11 minute read
Inspiring People - Dedicated to Kaharoa Forest
Thirty Years of Conservation Dedication. How Did It All Begin?
Carmel started working in Kaharoa Forest (Bay of Plenty, New Zealand), in the early 90s and Graeme began as a volunteer with the newly formed Kaharoa Kōkako Trust in 1997. How did it all start? Do they have hope for the future?
Carmel Richardson: It's in her blood
I do believe that unless people are exposed to, experience or encounter our forests, wetlands, or seashores they cannot understand the need, or urgency, for environmental protection.
Carmel grew up with parents that loved the forest. Her family were all Forest and Bird members, her Mum a Junior Forest and Bird teacher, Dad, amongst other things was an Honorary Ranger helping in Te Urewera National Park. Her mother once wisely said to her, ‘If you follow your interests, you’ll find work you enjoy.’
Therefore, it’s not surprising that Carmel feels the forest in her blood, and she has spent the last 30-years being involved in the restoration of Kaharoa Forest and the relict kōkako population there.
In the late 1980’s Carmel, her husband and three young children, moved to near Kaharoa. She had a friend, Hazel Speed, who was monitoring kōkako, possums and rodents in the Aislable block of Kaharoa Forest. The work was part of an eight-year research programme involving three forests, to work out why kōkako numbers were still in decline, despite the halt of native forest clearance. In the early 90s Carmel volunteered her time to help Hazel, and this work led to some paid contracts with DOC. It was the start of the conservation story of Kaharoa Kōkako Trust.
The research project structure meant that monitoring of possum, rodents and kōkako took place each year, but in Kaharoa Forest for the first three years, pest control also took place. During this time kōkako chick numbers grew steadily. It seemed obvious that earlier high rodent and possum numbers were linked to declining kōkako numbers.
In the remaining four years of the research, annual monitoring of adult kōkako, chicks fledged, rodents and possums took place, but pest control was stopped. Predictably chick numbers declined in years four and five, and sadly no chicks survived in the final two years of the research.
“We had clear proof that pest control is essential for kōkako populations to survive and thrive,” Carmel is visibly upset as she retells the story. “All that stood in the way of turning the tide on that decline in Kaharoa was DOC getting funding to re-start pest control that year the research ended, but DOC missed out on funding.”
Carmel is visibly upset as she tells the story. “All that stood in the way of turning the tide on that decline was DOC getting funding to restart pest control.”
This was in 1997, the same year that Peter Davey, a local farmer, contacted DOC to say he believed he had heard kōkako on his property. Carmel was sent out to visit the farm where unfortunately no kōkako were found, and as they walked back Carmel shared her story and her concerns for kōkako in the year ahead. Peter – a nononsense man – was in disbelief.
He decided then and there that if DOC couldn’t get the funding, then they had to sort it themselves. He set up Kaharoa Kōkako Trust, and within a few months a pest control programme began.
Graeme Young: The Grey Warbler Moment
Graeme grew up in rural Rangiora, where life centred around weekend sport, hunting rabbits, hanging out in the braided rivers and riding horses. Although he spent a lot of time outdoors, he never had a strong interest in wonders of nature. His family had owned a strawberry farm and to avoid work like that in the school holidays Graeme got work at the Forest and Range Experimental Station (Protection Forestry). In a roundabout way this eventually led to being at Kaharoa many years later.
After finishing school, he headed to Canterbury University, but worked out quickly that it wasn’t for him. A few too many missed lectures and assignments saw him kicked out and wondering what to do next.
Graeme was 22 when he finished training and a scientist named John Harris had seen Graeme and decided he’d like him in his team. He offered him a role with Rotorua Forest Research Institute. Graeme decided to accept the position and has been in the region ever since. John was a straight-up and down kind of man - exRAF pilot, and he and his wife almost adopted Graeme as their surrogate adult child, keeping an eye out for him without being overbearing.
One day while working in a bush block, John said, ‘Listen to that lovely little grey warbler!’
This comment hit Graeme like a ton of bricks. It was, he said, an epiphany. He had spent his whole life outdoors and had heard the sound many times before, he had no idea that it was the grey warbler song. It made him question why he had never connected that familiar song to the bird. It was from that moment that his interest in native birds began.
Twenty years later he was married with kids living 5km from the Kaharoa Management Area.
His connection with KKT started after Pete Davey, (the local farmer from Carmel’s story), knocked on Graeme’s door asking if he would volunteer time to help with some trapping work at Kaharoa. Graeme said yes, thinking it would be a good way to keep fit. After five-years working as a volunteer on the ground, Pete turned up at his door again. He was leaving the Trust and wanted Graeme to become a trustee and take the role as chair.
Graeme agreed and 20 years later he is again chair. His first stint as chair was not for long! He has remained a trustee throughout and took the role as chair again at the end of 2021.
A Challenging Balance
In the decades that Graeme and Carmel have worked in Kaharoa they have seen many changes in ‘how we do’ conservation in New Zealand. I talk to them about what they have found most challenging over the years. The trust formed about 18 months after the 1995 Cave Creek tragedy in Paparoa National Park, where due to a viewing platform collapsing, thirteen students and a DOC worker were killed.
Unsurprisingly, Cave Creek had a huge influence on DOC. They were required to bring in significant changes, which - while workable for a large well-resourced organisation - are very difficult for small voluntary groups to work with. So while ensuring a higher level of safety for the general public, they have tended to be an obstacle and a frustration for small community groups.
They are incredibly grateful to DOC staff for the advice and support the trust has received over the years. They place importance on building relationships and working with DOC staff and because of that they’ve met some fabulous people through the years. What has also been challenging is the increasing paperwork that is now required to meet the various requirements for different activities from organisations such as DOC (e.g. pest control applications) and Worksafe (Controlled Substance Licencing). There is occasionally also frustration when some regulations — although mitigating any chance of injury or accident — have meant that work could not be carried out in a timely manner, and the very things they are trying to protect have sometimes paid the price. They are quick to point out that this is not a criticism of the people within DOC but is a criticism of DOC as an entity. They also point out that DOC is massively underfunded and understaffed.
They gave me some examples of situations where pest control has had to stop in some areas due to a perceived risk to those on the ground. It’s a bit of a head-scratcher, and a worry. I wonder if increased funding to get more DOC workers in the field having a conversation with the people that hold the real knowledge from the area involved would help avoid these situations. Maybe we all need to get together and talk more. As it stands, I don’t know how they keep going!
How Have They Carried On?
Both Carmel and Graeme have kept showing up, year after year, decade after decade, despite the ongoing challenges. When asked, they both quickly respond saying, “If we don’t do it, who will? The volunteers are getting older, and there are few people stepping up to take over.”
“My biggest fear has been longevity [of conservation in Kaharoa]. If we stop — no — when we stop, what will happen?” adds Graeme. “The cadet course makes us, for the first time, really hopeful.”
He is talking about the Bay Conservation Cadet Course that is currently funded through Jobs for Nature. (See page 20.) Carmel smiles and as her eyes light up she says, “Since Bay Conservation Alliance (BCA) and the cadet programme started, we are finally getting some young people, not only joining our trust, but volunteering. We are finally seeing passionate, keen, inspired young people coming into conservation for all the right reasons. Most of them have had prior life experience, so have made a conscious career change into conservation. The cadetship is the best practical training in conservation, that I’ve seen anywhere in New Zealand.”
But this is not the only reason they have new hope for the future of Kaharoa. They admit that when the trust was approached to become a member of a newly formed alliance called Bay Conservation, they were sceptical. However, since joining they have seen first-hand the benefits of working more collectively.
For example, the Trust initiated the Kōkako Ecosystem Expansion Programme (KEEP, read more on page 36). BCA has helped in getting this bold plan off the ground. A forested corridor between Ōtanewainuku and Kaharoa is now being worked on. Protecting and growing the kōkako population was the initial reason Carmel started fighting to achieve this in the early 1990’s. And here we are now in 2024, filling in some missing puzzle pieces and
increasing the chances of long-term population growth for the kōkako, and maybe even seeing the return of kiwi.
Changes In Technology That Actually Help
There is nothing Graeme likes more than a good spreadsheet. He says that although he enjoys being out in the field — it keeps him out of trouble and it’s a way to exercise that’s not pointless like running — his favourite part about working in conservation is data. Years of data, collected and collated, paint a picture based on facts, not feelings, and help make more effective decisions around pest control management. And for Graeme, once he’s done his exercise, he can pour a beer and play with his spreadsheets.
“That’s the best part!” Graeme says.
When I asked if any technology had made a positive difference on the ground, he said that BCA member groups getting access to Field Maps App was, by far, the most significant technological change for them. He said that the old methods of mapping and recording data, planning trap lines and navigating was incredibly time consuming.
Carmel adds ‘Now he lives on his phone in the forest, adding data, using it to explain the infrastructure to volunteers, or adding new features. We encourage our volunteers to use it for navigation and to find particular features that they are tasked with working on. If you see a problem, now you can mark the location
You Need To Know Before You Can Care
I will leave the last words to Carmel. We were talking about the uniqueness of NZ’s flora and fauna and the lack of people caring about protecting it.
“Honestly! It’s amazing how little, we as a nation, know about our country. If people don’t know, how can they possibly care? Having worked in conservation for a long time, I do believe that unless people are exposed to, experience, and/or encounter our forests, wetlands, or seashores they cannot understand the need, or urgency, for environmental protection.”
If you ever get the opportunity to spend time with Carmel or Graeme, grab it! Individually, they hold so much information and have a huge amount of experience from their many years as trustees for KKT. Collectively they are delightful, and their different strengths and interests make them quite the conservation package.
Find out more about Bay Conservation here.
Find out more about Kaharoa Kōkako Trust here.
