turnaround

Soapbox

In the field

China’s lessons for NZ

Going places

Community conservation

Book reviews

Parting shot

Future focus with Dr Gareth Morgan, Al Morrison, Dr Jan Wright and farmers

Fernbirds in suburban Auckland

A river runs free

Eat your greens

Jonathan Watts on green growth

26 Much ado about mangroves

Should they stay or should they go?

Extra help for nature

Our people

Forest & Bird’s latest appeal

EDITOR: Marina Skinner

PO Box 631, Wellington. T (04) 801-2761 F (04) 385-7373 E m.skinner@forestandbird.org.nz DEPUTY EDITOR: David Brooks

T (04) 801-2763 E d.brooks@forestandbird.org.nz

Conservation champions, Linda Conning, Golden Spade and Pestbuster awards, Executive team, Joe Bell, Jim Lewis, Green Ribbon awards, Rob Jones, Mary MacGregor-Reid

Proud to be a member

Rangatahi

Charles and Rachel Hurford

PREPRESS/PRINTING:

Tühua/Mayor Island

Heidi Quinn’s grand tour, Christchurch streams, Bushy Park’s half century, North Island and South Island gatherings, Paremata Flat reserve, draw winners, Rangitïkei branch’s 50th birthday

Go Wild: Guiding native restoration in Tasman district, Science on Ice: Discovering the secrets of Antarctica, What Made These Tracks?

Yellow-eyed penguin by Sarnim Dean

Facebook generation

ART DIRECTOR /DESIGNER:

Rob Di Leva, Dileva Design E rob@dileva.co.nz

Microbe fight club

Bright future for Chatham seabirds

In step with Mäori

Alpine wëtä

KEEP UP WITH NATURE Like us on Facebook www.facebook.com/ ForestandBird

Watch us on YouTube www.youtube.com/ forestandbird

Printlink ADVERTISING:

Karen Condon T 0275 420 338 E mack.cons@xtra.co.nz Membership & Circulation T 0800 200 064 F (04) 385-7373 E membership@forestandbird.org.nz

Sign up to Forest & Bird eNews Fresh conservation news delivered to your inbox 6 times a year Go to www.forestandbird.org.nz COVER SHOT Some of the 120 rafters and kayakers who showed their support for the Mökihinui River, Labour Weekend 2010. Photo: Ian Trafford/iantraffordphotos.com

Silvereye 2012 Garden Bird Survey runner-up Photo: Craig McKenzie

editorial

Charting a safe course T

he idea of “values-based leadership” is a hot topic in management circles at the moment – no doubt because of the spectacular lack of values demonstrated in the banking and finance sector over the past decade or so. In a nutshell, it’s argued that values-based organisations have a number of advantages over those motivated solely by profit, including higher levels of commitment among staff and stakeholders, greater diversity of ideas and a more open and transparent culture (which enables continual questioning and faster adaptation to challenges). One of the big challenges facing Forest & Bird is how to make conservation of our environment a higher national priority. At our recent conference we had a robust discussion about how to achieve this. Among other things, we were challenged to work more closely with Mäori and to consider how we address economic issues when advocating for the environment. The issue is how to respond to issues such as these and adapt to a rapidly changing world while maintaining our principles. One way we do this on the Forest & Bird Executive is to keep in mind that the members of the Society are the “moral owners” of the organisation, and our job is to chart a course that will deliver our strategic goals while remaining true to the values you represent. Events like the annual conference are an opportunity for members to get together and discuss new and emerging issues. It’s from these discussions and other forums like branch and regional meetings, comments on our Facebook site and blog or from emails and phone calls that we can tell if we’re on track or not, and then adjust our heading for the new objective if we need to. Forest & Bird exhibits many of the characteristics of a values-based organisation: we have a mission that unifies us, strong internal values and respected leaders among volunteers and staff. These characteristics give me confidence we can successfully adapt to the challenges ahead of us and continue to chart a safe course in the future.

Ngä mihi nui

Andrew Cutler Forest & Bird President

Andrew Cutler, with Sam and June Jackson, at the opening of Forest & Bird’s Face Up to the Future conference in June.

Our 2012 highlights For a copy of Forest & Bird’s 2012 annual report and accounts, please contact us at office@forestandbird.org.nz or 04 385 7374 or PO Box 631 Wellington 6140 You can download a copy at www.forestandbird.org.nz

| Forest & Bird

Royal Forest and Bird Protection Society of New Zealand Inc. (Founded 1923) Registered Office at Level One, 90 Ghuznee Street, Wellington. PATRON: His Excellency

Lieutenant General the Rt Hon Sir Jerry Mateparae, GovernorGeneral of New Zealand NATIONAL PRESIDENT:

Andrew Cutler DEPUTY PRESIDENT:

Mark Hanger NATIONAL TREASURER:

Graham Bellamy CONSERVATION AMBASSADORS:

Sir Alan Mark, Gerry McSweeney, Craig Potton EXECUTIVE COUNCILLORS:

Brent Barrett, Lindsey Britton, Craig Potton, Ines Stager, Barry Wards, John Wenham DISTINGUISHED LIFE MEMBERS:

Bill Ballantine, Stan Butcher, Ken Catt, Linda Conning, Audrey Eagle, Alan Edmonds, Gordon Ell, Stewart Gray, Philip Hart, Joan Leckie, Hon. Sandra LeeVercoe, Peter Maddison, Sir Alan Mark, Gerry McSweeney, Margaret Peace, Eugenie Sage, Guy Salmon, Lesley Shand, Gordon Stephenson, David Underwood

Forest & Bird is published quarterly by the Royal Forest & Bird Protection Society of New Zealand Inc. Forest & Bird is a member of the World Conservation Union (IUCN) and is the New Zealand partner of BirdLife International. • Opinions expressed by contributors in the magazine are not necessarily those of Forest & Bird.

Forest & Bird is printed on elemental chlorine-free paper made from FSC® certified wood fibre and pulp sourced from responsibly managed forests. • The magazine is bulk mailed in biodegradable cellulose film, which is made from wood pulp sourced from managed plantations. • Registered at PO Headquarters, Wellington, as a magazine. ISSN 0015-7384. Copyright. All rights reserved.

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letters Forest & Bird welcomes your feedback on conservation topics. Please send letters up to 200 words, with your name, home address and daytime phone number. We don’t always have space to publish all letters or publish them in full. To read letters from this edition in full, go to http://tinyurl.com/cqpt4v2 The best contribution to the Letters page of the November issue will win a copy of Science on Ice: Discovering the secrets of Antarctica by Veronika Meduna (Auckland University Press, $59.99). Please send letters to Editor, Forest & Bird magazine, PO Box 631, Wellington 6140 or e-mail m.skinner@forestandbird.org.nz by September 28.

100% pure myth Having been involved in both tourism and conservation for almost 20 years in Kahurangi National Park, we read the article “Tourist traps” (May Forest & Bird ) with much interest. Like several other businesses, we ventured into tourism with the idea that conservation and tourism could work in partnership for the benefit of our natural world. Any gains related to that vision are now being threatened by current trends, and we are heading down a rocky road. On the positive side, there are many tourism ventures and voluntary groups that are contributing to the conservation effort in all kinds of ways, and that should be applauded, but it is a pittance compared with what is needed if we are to save what is left of our precious natural world. The steady rise in tourist numbers over the years and the so-called “eco-tourism” branding has led to New Zealand becoming a world leader in green washing. Here are some home truths that many tourism operators refuse to recognise. We are not clean and green. We are not 100% pure. We are not a country of concerned conservationists. If we were, we wouldn’t be in the mess we are in. Maryann Ewers and Bill Rooke, Motueka This letter is the winner of Birds of New Zealand.

Don’t forget our fish I was surprised to see that your backyard conservation piece about wetlands (May Forest & Bird ) neglected to mention freshwater fish. As a freshwater ecologist, I constantly run in to problems with well-intentioned people who restore or create areas that, while they may suit native plants and waterfowl, have negative impacts on native fish. For example, the native mudfish (Neochanna spp.) thrives in boggy, overgrown, ephemeral areas, which are often dug out (in the name of restoration) to create open water habitat for waterbirds. Such activities make these environments less friendly to the original mudfish inhabitants. If you are considering wetland conservation at your place, please consider the needs of our aquatic friends. Amber McEwan, Masterton

Photo: David Hallett

NZ’s care of godwits After nesting in the Arctic Circle, bar-tailed godwits put on 60 to 70 per cent body weight while preparing to make the longest non-stop endurance flight in the animal kingdom. Every September, averaging about 60 kilometres an hour at a height of 3km, it takes a bar-tailed godwit about eight days to fly the 11,000km non-stop from the Arctic Circle to New Zealand. The citizens of Christchurch are so delighted to see their amazing friends that, before the big earthquake, the Christchurch Cathedral bells pealed for 30 minutes to welcome the first godwits back. There are similar welcoming committees elsewhere, including on the shoreline at Miranda in the Firth of Thames. At the end of February the adults leave New Zealand and head back to the Arctic Circle via the Yellow Sea, where they have about a month-long stopover to rest and feed before another five-day, 7000km flight to their breeding grounds. Almost 1.4 billion people live in the three countries surrounding the Yellow Sea and all claim the mudflats for industrial developments, which threaten the godwits’ feeding grounds. The scale of development in this region is massive, with a 33km-long seawall reclaiming over 30,000 hectares of tidal flats in Korea, which in the past has hosted about half a million shorebirds. The Dongjin and Mangyeung estuaries are currently being reclaimed as part of the Saemangeum Reclamation Project. Before New Zealanders start pointing the finger, we should ask ourselves: “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own?” Do you believe that New Zealand deserves a gold for its conservation efforts? James Tanner, Wellington

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Farming viewpoint I note that a Federated Farmers official is among the people giving a presentation at the 2012 Forest & Bird conference. While it will doubtless be of some interest to hear the farming viewpoint, I consider that Forest & Bird needs to be careful it is not deceived into taking farmers at face value over the issue of water resources. In my view, Federated Farmers is playing a cunning hand over water. The organisation wants no change to the current winner takes all system, hence the endless calls for a “balanced” approach to the use of the resource. That is simply a stalling tactic to allow continued mining of our rivers. For the federation’s real position, I suggest you look at the resistance by Otago farmers to water restrictions in new management rules currently proposed for that region. No compromise there. G Henderson, Auckland

Pest-free vision Let’s go predator free, especially for mustelids, rats, mice and wild cats. It’s essential to do this in a balanced ecological way to prevent population explosions. Last to go will be deer and cats. People should be allowed to trap and even kill cats that trespass on their land. Dogs are useful as pets, in tracking predators, for essential farm and police work, guides for the blind and hunting pigs. When we have rid New Zealand of pigs there will be no need for pig dogs, which is good because they can be a menace to weka and kiwi. We should aim to control dogs more effectively, not eliminate them. A writer to the NZ Listener raised a valid question: “Where would we all go?” However, we are the only pest that knows we’re a pest. We know we are causing climate change and polluting our rivers and lakes. We can use our brains to do something about it and support Sir Paul Callaghan’s “mad idea”. Nozz Fletcher, Picton

50 years ago

WIN A BOOK Forest & Bird is giving away two copies of Kiwi: A natural history by Isabel Castro and photographs by Rod Morris (New Holland, $29.99). To enter the draw, email your entry to draw@forestandbird. org.nz Please put Kiwi in the subject line and include your name and address in the email. Or put your name and address on the back of an envelope and post to Kiwi draw, Forest & Bird, PO Box 631, Wellington 6140. Entries close on September 28. Kiwi: A natural history is for sale at Forest & Bird’s online shop at www.forestandbird.org.nz or send a cheque for $29.99 (includes packaging and post in New Zealand) to Kiwi book purchase, Forest & Bird, PO Box 631, Wellington 6140. A portion of the sale goes towards Forest & Bird’s conservation work.

Correction In the May Forest & Bird, a letter gave an incorrect email address for Friends of Rotoiti Coordinator Petr Carter at the Department of Conservation St Arnaud Area Office. The correct email address is pccarter@doc.govt.nz Please email Petr for more information on the community conservation group’s successful trapping programme.

Station owner gives bush A valuable and botanically interesting stand of 181 acres of native bush, the Blowhard Bush, on the Napier-Taihape Road has been given to the Forest and Bird Protection Society of New Zealand by Mr. and Mrs. J. N. Lowry, Oreka Station. The area of mixed native timbers is growing 2300 feet above sea-level, a height at which this type of podocarp native forest is not normally found. Experts in forestry who have inspected it have said it has features of unusual interest and that it should be preserved. The chairman of the Hastings-Havelock North section, Dr. D. A. Bathgate, said, when announcing the gift at the annual meeting of the section last night, that it represented the practical interest which both Mr. and Mrs. Lowry had taken for many years in the preservation of native bush and bird life. “It is a most valuable gift and it is very much appreciated by the Society,” said Dr. Bathgate. Forest & Bird, August 1962

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conservation

news

Denniston’s high-fliers

orest & Bird will finally have its day in court to spell out exactly why the Denniston Plateau should not be mined. The Environment Court date has been scheduled for mid to late October, when Forest & Bird, along with the West Coast Environment Network, will appeal the 20 resource consents granted to mining company Bathurst Resources last August. As our priority campaign for 2012, it’s important to keep Denniston firmly in the minds of everyday New Zealanders. Renowned nature photographer Rod Morris has been invaluable in his support, touring the country with his public presentation, Hidden Wealth – the Biodiversity of the Denniston Plateau. Rod’s talks and stunning photography have received rave reviews, raised money and given Kiwis an up-close view of the plateau’s wonderful wildlife. In Dunedin, second-year Otago Polytechnic student Gareth Hines has also been waving the Denniston flag. As part of his social services degree, Gareth and his classmates had to become actively involved with an environmental sustainability issue. The born and bred West Coaster chose Denniston, aware that it would invoke debate around shortterm economic gain versus protecting the environment. His class project ballooned into a mini-campaign. Gareth and a group of classmates held a Fly a kite for Denniston’s plight day, inviting the public to spend a Saturday afternoon kite-flying at Kitchener Street Park. The students circulated petitions and brochures, talked to the public and organised local media coverage. Gareth says the event was “a huge success”. “Even just raising awareness [about Denniston] – some people had never heard about it. The kites were great for catching people’s eyes and made them interested in what we were doing.” The students also lobbied on campus and at the local farmers’ market. Gareth, who had never been involved in environmental issues, says the class project has turned into a passion. “This is a good eye opener.” A single, striped moth has also helped turn the spotlight on the need to save Denniston. The day-flying moth, just 24mm from wing to wing, was first spotted by Wildlands entomologist Brian Patrick during the Denniston BioBlitz in early March, and soon after caught by his son Hamish.

1 It is one of the new species found during the BioBlitz and the first to be named. Brian and Forest & Bird invited the public to name the new species of Arctesthes. There were nearly 100 entries, but Brian and Hamish knew they had a winner with “Avatar moth” – named after James Cameron’s Hollywood blockbuster. “It was by far the best one,” Brian says. “It’s a novel name and the movie is about a mining company that threatens to devastate a human-like species that’s living in harmony with nature. It’s just a really good analogy.” Avatar, which will also be part of its scientific name, beat other favourites, including Orange Survivor, Bathurst Bastard, Arctesthes bioblitzia and suggestions to name it after our Prime Minister in a bid to gain government support to 2 save the plateau. Forest & Bird Top of the South Field Officer Debs Martin says the new species discovered on the plateau will inform part of our court appeal. “Results of the BioBlitz show how little we know about the real state of Denniston’s biodiversity. How we can consider mining an area that so far has shown itself to be one of a kind in New Zealand is unbelievable.” n Jolene Williams 1 Gareth Hines organised a public kite-flying day in Dunedin

to raise awareness about the Denniston campaign. Photo: Wilma McCorkindale, D Scene newspaper

2 The newly named Avatar moth. Photo: Brian Patrick

Climate change impact The Denniston campaign hit a speed bump in May when the Environment Court ruled the impact of climate change could not be considered during resource consent applications. Likewise, climate change could not be used as grounds for appeal. Forest & Bird and West Coast Environment Network have lodged an appeal against the decision, which will be heard in court later this year. 6

| Forest & Bird

Bathurst Resources’ activities on the Denniston Plateau will significantly contribute to climate change. It plans to mine 80 million tonnes of coal that, when burnt, will release around 200 million tonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Debs Martin says the Environment Court’s decision will not weaken the strength of our appeal as we still have a “very strong case” against mining consents to protect the plateau’s unique biodiversity.

EEZ Bill fails marine environment T

he Exclusive Economic Zone and Continental Shelf Bill came back from select committee in May only slightly changed, and still fails to give New Zealand’s marine environment the protection it needs. Forest & Bird Conservation Advocate Claire Browning said the Bill as it was drafted put the marine environment, industry and our international reputation at risk. “The Bill is incredibly disappointing,” she said. “A future government will have to fix it; meanwhile, there’s huge uncertainty for industry and risk to everybody else.” New Zealand’s land and our seas out to 12 nautical miles are subject to the Resource Management Act, but the EEZ has no equivalent legislation. Forest & Bird believes the EEZ Bill could have established a framework like the RMA for an area that’s home to about 80 per cent of New Zealand’s biodiversity. Claire said the EEZ Bill, like the RMA, had the job “to help decide who can develop parts of the EEZ, under what conditions; and to ensure that the environment is sustained and protected”. The Bill also failed to comply with the international environmental law requirements of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), consequently exposing New Zealand to a risk of being sued under international law. UNCLOS gave New Zealand rights over the resources in the EEZ. But countries, including New Zealand, only had the sovereign right to exploit their natural resources subject to “their duty to protect and preserve the marine environment”.

By contrast, the EEZ Bill sought “to achieve a balance between the protection of the environment and economic development”. Industry too would suffer under the inadequate Bill, Claire said. “Instead of well-understood legal language developed under the Resource Management Act and at international law, this Bill is drafted differently. “Its meaning will need to be tested, case by case. Industry will have two different Acts to comply with: the Resource Management Act within 12 nautical miles of the coast, and the EEZ legislation beyond it … Litigation about interpretation of this new Act is inevitable.”

The Exclusive Economic Zone and Continental Shelf Bill puts marine life beyond 12 nautical miles at risk. Photo: Pete Humphris

In brief Conservation grants

Happy holidays

Forest & Bird’s Waikato branch each year awards grants in memory of Lilian Valder for conservation projects. The grants are usually for $1000-$2000 and can be for individual or group projects. The closing date for applications is 30 September 2012. For more information or application forms, email macd@wave. co.nz or write to Secretary, Waikato branch, Forest & Bird, PO Box 11 092, Hillcrest, Hamilton 3216.

Book a holiday with online service Kiwi Karma and help Forest & Bird. For each $10 commission Kiwi Karma makes on a booking, half goes to one of eight charities, including Forest & Bird. The more people who sign up to Kiwi Karma and choose Forest & Bird as their charity, the more donations we will receive. To sign up, go to www.kiwikarma.co.nz

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conservation

news

Support for Fiordland’s treasures F

orest & Bird has backed calls to stop two proposed developments in Fiordland, in a public campaign that’s been compared to the watershed Save Manapöuri campaign in the 1960s and early 1970s. Save Fiordland group, which brings together residents, business leaders, political parties and grassroots organisations, is spearheading opposition to two projects that would threaten precious landscapes and native wildlife and plants. Forest & Bird has made submissions opposing the projects, which need concessions from the Department of Conservation. Riverstone Holdings Ltd’s Fiordland Experience Link project to connect Queenstown to Lake Te Anau would include construction of a 43-kilometre monorail passing through

Green MP and former Forest & Bird field officer Eugenie Sage in Fiordland beech forest that’s in the path of the proposed monorail.

Snowden Forest in Te Wähipounamu World Heritage Area. Milford Dart Ltd has proposed to build a tunnel between the Routeburn Road end and the Hollyford Valley for faster access to Milford Sound from Queenstown. In late June, Forest & Bird announced its support for Save Fiordland’s work to stop the projects going ahead and its call for Tourism Minister John Key and Conservation Minister Kate Wilkinson to decline both proposals. Forest & Bird’s Otago/Southland Field Officer Sue Maturin said: “The proposed monorail with its network of associated roads would destroy internationally significant mixed red, silver and mountain beech forest, which is home to critically threatened long-tailed bats, red tussock grassland and wetlands. These were given special recognition in an eastern extension to Te Wähipounamu World Heritage Area in 1990.” Both proposals are contrary to legislation and management plans aimed at protecting our most precious landscapes and native wildlife and plants, Sue said. Forest & Bird Conservation Ambassador and eminent botanist Sir Alan Mark, who was involved in the Save Manapöuri campaign, said there was a strong groundswell of support to stop the projects. “The local communities are as determined to stop the tunnel and monorail proposals as they were during the successful Save Manapöuri campaign.” He said this large-scale commercialisation of our world heritage area would damage our most treasured natural areas for the sake of unnecessary infrastructure. See www.youtube.com/watch?v=0hkHvlyNu28

Step up for water quality F

orest & Bird Advocacy Manager Kevin Hackwell has hailed the government’s release of the Land and Water Forum’s second report a “significant breakthrough” for improving water quality in New Zealand. The report, released in May, set national bottom lines for water quality and laid down a clear plan for reversing the declining quality of waterways. Kevin is a Land and Water Forum trustee and a member of the group that drew up the report’s recommendations. “This is a really significant breakthrough towards much better water quality in New Zealand,” he says. “We all want to be able to swim in our rivers and to stop the decline of our native fish species towards extinction. This report is an important step in meeting these goals, and we hope that the government will ensure that its recommendations are fully implemented.” The report also recommended establishing water limits for individual catchments in regional plans through a local collaborative process. This would allow local communities to set water quality limits above the national bottom lines for their catchments. “This process will be much more

| Forest & Bird

democratic and less divisive than what happens now, and should ensure a huge reduction in legal conflict over water use,” Kevin says. “This means we will all be able to put more money and resources into managing our water resources rather than into expensive and wasteful court battles.” The Land and Water Forum brings together stakeholders across industry groups, scientists, iwi, and non-government environmental and recreational groups to provide advice to the government. It will provide a third report on managing within limits, including allocation, later this year.

Win a Magellan GPS Forest & Bird is giving away a rugged and waterproof Magellan eXplorist 610 handheld GPS unit valued at $749. The ideal companion for serious outdoors enthusiasts, this gadget packs ultra-advanced features to keep you safe. Key navigation features include a 3-axis electronic compass, barometric altimeter and preloaded Summit Series Australia and NZ topographic maps with contour lines and points of interest such as camping grounds. The touch screen and programmable hard-buttons allow you to easily set waypoints and tracks while on the move. The 3.2 megapixel camera, microphone, and speaker let you record georeferenced images and voice notes along the way – great for flora and fauna spotters. To enter the draw, email draw@forestandbird.org.nz Please put Magellan GPS in the subject line and include your name and address in the email. Or put your name and address on the back of an envelope and post to Magellan GPS draw, Forest & Bird, PO Box 631, Wellington 6140. Entries close on September 28.

From left, actor Jared Turner, Frances Hayton from Auckland Council, volunteer Mark Boyd and Honda NZ managing director Graeme Seymour.

Honda reaches planting landmark H

onda’s TreeFund is close to a half million milestone, with 488,561 native trees planted around New Zealand since 2004. Honda funds the planting of 13 native trees for every new car sold. In June, Honda staff and customers planted 2000 trees at Duder Regional Park on Auckland’s south-eastern coast. The planting day marked the start of the 2012 Honda TreeFund planting season. Honda is a significant partner with Forest & Bird, and provides our field officers and other staff with fuel-efficient petrol-electric hybrid Civic cars. “We greatly appreciate Honda’s generous sponsorship, which makes it possible for our field officers to follow up conservation projects and issues in their areas,” Forest & Bird General Manager Mike Britton says. “Forest & Bird values Honda’s commitment to the environment with its impressive TreeFund and in developing new technologies for fuel efficiency and lower use of traditional fuels.”

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Unfair trade in nature Some experts are asking hard questions about whether our native plants and animals get a fair deal from biodiversity offsetting. By Jolene Williams.

ew Zealanders have every reason to be cautious about biodiversity offsetting – the trade-off between development and conservation. Ecological mitigation in theory offers environmental gains but University of Waikato PhD student Marie Brown’s research into the outcomes of mitigation measures suggests these benefits are not often fulfilled. Marie, a Forest & Bird member since high school, has for the last three years been reviewing how mitigation measures have been implemented in New Zealand. At the university’s Environmental Research Institute, she investigated 110 projects and interviewed 116 policy advisors, non-government organisations, lawyers, planners and ecologists for their views on how the measures are working in practice. She examined projects that included positive conservation action as mitigation measures, some of which included biodiversity offsets. Marie gave a snapshot of how mitigation was working at a biodiversity offsets seminar at Forest & Bird’s Face Up to the Future conference in June. “My observations don’t give me great confidence that mitigation requirements are being well-implemented,” she told the 150 people at the seminar. “Many mitigation actions required of resource consent have not been carried out well, or at all.” This raises serious concern for the future application of offsets. Forest & Bird North Island Conservation Manager and senior planner Dr Mark Bellingham says biodiversity offsetting is a more complicated form of mitigation, so Marie’s research is useful in highlighting the potential pitfalls as offsets become more commonly used in New Zealand. “My PhD research showed that councils fail to monitor their plans; Marie has shown this also applies to consents. This is a serious concern for the effectiveness of the Resource Management Act. If governments want biodiversity offsets to work, then they need to get councils and planners to monitor activities over 10 to 35-year periods of plans and consents. Then we will see if biodiversity offsetting can actually work.” Marie outlined how requiring mitigation such as offsets had the potential to be a win for nature. But New Zealand needed to improve its resource management systems, including better agency commitment and resourcing to assess ecological impacts and consent monitoring, as well as enforcement. Clearer guidelines were needed about when and what mitigation was appropriate to improve consistency and transparency, she said. The Department of Conservation is working on developing national best-practice guidelines for offsetting. DOC biodiversity offsets programme manager Gerri Ward emphasised it would serve only as a guidance document. “It’s not a DOC guide on how to offset on DOC land. These are the key steps so it represents best international practice. It won’t guarantee consents.” She said the

| Forest & Bird

Waikato PhD student Marie Brown has been researching how ecological mitigation works in practice. Photo: Catherine Bryan

document would promote a better understanding and application of biodiversity offsetting. Forest & Bird’s major concern is that offsetting will allow unsuitable projects to be consented that otherwise would be unable to proceed. Marie’s research shows this is already happening, largely because of weak systems. While working as a council officer, Marie discovered that decisions about mitigation under the Resource Management Act were “quite random and arbitrary”. It was worrying, since her council was just one of the 85 agencies that assessed about 40,000 applications every year, she said. Marie advocated an attitudinal shift that focussed more on delivering actual results because gaining consent was too often considered the end of the battle. “It’s only the beginning,” she said. “Sometimes a spade hasn’t even touched the ground, and everyone’s walking away. In fact the real issues are how we manage the development ... and what real outcomes it genuinely achieves later on.” Other pitfalls include lax monitoring and councils’ inability and occasional apparent disinclination to prosecute non-compliers. Miscommunication between developers and contractors can also cause mistakes. Forest & Bird Solicitor Peter Anderson said “robust and easily enforceable conditions” needed to be imposed on projects that used offsetting to ensure a positive result for biodiversity. Forest & Bird and other organisations will promote this by submitting on resource consents and, if necessary, appealing to the Environment Court. Peter said this watchdog role needed to continue as developments take effect. Failing to do so would mean monitoring consents “will almost certainly be inadequate and promised offsets will never materialise”. Effort, time and money would be wasted but, more importantly, biodiversity would be lost. Presentations from the biodiversity offsets seminar are at www.faceuptothefuture.org.nz

Thank you for your support T

hank you to our generous Forest & Bird supporters who donated to our marine by-catch appeal. The appeal raised more than $45,700 in four months to help our work to stop the needless deaths of thousands of New Zealand seabirds and marine mammals unintentionally caught by commercial fishers. Forest & Bird Seabird Advocate Karen Baird was thrilled with the generosity shown, and said the funds will be a huge boost to our work to reduce seabird by-catch. By-catch is also a serious threat to the survival of some of our most precious marine creatures. Forest & Bird works with the fishing industry and policy-makers, as well as running targeted campaigns to help reduce the by-catch death toll of critically endangered Maui’s dolphins and New Zealand sea lions.

One good tern ... B

irdLife International – Forest & Bird’s global partner – this year celebrates its 90th birthday. The organisation began as a lobby group to stop the use of heron, egret and hummingbird feathers in upper class women’s hats, which led to the death of hundreds of thousands of birds. BirdLife International’s forerunner – the International Council for Bird Preservation – succeeded in banning this slaughter for fashion through its education and advocacy work. Today, BirdLife has partners in 116 countries. In most parts of the world, direct consumption of birds is not the biggest cause of dramatic biodiversity loss. Now, the destruction of sites and habitats and the ecologically unsustainable use of natural resources is doing most damage. This is the main reason that more than one in eight bird species are on the IUCN Red List. The general problem is the same as it was in 1922, though, instead of The use of bird feathers, it is now the consumption of feathers – and birds, such as this tern – for energy, the destruction of forests, the women’s hats led intensification of agriculture and overto the start of an fishing of our oceans. The BirdLife international bird partnership continues its work on advocacy group in 1912. Photo: VBN these challenges.

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| 11

conservation

news

SOS for world’s rarest dolphin Mäui’s dolphins are disturbingly close to extinction, and need even more help from the government. By Jolene Williams.

he recently announced new set net ban on the Taranaki coast is welcome but falls short of adequately protecting nationally critical Mäui’s dolphins. Minister for Primary Industries David Carter announced late in June a new commercial and recreational set net ban will extend along the Taranaki coast from Pariokariwa Point to south of Häwera out to two nautical miles. The ban further extends from two to seven nautical miles for commercial fishers, unless an observer is onboard. Forest & Bird Marine Conservation Advocate Katrina Subedar says the new ban is an improvement, but not as good as it should be. “The bans don’t cover all the areas where we know these dolphins are found. It doesn’t extend into harbours and it doesn’t extend out to the 100-metre depth contour,” she says. The geographical range of Mäui’s dolphins is not dictated by distance from shore, Katrina says. As shallow-water swimmers, they are found in waters up to 100m depth and this extends far beyond the ban’s seven nautical miles limit. Mäui’s dolphins are the rarest dolphins in the world. There are fewer than 55 adults left, and set nets and trawling are the main threats to their survival. “If we don’t do anything, Mäui’s dolphins will go extinct. Even if we

| Forest & Bird

protect every area where these dolphins are found, it’s still going to take until 2050 before we’re likely to see a full recovery, and that’s only if we act now.” Katrina says requiring observers on boats will do little to stop dolphins from being accidentally caught in set nets. “It’ll give us data about the number of dolphins and other by-catch being killed in this fishery, which is really important, but it won’t stop dolphins being killed.” Taranaki commercial fishers have criticised the new ban for taking away their livelihood. But Katrina says it does not have to represent the end of the local fishing industry. “We definitely want to allow fishers to keep fishing, but we need to encourage them to use more sustainable methods. Set nets are the most indiscriminate, most unsustainable method we’ve got, and overseas they are banned and heavily regulated.” The government’s lukewarm protection measures endanger New Zealand’s international reputation. “The world is watching New Zealand closely. Our reputation for looking after nature and our environment would be destroyed if Mäui’s dolphins became extinct. And our sustainable clean, green fishing and tourism industries would also suffer,” she says.

PARIOKARIWA POINT NEW PLYMOUTH OAKURA

The temporary protection measures will be in place until the government has completed its review of the Threat Management Plan in late November. The plan will reassess natural and manmade risks to Mäui’s and the related Hector’s dolphin and recommend how the greatest risks can be mitigated. Forest & Bird stepped up its campaign to protect Mäui’s and Hector’s dolphins after three dolphins drowned in fishers’ nets over the summer. The public has shown support for stronger protection measures, and the Ministry received the largest number of submissions on marine mammals, with more than 31,000 submissions supporting greater protection measures and only 31 against. Even councils have been subjected to public pressure to act in the interests of protecting Mäui’s and Hector’s dolphins. In May, Timaru District Council received 20 submissions to its Long Term Plan urging the council to act. The council’s corporate planning manager, Mark Low, says the submissions appeared to have been generated by an online campaign aimed at prompting action at local government level. “These apparently went through other councils, even some that are landlocked,” Mark says. “It’s the first time we’ve had [submissions on] dolphins. It’s not usually our role, but Timaru does have a walkway named after the Hector’s dolphins, so it’s recognised that they’re part of the ecosystem [here], and raising awareness is part of that.” The council resolved to discuss with the Department of Conservation the possibility of encouraging an interested group to put up signs to raise awareness of the dolphins. Forest & Bird will continue to call for a comprehensive nationwide marine mammal sanctuary, which bans set nets and trawlers where these nationally critical dolphins are found.

CAPE EGMONT OPUNAKE HAWERA

New set net restrictions January 2012 dolphin capture Recreational and commercial set net prohibition (2nm) Commercial set net prohibition except when observer on board (2–7nm) Current set net prohibition

Set nets are the number one threat to Mäui’s and the closely related Hector’s dolphins. Photo: DOC

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On May 22, Meridian Energy withdrew its plan to dam the Mökihinui River, the wild West Coast river Forest & Bird spent six years working to protect. Debs Martin gives a personal view of the river and why she led Forest & Bird’s efforts to save it. Above, 120 people rafted and kayaked the Mökihinui River at Labour Weekend 2010. Photo: Ian Trafford/iantraffordphotos.com Debs Martin, left, was one of them. Photo: Andy Dennis

COVER STORY

A river runs

free T

he mist of a cool autumn morning was lifting from the tops of rätä. The dark, still forest contrasted with the white rapids cascading over granite and greywacke boulders heaved from quake-shaken mountainsides. Beside a deep pool below the rapids, I considered the conflict between the mystical wilderness opening up before me and the bulldozed track leading to where I stood. I knew Meridian Energy’s proposal to dam the Mökihinui River for hydro electricity was going to be much more than arguments over mean annual low flows, opportunities for

fish passage and possible riparian revegetation. It was about the story of a river. How could I hope to know the Mökihinui – its geological origins in the granite slabs, limestone bluffs and greywacke monoliths, its birth of waters in the outstanding landscapes of the 1000 Acre Plateau, its earthquake-shattered sides and mysteries of secretive animals. It holds the night scuttles of the great spotted kiwi, the soft fluttering of a long-tailed bat’s wings and the slow creep of the finely grained Powelliphanta lignaria – our giant land snail. Forest & Bird

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1 There’s human history, too. It’s a mere drop in time, yet the ghosts of miners and explorers echo from the gorge ramparts. Their ventures linger around hastily made fireplaces now blanketed under moss and sphagnum and dwarfed by rimu glades. Over the past six years my journeys into the Mökihinui gorge have created a gallery of impressions as I’ve tramped and rafted its narrows. My first steps into the gorge were under the guidance of Forest & Bird Old Blue recipient Pete Lusk and local resident Frida Inta – both ardent and knowledgeable protectors of this river. We stepped over roots of giant rätä draped with kiekie, and watched the last crimson blooms give nectar to our native honey-eaters. Photos and stories of the river told of the power of the river: raging more than six metres higher than where we stood, the flooding of Seddonville and the sluicing of the landslide dams from the 1929 earthquake. Forest & Bird staff, volunteers and experts rafted the river on many occasions under the guidance of Tim Marshall from Ultimate Descents. Tim understands rivers as though they are an extension of him. His calls of “hold on” as we plunged through frothing whitewater exploding over the front of our raft and “forward paddle” when we finally reached safety took us places inaccessible by foot.

While filming Craig Potton’s River series, strength was needed to hold the raft in line while the downdraft of a chopper nearly sent us into a wall of water. I valued these skills all the more on a later rafting trip when a guide – who shall remain nameless – led us into Jailhouse Rapid. A sharp downward plunge resulted in a gasp of astonishment as the raft in which I thought I was safely embedded rose up like an unfurling sail and dumped our crew into a torrid brew. There were moments of reflection when we scrambled down a safe route to the river at Tyler’s Bend and discovered an old but still used campsite with a billy, small tarpaulin and campfire perched on rocks above the river’s grasp. To sit in silence in such a cathedral, the scars of the 1968 earthquake still raw on the gorge sides above me … To see the giant slabs of rock lying in the river, the rounded boulder beaches decked with driftwood debris from floods past, and to wonder at the longfin eel that came without fear to explore my legs as they swung in the water ... We walked the gorge marvelling not only at the ancient köwhai that draped the upper reaches, but also at the sculpting skill of ancient pick axes that hewed a pathway wide enough for a donkey to carry its master’s load. It weaves 20 metres above the river, past almost vertical slopes of loose debris and granite slabs to a promised gold CONTINUES PAGE 18 >

AUG

1991

New Zealand Conservation Authority’s boundaries for Kahurangi National Park controversially exclude Mökihinui

| Forest & Bird

NOV

2006

Mökihinui area included in proposed Kawatiri Heritage Park

MAR

2008

Meridian lodges application for Mökihinui hydro project

COVER STORY ‘I’m always delighted when untouched wilderness is preserved. I was on the New Zealand Conservation Authority when Kahurangi National Park was formed, and tried to get the Mökihinui included in the park then. I hope it will be now. It is a place of great beauty and abundant biodiversity. We would have been the poorer if we had dammed it.’ Craig Potton, Forest & Bird Executive member and photographer ‘I have run the Mökihinui five times by kayak, raft and cataraft, in summer, winter, flood and bony late-summer flows. This river has been an individual experience every time but one thing is a constant and that is the feeling that you are in a place that needs to remain this way forever.’ Hugh Canard, Whitewater New Zealand patron ‘When I first visited the Mökihinui, about 30 years ago, eels writhed in abundance in the lower river at dusk. Now there are none, but plenty of introduced trout. In those days the magnificence and grandeur of the upper river scared me. Fresh and deep ridgetop-to-river scars from the two large nearby earthquakes of the 20th century dominated. I kept returning to the mystique of this largely untrammelled catchment, becoming obsessed with its beauty and challenges, where every turn on the track offers breathtaking panoramas, perfectly co-mingling the wholly indigenous and vibrantly coloured flora. Sadly, the cycleway being pushed through is destroying that utter perfection along the trail. With corporate threats on every last vestige of our natural heritage wherever a quick buck can be gleaned, only the best protection is now good enough for our Mökihinui.’ Frida Inta, Mökihinui neighbour

‘I fronted over 30 public meetings for the Mökihinui campaign over the past couple of years. We were determined to bring this amazing wild river from my part of the country to people everywhere else who had never seen it. In every place audiences were stunned at what was at stake, while I was repeatedly reminded of the writing of Edward Abbey, lamenting the permanent loss of Glen Canyon. Our victory should remind us all that when we work together and are determined, we are immensely powerful.’ Kevin Hague, Green Party MP ‘I love the Mökihinui awa because it is as natural a river as one could find, vibrant and freely part of its communities of ancient Te Tai o Poutini – West Coast – Aotearoa New Zealand. The rugged, sublime beauty of the whole wildly intact environment is as witnessed by our forebears. The Mökihinui is a great teacher, to those who visit and fish, struggle down and up the many reaches and tracks that traverse this wild landscape. I love the Mökihinui because it is there untamed and a life-long teacher of all those willing to open their eyes and activate their waewae – legs – and minds.’ Rick Barber, Tuhuru iwi, tramper, ex West Coast Conservation Board chair

Thank you all Thank you to everyone who supported Forest & Bird’s case to protect the Mökihinui River from Meridian Energy’s plan to build an 85-metre-high dam and flood 330 hectares of forest. We are grateful to the hundreds of generous people who bought mock Mökihinui share certificates, made donations, went to fund-raising events, wrote to politicians, held stalls, watched films about the river and spoke up about this special West Coast river. Your donations provided the foundation for Forest & Bird’s legal case opposing the resource consent for the dam and appealing the consent in the Environment Court, which was due to be heard this year. Your financial support also helped fund our advocacy work for the river outside the courts. Your views were heard in the media, at the highest levels of government and around New Zealand. Together we saved a river.

Mike Britton, Forest & Bird General Manager

AUGNOV

2008

Resource consent hearing begins

APR

2009

Hearing reconvenes to discuss further evidence

MAR

2010

Commissioners grant resource consent

Forest & Bird

| 17

MOKIHINUI • SEDDONVILLE

WESTPORT

2 town at Seatonville. In the riverbed the old iron bridge to Karamea lies strewn and twisted by the 1929 earthquake at the confluence with the Rough and Tumble. Towards the head of the gorge awaited a test I feared: a traverse of the sheer cliff face tens of metres above the swirling Mökihinui – Suicide Bluff. With a quick two step and no looking down, I was through, thankful for the wire ropes to secure my way. The highlight was Labour Weekend 2010, when, with the efforts of Hugh Canard and Whitewater NZ, we took more than 100 rafters and kayakers up the river on foot and by helicopter to spread the message about a river that needed saving. The river was the source of inspiration, knowledge and empowerment, but the battle to save it was not fought solely on the water. More frequently it was in the resource consent hearing room, the political debating chambers, Meridian’s offices, meeting venues around the country and even in our homes. Many individuals and groups embraced the Mökihinui not only for itself but as a symbol for all wild rivers, to protect them against the irreversible effects of damming. One of my favourite campaign actions was the Mökihinui share certificate. Artfully designed by Kieran Rynhart, the certificate acknowledged the creatures and landscapes of the Mökihinui and gave Forest & Bird members, ordinary New Zealanders, tramping groups and school kayaking courses an opportunity to help save the river.

APR

2010

Forest & Bird lodges appeal against consents

• NELSON

| Forest & Bird

SEP

2010

Forest & Bird with the Wild Rivers coalition launches a photographic exhibition in the Beehive

The Department of Conservation did a sterling job recognising the important values of the Mökihinui River and the forests that were to be drowned, and spared no effort in ensuring the case for protecting the river was well advanced. Even if we believe in David overcoming Goliath, the sheer extent of evidence required meant that with the department’s involvement an evenly balanced case was waiting to be heard in the Environment Court. That day never eventuated, thankfully. With greater understanding and awareness of the river, Forest & Bird is turning to the next step – ensuring we never again have to fight a battle to save the Mökihinui. The solution is to put the Mökihinui catchment into Kahurangi national park. We want to save it for the future, save it for the memories, save it for the recreational opportunities but, most of all, save it for itself. It deserves no less. Debs Martin is Forest & Bird’s Top of the South Field Officer. 1 Rafters on the river at Labour Weekend 2010. Photo: Ian

Trafford/iantraffordphotos.com

2 The Mökihinui’s upper catchment. 3 Federated Mountain Clubs president Richard Davies signs

an over-sized Mökihinui postcard outside Meridian Energy’s Wellington office in February 2011.

OCT

2010

120 people take part in Forest & Bird and Whitewater NZ’s Mökihinui rafting trip

COVER STORY

Some of the Mökihinui’s special species

The Mökihinui Gorge is home to 21 indigenous bird species alone. Eleven of those are threatened. Whio (blue ducks) are nationally endangered and their population in the Mökihinui and wider Kahurangi area is described by terrestrial ecologist Mike Harding as “nationally important”. About 700 whio pairs remain in the South Island. Meridian’s reservoir would have permanently wiped out nearly 23 kilometres of important nesting and feeding habitats. Whio seeking new territories elsewhere would have faced fierce opposition from other ducks, leading to permanent displacement, low reproductive success or death. Great spotted kiwi are found only in north-west forests of the South Island. DOC science advisor Colin O’Donnell says this threatened kiwi species is present in good numbers in the Mökihinui Gorge and within the project site “and as such form a significant nucleus for sustaining this species”.

Our endangered giant land snails are mostly found in the South Island’s north-west corner and, unusually, four subspecies of Powelliphanta are found in very close proximity around Mökihinui. Powelliphanta lignaria lignaria, P. l. lusca and P. l. unicolorata are classified as nationally vulnerable and and P. l. ruforadiata as nationally endangered. DOC science advisor Kath Walker says the dam would have caused at least 60,000 individual Powelliphanta to drown, fragmented remaining populations and removed about 90 per cent of the contact zone between the subspecies in

2011

Forest & Bird launches an e-card petition outside Meridian’s Wellington office

MAR

Aquatic ecologist Mike Joy says the Mökihinui represents a “significant population” of the threatened endemic longfin eels – nearly 3 per cent of our national stock of longfin eels in waters protected from commercial harvest with access to the sea. One estimate suggests that hydro-electric dams have blocked longfin eels’ access to the sea in 35 per cent of its habitat.

FEB

the gorge. During floods the river occasionally throws back together snails from each of these well-differentiated subspecies. This secondary contact zone makes the Mökihinui Powelliphanta of extraordinary value in the understanding of evolutionary processes.

2011

Forest & Bird launches Mökihinui share certificate fundraiser

Long-tailed bat populations in the top of the South Island have declined dramatically over the last 50 years and are now rare to the area. Few long-tailed bats live within the project area but high numbers have been detected upstream of the Mökihinui forks, 1.7km from the proposed site. The bats in the wider catchment area comprise one of the few large populations remaining in the South Island. Terrestrial ecologist Geoff Walls says the area contains northern rätä forest among the best in the country. “Healthy northern rätä has become a rarity in most of its former strongholds ... [and yet] the population in the Mökihinui Gorge is healthy and vigorous and undoubtedly supports native nectar-feeding birds and invertebrates to a considerable degree.” The shrub daisy Olearia cheesemanii is nationally threatened. It occurs in pockets around most of the country but the north of the South Island provides a stronghold. The shrub daisy is vulnerable to weeds, and its survival is further threatened by hydro developments that disrupt natural flood cycles responsible for creating new habitats and dislodging weeds. Photos: Rod Morris 1, 2, & 3, Kath Walker 4, Debs Martin 6

22 MAY

2012

Meridian Energy withdraws consent and Forest & Bird proposes including Mökihinui catchment in Kahurangi National Park

Forest & Bird

| 19

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soapbox

In step with Mäori For some iwi, their cultural heartland is in a national park. We should embrace this link to the land, not fear it, argues Mike Britton.

t is human nature to fear change, especially when that change has implications for our parks and reserves. As the mining debate proved, national parks are special in the psyche of Kiwis and valued by even those who do not visit them. As a former national parks and reserves manager, I come from a day when the objective was for parks to be part of the conservation estate. People were out of the equation, except when they were enjoying recreation. So it is easy to see why Treaty of Waitangi claims that involve the conservation estate, especially national parks, are viewed as a real threat. Our public conservation lands have, historically, not been seen as an asset of the government of the day, but rather held in trust for all New Zealanders. Forest & Bird has believed that public conservation lands should not be seen as a “cheap” alternative to settle Treaty claims in preference to financial recompense or productive lands and assets. But where the land involved has special significance to iwi, the situation is different and it is here the fear of change and possible loss of important natural areas from the protected estate starts to cause concern. Ngäti Tüwharetoa paramount chief Sir Tumu Te Heuheu has, in significant speeches at international Parks Forum conferences and at the opening of Forest & Bird’s Ruapehu Lodge, gone a long way to explain what co-governance means to his people. He enunciates seven principles based on the nature of the gift (of the peaks of Tongariro) and the relationship of the donor tribe to the land. He speaks of the bond between the tribe and the land, not just when land was gifted but also if it was sold, confiscated or otherwise

Mt Ruapehu in Tongariro National Park, which was gifted by Ngäti Tüwharetoa in 1887. Photo: Simon Hayward

| Forest & Bird

alienated. He stresses that Mäori have an underlying feeling of responsibility towards the land, and alienation does not excuse the tribe from that responsibility. With Tüwharetoa and Tongariro, the mountain refers to the tribe as well as the place and vice versa. Sir Tumu recognises that the Department of Conservation has overall responsibility for ecological, heritage, cultural and political management of the park. The tribe’s role should not, however, be forgotten or neglected. An important part of the transfer of authority is the way that power is shared or not shared. The concept of partnership is not fulfilled by consultation and there is no power in the National Parks Act to share control. Cultural values relate to beliefs and history. Conservation values cannot be dissociated from the values of people. Cultural values are about human wellbeing and overlap with environment values. Sir Tumu notes that Mäori are not seeking to reduce public access and engagement but rather to maintain cultural values. Understanding the relationship between Mäori and the land is an important step to considering the implications of specific Treaty settlements. The big one at the moment is Ngäi Tühoe’s claim over Te Urewera National Park. Tamati Kruger, chief negotiator for Tühoe, gave Forest & Bird’s Face Up to the Future conference an abbreviated history of the wrongs suffered by the Tühoe people. These wrongs are real and serious and Te Urewera is core to the spirit of Tühoe. They want ownership of the park returned. So how does Forest & Bird respond to such a radical proposal and one that last year caused the Prime Minister to backtrack at the 11th hour? The area should remain protected and enjoyed as a national park. There should be the opportunity for input from the general public, and the Conservation Authority (or a special authority) should have the management planning sign-off. On-the-ground management should be by DOC. These things accord with the wishes of Tühoe. And there are real benefits. Ownership of the park by Tühoe would bring the enclaves into common management and allow complementary development. And the spiritual and historical relationship of Tühoe the people with Te Urewera the place would be restored. It is a step into the unknown and a little scary. But all around Aotearoa, Mäori are our partners in a wide range of conservation activities – marine and freshwater protection, species recovery, environmental sustainability. If we want nature to be protected and sustained, we will only do it in partnership with the wider community. Mäori are key to achieving that, and relationships have to be built on trust. We need to take that step. Mike Britton is Forest & Bird’s General Manager.

China’s lessons Journalist Jonathan Watts believes China is showing up some Western nations when it comes to green growth. By Jolene Williams.

hina’s development is important to us all, according to Forest & Bird Advocacy Manager Kevin Hackwell. With the world’s fastest-growing economy, largest standing army and increasing international influence, China is tipped to become the next global superpower. But Kevin is speaking entirely from an environmental perspective. China’s appalling pollution problems are well-known. However, many people don’t realise China is also pouring huge amounts of money into renewable energy sources in a bid to stop the environment further deteriorating. The Guardian journalist Jonathan Watts visited New Zealand in April, delivering a public lecture tour during which he described China’s potential to be a world leader in developing green industries. His lecture – Red China, black China, green China? Sustainable growth and its limits – was based on his observations from the past nine years working in Beijing as the United Kingdom newspaper’s Asia environment correspondent. Jonathan talked about China’s dependence on coal for energy, rapid industrialisation and the subsequent environmental fallout. Here Watts describes severe biodiversity loss, polluted waterways, strained resources and diminishing glaciers and severe droughts as evidence of climate change. Though referring to China, those environmental impacts are portentously similar to the issues we’re facing in New Zealand. Most of our lowland rivers are unsuitable for swimming. Seventy-seven per cent of New Zealand’s threatened

| Forest & Bird

species look set to decline. And despite the growing urgency to reduce global carbon emissions, New Zealand’s coal production rose 17 per cent between 2009 and 2010, with further development being eyed up on the Denniston Plateau. Kevin says New Zealand can get a few environmental lessons from China. The first: recognising climate change is happening. “China is doing some serious planning for dealing with climate change in the future. That’s something we’re not particularly good at.” The second is responding to the fact that green technologies are the future. It’s time to move away from fossil fuel mining and large-scale hydro and invest in solar and wind power. China has realised this and is making huge steps to develop a greener economy. The remote desert province Gansu, for example, was once dominated by coal mines and steel factories. But in just three years it’s become a huge wind farm with a wind energy capability roughly equal to the entire wind capability of the United Kingdom. That’s set to triple by 2015, and it will become the biggest wind farm in the world. Elsewhere in the province, the government has constructed a solar power plant with some 76,000 solar modules. These are just two examples. A Pew report in 2010 reported China has become the world’s largest investor in renewable energy technologies, investing $34.6 billion in 2009 alone.

1 China puts up 36 wind turbines every day. Photo: Land

Rover Our Planet’s /Creative Commons

2 Coal mining on Mt Augustus on the West Coast of

New Zealand.

for NZ

Despite the optimism, Watts warns against getting too excited. He drives home the point that China has only the potential to lead the world in developing greener industries. “Some people talk about China as a green superpower. Yes and no. Around 2–3% of China’s energy is from a renewable source, but still coal dominates everything,” he says, and points out coal supplied about 70 per cent of China’s energy needs in 2010. Jonathan arrived in Beijing in 2003. “[Since then], cement production has gone up 250 per cent. The number of cars has gone up five-fold.” Development is happening at an astronomical rate. China may be a 3000-year-old civilisation, but it’s in the body of an industrial teenager, he says. China is trying to curb the environmental destruction caused by industrialisation while trying to catch up to the West. Kevin says New Zealand is already starting to see benefits of China’s investment in renewable energy. Meridian Energy’s recent withdrawal from damming the Mökihinui River is a prime example, he says, of how China’s push towards sustainability is affecting other countries. “There were environmental and legislative reasons for Meridian’s withdrawal, but a key reason was also economics. The economics of hydro don’t compare to wind anymore, given the price of wind turbines from China.” The call for a greener economy again echoes New Zealand’s situation. In June business group Pure Advantage released a report, New Zealand’s Position in the Green Race, that demonstrated the need for New Zealand to pursue green growth and highlighted the importance of renewable energy. The result, it suggested, would be potentially large, positive economic growth. The report says: “What is ultimately required is a partnership between government and industry.

3 China is the world’s biggest emitter of carbon dioxide

but, paradoxically, its shift to green technologies could prove to be the world’s saviour, according to Jonathan Watts. Photo: Paramount Services

3 Government’s role is to create the right set of policies and the right regulatory environment for green growth opportunities. The role of industry is to give effect to these opportunities.” Support for Pure Advantage is widespread. Generation Zero spokesperson Louis Chambers says: “the old ‘environment versus economy’ argument is a false choice and out of touch with the realities of the 21st century”. The catalyst for change lies with our country’s leaders to commit to developing a greener future and to make those first moves. Our environment and our economy are at stake. Jonathan says the United Kingdom taught us how to manufacture in the 19th century, the United States taught us how to consume in the next, and now someone needs to teach the world how to sustain. He believes that someone could be China. Forest & Bird, Pure Advantage and other future-looking organisations believe that someone could be New Zealand. Jonathan Watts wrote When A Billion Chinese Jump and since July has been based in Brazil as The Guardian’s Latin America correspondent. Commercial cleaning company Paramount Services brought him to New Zealand. Forest & Bird

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Much ado about

1 26

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MANGAWHAI

WHANGAMATÄ

2 RAGLAN

TAURANGA ÖHIWA

In the communities living around our northern harbours few issues can raise as much passionate argument as mangroves. Should they stay or should they go? By David Brooks.

mangroves T

he debate about cutting down our native forests was settled in favour of conservation decades ago, but arguments over our native mangroves won’t be going away soon. One reason for this is that mangroves are spreading and some see them as a weed – albeit a native one – rather than the foundation of a valuable ecosystem. “A lot of these arguments, because they involve small communities, can be very divisive,” says Forest & Bird Seabird Conservation Advocate Karen Baird. Karen has experienced these bitter arguments first hand through her work trying to protect mangroves at Mangawhai Harbour in Northland and at Whangateau, north of Auckland, where she lives. She treasures the mangroves that start at the end of her back lawn. “I canoe through those mangroves and come out into the estuary. It’s a marine forest, it’s beautiful, you get all this dappled light coming through and weirdly twisted trees and further down you get these quite deep channels. You see schools of fish swimming around and you can hear banded rails calling from the mangroves, which is really cool,” she says. Mangroves have been in New Zealand for 19 million years but their spreading in recent decades appears to be happening where land clearance and harvesting of plantation forests have increased the amount of mud flowing towards coastlines. It settles in relatively sheltered harbours and estuaries, creating the perfect habitat for mangroves.

Forest & Bird North Island Conservation Manager Mark Bellingham says the expansion of mangroves may have accelerated in the last few decades because government agencies and councils have discouraged farmers from grazing cattle and sheep in the mangroves. Grazing has declined and coastal subdivisions have in many cases taken the place of farm land on the water’s edge. Waikato Regional Council Harbour and Catchment Management Co-ordinator Emily O’Donnell says many harbour residents want mangroves cleared for several reasons. Among these are the rate mangroves are expanding, the resulting impacts on open-water views and recreational use of harbours, as well as the perceived or actual decline in harbour health. Ecological values, flood control and impacts on other habitats are also taken into account by the council. Forest & Bird has opposed proposals for largescale mangrove removal in several harbours, including Whangamatä, Mangawhai and Tauranga. The circumstances vary in each case but the underlying concern is that mangroves provide valuable habitat for native species. Mangroves are crucial for banded rails, which have all but 1 Topsoil washed from cleared land settles in sheltered estuaries

and harbours, and creates perfect conditions for mangroves. Photo: Rob Suisted

2 A flounder among mangrove roots. Photo: Roger Grace

It’s a marine forest, it’s beautiful, you get all this dappled light coming through and weirdly twisted trees and further down you get these quite deep channels. Karen Baird Forest & Bird

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5 disappeared from the inland wetlands they used to inhabit throughout New Zealand because of introduced stoats and ferrets. “Around 95 per cent of all the banded rails in New Zealand are found in mangroves in the northern harbours. Research I’ve done shows they spend about three-quarters of their time feeding in the mangroves and they retreat into the rushes at high tide,” Mark Bellingham says. Forest & Bird has also been active in opposing plans to clear mangroves at Mangawhai Harbour because of their importance for one of the world’s most endangered shorebirds, the fairy tern, of which 43 individuals remain. “We have done work on rails and fairy terns but I suspect there are other links to mangroves in the extended food web. Mangroves also provide an important wildlife corridor for birds moving between patches of bush, and some bush birds nest and feed in mangrove forests,” Mark says. Marine biologist and photographer Roger Grace says mangroves support juvenile populations of fish including parore and yellow-eyed mullet. Flounder are also found among the trees, along with shrimps, triplefins, gobies, oysters, barnacles, snails and other creatures. “There is no way it can be called an impoverished environment, as some people like to argue,” he says. Forest & Bird is not always opposed to mangrove clearance but sometimes the way they are cleared is one

of the main problems. The Bay of Plenty Regional Council in 2010 started mechanically removing and mulching mangroves in parts of Tauranga Harbour. The mulch was left on the flats in the expectation the tide would carry it away but that generally failed to happen, says Forest & Bird Central North Island Field Officer Al Fleming. NIWA has been investigating the results and preliminary findings show that 15–21 months after mulching much of the waste has failed to clear and there has been little sign of recovery in the marine life, partly due to poor oxygen levels in the mulch and mud below. “I think the regional council should take a deep breath and take notice of NIWA and hold off on any further mechanical removals. Research undertaken by regional council staff concluded that at one mulched site there has been a change over time towards restoring bare sandflats. This is contrary to NIWA’s findings over several sites within the harbour. By and large, what I’m seeing is a muddy mess,” Al says. The real answer is to stop silt from catchments flowing into harbours – a solution generally accepted by all sides. Emily O’Donnell says the Waikato Regional Council sees mangrove management as just one small part of harbour and catchment management. “The council, through the harbour and catchment plan process, now takes a more hands-on approach – mangrove management has become part of our

Mangroves also provide an important wildlife corridor for birds moving between patches of bush, and some bush birds nest and feed in mangrove forests. Mark Bellingham 28

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river and catchment management role, we are working in a more holistic way with all the affected stakeholders and the different teams within our own organisation,” she says. “By looking at the bigger picture, by looking at and addressing the causes of mangrove expansion, that will help find a solution,” she says, adding that more scientific research is needed to help inform future decision making. In Whangamatä, the decade-long deadlock over mangrove management – which resulted in illegal clearances by residents in 2005 – has ended after Forest & Bird and the council came to a compromise in which clearances will be confined to areas of lower ecological value. “I said I don’t want them cleared in the upper harbour where the best wildlife values are. I’m a bit more relaxed about some other areas because they will probably be cleared illegally anyway,” says Mark Bellingham, who negotiated the deal on Forest & Bird’s behalf. He says Forest & Bird has never advocated conserving all mangroves everywhere. “From early on we’ve said if there’s a problem with infrastructure – jetties, drains and so on – some clearing should be allowed. That includes plucking seedlings, because in the longer term we want the catchment sediment issues settled. I hope in the medium term we will see a collaborative approach with foresters and farmers in the same room as coastal communities and Forest & Bird.” 3 Mangroves in Tauranga Harbour were cut down and mulched.

High tides mostly failed to carry away the debris. Photo: David Brooks

4 Juvenile parore in a mangrove forest. Photo: Roger Grace 5 Mangrove seedlings. Photo: Roger Grace 6 Banded rails make their homes among mangroves.

Photo: Dick Veitch/DOC

7 Fairy Tern. Photo: Jordan Kappely

Fairy terns’ future at risk At Mangawhai Harbour in Northland, proposals to clear half the mangroves could seal the fate of one of our most endangered birds, the fairy tern, says Forest & Bird Seabird Conservation Advocate Karen Baird. An earlier proposal by the Mangawhai Harbour Restoration Society to clear all the mangroves in the harbour was rejected by planning commissioners last year but the group this year appealed to the Environment Court with a proposal to remove around half of the mangroves. This was a case where there was no room for compromise, Karen Baird says. “The risks to fairy terns were still too great even if they only did some of the mangrove removal. We would be happy with them pulling out mangroves, particularly in the lower harbour, but in any removal of mangroves in the areas the fairy terns seem to like to feed would be too big a risk.” The total population of fairy terns is just 43 and half the breeding population of eight to 10 pairs is at Mangawhai. Karen Baird says the mangroves proposed for clearance in the middle harbour area are one of the favourite feeding areas of the terns, according to a study done by Auckland University researcher Steffi Ismar. “If you remove the mangroves, you won’t eliminate the fish altogether but there’s a good chance the population of gobies, shrimps and the other fish the terns feed on will decrease markedly. The risks are too high to be mucking around with those mangroves.” Increased boat traffic and any dredging in the area would further diminish it as a feeding ground for the terns. Forest & Bird

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Mangroves of the south New Zealand’s native mangrove Avicennia marina, or mänawa in Mäori, is the most widespread mangrove species in the world, extending from East Africa to Asia and through to the Pacific. The southern extremity of its range is at Raglan Harbour on the west coast of the North Island, closely followed by Öhiwa Harbour on the east coast. A poor tolerance to frost is believed to be the main factor stopping its spread further south. Mangroves are found in sheltered harbours and tidal estuaries. The largest mangrove trees – up to 12 metres high – are found in the far north but in the southern limits of their habitat, they are mostly less than one metre tall. The height of mangroves can also vary a lot in individual estuaries and harbours. Taller trees are mostly found on the seaward edges of forests, especially near tidal channels while those on the landward side are usually much smaller. Mangroves use aerial roots, or pneumataphores, that extend upwards from a buried root network to absorb oxygen during low tide. Mangroves have large seeds, which germinate on the plant before dropping into the water and being dispersed by wind and tides. Germinating seeds settle in mud and trees may live for more than 50 years.

Mangrove seeds germinate before dropping from the tree. Photo: Rob Suisted

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Just 43 New Zealand fairy terns remain. Photo: Jordan Kappely

Extra help to give a

voice to nature

undraising is a full-time endeavour for Forest & Bird as we work to ensure we have sufficient funds to help the growing list of endangered native plants and animals or save a fragile ecosystem from inappropriate development. Our recent success in defending the wild Mökihinui River from an 80-metre-high dam is an example of the power of our supporters. It demonstrates that individual New Zealanders can make a difference, that one voice does matter and that together we can achieve great things. Our members are the lifeblood of Forest & Bird and your membership fees provide basic – yet critical – funding for our work. We are immensely grateful for your support, passion and commitment. Without you, we simply could not have achieved all that we have. However, there are many new and urgent environmental issues that we would like to work on and more species that depend on us to give them a voice. We rely on a wide range of funding sources, including membership fees, grants and bequests, but there’s always so much to do and we aim to have sufficient income. Bequest income is unpredictable and grant funding is a highly competitive arena that fluctuates. We need to be better resourced so species and habitats don’t have to be marginalised due to lack of money. Throughout the year we run fundraising appeals to secure the additional donations we need to continue our work. Many of our supporters donate to these appeals, and for that we are immensely grateful. This additional funding has allowed us to campaign to save the Denniston Plateau and the Mökihinui River, protect our seabirds and marine mammals from unsustainable fishing practices and countless other conservation projects across the country. In Forest & Bird’s latest appeal, we are focussing on species that are perhaps not as well known as kiwi or käkäpö, tuatara or takahë. These understudies to those star species are just as deserving of our support. In some cases they are more critically endangered than their better-known brethren. Our native plants and animals are part of rich, fragile and complex ecosystems and each species is vital to the health of the whole. If we were to lose one of these species – famous or not – an ecosystem would be harmed and we as a people and as a nation would be poorer. To support our appeal, go to www.forestandbird.org.nz/ support-us or phone us at 0800 200 064.

TCBP1

TCDP1

TCDB1

TCRD2

our people

Conservation champions Four Old Blues were awarded at this year’s annual conference, and two went to couples, reflecting the important role many couples play in conservation work. The awards are named after Old Blue, the Chatham Islands black robin that saved her species from extinction – a fitting symbol for the people doing everything they can to stop plants, animals and landscapes from disappearing.

Eleanor Bissell

Anne Fenn

Jack and Anne Groos

Eleanor Bissell of Christchurch was long overdue for recognition, according to those who have seen her dedicated conservation work in and around Christchurch and especially her passion for working with children in the Kiwi Conservation Club. Eleanor has led the North Canterbury branch’s Kiwi Conservation Club (KCC) group for more than 15 years, and is renowned for her commitment to sharing with them her love of nature. “She is a natural leader; to watch her with children is quite a revelation. She had been a teacher and this shows in the way she presents things in imaginative ways most people would never think of,” says KCC National Co-ordinator Ann Graeme. Jane Demeter, who works with Eleanor in KCC and is also a former Environment Canterbury councillor, says her enthusiasm, energy and passion stand out. “She is incredibly empathetic with children, the kids love her. New Zealand would be a much better place if everyone was as committed as Eleanor in effecting change – she really walks the talk.” Eleanor has been closely involved in other Forest & Bird and conservation projects, including the restoration of Travis Wetlands on the outskirts of Christchurch.

Anne Fenn is a familiar name to many at Forest & Bird after 25 years of commitment to the Society. Anne joined the Central Auckland branch in 1987. She went straight on to the committee and was chairperson for over a decade. Anne’s involvement has spanned advocacy, project development and serving on the National Executive. KCC National Co-ordinator Ann Graeme highlighted Anne’s contribution to KCC and conservation education. Anne says her proudest achievement was instigating Central Auckland branch funding the revamp of the KCC website in 2009. “Getting one single branch to fund an administrative issue, which all the branches would gain from, was a thrill. The success of the KCC website in getting information about conservation to kids is tremendous,” she says. Anne continually works to engage others outside the Society. She established a Facebook page for greater Auckland. She has also helped achieve notable environmental gains behind the scenes, working with Auckland’s Watercare on behalf of the environment, she was on Auckland’s Conservation Board for eight years and co-founded Auckland Naturally, which led to the development of Auckland’s wildlife corridor, the NorthWest Wildlink.

Jack and Anne Groos of Tokoroa have been on the frontline of conservation in South Waikato for a quarter of a century. The Groos have both taken key roles in Forest & Bird’s South Waikato branch since it was formed in 1987 and have driven many conservation and environmental projects in the area. “They are very different people but they work together very well. Anne works with people and Jack is more single-minded and between them they are very effective,” says former branch chairperson and Forest & Bird Distinguished Life Member Gordon Stephenson. Jack has been on the branch committee for 25 years, served as secretary for 23 years, has published the branch newsletter for the last 15 years and has taken a leading role in restoring the Jim Barnett Reserve, and Lake Moana-Nui, as well as raising tens of thousands of dollars. Anne, who has chaired the branch for the last 12 years, is a natural leader and initiator, Gordon says, and has been the driving force behind several important environmental initiatives in Tokoroa, including carrying out a survey that led to the Kinleith Pulp and Paper mill improving its emissions. She has organised branch events and written a large number of submissions on behalf of Forest & Bird.

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Linda Conning awarded DLM L Bill Rooke and Maryann Ewers Bill Rooke and Maryann Ewers are passionate advocates of conservation and of the Kahurangi National Park. Beyond their advocacy, they have also poured energy into pest control work in the park. They have been guiding visitors in Kahurangi National Park since 1993 with their Bush and Beyond guided walks business and have been organising predator control in the park since 2001. “They are the most amazing couple, they are genuine to the bottom of their toes and people just love them,” says the chairperson of the Golden Bay Branch of Forest & Bird, Jo-Anne Vaughan. The couple set up the Friends of Flora group in 2001 after noticing the decline in birdlife in the Flora Stream catchment of Kahurangi National Park. After 10 years the group had grown to around 100 volunteers, who service 590 traps across an area of around 5500 hectares. Through their business they also started trapping work near the adjacent Cobb Valley, linking with another group doing pest control work there. The Friends of Flora also reintroduced whio, or blue ducks, into the Flora catchment as well as great spotted kiwi.

inda Conning’s outstanding contribution to conservation was celebrated with Forest & Bird’s highest honour, the Distinguished Life Member award. Linda has worn multiple hats across all levels of the Society over the last 30 years, including committee posts in the Far North and Eastern Bay of Plenty branches, convenor of the Society’s Legal Sub-Committee and representing Forest & Bird in the Environment Court. She’s also been active organising projects at a grassroots level. The Whangaroa Ginger Project was one of her most successful projects. Although she describes it as “five years’ hard slog”, it was hugely effective tackling the weed that had taken over land surrounding the Northland harbour. Its success encouraged attacks on ginger in other areas and when she left Northland the Department of Conservation employed someone to do the work she had previously done for free. During the last 18 years, Linda has worked for better protection of wetlands and significant natural areas by district councils in Whakatäne and western Bay of Plenty. Forest & Bird North Island Conservation Manager Mark Bellingham says her work has greatly helped promote the protection of significant natural areas in the upper North Island and, importantly, “set the pattern for how councils, landowners and Forest & Bird should address biodiversity conservation in the future, through the planning process”. Linda is perhaps best known for her legal work. Forest & Bird Executive member Ines Stager has worked with Linda for over 15 years and credits her “tireless” effort, “professionalism” and “thorough ecological and legal knowledge” for her environmental wins. “More recently, Linda has led the successful case to protect the landscape values at Köhï Point in Whakatäne from poorly designed and located subdivision development. This case, which has been running for 10 years, typifies Linda’s thoroughness and commitment to the long haul,” Ines says. Mark points out that Linda has remained a constant figure throughout the case while other parties have had a revolving door of representatives. Linda served nine years with New Zealand Conservation Authority, including two terms as a Forest & Bird nominee, where she was influential in the decision-making of national conservation policies, strategies and management plans. Linda says fighting for conservation can seem unending, but she remains committed to the cause. “They’re all important things that need to be done, and someone’s got to do it. “If we just give up, we’re saying ‘I’m going to let them pursue this destructive society’. I just can’t bear the thought of that. We have to do something about it. If more people do something, even if it’s small, it would be a completely different world.” Forest & Bird

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our people

Riverside planter wins Golden Spade R

obyn Jones of Collingwood won Forest & Bird’s annual Golden Spade award for her leadership of the Golden Bay Streamcare project to help protect stream banks on dairy farms in her area. The award recognises Robyn’s work as co-ordinator of the Forest & Bird project, which has been replanting stream and river banks on farmers’ properties in the region. “She is totally passionate – highly disciplined but also gentle and modest,” says Forest & Bird’s Golden Bay branch secretary Jo-Anne Vaughan, one of the founders of the project. “She wants to leave a Golden Bay substantially more beautiful and ecologically healthy than when we started.” The damage caused by dairy cows to river banks and the pollution caused by their waste is a major environmental issue throughout New Zealand, and the Streamcare project has been working with farmers to make a real difference to water quality in Golden Bay. Robyn runs a nursery behind Collingwood School, and grows at least 6000 plants a year. The nursery grows 12 types of native plants suited to riverside planting, including cabbage trees, coprosmas, toetoe and köwhai.

Robyn also co-ordinates the volunteers who plant and maintain the native plants in the riverside strips. She sees the value of the project going beyond improving the local environment. “For me, the planting is an aesthetic thing, too. I have a vision of New Zealand with streams planted in a patchwork of vegetation in farming areas,” Robyn says. The Streamcare project started in 2005, with nurseries established in the backyards of project members. As demand grew, Robyn developed the current nursery about four years ago. Farmers have seen the success of the project, and more have asked for help in planting their own stream banks.

Golden Spade winner Robyn Jones, who has helped regreen Golden Bay riverbanks.

Rotorua pestbusters bring back birds F

rances and James Blakely and the volunteers of the Tikitapu Forest & Bird Care Group near Rotorua have won the annual Pestbusters award for their work in helping restore native plant and animal life. The award recognises animal pest control projects run or led by Forest & Bird branches. The Blakelys and other volunteers from the Rotorua branch of Forest & Bird and the community have been using baits to control predators for more than a decade at the Tikitapu Reserve on the

Pestbusters Frances and James Blakely and other Rotorua volunteers of the Tikitapu Forest & Bird Care Group have been blitzing predators for more than a decade.

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edge of Lake Tikitapu, or Blue Lake. The project started in 2001 with the aim of saving the fast dwindling native mistletoe in the reserve, and it has also boosted regrowth of the rest of the forest and the numbers of birds such as tüï, bellbirds, grey warblers, kererü and tomtits. “The bush is looking much healthier and there has been lots of regrowth,” says Frances. “We received a letter from someone who has lived here for many years and she congratulated us, saying she hears an amazing dawn chorus that was not here before.” The project has grown to cover an area of about 150 hectares with 153 bait stations to control mainly rats and possums. The baiting is done in the spring months when birds are nesting and possum numbers are starting to build up. Monitoring suggests a sharp decline in possum numbers in recent years. Rat numbers tend to build up again in the months between baiting operations but their numbers are decimated during the crucial nesting months when birds, their eggs and young chicks are most vulnerable. Frances took over as co-ordinator of the care group in 2004 and since then her involvement has grown, along with that of her husband James. She organises the volunteer team, made up of a hard core group of about 20 people, and does a large amount of administration. James does a lot of work on the ground, such as bait line maintenance and preparation for bait laying.

Executive team returns F

orest & Bird’s Executive line-up is unchanged after this year’s annual general meeting, which followed the Face Up to the Future conference at Te Papa in Wellington. Andrew Cutler continues as President, with Mark Hanger as Deputy President and Graham Bellamy as Treasurer. Other Executive members are Brent Barrett, Lindsey Britton, Craig Potton, Ines Stager, Barry Wards and Jon Wenham. Andrew said a common theme of Forest & Bird’s conference was the need for conservation to become a mainstream issue. “The wide range of speakers and attendees at our conference, ranging from business people, farmers and environmentalists, all said it is critical we tackle these problems and put sustainability at the heart of everything we do,” he said. “We have to look after our environment if we want the environment to look after us.” Andrew said the stereotype that Forest & Bird always opposes developments and industry was out of date and just plain wrong. “We recognise that working with industry and business is part of the answer to our conservation crisis,” he said.

Forest & Bird’s Executive, at back from left, Treasurer Graham Bellamy, Deputy President Mark Hanger, Jon Wenham and Ines Stager. At front, Brent Barrett, Lindsey Britton, President Andrew Cutler and Barry Wards. Absent: Craig Potton.

Royal Forest & Bird Protection Society

CONSERVATION CALENDAR 2013

NEW ZEALAND CONSERVATION DIARY 2013

Featuring images of both wildlife and wilderness habitat from New Zealand’s extraordinary natural heritage and conservation areas. Weighs less than 200g for economical postage.

includes post and packaging

This beautifully produced diary includes photographs of New Zealand landscapes, plants and wildlife. It includes ‘week to view’ pages and is spiral bound so it will lie flat when open.

includes post and packaging

Both calendar and diary are available now. Send orders with cheque and delivery details to: Craig Potton Publishing, PO Box 555, Nelson 7010, New Zealand To order online please visit the Forest & Bird website: www.forestandbird.org.nz or www.craigpotton.co.nz

Forest & Bird

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our people

Golden Bay poet spoke for nature J

oe Bell, 67, a long-time Forest & Bird member, died in June after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer earlier in the year. After working as a fisheries officer, he retired to family land in Golden Bay and served as the chairperson of the local Forest & Bird branch during the years immediately before his 15 years on the Golden Bay Community Board. He was a member of the board, then its chair. Joe was a well-loved, gentle and respectful community leader, passionately focused on Golden Bay’s wellbeing. He was a formidable fighter against any forces that threatened the community or the environment. Also known locally and in the wider community as a poet, he was able to say things in verse that might otherwise have seemed too confrontational. For many years he organised a monthly live poets evening at the local Mussel Inn. Perhaps Joe’s greatest contribution was the gentle

and respectful way in which he guided Golden Bay into being a more integrated community, in which every voice was heard. He had a powerful understanding of democratic principles and a strong sense of justice. The wellbeing of the Golden Bay community stood paramount in his leadership, and he led with wisdom and insight. When he was very sick, a tötara was planted at Mangaräkau Lodge to honour him. He will be greatly missed. Our thoughts are with his wife Margaret, his children Brian, Christine and Peter, and his small grandson Leroy. n Jo-Anne Vaughan

North Shore leader ‘made a difference’ W

ith the passing of Jim Lewis, 83, in April, Forest & Bird’s North Shore branch lost an environmental warrior who made an extraordinary contribution to conservation at a local level and nationally. If Jim saw an environmental issue that needed to be addressed, he got stuck in, and his presentations were always informed, fluid, persuasive and motivating. When Jim moved to Auckland’s North Shore 40 years ago, he became concerned about environmental issues including water quality and loss of native vegetation. He worked tirelessly to protect streams and to stem habitat loss. Since 1991 he was involved in RMA matters, working up to 40 hours a week for more than 12 years to ensure every application for a resource consent that affected the natural order of the North Shore was

vigorously debated. Planning staff at the former North Shore City Council respected Jim, and he changed Forest & Bird’s relationship with the council with his professional submissions. Jim was North Shore branch chair from 1994-98 and again in 2007, and he was involved in several local environmental projects including Tuff Crater and Kauri Glen. He worked with the Okura Environment Group opposing proposed council zoning to allow greater subdivisions, revise sewerage plans, and to ensure that the Long Bay Regional Park area was extended. He challenged the Department of Conservation and Auckland Regional Council when he believed their plans were inadequate to achieve environmental protection, and he supported issues at a national level. In 2006 Jim received Forest & Bird’s Old Blue award. North Shore branch chairman Richard Hursthouse said at Jim’s funeral: “Jim was our kaumätua, leader, taonga and mentor. He was highly respected and, above all, he made a difference.” n Liz Anstey

Awards for going green

orest & Bird congratulates all winners and finalists in the Green Ribbon Awards announced on World Environment Day on June 5. The annual Ministry for the Environment awards honour individuals, businesses and organisations that protect and enhance the environment. Forest & Bird’s Upper Hutt branch was a finalist in the caring for our water category for its Hulls Creek restoration in Silverstream. Forest & Bird’s major corporate partner, Honda New Zealand, was a finalist in the large business

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leadership category for its TreeFund, which has planted more than 480,000 native trees. Hurunui College’s Nina Valley Restoration Group – which featured in February’s Forest & Bird magazine – won the communication and education section for its pest control in North Canterbury. Nominations for next year’s Green Ribbon Awards open to individuals and groups in early 2013. More information at www.mfe.govt.nz/green-ribbon

Bringing back butterflies F

orest & Bird’s new Central Auckland branch chairperson is butterfly mad. Rob Jones has bred them since he was aged eight. He’s travelled thousands of kilometres in search of rare alpine butterflies, and he’s establishing a population of threatened butterflies in Auckland through translocation and planting. Four years ago, Rob initiated a scheme to re-establish a healthy population of red and yellow admiral butterflies in Auckland and perhaps expand this to other threatened species, such as our endangered forest ringlet butterfly. Aerial spraying to get rid of the introduced tussock moth in the 1990s and council-directed eradication of nettles around One Tree Hill, Mt Eden and Ambury farm have led to a dramatic drop in butterfly numbers. To kick off his project, Rob opened up his backyard to butterfly enthusiasts. Several hundred aspiring breeders have visited, and Rob has given them larvae food (Urtica ferox nettle, or ongaonga), a tour of his backyard butterfly

breeding programme and tips on how to keep parasitic wasps at bay. “A few of the people are in their 80s and they remember having red and yellow admiral butterflies in their gardens as kids, and they’re keen to see them back,” he says. He’s also made several missions to Christchurch in search of caterpillars. Unlike most native wildlife transfers, a Department of Conservation permit is not required to move admiral butterfly larvae. “I just head into the Port Hills and pluck the caterpillars off the nettle there. I then put them into containers with food and water, and then fly them up to Auckland – easy as that,” he says. “I’ve successfully translocated and hatched 300 to 400 yellow admirals and 150 red ones. Unfortunately, there hasn’t been such a good hatch rate with the reds because parasitic wasps get to them first.” To ensure the butterflies have enough food, Rob has permission to plant nettles in Balmoral and Meadowbank reserves. He’s also established a butterfly house in Eden Gardens. “The groundswell of support has been extraordinary. This is just the start really. The next stage is to introduce other species like the endangered forest ringlet and our gorgeous copper butterfly into Auckland.” n Mandy Herrick Email rob.jones@xtra.co.nz for more information 1 Rob Jones cuts a piece of stinging nettle with a chrysalis on it so

he can hatch it inside where it will be safe from parasitic wasps. Photo: Angela Moon-Jones

2 Auckland’s red admiral butterfly population has plummeted in

the past 20 years. Photo: Steve Attwood

Running for nature A

ucklander Mary MacGregor-Reid burned a lot of calories and raised $1255 for Forest & Bird when she completed the Rotorua half-marathon in April. Mary has been a Forest & Bird member and a volunteer at Ark in the Park in the Waitäkere Ranges for several years, helping with hihi feeding, kökako nest monitoring and pest control. Last year she had less time to spare as she built up her design company, Black Robin Design. “At the end of last year I thought I would contribute by doing some fundraising seeing as I wasn’t able to give my time. I’ve always been terrible at running so I made the crazy decision that a half-marathon would be a good idea,” Mary says. “I went from only being able to run for 10 minutes to being able to run for 2½ hours in only a few months.” Mary’s partner Soames also ran at Rotorua. “When I was running the half-marathon and feeling like I wanted to just sit down and stop I thought about the kökako, robins, hihi,

wëtä and geckos in the Ark and knew I couldn’t let them down by giving up” Forest & Bird greatly appreciates Mary’s support for Forest & Bird – and we hope you keep running!

Mary MacGregor-Reid after completing the Rotorua half-marathon and raising more than $1000 for Ark in the Park.

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proud to be a

member

Nature runs in the family The Hurford siblings are doing their bit to protect the environment in different parts of the world. That includes going the extra mile for Forest & Bird.

harles and Rachel Hurford live oceans apart but share a commitment to conservation and Forest & Bird. The brother and sister grew up on a small farm in Hororata in Canterbury, and their parents inspired a passion for the outdoors. “My parents passed on to us a love of nature and a strong sense of social and environmental responsibility,” says Rachel, who has returned to live in Christchurch five years ago after a decade in the United States. Charles, who is a radiographer in London, says he loved nature from an early age. “I remember what great excitement we all had when we heard a morepork calling one evening from the hedgerow outside our house. Another memorable moment was seeing a pod of Hector’s dolphins on a boating trip around Akaroa. Growing up in New Zealand, we could swim and catch eels in local rivers that are now polluted, and I hunted rabbits on pine plantations that have been turned into dairy farms.” Charles joined his father on many tramping trips in the Southern Alps. “We loved the remoteness of the mountains. Now I live in the UK and realise how lucky we were to be living on the doorstep of such wilderness.” The siblings are committed Forest & Bird supporters, and Rachel this year became co-secretary of the North Canterbury branch after three years of voluntary work on Forest & Bird’s Schedule 4 mining and Mackenzie Country campaigns and organising the Denniston BioBlitz in March. On the other side of the world, Charles has collected petition signatures for Forest & Bird’s campaigns to protect the Mackenzie, Mökihinui River, Denniston Plateau and national parks from mining. “Forest & Bird is dedicated to

saving the suffering native flora and fauna of New Zealand that I love. Without Forest & Bird, who would be there to stand up for our wildlife when it is being threatened?” Rachel, who has a small property management business, supports Forest & Bird because we must give nature a voice. “The status quo will not suffice, particularly the current focus on mining, the proposed lignite plant in Southland, New Zealand’s dismal performance regarding its commitments to the Kyoto Protocol and climate change mitigation.” After Rachel’s second child was born, when the family was living in the United States, she became concerned about climate change and environmental sustainability and the kind of planet her grandchildren might inherit. “Back in 2005-2006 my husband Andy and I petitioned all 654 towns and cities and counties in New Jersey to get their mayors to join the US Mayors Climate Protection Agreement. The New Jersey State Senate endorsed this, and I was involved in the Sierra Club’s Cool Cities Campaign, which encouraged cities and counties to reduce emissions at the local level,” she says. “It was then that I really understood that we have a responsibility to do our bit by speaking up for what we believe in. I think that climate change is the biggest threat facing humankind and nature today, and I think that people tend to put this issue in the too hard basket and prefer to continue with the status quo.” Charles also cares about nature in London, where he’s lived for the past 15 years. He is a trustee of Perivale Wood, a fragment of ancient oak forest in West London and Britain’s oldest nature reserve. He manages the 80 nest boxes in the wood.

Without Forest & Bird, who would be there to stand up for our wildlife when it is being threatened? Charles Hurford

2 1 1 Charles Hurford collected 120 signatures for Forest & Bird’s

Denniston petition at a display in London this year.

2 Rachel Hurford and her chook Cloud. Photo: Ian Dyson

| Forest & Bird

If you have a story to tell about why you joined Forest & Bird or why you’re proud to be part of Forest & Bird, please let us know. Send your letter (up to 200 words) to Marina Skinner, Forest & Bird, PO Box 631, Wellington 6140 or to m.skinner@forestandbird.org.nz Members who appear on this page will receive a copy of the beautiful hardback Kermadec: Nine Artists Explore the South Pacific.

rangatahi our future

The Facebook generation Young conservationists explain how social media is spreading their messages. By Jolene Williams.

1 “

et’s celebrate the naivety of youth,” quipped humorist Te Radar as he introduced the panel of bright-eyed conservationists at the Nature of Tomorrow youth forum in Wellington. The audience of mostly baby boomers (and beyond) chuckled in response before the six rangatahi, or young people, on stage got stuck into the serious business of polluted waterways. The panel at Forest & Bird’s annual conference at Te Papa represented a cross-section of young environmentalists. From 14-year-old Bridget White to Young Greens coconvenor Jackson James Wood, their interests were spread widely between politics, science communication, field work, green economics and staging campaigns. They touched on the hot issues of the day. TK Hawaikirangi, a Department of Conservation Mäori conservation cadet in Hawke’s Bay, spoke about his experience with self-setting possum traps. Bridget’s school conservation group, Project Planet, is organising a protest against shark finning. The issues weren’t new, but the discussion revealed how best to engage with young people and use technology to improve the environment. Technology plays a huge part of the youth conservation movement, with people using social media to share experiences, network and rally public support. One audience member asked if clicking the “like” button to support a campaign’s Facebook page had any real effect on bringing environmental change. Tarsh Turner, the youngest member of the Coal Action Network Aotearoa national organisational group, said social media allowed her to connect easily with smaller affiliated groups around the country. “We see our national group as the glue that keeps everyone informed of what’s happening. So everyone knows what’s planned, what the implications are; it’s about information sharing.” Jackson said the “ultra-networking” capabilities of digital media kept him up-to-date with events around the country

as they happened. For example, the Wellingtonian can instantly find out about mineral exploration in Northland, while keeping abreast of lignite mining in Southland, ultimately giving him a bigger-picture understanding. Technology is also a way to engage directly with young people. “Don’t write me a letter, I won’t read it. I move house every year because of rent. Email me, Facebook me, send me a Youtube clip,” Jackson said. The audience also questioned youth’s more typical apathy and inertia toward conservation. Tarsh said: “We are worried. It’s just finding ways to get them active.” Kimberley Collins, a self-confessed “nature nerd” studying for a Masters in science communication, said lecturing people didn’t help. “One thing I’ve learnt, as soon as you go in and guilt people, they’re just going to switch off. You need to go in and empower them and make them feel like they’re contributing.” There’s nothing apathetic about these six rangatahi. They’re keen for change. They got a rough deal inheriting a planet plagued with depleted resources and a warming climate. And they know they can’t rely on the government or older generations to safeguard the environment’s future. As Auckland engineering student Sarah Hall said: “The biggest threat to this planet is not taking action and letting someone else save it.” 1 The panellists at Forest & Bird’s Face

Up to the Future conference in June.

2 TV presenter and author Te Radar

sparked entertaining debate among the young conservationists.

2 Watch the youth forum at www.youtube.com/forestandbird

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Future focus Forest & Birdâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Face Up to the Future conference at Te Papa in June took a step towards setting a conservation and environment agenda for the next 25-40 years. Speakers tossed up controversial ideas and sparked debate. David Brooks profiles three of the stimulating conference sessions.

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Face up to the Future

CONFERENCE of 2012 Nature tomorrow

NATURE OF TOMORROW

Conservation for everyday life Dr Gareth Morgan shared his ideas about the environment, business and society.

usinessman and philanthropist Dr Gareth Morgan attracted media headlines during the Face Up to the Future conference by attacking the “green extreme” and “simple tree huggers”, which obscured his message about the need to incorporate conservation into our economy and everyday thinking. “We need to grow up and mainstream conservation and environmental enhancement. It must be integral to our dayto-day decision-making,” he said in his keynote speech. The public profile of environmental protection and conservation has swung from extreme to extreme – from being of marginal public interest to headlines over tree sit-ins and a matter of national pride when New Zealand’s clean, green image is mentioned by visitors, he said. “We are hypocritical on this issue – we love taking credit for the image but exhibit high levels of complacency integrating it into our daily lives.” Conservation and environmental issues are seen as “nice to haves” rather than essentials integrated into our daily lives and decision making, he added. “Jobs and families are our dominant preoccupations, and conservation and environment tend to be only occasional visitors into that space. Recycling bins seem to be our most telling advance.” There are plenty of warning lights flashing about the state of our environment as the global population grows and economic development steps up, he told the conference. Beijing cyclists wear face masks to protect their lungs, the quantity of plastic rubbish washing up on isolated sub-Antarctic islands is growing exponentially and the impact of climate change on humans and ecosystems is becoming increasingly evident. On the positive side, as wealth rises, people become more concerned about their environment and more willing to do something about it. Consumer pressure builds for more environmentally friendly products, governments regulate more and businesses become aware that environmentally sustainable products have a competitive advantage. Dr Morgan said our response to environmental pollution and conservation has so far been confused and contradictory. For instance, in New Zealand, the price of carbon credits has collapsed because the cost of emissions has been subsidised two-for-one, effectively sabotaging the Emissions Trading Scheme.

There is an ad hoc and polarised approach to conservation caused by waxing and waning public concern, policy failure and the absence of user-pays mechanisms for environmental degradation. The result is local councils and taxpayers are often left to pay for clean-ups. “We must price environmental degradation directly to those who cause it – on fossil fuels, on waterway pollution, on waste disposal,” he said. Prices for these products would rise but the proceeds could be used to reduce prices for products using sustainable processes. He claimed conservation had been captured by the so-called green extreme, an alliance of anti-economic development activists and “tree-hugging conservationists” with no understanding of the cost/benefit analysis that should be the basis of green solutions. Conservationists have to be realistic and recognise when the cost of a conservation policy outweighs the benefit. A polluter-pays approach and the stripping of ideology from conservation were crucial to mainstreaming it our in our daily lives, he argued. “Only then will integration of conservation into our day-to-day decisions have been achieved and tub-thumping activism have been relegated to a relic of the past.” Forest & Bird Conservation Advocate Claire Browning said Forest & Bird agreed with a lot of what Dr Morgan said. “Like him, we’re determined to see the environmental health of New Zealand and global ecological health at the heart of all decision making, including economic decision making. We share his views on robust evidence-based analysis, and the importance of working together. To analyse a problem with ideological blinkers on, and indulge in rhetorical tub thumping, is bound to fail: it gets attention, but in the end it doesn’t progress matters far,” she said. But she also agreed with Green MP Eugenie Sage that more than 40,000 people who walked down Queen Street to protest against plans to mine on specially protected Schedule 4 conservation land could not be dismissed as “simple tree huggers” opposed to economic development. Claire said: “The protest was heartfelt, and it was also backed by solid economic analysis about the value of leaving some things off limits. In the end, it’s not an extreme position to defend nature’s bottom line, it’s a responsible one”.

We must price environmental degradation directly to those who cause it – on fossil fuels, on waterway pollution, on waste disposal. Dr Gareth Morgan Forest & Bird

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Nature the economic driver DOC Director-General Al Morrison and Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment Dr Jan Wright see ways that business and conservation can work well together.

onservationists need to change the way they think, and the orthodox view of conservation and business being in conflict needs to be dumped, Department of Conservation Director-General Al Morrison told the conference. In a session entitled Whose business is conservation?, Al Morrison said the traditional way of doing things had led to “a massive environmental debt in this country for future generations”. “Conservationists have to challenge the thinking that got us in this mess. The alternative is to go on constructing fences around some small areas to protect a few species and ecosystems for future generations to peer at and wonder what New Zealand would be like if we hadn’t messed up,” he said. A review of DOC’s work on biodiversity in 2005 showed it was failing to halt the decline in New Zealand’s biodiversity despite increased funding. The department worked out that the decline would continue even if funding was raised to a level higher than the government’s health budget. A new approach was needed that broadened conservation beyond what DOC could do on its own, he said. At the same time, more people were becoming aware of the impacts of climate change, biodiversity loss, degrading ecosystems and other environmental impacts. There was a realisation that the health of our environment would determine our economic health and long-term prosperity. Conservation had a history of hugely dedicated people resisting developers’ attempts to wreck the landscape and destroy ecosystems and biodiversity. This was necessary but a different approach was needed now, Mr Morrison said. “The very real concerns of climate change, the loss and degradation of ecosystems and biodiversity, and pressures of a burgeoning population create an ethical imperative for conservationists to lead across a much broader front and redefine what conservation success means,” he said. Much more needed to be achieved for conservation than DOC could do working within its own resources. DOC was forming partnerships with iwi, the community, local government, private landowners and business. ‘‘By partnership, I mean a relationship where both parties benefit and the effect is to significantly increase conservation achievement.“ More businesses wanted to get involved and, worldwide, conservation and business leaders were increasingly seeing a critical link between the economy and biodiversity. Conservationists needed to encourage sustainable development, and that sometimes meant giving up some things to make gains elsewhere. Another major

We need to show others that living in harmony with nature is necessary if we are to thrive as a truly prosperous nation. Al Morrison 42

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Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment Dr Jan Wright believes commercial use of parts of the conservation estate could help pay for vital pest control. Photo: Ngä Manu Images

hurdle was orthodox economic thinking that suggested a country had first to be economically wealthy before it could be environmentally healthy. “History, logic and plain commonsense tells you it is the other way around. “We still do have a chance to put things right. We need to confront the economic orthodoxy that is standing in the way and reassert nature in the engine room of the economy. We need to show others that living in harmony with nature is necessary if we are to thrive as a truly prosperous nation,” he said. Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment Dr Jan Wright told the conference that commercial exploitation of areas in the conservation estate could help pay for vital work such as controlling rats, possums and stoats. Pest control is currently carried out on just an eighth of the conservation estate. “I’d want to put revenue from commercial users into a trust fund so that the pest control can go on into the future – in perpetuity.” Dr Wright’s office is investigating commercial use of the conservation estate and it has found that companies, such as miners, are often paying low fees for access to the land and there is no consistency in how payments are calculated. There are also issues about the low level of protection for stewardship land – land still to be assessed for its conservation values – which makes up about a third of the conservation estate and about nine per cent of New Zealand’s total land area. Trade-offs or offsets could make sense if they led to a real benefit for conservation. Dr Wright welcomed Meridian Energy’s decision to withdraw plans to build a hydro dam on the Mökihinui River because the offer to do pest control on 35,000 hectares of its catchment would not have adequately compensated for the damage to the river and surrounding land. In her view, if Meridian had offered, for example, to pay for pest control work over the entire South Island in perpetuity, the trade-off would have been worthwhile.

NATURE OF TOMORROW

Greening our farms Farmers from different backgrounds gave their views on more sustainable ways of working the land.

onservation and farming have often been seen as in conflict in recent decades as the impact of agricultural intensification – especially the dairy boom – on water quality has come into focus. But a conference session on sustainable farming showed some farmers are facing up to the need for farming to play a part in improving our environment. A new generation of farming leaders, including Federated Farmers President Bruce Wills, now recognise farming has environmental responsibilities. “Farming is important to New Zealand and is needed to pay our bills but it needs to be sustainable,” Mr Wills told the conference, adding that the long-term viability of the industry rested on sustainability. He said that 30 years ago, farmers were being paid to clear marginal hill land that in hindsight should never have been cleared. At that time, the pendulum swung too far towards maximising production without heeding environmental impacts, especially on water quality. “We know some land was cleared that should not have been cleared. We are now closely involved with the Land and Water Forum and are putting our money where our mouth is,” he said of the government-appointed body of stakeholders – including Forest & Bird – working collaboratively to improve water quality management. The former banker, who took over as head of Federated Farmers last year, said he was making environmental issues a priority, along with being more collaborative and communicating with urban New Zealand. But he emphasised his view that sustainability had to be balanced against the need for farming to be productive and profitable. The conference also heard from a pair of farmers who have put sustainability at the heart of their businesses. Jeff Williams, a Manawatü biological dairy farmer, has drastically reduced the use of fertilisers and other chemicals on his farm in the last four years. He has also reduced the number of cows per hectare to about the level of 30 years ago but profitability is higher than four years ago because costs are far lower. “Farming today is carried out on the basis of what I call the moron theory. It’s all based on getting more cows in each paddock, and applying more fertilisers to maximise production.” By returning to a more natural way of farming, Mr Williams said soil and animal health had improved on his farm and the result was better-quality milk. He even has a flock of chickens he moves around the farm to help fertilise the paddocks by breaking up cow manure as they hunt for insects. He said that if New Zealand farming worked with nature, it would build its reputation for quality food and be able to charge higher prices, rather than continue to accept the world price for bulk commodities. “When farmers get the foundations right – that’s the soil – then the sky is the limit.” Dan Steele owns Blue Duck Station, a beef and cattle station, at Öwhango on the banks of the Whanganui River.

Not only is he a farmer, he also describes himself as a hunter, conservationist and entrepreneur. “After travelling the world for a couple of years, I realised how important it is to protect what we have here in New Zealand,” he said. He has established four tourist lodges on his property and has a network of 450 traps to control stoats, rats, mice and hedgehogs to protect the whio, kiwi, bats and other native wildlife in the bush and on the river. “I don’t believe agriculture is the backbone of the New Zealand economy; the environment is the backbone of the New Zealand economy,” he said. “Conservation in New Zealand has to be driven by business. Everything we feel proud of here is driven by our conservation image.” He agreed with Mr Williams that the route to prosperity was through increasing the value of everything New Zealand does, rather than simply lifting production. “I see value in capping the number of animals we have now. We need to get more money out of every animal we have.” More stories from the Face Up to the Future conference, page 10 and page 39.

‘I don’t believe agriculture is the backbone of the New Zealand economy; the environment is the backbone of the New Zealand economy,’ says farmer Dan Steele. Photo: Aalbert Rebergen

Tell us what you think

How do you see the future of conservation? Do you agree with the views of our conference speakers? Do have a different vision? Send your thoughts to Marina Skinner, Forest & Bird, PO Box 631, Wellington 6140 or email m.skinner@ forestandbird.org.nz

More stories and videos from the Face Up to the Future conference are at www.faceuptothefuture.org.nz Forest & Bird

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Meet the | Forest & Bird

TE ATATU PENINSULA

• HARBOURVIEWORANGIHINA RESERVE AUCKLAND

Michael Coote and Kent Xie investigate the secret life of fernbirds living in New Zealand’s largest city.

he fernbird, or mätätä, is reputed to be a drab, secretive, weak-flying, raggedy-tailed and otherwise unremarkable little creature. More often heard than seen, it cries mournfully from invisible reaches of dismal swamps, according to legend. In reality, fernbirds are a lively and fascinating part of New Zealand’s unique endemic birdlife. They’re our only representatives of the old world warblers or Sylviidae, a group of small, invertebrate-eating songbirds that characteristically make loud calls. Fernbirds are regarded as an indicator species of the ecological health of New Zealand’s imperilled wetlands. Farming and urban development have claimed more than 90 per cent of these specialised habitats. That wetland-dwelling fernbirds have continued to survive against the odds, especially in unexpected places, tells an encouraging story. The extensive estuarine wetland in the HarbourviewOrangihina reserve on Auckland’s suburban Te Atatü Peninsula has the sort of native vegetation that offers good cover for the North Island fernbird (Bowdleria punctata vealeae) to hide, nest and rummage through in search of food. Harbourview hosts wetland native plants such as saltmarsh ribbonwood (Plagiantus divaricatus), coastal tree daisy (Olearia solandri), pöhuehue or mattress vine (Muehlenbeckia complexa), oioi (Apodasmia similis), beaded glasswort (Sarcocornia quinqueflora), and coastal mangrove (Avicennia marina). The reserve is separated from the western edge of Waitematä Harbour’s Motu Manawa

(Pollen Island) Marine Reserve by the Whau River’s tidal channel. Nearby Pollen Island, a scientific reserve physically surrounded by extensive mangrove swamp, is also home to fernbirds. Determined to obtain incontrovertible proof that fernbirds still inhabit Harbourview, just eight kilometres west of Auckland’s bustling Queen Street city shopping precinct and in plain sight of Te Atatü Peninsula’s eastern coastal suburbia, we set off in January to gather photographic evidence. Fernbirds live territorially in pairs and will inquisitively emerge from hiding to check out who’s entered their patch. The knack for inciting their natural curiosity is to blow short, percussive whistles that sound like the locating calls they make when hunting together in dense vegetation. By whistling, we lured a pair of fernbirds to break cover from a clump of dense native scrub down near the foreshore behind Harbourview’s Longbush Pond. Kent took photographs of one of the birds, including an action shot when it flew straight at him. Harbourview’s fernbird colony survives despite introduced predators such as mice, rats, mustelids, hedgehogs, cats and dogs. Apart from these, the main challenge for the fernbirds appears to be invasion of their native scrubland and reed bed home by aggressive exotic weeds including kikuyu grass, blackberry, gorse and convolvulus. These weeds should be removed and replaced by fernbird-friendly restoration planting. Forest & Bird’s Waitäkere branch is a staunch supporter

neighbours 1 The reclusive fernbird. Photo: David Hallett

2 Kent Xie, left, and Michael Coote at Harbourview Reserve.

Photo: Kent Xie

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of the fernbirds of Harbourview, and we made submissions to Auckland Council’s Henderson-Massey Local Board, arguing for the restoration planting needed in the reserve. From this winter, Auckland Council is funding a trial stoat trapping programme in Harbourview, which Forest & Bird Motu Manawa Restoration Group’s volunteers are working on. In the long term, we would like to see fernbirds reintroduced to nearby Traherne Island, where they appear to have become locally extinct, once the New Zealand Transport Agency has finished expanding the State Highway 16 motorway causeway between Waterview and Te Atatü. After closely watching fernbirds in various habitats, we think of these birds as strong, agile, alert, intelligent and elegantly plumaged hunters perfectly adapted to wetland environments. Not long after our first Harbourview fernbird spotting, we took a guided party back to the site and whistled up another bird that put on quite an aerial display, winging around us from bush to bush. Our case is proven: fernbirds continue to live and breed in Harbourview, with suburban Aucklanders for near neighbours. Michael Coote and Kent Xie are members of Forest & Bird’s Waitäkere branch. For more information on Forest & Bird’s Motu Manawa Restoration Group, see www.forestandbird.org.nz

3 Harbourview-Orangihina reserve is a backyard for Te Atatü

Peninsula residents. Photos: Kent Xie

4 There are five fernbird subspecies. 5 Wetland at Harbourview.

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| Forest & Bird

Fernbird watch

ernbirds (Bowdleria punctata) once ranked as one of the commonest native birds in New Zealand but their numbers have dropped with widespread destruction of wetlands. Five distinct subspecies have evolved, on the North Island, South Island, Stewart Island, Codfish Island and sub-Antarctic Snares Island. An allied Chatham Islands species (B. rufescens) is now classified as extinct. Fernbirds may be more widespread than thought, since during the past year we have seen the North Island subspecies (B. punctata vealeae) in habitats ranging from estuarine scrub and reeds (Auckland city and near Ohope), mountain bog forest (Waitäkere Ranges), and elevated swamp and exposed ridges (Egmont National Park). n Michael Coote and Kent Xie

WETLAND WATCH

2.4 million

hectares of wetlands were once in New Zealand

hectares of wetlands remain

0.4% of Auckland’s wetlands remain 22%

30%

of New Zealand’s birds and many migrating birds feed and rest in wetlands

of New Zealand’s native freshwater fish live in wetlands

5 ✱ 470 native plants grow in wetlands ✱ Wetlands are water filters, trapping pollutants that wash off surrounding land ✱ Wetlands collect topsoil before it runs into the sea ✱ Wetlands are reservoirs during heavy rain and reduce flooding ✱ Wetlands trap carbon as plants die and remain on the wetland floor

Photo: Jon Sullivan

250,000

Amazing facts about…

ALPINE WETA

By Michelle Harnett

he winter started off with a bang this year – early snow falls, heavy frosts, freezing southerlies laughing at our warmest clothing. At least we can seek some shelter from the weather but what about those animals living high in the Southern Alps? One particular insect species survives by being freeze-thaw tolerant. The alpine, mountain stone or Mäori wëtä, Hemideina maori, a close relative of Wellington and Auckland tree wëtä, lives on rocky outcrops in the mountains of the South Island. The weather in the mountains is unpredictable and temperatures can drop below freezing at any time of the year. To cope with this uncertainty, the Mäori wëtä has developed some fascinating features that make it one of the largest and heaviest insects in the world that can withstand being frozen. High levels of certain chemicals found in its haemolymph (insect blood) are the Mäori wëtä’s answer to cold weather. One is the sugar, trehalose, which protects cells from damage during freezing. The other is the amino acid proline. Scientists think proline helps to stabilise cell membranes and proteins during the freezethaw cycle. The overall effect of the Mäori wëtä’s adaptations is that while the water in an insect’s body freezes, vital organ cells do not, and the wëtä can survive months at -10°C. However, the wëtä is in danger if temperatures fall below -10°C and its organ cells start to freeze. To guard against this, the wëtä has another strategy – it simply avoids being frozen if at all possible. Baby wëtä hatch during the summer months, making the most of warm conditions and abundant food to grow as much as possible before winter returns. Spending large portions of their life in suspended animation slows the growth of the hatchlings and it takes them three to four years to become mature adults. Mature adults can live for a further three to four years. Mäori wëtä’s life span of seven to eight years is two to three times longer than that of their lowland cousins. Many of us feel that we spend winter in a freezer, and complain about the cold and discomfort. Perhaps we should envy the Mäori wëtä, which switch off and ignore the storms raging above their rocky shelters and deep burrows, waiting until it is warm enough to defrost themselves and emerge into the light of spring. Forest & Bird

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The microbe

fight club

Home composting is simple, incredibly satisfying and can help save the planet. By Kathy Ombler.

very year, thousands of tonnes of organic waste are dumped in New Zealand. In landfills, organic material accounts for 30 to 50 per cent of all waste. Once in the landfill, this waste generates methane which, when released into the atmosphere, becomes a greenhouse gas about 20 times more potent than carbon dioxide. Composting, that age-old system of nature that not only turns your food scraps, garden and other organic waste into nutrient-rich soil nourishment, also cuts the amount of organic waste going to landfills and the generation of methane. Wellington City Council research estimates that if 50,000 city dwellings composted two kilograms of food and/or garden waste a week, up to 5200 tonnes would be diverted from its landfills annually. Extrapolate that to all the households across the country and home composting really is a no-brainer. The good news is that anyone can do it, whether home is a sheep station, suburban quarter-acre paradise or sixthfloor city apartment. There’s no end of advice available on

| Forest & Bird

how to do it. Most council websites have pages explaining the niceties of making compost and farming worms. Don’t be put off by technical talk – of enzymes, temperature requirements and carbon/nitrogen ratios. Grant Lyon, who runs composting workshops for Wellington’s Innermost community gardens, says it’s not necessary to go into science. “The microbes don’t have a degree and they can work it out.” There are so many ways to make compost. Choose the one that suits you, is his advice. “What system you choose should depend on the area you have, how much time you have and your budget – although major investment isn’t required to be effective.” The quality of your compost is determined by the quality of what you put in. “Just food scraps and lawn clippings are not enough; most clippings come off poor-quality soils. There are plenty of ways of introducing nutrition, for example adding seaweed or mineral-rich gypsum. “Most important is adding a balance between green (fresh) materials, which are high in nitrogen, and brown (dry)

BACKYARD conservation

materials high in carbon. Healthy compost equals healthy plants, and insects and diseases generally attack poorer plants,” he says. “The key is to cut it up, add thin layers and variety and let the microbes do the work for you. Really it’s the microbe fight club – that’s what I call the whole composting system.” Another decision is whether to go hot or cold. Hot compost is a quicker process, with all materials added at once so the nitrogen content is high and it heats up. After a few weeks it starts cooling and is turned to restart the heating. The heat is created by the microbes at work. Depending on how soon the compost is needed, it can be turned a third time. A cold system is exactly the same but done over time, with lower nitrogen levels so it can take up to a year to break down. The container you use is up to you, says Grant. “Most common is the wooden pallet system; you build a square bin and fill it up. Barrels that can be turned without having to manually dig the heap can be better for some. Or you can just build a pile that you leave alone and it breaks down over time. That’s fine if you have plenty of space.”

Bokashi for apartments

partment dwellers can use the Japanese anaerobic fermentation system known as bokashi. Take a 10 or 15-litre bucket, throw in a handful of bokashi and add your food waste, including meat, and you’ll soon be producing quality, nutrient-rich compost. Bokashi is a bran-based material inoculated with EM (effective micro-organisms) that ferment the organic waste. Within weeks the fermented matter can be buried in the garden (or worm farm or compost heap) and after a few more weeks all food will have decomposed, leaving a nutrient-rich, black compost. Most food scraps can be added. The exceptions are liquids (juices, milk and oils), paper, large bones and shellfish shells. Even if it includes fish or meat, it is airtight so doesn’t smell, which also means it doesn’t attract flies or rodents. A two-in-one bucket system is best to collect liquid that drains from the fermentation. This is also great for your plants (diluted) and when poured into kitchen drains and toilets thwarts odours and algae. Bokashi is not expensive and is available from retailers. Custom-designed buckets can also be bought or you can devise your own system. “I know a lot of people living in city apartments growing quite large gardens and getting reasonable crops using bokashi,” says Grant.

1 Mix up kitchen scraps and garden rubbish. Photo: Craig

McKenzie

2 Add compost ingredients in thin layers. Photo: Craig McKenzie

3 Tiger worms chew through food waste. Photo: Grant Lyon

The worms’ turn

ermicast – worm manure or castings – is the liquid gold of composting. It is generated by worms, the compost speed eaters that gobble food waste and leave their nutrient-rich vermicast behind. There’s a plethora of options and advice for creating a worm farm, from home-made models using recycled materials to stylish commercial products. There are many places to buy your starter worms (tiger and red are the right species). Check websites or ask around because any successful farm will produce surplus worms. Worms will increase their population in relation to the amount they are fed. For 20 years Dave Treadwell, of organic seeds supplier Ecoseeds, has been raising his entire seed crop on vermicast. His worm farm is a massive 30 cubic metres, but he says a small farm will generate effective amounts of vermicast for a home garden. No matter the size, there are key points to consider, he says. Good drainage is critical. The worms should be living in a “very slight damp sponge environment”. If they are too wet, add newspaper. Too dry? Add rainwater. Dave says the liquid that collects at the bottom is not worm pee, as is commonly suggested, but excess liquid from food scraps.

“We add enough dry material with the kitchen waste to absorb that liquid so the worms eat it. The only food we don’t add is meat. They only eat decomposing food, not fresh. Citrus is acidic at first; after it loses that the worms love it. “Allow up to a year for vermicast production, then use it wisely. Add half a teaspoon to the bottom of the hole when planting seedlings, sprinkle it around the base of established plants, or pop a cupful into a watering can, stir and simply water your garden. It’s the complete plant food.” 3

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DIY

Create your own compost 1 2

conservation

Choose your container. Wooden slatted pallets are popular, about one metre square and one metre deep. Use non-treated timber, and consider a second or third bin so you can turn your heap. Wooden and plastic pallets and drums are available from garden centres. Place it on an earth base, ideally handy to the kitchen and garden. Lay a few sticks on the bottom for airflow and prepare a lid – plywood or iron with holes punched to let in water.

4 5 6 4

Get gathering. Have a small covered bin handy in the kitchen for food scraps. Keep old sacks in the car for when you come across seaweed, sawdust or pine needles. Mix it up and cut it up since smaller material breaks down faster. Add a balance of “green” and “brown” materials. Green: food scraps, coffee grounds, fresh lawn and plant clippings, fresh weeds, sheep manure, seaweed. Brown: paper and cardboard (shredded), dried leaves, sawdust (untreated), wood ash, coffee husks (ask your local roaster), pea straw, lucerne or hay (wet it well), small prunings, pine needles.

Wrap your food scraps in newspaper; it helps the balancing act. Citrus is OK, but takes longer to break down.

Consider additives, for example gypsum (or organically certified GIB board), lime, rock dust (quarries have truckloads to spare), clay, river silt – variety is the key. You can also add worms.

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7 8

Keep out meat or fish (they also attract rodents, so dig these deep in the garden or use a bokashi system), some weeds (eg convolvulus), oils and fats, dairy products, non-organic materials. Watering: some say the contents should resemble a very well rung sponge. The holes in the lid should let in enough water. If it’s moist, it’s fine, if it’s dry, water it. (If it’s too dry, rodents will like it.) Control rodents: avoid meat, fish and dry compost. Control pests around your property, which will also help the birds and insects. Let it stew – up to a year for the cold system. Or turn it after a few weeks, if you have another bin, to speed up the process. Kickstart your next heap with a few handfuls of old compost to introduce a range of microbes.

4 Nutritious compost grows nutritious food.

Photo: Heather Anderson

5 Bins made from timber slats, plastic bins or free-form piles all

make good compost. Photo: Kathy Ombler

6 Keep a container in the kitchen for food scraps.

Photo: Kathy Ombler

Say “Yes!” to joining Forest & Bird

Photo: Nga Manu Images

CUT OUT THE COUPONS AND SAVE New Zealand’s native bird population is being wiped out by introduced pests. Rats have already sent at least 21 native birds to extinction. And what the rats leave, the possums, weasels and stoats will take care of. Join Forest & Bird, and help us give our wildlife a chance. The more who join, the more we can do, and the more we can save. And, of course, you don’t need to use the coupon, please become a member right now by visiting forestandbird.org.nz/joinus

TĂ¤iko

turnaround 2 52

| Forest & Bird

With the return of breeding-age Chatham täiko to their fenced, foster colony at Sweetwater and the discovery of previously unknown burrows, the future is looking brighter for one of the world’s rarest seabirds. Kathy Ombler visited the Chatham Islands to see the birds once thought extinct.

weetwater is a desolate spot, hundreds of oceanic kilometres from the next landfall. The wind thrashes wet dracophyllum on a cliff edge and drives the rain. But this is home for several rare magenta petrels, or Chatham täiko, in burrows below. In 1978, after 10 years of searching, David Crockett rediscovered the Chatham täiko, long considered extinct. After another decade, their breeding burrows were found, in Tuku Valley on the south-western tip of Chatham Island. Landowners Manuel and Evelyn Tuanui gifted the area of more than 1200 hectares to the Crown. It was gazetted a nature reserve and the Department of Conservation kicked off a massive predator-control programme to protect the burrows. The Täiko Trust was set up and Sweetwater, a 2.4-hectare bush-covered, cliff top close to Tuku, was ringed with a predator-proof fence. Since 2006, DOC has moved 48 täiko chicks from Tuku Nature Reserve into foster burrows in Sweetwater. Volunteers, working alongside DOC staff, serve them supplementary feed to build them up for their adolescent, ocean-roaming years. The first were expected back this year, so there was much excitement when one turned up in 2010 and, late last year, two new burrows were found. Night-vision cameras confirmed the presence of at least three birds in burrows directly beneath the speaker that blasts the eerie täiko call from the cliff top to entice them in. Last May, the first pair were found back at Sweetwater, busy nest building. This March, a young chick was found in their burrow – the first täiko chick to hatch on the main Chatham Island in more than 500 years. With Täiko Trust chair Liz Tuanui, I rode by four-wheeler across the 2000-hectare farm she owns with husband Bruce. It’s a conservation showpiece for the scale of reserved enclaves and pest control undertaken by the couple. Tableland paddocks were dotted with flocks of parea, the massive Chatham Island pigeon, feeding on the clover. Parea were reduced to a mere 40 or so as recently as 1990. Inside Sweetwater, we climbed through sheltered forest to a high point, marked by the speaker secured to a tree. Liz connected some wires and the täiko’s mournful, ghostly call howled through the mist. Beneath the speaker were feathers and droppings at the entrance to two burrows. A strong scent at one had Liz reaching for the trust’s new burrowscope, donated by the Mazda Foundation, which allows the birds to be observed with minimal disturbance. I watched the screen while the two-metre scope, then Liz’s arm, disappeared deep into the burrow. The camera still didn’t reach the chamber. It’s gone all the way to China, laughed Liz, happy that the birds were safe in their new refuge. Later, checking the perimeter fence, Liz was concerned to see new rust on the top tin section. Replacing the tin is a small issue compared with the ongoing trapping needed

CHATHAM ISLANDS

3 to safeguard Tuku Nature Reserve, says ecologist and trust contractor Mike Bell, of Wildlife Management International. He believes Sweetwater is vital to the future of täiko and the tiny area could eventually support thousands of pairs. “Täiko used to live in dense colonies, and Sweetwater is a historical breeding site. It would also be great to get different genetics into Sweetwater and avoid the risk of in-breeding. Then if nothing is done other than fence maintenance – clearing the vegetation and replacing rusting tin – I believe it’s possible to have 60 breeding birds in Sweetwater within 10 to 20 years at a minimal cost.” More information at www.taiko.org.nz 1 A täiko emerges from its burrow. Photo: Celine Gregory-Hunt 2 The wind-whipped Tuanui farm on the main Chatham Island.

Photo: Kathy Ombler

3 Täiko Trust chair Liz Tuanui uses a burrowscope to check inside a

täiko burrow at Sweetwater. Photo: Kathy Ombler

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Keeping track from the air

Täiko Trust-DOC partnership, incorporating the latest telemetry and Sky Ranger aerial monitoring techniques, plus a courageous small plane flight from New Zealand, led to the discovery of two täiko breeding burrows in an area outside known colonies. Finding even one burrow is good when you’re talking about such a small number of birds, says DOC Chatham Islands area manager Jim Clarkson. “Now that we have discovered them, we can protect them.” The find in November wouldn’t have happened without an ambitious, 800-kilometre small plane flight by DOC ranger/pilot Blair Hoult, who flew to the rescue when an Air Chathams’ Cessna was grounded for repairs, midway through the Sky Ranger monitoring project. Blair flies his own Piper Cherokee on the Haast tokoeka kiwi aerial monitoring project, which tracks kiwi by picking up transmitter signals from the air and marking their location by GPS. To reach Chatham Island, Blair fitted long-range fuel tanks to his plane and was accompanied by Peter Clulow, an Air New Zealand captain also experienced in flying small planes around the Pacific. The flight from Rangiora took 5½ hours. Sky Ranger technology has been highly successful tracking kiwi. However, täiko burrow much deeper than kiwi, so special transmitters with stronger signals had to be designed. The Täiko Trust fitted these transmitters to the birds in a process called telemetry. The täiko are caught at night when they fly into their colony, says Mike Bell, who headed a team of volunteers for the all-night, all-weather vigils. “The birds come in all hours and you attract them by spotlight. It only works in a no-moon phase and we hope for southerlies and bad weather, when it’s easier to find them in the lights. “Last year we had a great volunteer team, really

enthusiastic about going out in all weathers. We succeeded with the most birds caught in a single no-moon phase.” Jim Clarkson says the telemetry/Sky Ranger technique is far better than ground searching, in which teams scour the bush with hand-held antenna. “That’s labour intensive, and they can only pick up signals from a short distance. We would never have found those burrows by ground tracking, especially on the flat, south Chatham landscape.”

5 4 Ngäti Mutunga and Ngäti Haumia Pä dune reserve, also called

the Waitangi dunes, is being restored to native planting. Photo: Kathy Ombler

5 A speaker blasts the täiko’s call from the cliff tops to attract

returning birds into the safe, fenced Sweetwater colony. Photo: Kathy Ombler

6 Täiko Trust chair Liz Tuanui checks a night camera that keeps

vigil on a täiko burrow entrance at Sweetwater. Photo: Kathy Ombler

7 The Chatham Island tüï is a third bigger than tüï on New

Zealand’s mainland.

8 The Chatham täiko is making a comeback. Photo: GraemeTaylor

1900 1978 1987 150–180 TAIKO TODAY Täiko thought extinct

Täiko rediscovered

Täiko burrow found

1metre 7–8years Wingspan

at sea

Locals get stuck in

Tüï make a splash

ince the Täiko Trust’s successes, a second island community conservation group has formed. The Chatham Heritage and Restoration Trust (CHART) initially focused on a dune restoration plan, working with reserve trustees for the Ngäti Mutunga and Ngäti Haumia Pä dune reserve, also known as the Waitangi dunes. Chairperson Lois Croon says the plan is to replace marram grass with pïngao and coastal trees and shrubs. These include endemics such as megaherb Chatham Island forget me not, which favours dune habitats. Planting days have attracted both locals and visitors, says Lois. “We have another 8000 to 9000 seedlings ready to plant. They have all been grown in an island nursery except for the pïngao, which is harder to germinate, so we sent seed to a nursery in New Zealand.” CHART is also raising seedlings for köwhai restoration at Te Whanga Lagoon, on the beach known as Blind Jim’s, a favoured spot for finding fossilised shark’s teeth. Chatham Island students are also involved in conservation. For the past eight years, DOC has worked with the schools and community to replant eroding dunes along Ocean Mail Scenic Reserve. Several kilometres of previously grazed grassland has been transformed into a dense thicket of coastal native forest. Recently, the 10,000th Chathams Island akeake was planted. The 831-hectare reserve also protects peat dome and wetlands at the southern end of Te Whanga Lagoon.

eturning Chatham Island tüï to the main Chatham Island after more than 30 years’ absence has been a big success, say local conservationists. After two translocations and three years, bird numbers are thriving, and their showy presence has energised the island community. In 2009 and 2010, a total of 54 tüï were transferred from South East Island/Rangatira to the main Chatham Island by the Täiko Trust, with funding from BirdLife International Community Conservation through Forest & Bird. Trust chairperson Liz Tuanui says the transferred birds started breeding immediately and spread throughout the island. “The increase in numbers has been spectacular; several unbanded birds have been sighted, which is indicative of their breeding success.” She says having tüï back has energised the community. “People get quite animated about them. One local is getting rid of all the wild cats on his property because he’s got tüï back there now. That’s the response we are getting.” Chatham Heritage and Restoration Trust chairperson Lois Croon says the tüï have made everyone aware of the need for pest control. “We’ve also received biodiversity funding for traps to be used by private landowners and that’s evolved from the tüï transfers.” She has planted all the tüï food she can find in her Admiral Farm garden.

burrows Nesting

2-5 metres long

Main threats

from cats, pigs, weka and rodents Forest & Bird

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in the field

Eat your

greens

Captain Cook was no botanist but he appreciated New Zealand’s native plants. By Ann Graeme.

curvy is a dreadful disease. The victim weakens, his legs swell and blacken, his gums rot and peel back until the teeth fall out – all for the want of vitamin C. Scurvy was the curse of seamen in the 18th century so it was a fortunate man who signed up to sail under Captain James Cook. Cook was a clever and a compassionate leader. He went to great lengths to provide his crew with a healthy diet and it is to his credit that on his long and difficult voyages no one died of scurvy on his ships. Cook didn’t know about vitamin C but he understood the value of fresh green vegetables and gathered them at every opportunity. On 27 October 1769, on his first voyage to New Zealand, the Endeavour made landfall off Tolaga Bay. Cook noted in his journal: “I landed at the north point of the Bay where I got as much Sellery and Scurvy grass as loaded the Boat.” The “sellery” was a plant we call native celery. With its bright green glossy leaves, it looks and tastes like a cross

| Forest & Bird

between celery and parsley. You will find it growing on rocky beaches just above the high tide, splashed by the spray of breaking waves and sometimes by guano, when shags nest in the trees overhead. Mäori used to gather native celery for food and they called it tütae köau, which means shag poo. But sadly you won’t find Cook’s scurvy grass. Despite its name, it is not a grass but a cress, a member of the cabbage family. Like all brassicas, it likes lots of fertiliser and it used to get loads, for in Cook’s time the mainland was alive with nesting seabirds, scratching and burrowing and defecating on the coastal cliffs, making open, sunny gardens where scurvy grass flourished. Now the seabirds are gone and so is the scurvy grass, not just from lack of open ground and fertiliser but from the depredations of the introduced cabbage white butterfly, livestock, rats, snails and fungal rust. Cook’s scurvy grass mainly survives on pest-free islands, offshore stacks and in carefully tended gardens.

I don’t even try to grow it because my style of garden is friendly to weeds and lizards and especially friendly to snails. I have more success with silverbeet, another plant that likes the sea air. It grows on the shell-strewn sandbanks called Chenier ridges along the coast of the Firth of Thames. But it wasn’t there in Cook’s time. It has gone wild from our vegetable gardens, joining its native relations like the salt bush and glasswort, which grow on the beach. They all belong to the Fathen family (Chenopodiaceae), whose members thrive in dry, salt-rich places. Fathen is an edible weed and its grey-green leaves and black seeds have been harvested since prehistoric times. We have native New Zealand spinach, too. Confusingly, it is not related to garden spinach but is a member of the ice plant family. It lives near the coast, and Cook gathered it and fed it to his crew. Botanist Joseph Banks took its seeds back to Kew Gardens and it has been cultivated as a vegetable ever since. Curiously, since it is native to many countries around the Pacific, the New Zealand spinach does not seem to have been widely used by Mäori or other indigenous people. Perhaps they were not too keen on its taste. To be truthful, I’m not too keen on it either, nor on the native celery, but the seamen had little choice and Cook had a clever strategy for persuading his crew to eat new foods. “I permitted all the Officers without exception to make use of it and left it to the option of the Men either to take as much as they pleased or none at all ... whatever you give them out of the Common way, although it be ever so much for their good yet it will not go down with them ... but the Moment they see their Superiors set a Value upon it, it becomes the finest stuff in the World.” One of Cook’s special recipes was Portable Soup, made by boiling meat until it was reduced to the consistency of glue. Set into cakes, it would keep indefinitely. The soup was usually eaten on the three days of the week when meat was not on the menu. It was dissolved in pea soup or oatmeal “soup” and green vegetables were added. It may not have been gourmet food but it was nourishing and it kept scurvy at bay.

2 Nowadays scurvy is a forgotten disease and fresh vegetables can be readily grown and bought. We forget how humble weeds and one man’s wisdom saved men from misery and death. But the seamen knew: We were all hearty seamen no cold did we fear And we have from all sickness entirely kept clear Thanks be to the Captain he has proved so good Amongst all the Islands to give us fresh food. (Song by T Perry, from HMS Resolution) Reference: ‘Captain Cook and Scurvy’ by Egon H Kodicek and Frank G Young

Gardening for conservation It seems sacrilegious to eat a threatened plant, but Cook’s scurvy grass seed is available and it can be readily grown in the home garden, especially if you feed it on chook poo. So can many rare plants like the handsome Tecomanthe speciosa, a creeper which survived as a single plant on the Three Kings Island, or the magenta-flowered Hebe speciosa which only grows wild on a few coastal cliffs, but whose descendants grace gardens all over the world. Is there any conservation value in cultivating rare and threatened plants? There are risks. Some rare plants are threatened by plant collectors themselves, like the king fern, Ptisana salicina, which is stolen from native forests. However, many rare and attractive plants are readily and legally available at garden shops. Of course the first priority should be to protect a threatened plant in its natural ecosystem and this is what the Department of Conservation tries to do. But growing such plants in your garden adds to the safety net for the species, helps to raise awareness to their plight and can be a joy and a challenge to gardeners. 1 Cook’s scurvy grass saved sailors’ lives but is now rare on

mainland New Zealand. Photo: Craig McKenzie

2 Native spinach is a member of the ice plant family, and tastes

nothing like the spinach Popeye eats. Photo: Dick Veitch/DOC

3 The flower of Cook’s scurvy grass is typical of cabbage family

plants. Photo: DOC

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going places

A place of plenty

in the bay

Off the coast of Tauranga is an old volcano with a wealth of wildlife on the land and in the sea that surrounds it. By Bex Gibson.

ühua or Mayor Island lies just 35 kilometres north of Tauranga in the Bay of Plenty but it looks and sounds like a different world. I travelled there with other students from the Bay of Plenty Polytechnic marine studies course to count fish at the Tühua Marine Reserve for a survey run by the Department of Conservation and the polytechnic. Every day we dived several times into the clear blue waters around the island to record the fish and other marine life, and gauge the changes that have taken place since the marine reserve was established in 1993. The island is a dormant shield volcano covering about 13 square kilometres, with a large cliff-ringed crater at the centre. Tühua was declared a wildlife refuge in 1953 and pest animals – wild pigs, rats and wild cats – were eradicated by May 2000. The island’s ancestral owners were Te Whänau A Tauwhao ki Tühua and it is administered by the Tühua Mäori Trust Board, which led the establishment of the

| Forest & Bird

marine reserve, set aside around 98 per cent of the island for conservation and remains proudly involved in maintaining the island’s natural values. The look but no hook marine reserve lies at the northern end of Tühua, extending one nautical mile from shore, and around the rest of the island there is a ban on set nets and a restriction of two hooks per line. The marine reserve is full of marine life and surveys in recent years show fish numbers and their size are increasing. Unlike most areas around the Bay of Plenty, the waters around Tühua are unaffected by siltladen run-off from the land, and the water is beautifully clear. As a diving spot, it is up there with the Bay of Islands and Tutukäkä in Northland because of the clarity, the diversity and the protection offered by the marine reserve. The range of fish is amazing due to the influence of the warm East Auckland current. Open-water migratory species as well as several sub-tropical varieties are found. You see snapper of a size rarely spotted around the mainland, along with kingfish,

TÜHUA

BAY OF PLENTY

TAURANGA

Getting there Staying there:

Transport to Tühua is by charter boat. The island is open for visitors from Labour Weekend until Easter inclusive each year. Tent sites and cabins are available at Opo/South East Bay. Tühua is remote and visitors need to be well prepared. Kaitiaki living on the island help look after visitors and protect the island’s natural values. Visitors need to follow the biosecurity screening process to protect wildlife from introduced pests.

Bookings:

To land and/or stay on the island, contact Department of Conservation, 253 Chadwick Rd, Greerton, Tauranga, ph 07 578 7677, email: taurangainfo@doc.govt.nz

blue maumau and angelfish. The sea floor is covered in a profusion of seaweed in different shades of red and green. On the sea floor, I saw the black glint of obsidian, the black volcanic glass that was much valued by Mäori for making blades for cutting and scraping. No one is allowed to remove the obsidian, which is also found in the cliffs on Tühua, a Mäori word for the prized material. Before landing on the island we had to be careful to remove all insects and seeds from our packs and provisions. We also went through a quarantine shed on the island checking for mice and other critters. It is vital for the protection of Tühua that the island’s biosecurity is maintained. During our 10-day stay, we slept in tents on the edge of the bush at South East Bay, which is the only access point for the island. Every morning we were greeted by a dawn chorus of the resident birds, which include bellbirds, tüï, kererü, robins, grey warblers and käkä. A population of one of New Zealand’s rarest parrots, the orange-fronted parakeet, or käkäriki, can often be found near the higher points of the island after a population was introduced during 2009/10. Päteke, or brown teal, and

More information: www.destinationoutdoors.co.nz

North Island brown kiwi have also been reintroduced and one of the highlights of my trip was being given a brown kiwi to hold by a DOC ranger. Tühua is also one of only three sites in New Zealand where Hibiscus richardsonii is found and the caretakers are propagating the plant with plans to re-establish it more widely around the island. The kaitiaki and DOC also have an exciting pilot project to see whether German wasps can be eradicated in what would be a world first. There are also plans to reintroduce more bird species, including whiteheads, tomtits and seabirds. I consider myself lucky to have been able to spend time in such a special place but it is a place other New Zealanders – with a bit of planning – can share too. 1 The marine reserve at the northern end of Tühua has a growing

number of fish. Photo: Bex Gibson

2 Visitors can stay at cabins or they can camp. Photo: Bex Gibson 3 Green Lake at Tühua. Photo: Pete Huggins 4 The island is a dormant shield volcano. Photo: Bex Gibson

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community

conservation

Reaching out to branches

Heidi Quinn and Marlborough branch committee members, from left, Roger Austin, Jan Richardson, Andrew John and Mike Harvey. Photo: Jolene Williams

t sounded like the trip of a lifetime – an Escape Rental van for free, seven weeks out of the office, an open road and the vestiges of summer sun. Heidi Quinn was the envy of Forest & Bird staff in March and April, but she is adamant her assignment to visit every branch in the country was no leisurely tiki tour. Forest & Bird’s National Volunteer Co-ordinator visited 46 branches to get a snapshot of their administrative structures, activities, challenges and successes. Heidi explained to branches her new role and gathered information so she can build a stronger volunteer organisation within the Society. Heidi saw firsthand the difference branches are making on the ground. She saw restoration projects of all sizes; some still in their infancy and others flourishing after 20 years under Forest & Bird care. She visited member-run nurseries, revegetated wetlands and shorebird colonies. She went bat spotting in Pelorus, kiwi aversion dog training in Te Puke and got lost in Labyrinth Rocks near Täkaka. “But the highlight was actually meeting the members,” she says. “It was very inspiring to see how passionate, how driven and self-sufficient they are. We have some highly knowledgeable members out there, doing their bit for conservation.” By meeting members face-to-face Heidi got a real understanding of branches’ challenges. Recruiting volunteers is the most common concern. “That’s a huge issue. Branches don’t have enough active volunteers or just don’t have enough time to organise them effectively.” Heidi arrived from Britain in August last year and says New Zealand has a different volunteer culture. “In the UK, it’s normal to volunteer. People need it on their CVs to compete in the job market, so about 90 per cent of volunteers are people under 30. “In New Zealand, it’s seen as a hobby. You’re competing against people’s

| Forest & Bird

other hobbies and commitments. To make volunteering attractive, you have to offer them something else.” That “something else”, she says, is a social experience, educational opportunity or a family-friendly outing. But Heidi says that’s only part of the pie. Once you’ve got the volunteers, it can be hard to know how to manage them effectively. She’s currently organising a free course for later this year to teach branch members strategies to effectively manage volunteers. It’s not about telling branches what they should do, but to listen to their concerns, brainstorm possible solutions, provide resources and, ultimately, achieve greater outcomes for less work. She has plans for head office too, starting with developing the infrastructure to better support branches. “We need to modernise the way we do things; make smarter use of technology so we publicise our achievements with everyone. It’s about time we started to blow our own trumpets, and loudly.” The road trip was an important first step to bring in new volunteers. Heidi was surprised by the differences between branches. “There wasn’t one branch similar to the other. Some are writing submissions, others are doing PR, and some are doing restoration work.” To the envy of her office-bound colleagues, Heidi reported seeing an albatross, a sperm whale, fur seals, falcons, a long-tailed bat, royal spoonbills, kererü and tüï, and met about a dozen friendly dogs during her 8200-kilometre adventure. She saw plenty of dead possums, too, and on one occasion dairy cows standing in unfenced waterways. The sight was a stark reminder of the challenges ahead for our environment. It also confirmed the value of our work – from our branch members, our field officers and all those supporting Forest & Bird. n Jolene Williams

Euro Civic. By Honda.

CRV. By Honda. Don’t we hear this all the time and never embrace the opportunity? Being spontaneous grabs the moment. It’s being ready for anything. And with the power to transform from a sleek executive vehicle into the ideal weekend car, so is CRV. It’s not just a metaphorical transformation either; with one touch the magic seats fold away completely to create incomparable space. So what’s holding you back? If it’s your car, it’s time to visit Honda. So, what shall we do today?

From $39,900 plus on road costs. Lease from $569 plus GST per month. Reserve your test drive at honda.co.nz/crv, call 0800 255 666 (Mon-Fri) or visit your local Honda agent. Full-maintenance operating lease, 45 months/55,000kms. Other terms available. Honda Lease Direct lending criteria apply.

community

conservation

Streams tell different stories S

ome Christchurch streams took a battering in last year’s devastating earthquake. And when North Canterbury Forest & Bird members toured three streams with University of Canterbury freshwater ecologists they saw firsthand the long-term ecological effects on the city’s waterways. University of Canterbury’s Associate Professor Jon Harding and Dr Jon O’Brien led about 30 members on the half-day excursion to three very different city streams. The Shirley Stream in the east was the most heavily affected by the earthquake, and continued to receive heavy siltation with every earthquake over 5 on the Richter scale. “The bed is smothered in extremely fine silt and the invertebrate community is just terrible. There are virtually no small insects in samples from the stream,” Professor Harding said. The stream is one of a handful in the city that he describes as “biological deserts”. “There’s nothing for the fish to eat or there is no habitat for them. Some of those fish have probably left, died or eaten each other.” Many Christchurch streams and rivers are recovering, but some have been overwhelmed with silt, which raises the riverbed so the stream is in a permanent state of flood. As a complete contrast, the group visited the Styx River in the northern suburbs to see a “perfect stream”. The stream, largely unaffected by the earthquake, was neither contaminated by stormwater run-off nor subjected to longterm surrounding urban development. The group saw how a healthy stream should look with rich biodiversity and high water quality. Okeover Stream on the university campus offered branch members a lesson in freshwater rehabilitation. The

stream had been subjected to numerous remedial efforts and monitored intensely for about 15 years. “We talked about [remedial] efforts that haven’t really worked and why,” Professor Harding said. “Basically it comes back to stormwater. There are still contaminants being discharged into the stream, and if there are no opportunities for new species to arrive, you’re not going to get a higher biodiversity. It’s a great example of an urban stream remediation project and what people need to think about.” Professor Harding said most of Christchurch’s affected streams will probably naturally recover over time. However urban streams, even before the earthquakes, were in a poor state. “The focus on rebuilding Christchurch presents us with a tremendous opportunity to put in place management which will improve the health of our waterways. It will be interesting to see if local government has the commitment and foresight to take action,” he said. n Jolene Williams

Professor Jon Harding, right, electrofishing, which momentarily stuns fish for scientific surveying.

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Bushy Park marks half century F

orest & Bird members and friends gathered at Bushy Park near Whanganui recently to celebrate 50 years of involvement in the 98-hectare forest reserve and honour the man who gifted it to the Society. Racehorse breeder and cattle farmer Frank Moore passed away on June 20, 1962, and bequeathed his Edwardian homestead and surrounding land to Forest & Bird. In June this year, Rangitïkei and Wanganui branch members joined representatives from Bushy Park Trust and Friends of the Park to celebrate the 50th anniversary. Rangitïkei committee member Jim Howard was among the attendees and said the day was a celebration. “It was good to remember Frank and what he’s done, and Forest & Bird and the conservation of that lovely piece of bush,” he said. The day began with a service at Wanganui Collegiate chapel where Frank’s name is on the honour board. The group visited his grave, followed by a luncheon and a ceremonial planting at the reserve, where a young kauri was planted to commemorate Frank. Forest & Bird members from both local branches have rekindled working bees over the last couple of years to tackle weeds in the reserve, and the Society maintains a presence on the Trust. Jim has been involved with Bushy Park “on and off” since it was gifted to Forest & Bird, including 11 years chairing the trust. He hopes increased pest control outside the boundary and reintroduction of other species will further enhance the park’s ecological value. “It’s just a wonderful place,” he said. “The old historic homestead and the reserve are quite magnificent. There are big old rätä trees and, with the absence of predators except mice, the regeneration is showing. But I believe it’s got more potential”

A predator-proof fence erected in 2005 has turned the forest into a successful bird sanctuary, home to tüï, kererü, fantails, grey warblers and thriving populations of reintroduced saddlebacks and North Island robins. Forest & Bird Executive member and Bushy Park Trustee Barry Wards is optimistic about the future. “It’s just a beautiful pocket of bush in an area that’s originally been stripped of native forest. With the [predator-proof] fence it has the opportunity to be used to rehabilitate those [resident] bird species and bring in endangered amphibians. It’s got some great opportunities to be used as an education facility.” Later this year Forest & Bird will employ a part-time volunteer co-ordinator to help drive future working bees at the park. n Jolene Williams

Bushy Park’s forest was in 2009 voted one of top 25 restoration sites in Australasia. Photo: Aalbert Rebergen

Weekend workout for members F

orest & Bird’s North Island and South Island annual gatherings are a chance for members to meet, mingle, look and learn. We encourage members to come along for the weekend meetings, regardless of whether they are on branch committees, active in branch projects or new to Forest & Bird. The North Island gathering is titled “Working Together”. Workshops will explore ways to strengthen working relationships between Forest & Bird branches and staff, managing volunteers and how to connect with outside groups to achieve conservation goals. “It’s about helping branches develop conservation projects that really make a difference to their area. We hope this will lead to more Forest & Bird volunteers coming along to help, as they want to make a difference too,” says North Island Conservation Manager Mark Bellingham. North Island campaigns will be discussed, including Forest & Bird’s proposal to establish Kauri National Park

in Northland, gaining a water conservation order for Ngaruroro River and the on-going restoration work in Kaimai Mamaku. The gathering will be at Forest & Bird’s Ruapehu Lodge from November 2–4, with field trips to see kiwi and whio. The South Island gathering from October 26–28 in Invercargill will focus on all things water-related, and is titled “Wet and Wild: Defending South Island’s wet habitats”. Freshwater scientist Mike Joy from Massey University will share a sobering presentation, and discussions will examine wetlands and water management from perspectives including Mäori, scientists and decision-makers. Sunday’s workshops will focus on writing submissions and working with volunteers. Field trips will go to boarded wetland walkways at Invercargill Estuary, popular bird spot Pleasure Bay Lagoon and the threatened Waituna Lagoon. More details about both gatherings and how to register will be at www.forestandbird.org.nz soon. Forest & Bird

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community

conservation

Grand designs for Paremata Flat T

he on-going restoration of Paremata Flat Reserve near Nelson is proving so successful that the Nelson-Tasman branch is aiming to plant a whopping 20,000 eco-sourced natives next year – more than double the total for 2012. The branch’s ambitious five-to-seven-year plan includes planting between 100,000 and 120,000 seedlings, and ultimately restoring the remnant coastal alluvial forest and surrounding estuary at Paremata Flat, Cable Bay. It will need to raise more than $200,000, and continue to receive support from branch members, the wider community and sponsors. Project co-ordinator Ian Price admits it’s a bold plan, but he has no doubts it can work. The branch, through committee member Julie McLintock, began regular pest trapping in the reserve in 2007 and worked with Nelson City Council to organise annual planting days. In 2011, the council identified the area as having the highest ecological value of all land under its management. The announcement prompted Forest & Bird to approach the council about increasing restoration efforts, and, with its permission, took charge of the project. The project has taken off under Ian’s direction. In the last two months, 173 volunteers have spent about 530 hours planting 10,500 eco-sourced native trees. A further 152 volunteer hours have gone into controlling the tall fescue and

blackberry that had swamped the area, and 10 keen trappers have been monitoring pest traps twice a week. About $16,000 has already been raised for next year’s planting season. Ian says the project has been a “great team effort” and its success is a result of three key components: funding, local support and someone who’s “not afraid to shake the tree” leading the charge. That someone is him. The retired farmer spends about three days a week at the reserve with his weedspraying knapsack or checking pest traps. When he’s not outdoors, he’s tackling the incredible amount of paperwork. Ian and Julie share administration – applying for grants, co-ordinating volunteers and liaising with local media and sponsors. In the field and behind the scenes, they have racked up a combined 203 volunteer hours over the last several months. Julie says Ian is tireless when it comes to the reserve. “He just works and works. I can’t speak more highly of him.” Ian says the tidal, river and land biodiversity systems at Paremata Flat are now extremely rare in the Nelson Tasman region. Forest clearance, stock grazing, pests and weather events have “virtually trashed” the area, but he says by securing more funding and getting more local support, its ecological wealth can be restored. n Jolene Williams 3

2 1 Volunteers planting some of the 10,500

eco-sourced seedlings. Photos: Ian Price

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3 The small patch of remnant forest and estuary is already

home to tüï, kererü, bellbirds, banded rails and fernbirds.

WINNING MEMBERS The winners of the book draws in the May edition of Forest & Bird are: Wild Buddies: Terry Kennaway, Waikanae, and Mrs J Jones, Auckland. Know your New Zealand Fishes: Matthew Wylie, Dunedin, and Lyn and Barry Loveridge, Huntly. Your books will be posted.

A special offer for Forest & Bird readers Wild Encounters

2 1 Members at the Sutherland Mangahoe Reserve in the Turakina

Valley in October 1988.

2 Rangitïkei branch members botanising with handbags at Bruce

Park in 1962. From left, Jim Howard, Mr Kilgair, Mrs Reynolds, Mr Reynolds, Mrs Pryce, Mr Wilton, Mrs Hewitt and Miss R Beckett.

50 years of forest restoration F

orest & Bird’s Rangitïkei branch marked its 50th birthday in June, with 120 people celebrating at a dinner and presentation by Executive member Craig Potton. Branch committee member Jim Howard – who was on the founding committee – cut the cake. The branch began in 1962 when the Rangitïkei Tree Planting and Scenery Preservation Society joined Forest & Bird. Members have worked hard to maintain and develop several reserves left to Forest & Bird by caring landowners. They include the Sutherland Mangahoe Reserve in the Turakina Valley, which is primarily kahikatea forest with rimu, tötara, rewarewa and occasional mataï and miro, over an understorey of tawa. Replanting, fencing and pest control in the past 20 years have returned this forested area to its former glory. Nearby is McPherson’s Bush which was gifted to Forest & Bird in 1962. This nine-hectare reserve is home to large swathes of tawa forest and emergent kahikatea. In 2004, floods killed large areas of tawa forest and carried away a bridge. The area has been replanted and the bridge rebuilt. Pryces Rähui reserve has kahikatea-mataï forest, grasslands and flax, and a large population of birds. Besides caring for and promoting the reserves, branch members have made regular visits away from Rangitïkei to places including Forest & Bird’s Ruapehu lodge and Mt Taranaki. In 1994 members helped the Lower Hutt branch replant Matiu-Somes Island. n Dot Mattocks

Our popular Going Places articles and other naturethemed travel stories from Forest & Bird magazine have been collected together in a handy book edition, Wild Encounters, published by Penguin. From the rocky shore to dense rainforests, from braided riverbeds to alpine meadows, Wild Encounters is a handy guide to the best place to experience New Zealand’s wildlife and wild places. Wild Encounters retails for $40, but Forest & Bird readers can purchase this book for just $35, including post and packaging, with $10 from each copy ordered going towards Forest & Bird’s important conservation work. That means you will receive this beautifully illustrated guide and get to help nature in New Zealand. Please send a cheque for $35 to: Wild Encounters Forest & Bird PO Box 631 Wellington

YOUR WINTER GETAWAY STARTS HERE

Bookings are now open for Forest & Bird’s Mount Ruapehu Lodge in Whakapapa Village. Stay at our comfortable, family-friendly lodge from where you can hit the slopes, trek the beech forest and keep a look out for resident kiwi or whio. Forest & Bird members receive a discounted rate. Book at www.forestandbird.org.nz/ruapehulodge.

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Ngatimoti schoolchildren weeding the pä harakeke in school plantings. From Go Wild

Go Wild: Guiding native restoration in Tasman district By Maggie Atkinson and Michael North Tasman District Council, $29.99 Reviewed by Susan Millar Beautiful photography enhances text that contains clearly written, practical information obviously learned by applying the sensible methods described. Sections headed “Our Stories” are interspersed with practical “How-to-do-it” information, turning this publication into something quite different from the more usual restoration manuals. This would be a good book to introduce someone to the concept of native restoration and to convey the sense of satisfaction and achievement that being involved in a restoration project brings. Although the title is “Guiding native restoration in Tasman district”, most of the practical suggestions could apply equally well anywhere in New Zealand, with only a few changes to the recommended species lists to allow for regional differences. The sections on invaders (both weed and animal pests) and the important aspects of protecting your restoration work by fencing and covenanting are clear and apply in any area. The reference section contains useful hints on sourcing information, plants and hardware, and refers more to the Tasman district. However, the sub-sections on funding, bibliography and website information cover a much wider field. This book is a pleasure to read, as well as being a valuable reference tool in planning your restoration project and caring for it as it develops. It is for sale at some bookshops and at www.tasman.govt.nz

Science on Ice: Discovering the secrets of Antarctica By Veronika Meduna Auckland University Press, $59.99 Reviewed by Debs Martin “I will never forget my first breath of Antarctic air.” Veronika Meduna’s opening line reveals the veneration many visitors have for the Antarctic. For it is only when you have been there that you truly realise how this last frontier, the end of the earth

| Forest & Bird

known as terra nullius – the land belonging to nobody – is literally a world apart from the temperate world we know. Meduna’s background as a microbiologist and, more recently, science journalist at Radio New Zealand makes her the ideal person to take you on a journey of more than 100 years of scientific contact with the frozen continent. Her two trips to the Ross Sea region gave her opportunities to visit research teams in the field, complemented by extensive interviews and research back home. Rather than dumbing it down, Meduna wises us up, spinning scientific language and concepts into building blocks to understand the simple, yet unusual life inhabiting the freezing ocean and kilometres-deep ice sheets pressing down on the fifth-largest continent. Celebrating modern research at the cutting edge of science, and portraying the unique collaborative approach enjoyed in Antarctica, Meduna’s opening chapter explores Antarctica as the global barometer in a world threatened with climate change. Frozen in and under ice, drill core samples and exposed rock give greater understanding of the planet’s climatic history, giving scientists, like New Zealander Peter Barrett, clues to our variable past. Over the next chapters she unpacks the unique features living in such an inhospitable environment requires, including anti-freeze. Meduna acknowledges that the “true Antarcticans” are the little beings – the bacteria, the nematodes, the lichens and the fungi. The reader journeys over hundreds of kilometres of the driest valleys on earth, on lakes buried kilometres deep under the ice, through the longest nights under the ocean, and into the historical recesses of our exploratory years. Interspersing science with stories of survival by both humans and animals on the ice, Meduna strikes a readable combination, and packs the book with exquisite and informative photography not normally evident in Antarctic pictorial texts. This is an accessible and enjoyable book for people who want to do more than simply skate over the ice of Antarctica.

What Made These Tracks? By Warren Agnew $11.50 + 70c post & packing at www.gotchatraps.co.nz Reviewed by Ann Graeme This little gem is, in the author’s words, “a guide to assist in interpreting the tracks of small mammals, lizards and insects”. It gives us a glimpse of the secret night world of the forest and garden, and helps us do a little detective work of our own. Footprints are as individual as the species that make them: gecko toes make patterns like corduroy tracks, wëtä feet leave neat rows of dots, and a ring of claw marks encircle a possum’s pads. Maybe you’re just curious. Perhaps you will find lizard tracks near the rock garden. Maybe you really need to know how many rats and possums remain in the forest where you are doing pest control. Whatever your motive, this book will help you find the answers. Of course, you also need a tracking tunnel and this can be obtained from Gotcha traps, or you can make your own with cardboard, food colouring and peanut butter. Just go to kcc.org.nz and search on “tracking tunnel” for the instructions.

Pohatu Penguins & Marine Reserve Banks Peninsula Scenic nature tours with local volunteers conserving Banks Peninsula’s biodiversity. • Coastal Retreat • Sea Kayaking www.pohatu.co.nz email: tours@pohatu.co.nz phone: 03 304 8600

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South America

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One-stop nature shop Attracting Birds and Other Wildlife to Your Garden, by Gordon Ell (New Holland, $45)

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Keep your photos and videos safe for future generations

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CONSULTING BIOLOGISTS

Kermadec: Nine Artists Explore the South Pacific, edited by Bronwen Golder and Gregory O’Brien ($40)

Special offer for Forest & Bird members SanDisk Memory Vault 8GB $99 $69 SanDisk Memory Vault 16GB $139 $99 To order, contact Lacklands Ltd 09 630 0753 or info@lacklands.co.nz

Prices include post and packaging within NZ https://secure.forestandbird.org.nz/shop

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Parting shot Aucklander Sarnim Dean photographed the yellow-eyed penguin, or hoiho, in Southland during the mating season last October. He was about 30 metres from the bird. “There must have been half a dozen at Curio Bay, all strutting around and trying to look attractive,” he says. “The penguins were quite active. There weren’t many opportunities to grab them in a good pose, although this fellow stayed still for just long enough to frame the shot. I needed to use an SLR camera due to the low light, and I didn’t want to startle the birds with flash.” His camera was a Canon EOS 550D, f5.6 @ 1/200th second, ISO 400. 68

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If you are a Forest & Bird member and you have a stunning photo that showcases New Zealand’s special native plants or animals, you could be the next Parting Shot photographer. Each published Parting Shot photo will receive a 16Gb SanDisk Vault for long-term storage of photos and files from Camera & Camera. It is worth $139. Please send a low-res digital file and brief details about your photo to Marina Skinner at m.skinner@forestandbird.org.nz Winners will be asked for higher-resolution files.

branch directory

Upper North Island Central Auckland Branch: Chairperson, Robert Jones; Secretary, Marvynne Kalaugher, Tel: (09) 638 7964. centralauckland.branch@forestandbird.org.nz Far North Branch: Chairperson, Dean Baigent-Mercer; Secretary, Michael Winch, Tel: (09) 401-7401. farnorth.branch@forestandbird.org.nz Franklin Branch: Chairperson, Keith Gardner; Secretary, Vacant, Tel: (09) 238-9928. Franklin.Branch@forestandbird.org.nz Hauraki Islands Branch: Chairperson, Corin Gardiner; Secretary, Glenda Came, Tel: (09) 372 3432. haurakiislands.branch@forestandbird.org.nz Hibiscus Coast Branch: Chairperson, Pauline Smith; Secretary, Katie Lucas, Tel: (09) 427-5186. HibiscusCoast.Branch@forestandbird.org.nz Kaipara Branch: Chairperson, William McNatty; Secretary, Barry Wilson. kaipara.branch@forestandbird.org.nz Mercury Bay Branch: Chairperson, Augusta Macassey-Pickard; Secretary, Lynn Hampton, Tel: (07) 866 2463. mercurybay.branch@forestandbird.org.nz Mid North Branch: Chairperson, Tony Dunlop; Secretary, Raewyn Morrison, Tel: (09) 427 8411. midnorth.branch@forestandbird.org.nz North Shore Branch: Chairperson, Richard Hursthouse; Secretary, Jocelyn Sanders, Tel: (09) 479-2107. NorthShore.Branch@forestandbird.org.nz Northern Branch: Chairperson, Vacant; Secretary, Beverly Woods, Tel: 022 092 0721. Northern.Branch@forestandbird.org.nz South Auckland Branch: Chairperson, John Oates; Secretary, Lee O’Leary, Tel: (09) 948-3867. SouthAuckland.Branch@forestandbird.org.nz Thames-Hauraki Branch: Chairperson, Ken Clark; Secretary, Marcia Sowman, Tel (07) 868 8307. thameshauraki.branch@forestandbird.org.nz Upper Coromandel Branch: Chairperson, vacant; Secretary, vacant. uppercoromandel.branch@forestandbird.org.nz Waitakere Branch: Chairperson, Robert Woolf; Secretary, Jan Edmonds, Tel: (09) 833-6241. Waitakere.Branch@forestandbird.org.nz

Central North Island Eastern Bay of Plenty Branch: Chairperson, Mark Fort; Secretary, Lesley Swindells, Tel: (07) 307-0846. EasternBayofPlenty.Branch@forestandbird.org.nz Gisborne Branch: Chairperson, Grant Vincent; Secretary, Wendy Vincent, Tel: (06) 868 8236. gisborne.branch@forestandbird.org.nz Rotorua Branch: Chairperson, Chair rotates among committee members; Secretaries, Margaret Dick, Tel: (07) 357-2024 or Delight Gartlein Tel: (07) 357-2575. Rotorua.Branch@forestandbird.org.nz

Hastings-Havelock North Branch: Chairperson, Ian Noble; Secretary, Jennifer Hartley, Tel: (06) 870-3477. HastingsHavelockNorth.Branch@forestandbird.org.nz Horowhenua Branch: Chairperson, Debbie Waldin; Secretary, Angelina Smith, Tel: (06) 368 3337. horowhenua.branch@forestandbird.org.nz Kapiti-Mana Branch: Chairperson, John McLachan; Secretary, Judy Driscoll, Tel: (04) 904-2049. KapitiMana.Branch@forestandbird.org.nz Lower Hutt Branch: Chairperson, Russell Bell; Secretary, Vacant, Tel: (04) 380-6130. LowerHutt.Branch@forestandbird.org.nz Manawatu Branch: Chairperson, Paul Demchick; Secretary, Alexandra King, Tel: (06) 354 8370. manawatu.branch@forestandbird.org.nz Napier Branch: Chairperson, Neil Eagles; Secretary, Barbara McPherson, Tel: (06) 845-0425. Napier.Branch@forestandbird.org.nz North Taranaki Branch: Chairperson, Carolyn Brough; Secretary, Shirley Schofield, Tel: (06) 758-3680. NorthTaranaki.Branch@forestandbird.org.nz Rangitikei Branch: Chairperson, Diana Stewart; Secretary, Dot Mattocks, Tel: (06) 327-8790. Rangitikei.Branch@forestandbird.org.nz South Taranaki Branch: Chairperson, Dave Digby; Secretary, Carol Digby, Tel: (06) 765 7482. SouthTaranaki.Branch@forestandbird.org.nz Upper Hutt Branch: Chairperson, Barry Wards; Secretary, Fred Fowler, Tel: (04) 569-7187. UpperHutt.Branch@forestandbird.org.nz Wairarapa Branch: Chairperson, Geoff Doring; Secretary, Peta Campbell, Tel: (06) 377 4882. Wairarapa.Branch@forestandbird.org.nz Wanganui Branch: Chairperson, Esther Williams; Secretary, Ray Hutchison, Tel: (06) 345-2651. Wanganui.Branch@forestandbird.org.nz Wellington Branch: Chairperson, Peter Hunt; Secretary, David Ellison, Tel: (04) 233-1010. Wellington.Branch@forestandbird.org.nz

South Island Ashburton Branch: Chairperson, Edith Smith; Secretary, Val Clemens, Tel: (03) 308-5620. Ashburton.Branch@forestandbird.org.nz Central Otago-Lakes Branch: Chairperson, Mark Ayre; Secretary, Denise Bruns, Tel: (03) 443-5462. CentralOtagoLakes.Branch@forestandbird.org.nz Dunedin Branch: Chairperson, Jeni Pelvin; Secretary, David Horne, Tel: (03) 473 7921. dunedin.branch@forestandbird.org.nz Golden Bay Branch: Chairperson, vacant; Secretary, Jo-Anne Vaughan, Tel: (03) 525 6031. goldenbay.branch@forestandbird.org.nz Kaikoura Branch: Secretary Jody Weir, Tel: 027 8973 444. kaikoura.branch@ forestandbird.org.nz

South Waikato Branch: Chairperson, Anne Groos; Secretary, Jack Groos, Tel: (07) 886-7456. SouthWaikato.Branch@forestandbird.org.nz

Marlborough Branch: Chairperson, Andrew John; Secretary, Lynda Neame, Tel: (03) 578-2013. Marlborough.Branch@forestandbird.org.nz

Taupo Branch: Secretary, Laura Dawson, Tel: (07) 378 5975, laura@reap.org.nz

Nelson-Tasman Branch: Chairperson, Craig Potton; Secretary, Gillian Pollock, Tel: (03) 548-8583. NelsonTasman.Branch@forestandbird.org.nz

Tauranga Branch: Chairperson, David Dowrick; Secretary, Pam Foster, Tel (07) 571-0974. Tauranga.Branch@forestandbird.org.nz Te Puke Branch: Chairperson Cathy Reid; Secretary, Bev Nairn, Tel: (07) 533-4247. TePuke.Branch@forestandbird.org.nz Waihi Section: Chairperson, Ian Bradshaw; Secretary, Krishna Buckman, Tel: (07) 863-8455. Waihi.Branch@forestandbird.org.nz Waikato Branch: Chairperson, Philip Hart; Secretary, Jim Macdiarmid, Tel: (07) 849-3438. Waikato.Branch@forestandbird.org.nz

Lower North Island Central Hawke’s Bay Branch: Chairperson, Dan Elderkamp; Secretary, Rose Hay, Tel: (06) 858 8828. Centralhawkesbay.branch@forestandbird.org.nz

lodge accommodation

Arethusa Cottage An ideal place from which to explore the Far North. Near Pukenui in wetland reserve. 6 bunks, fully equipped kitchen, separate bathroom outside. For information and bookings, contact Anita Herbert, 71C Totara North Road, RD2 Kaeo, Northland 0479. Tel: 09 405 1720. Email: herbit@xtra.co.nz

Tai Haruru Lodge, Piha, West Auckland A seaside haven set in a large sheltered garden on the rugged West Coast, 38km on sealed roads from central Auckland. Close to store, bush reserves and tracks in the beautiful Waitakere Ranges. Sleeps up to 6 in 1 dble brm, 1 brm and lounge, Lounge has wood burner, dining area and kitchen. Self-contained unit has 4 single beds. Bring food, linen and fuel for fire and BBQ. Off peak rates apply. Booking: Jean and Peter King, 10 La Trobe Track, Karekare, Waitakere City. Tel: (09) 812 8064. Email: hop0018@slingshot.co.nz

Waiheke Island Cottage Located next to our 49ha Wildlife Reserve, 10 mins walk to Onetangi Beach, general stores etc. Sleeps up to 8 in two bedrooms. Lounge, well-equipped kitchen, separate toilet, bathroom, shower, laundry. Pillows, blankets provided. No pets. Ferries 35 minutes from Auckland. Enquiries with stamped addressed envelope to: Robin Griffiths, 125 The Strand, Onetangi, Waiheke Island. Tel: (09) 372-7662.

North Canterbury Branch: Chairperson, Lesley Shand; Secretary, Cathie Brumley, Tel: (03) 379 0316. northcanterbury.branch@forestandbird.org.nz South Canterbury Branch: Chairperson, Vacant; Secretary, Margaret McPherson, Tel: (03) 686-1494. SouthCanterbury.Branch@forestandbird.org.nz South Otago Branch: Chairperson, Roy Johnstone; Secretary, Jane Young, Tel: (03) 415-8532. SouthOtago.Branch@forestandbird.org.nz Southland Branch: Chairperson, Craig Carson; Secretary, Jenny Campbell, Tel: (03) 248-6398. Southland.Branch@forestandbird.org.nz West Coast Branch: Chairperson, Kathy Gilbert; Secretary, Jane Marshall, WestCoast.Branch@forestandbird.org.nz For branch postal addresses, please see www.forestandbird.org.nz

William Hartree Memorial Lodge, Hawke’s Bay Situated 48km from Napier, 8km past Patoka on the Puketitiri Rd (sealed). The lodge is set amid a 14ha scenic reserve and close to many walks, eg: Kaweka Range, Balls Clearing, hot springs and museum. The lodge accommodates up to 10 people. It has a fully equipped kitchen including stove, refrigerator and microwave plus tile fire, hot showers. Supply your own pillows, linen, sleeping bags etc. For information and bookings please send a stamped addressed envelope to Mike and Linda Hay, 172 Guppy Road, Taradale, Napier 4112. Tel: (06) 8444651. Email: hayhouse@clear.net.nz.

Ruapehu lodge, Tongariro National Park The newly built lodge is 600 metres from Whakapapa Village. It sleeps 32 people – three bunkrooms sleep 4 each, one sleeps 6 and two upstairs sleeping areas sleep 14. Supply your own bedding and food. Bookings and inquiries to Forest & Bird, PO Box 631, Wellington. Tel: (04) 385-7374. Email: office@forestandbird.org.nz

Matiu/Somes Island, Wellington Harbour Joint venture accommodation by Lower Hutt Forest and Bird with DOC. A modern family home with kitchen, 3 bedrooms, large lounge and dining room, just 20 mins sailing by ferry

from the centre of Wellington or 10 mins from Days Bay. Ideal place to relax in beautiful surroundings, with accommodation for 8. Bring your own food and bedding and a torch. Smoking is banned everywhere on the island, including the house. Forest & Bird members get a 25% discount. For more information, visit www. doc.govt.nz and for bookings, contact the DOC Wellington Visitors Centre at wellingtonvc@doc. govt.nz, ph (04) 384-7770 or mail to PO Box 10420, The Terrace, Wellington 6143.

Mangarakau Swamp Field Centre, North West Nelson Borders Kahurangi National Park and Te Tai Tapu Marine Reserve. New, 10 bed lodge with two bathrooms, fully equipped kitchen. Sleeping bags, towels and food required. Contact Jo-Anne Vaughan – Golden Bay Branch Secretary for details: javn@xtra.co.nz or phone (03) 5256031.

Tautuku Forest Cabins, Otago State Highway 92, Southeast Otago. Situated on Forest and Bird’s 550ha Lenz Reserve 32km south of Owaka. A bush setting, and many lovely beaches nearby provide a wonderful base for exploring the Catlins. The cottage, the cabin and an A-frame sleep 10, 4 and 2 respectively. No animals. For information and rates please send a stamped addressed envelope to the caretaker: Diana Noonan, Mirren St, Papatowai, Owaka, RD2. Tel: (03) 415-8024, fax (03) 415-8244. Email: diana-keith@yrless.co.nz

With each of our stores stocking over 7500 products from 150 different suppliers, we are able to offer the best performers in each category. We present cutting edge technology from leading international manufacturers such as Arc’teryx, Berghaus, Black Diamond, Exped, Osprey, Outdoor Research and The North Face. Every item has undergone a selection process during which the product has proven itself to be a top contender in its category.

Exped DownMat UL 7 Two flat valves, one for inflation and the other for deflation allow for quick and easy handling. The mat’s fabric is a laminate of ultralight polyester and an absolutely airtight and moisture resistant TPU film. The upper face has a honeycomb structure with slip resistant properties that still allows for easy movement with a sleeping bag. High frequency welded seams for durability Welded baffles between the down filled chambers, unlike traditional airmats, eliminate cold spots and create a comfortably supportive and stable air cushion The IDFL certified down is treated and moisture proof. Stuff sack, field repair kit (fabric patches, glue and repair manual), user manual and Schnozzle Pumpbag for easy inflation included Length 163cm (Short), 183cm (Medium)

Width 52cm Thickness 7cm Rolled Size 23 x 10cm (Short), 23 x 11cm (Medium) Fill 700-fill, Nocar-treated goose down Fill Weight 130g (Short), 170g (Medium) Average Weight mat/packsack and mat combined: 500g/515g (Short), 565g/580g (Medium) Warranty for all Exped UL products is 2 years Relative Warmth (R Value) 5.9 (1.04m2.kelvins/watt) Temperature Rating minus 24°C $279 RRP (Medium)

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