Forest & Bird Magazine 362 Summer 2016

ISSUE 362 • SUMMER 2016 www.forestandbird.org.nz

TOURISM BOOM How many is too many?

PLUS Save the Waitaha

Kōkako king

Best Fish Guide 2017

ISSUE 362

• Summer 2016

www.forestandbird.org.nz STAY IN TOUCH Forest & Bird National Office Ground Floor, 205 Victoria Street 6011 PO Box 631, Wellington 6140.

Tel: (04) 385-7374 FREEPHONE 0800 200 064 EMAIL office@forestandbird.org.nz

Contents

CONTACT A STAFF MEMBER See www.forestandbird. org.nz/our-people for a full list of staff members and their contact details.

Conservation news

CONTACT A BRANCH See www.forestandbird.org.nz/ branches for a full list of our 50+ Forest & Bird branches and their contact details.

2 Editorial

Our people

4 Letters

32 Five questions with Kevin Hague 33 Welcome Grace, Adelia and Caitlin

6 8 9 10

Save the Waitaha Landmark court win MPI’s Achilles heel Kōkako king, marine report card, forest ringlet, native forests, GMOs, fundraising workshop.

Books 34 Christmas books & giveaways

Canterbury tales 36 Marvellous mudfish

Seabirds 42 Oiled birds response

Like us on Facebook www.facebook.com/ ForestandBird

Our partners 45 Kermadec discoveries

Watch us on YouTube

In the field

www.youtube.com/ forestandbird Follow us on Twitter @Forest_and_Bird

46 A gecko’s tale

Cover story 12 National parks under pressure 14 Travel in a low carbon world

Going places 48 Rakiura wilderness

Obituary

JOIN FOREST & BIRD

Soapbox

Call 0800 200 064 or email membership@forestandbird.org.nz or go to www.forestandbird.org.nz/joinus

16 Just 1% please

50 Margaret Peace, Brian Bell, David Hallett

Marine

Conservation in the city

Forest & Bird would like to thank Honda New Zealand for its ongoing support

18 Best Fish Guide 2017 20 Five fishy tales 24 Save our southern seas

Legal watch 21 Defending nature

Biodiversity EDITOR

Caroline Wood MAGAZINE ENQUIRIES AND LETTERS

E editor@forestandbird.org.nz ART DIRECTOR/DESIGNER

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

22 Kākāpō kingdom 38 Auckland’s Motu Manawa

Freshwater 26 Waikato water woes 40 Whitebait spawning

PRINTING

Young conservationists

Webstar

28 KCC kids speak out

FOR ALL ADVERTISING ENQUIRIES

Karen Condon T 0275 420 338 E mack.cons@xtra.co.nz Membership & circulation enquiries T 0800 200 064 E membership@forestandbird.org.nz

52 Zealandia turns 21

Christmas puzzle 54 Conservation crossword 55 Index

Parting shot IBC Fearless falcon

Christmas book giveaway

PAGE

34

Forest & Bird reserve 30 Te Rere’s penguins

COVER SHOT A quiet day out on the Tongariro Crossing (Craters of the Emerald Lakes). Photo: One Shot/Susanna Burton

Forest & Bird

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Editorial

ANDREW CUTLER

Embracing change

Royal Forest and Bird Protection Society of New Zealand Inc. (Founded 1923)

One of the myths about conservationists is that we are opposed to change. This stereotype is usually trotted out when Forest & Bird campaigns against a project or policy that will forever ruin or destroy a piece of our natural heritage.

The stereotype isn’t true.

Conservationists are often enthusiastic adopters of new technologies and progressive ideas when they have the potential to make our natural world a better place: new traps and better toxins to kill pests, the wider use of distributed renewable energy (solar and wind), and broad-based community action, such as fenced sanctuaries, are examples.

However, it’s true that there is a tension in the conservation movement about change. Because we are deeply concerned about the future of the natural environment, we can be very risk-averse when considering new technologies, ways of working, or approaches to environmental issues.

Deciding what technological, economic, and social changes to support and what to oppose is a challenge for leaders in all sectors of society. However, the challenge of making good decisions affecting our environment is vitally important now that humanity has become capable of fundamentally altering the Earth’s natural cycles – the climate, oceans, and biota.

The challenge is complicated by the natural tendency for our decisions about the future to be driven by our experiences of the recent past. This tendency is captured in the saying that “generals are always fighting the last war”, but the inclination for leaders to focus on fixing last year’s problems using familiar

Registered Office at Ground Floor, 205 Victoria Street, Wellington 6011.

solutions is as real for the conservation sector as it is for any other.

To illustrate the issue, here are two recent examples of how new technologies could change the conservation landscape in the years ahead.

At the 2016 International Union for the Conservation of Nature conference in Hawaii, a conservation organisation announced it was funding research into very precise genetic engineering tools to modify the genes of invasive species to reduce their ability to reproduce. One of the invasive species they are targeting is mice, a pervasive pest here in New Zealand. Should we support such a genetic tool if it became available?

Or this: using genetically engineered yeast, a US company has developed milk brewed in a factory. Factory-made milk, indistinguishable from cow’s milk but with a dramatically lower environmental footprint, has the potential to disrupt the diary industry globally. Should we endorse a product such as this, given the devastating effect of dairying on New Zealand’s environment?

In a world where technology and society is changing quickly and profoundly, and our natural environment is under incredible stress, choosing the familiar or safe answers may no longer be enough.

Ka kite anō

Andrew Cutler Forest & Bird President Perehitini, Te Reo o te Taiao

Happy holidays In your bumper 60-page magazine, you will find a Christmas books special with more than $400 of reader giveaways, thanks to Potton & Burton, one of Forest & Bird's supporters. But you need to be in quick to win – entries close at 5pm on 13 December.

We also have a conservation-inspired Christmas crossword puzzle to tax the brain this holidays. Compiled

by Māyā, who is also a Forest & Bird member, there’s a prize for the winning entry.

New Zealand’s longest-running conservation magazine just got a little bigger. It now has an extra four pages of editorial in each issue. We have upgraded to a new matte FSC-certified paper that is intended to increase readability and improve image quality so we can showcase even more of New Zealand’s top nature photographers, such as Darryl Torckler on p18 and Andris Apse on p24. Let us know what you think: email editor@forestandbird.org.nz with your feedback.

Finally, the team at Forest & Bird would like to thank all our members, supporters, advertisers, writers, and photographers for your support during 2016.

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PATRON Her Excellency The Rt Honourable Dame Patsy Reddy, Governor-General of New Zealand CHIEF EXECUTIVE

Kevin Hague PRESIDENT

Andrew Cutler TREASURER

Graham Bellamy BOARD MEMBERS

Brent Barrett, Lindsey Britton, Kate Graeme, Mark Hanger, James Muir, John Oates, Ines Stäger CONSERVATION AMBASSADORS

Sir Alan Mark, Gerry McSweeney, Craig Potton DISTINGUISHED LIFE MEMBERS:

Ken Catt, Linda Conning, Audrey Eagle, Alan Edmonds, Gordon Ell, Stewart Gray, Philip Hart, Joan Leckie, Hon. Sandra Lee-Vercoe, Carole Long, Peter Maddison, Sir Alan Mark, Gerry McSweeney, Craig Potton, Fraser Ross, Eugenie Sage, Guy Salmon, Lesley Shand, David Underwood Forest & Bird is a registered charitable entity under the Charities Act 2005. Registration No CC26943.

Forest & Bird is published quarterly by the Royal Forest and Bird Protection Society of New Zealand Inc. 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.

Registered at PO Headquarters, Wellington, as a magazine.

ISSN 0015-7384. Copyright.

All rights reserved.

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.

The best contribution to the Letters page of the next issue will win Protecting Paradise

by Dave Hansford, Potton & Burton, RRP $34.99.

Please send letters to Editor, Forest & Bird magazine, PO Box 631, Wellington 6140, or email editor@forestandbird.org.nz by 1 February 2017.

Thirsty work

Cats, rabbits, and mice

In your Spring 2016 issue you make the astonishing (to me) claim that “it takes about 10,000 litres of water to create a single kilo of milk solids”.

Is this a misprint? If not, and if the figure is accurate, will you please explain how this can be? Why is so much water needed, and how is it used?

Ian McAlpine’s letter (Spring 2016) raises an important and largely overlooked problem in the predator-free-by-2050 debate. Rabbits in the North Island and much of the South Island are controlled by predation, chiefly by feral cats.

Hares control themselves and will remain a minor problem.

In alpine areas, they may help to keep out rabbits by competition, especially as the climate warms.

The entirely predictable devastation on Macquarie Island caused by rabbits when cats were removed is a timely reminder to eradicate rabbits first. The “last rabbit” policy of the 1948–1983 Rabbit Boards, a well-funded and efficient organisation, used 1080 and anticoagulants as proposed today. But they left cats to continue the good work.

Removing predators is best done by taking out mice first. All the rest kill mice and help control them. Then remove rats, for the same reason, followed by mustelids.

Cats help control the others and are the easiest of the predators to eliminate eventually. Devising and applying specific baits is expensive, but offers a better chance of success than the single blitz approach. After all, if we can’t get rid of mice, why bother with the rest?

Mike Groves, Auckland Megan Hubscher, who wrote the article, responds: “The figure is correct. But it’s important to note that we’re talking about milk solids. Milk solids make up 10 percent of regular liquid milk (the average for NZ last season was nine percent according to DairyNZ statistics). It takes about 1000 litres of water to make one litre of milk.”

In our next issue, we will look in more detail about why it takes so much water to make one litre of milk – The Editor.

Rare plant thriving in Hawke’s Bay In your Spring issue article it says that Olearia gardnerii (Gardner’s tree daisy) was formerly in Hawke’s Bay, the inference being that it is no longer found there.

I am pleased to say that in fact it is still alive and well and thriving in Hawke’s Bay. We have approximately 60 Olearia gardnerii plants in a QEII coventanted block on our farm at Rissington (approx 35km west of Napier).

The plants were grown from a cutting taken from a plant found in the wild at Hutchinson’s Bush, Puketitiri, Hawke’s Bay through the local office of the Department of Conservation in Napier. There may also be another site in the Maungaharuru Range (north of the Napier/Taupo Road) that needs to be checked.

John Upton QC, Wellington

Richard Henry Your story about the Milford Wanderer Dusky Sound Cruise (Spring 2016) tells of Richard Henry and how he captured 400 kiwi, takahē, and kiwi for release on Resolution Island. Henry spent many hours searching the high tussock country around Te Anau for takahē but never found any. They were thought to be extinct and were only found alive again in the 1940s. Read Susanne and John Hill’s fascinating but heart-breaking book, Richard Henry of Resolution Island, McIndoe Press, now out of print but available at libraries. Please somebody reprint it in paperback.

Nozz Fletcher, Picton

Dr John Flux, Lower Hutt

Mackenzie irrigation There’s an ignored issue in the dispute about expanding irrigation in Mackenzie country. The water used for irrigation there would otherwise be generating electrical energy renewably. The power stations and distribution infrastructure (still partly publicly owned) are sunk costs. The energy return on investment is diminished by every bit of water in the upper Waitaki catchment taken for irrigation.

The Waitaki power complex will be important in enabling New Zealand to achieve the targets on greenhouse emissions set by the Paris agreement. If we are to have a sustainable economy, electrically powered transport alone will put heavy pressure on our generation capacity. There are countless other potential uses for hydro-electrical energy which can smooth our journey to a prosperous, sustainable economy.

The Mackenzie dams have an advantage over other sources of renewable energy such as wind and solar, which are erratic or seasonal in their delivery of energy.

Hydro dams can quickly adjust supply to eliminate varying shortfall/surplus and they have the capacity to store energy. Forest & Bird should argue that, even leaving aside biodiversity and scenery issues, increasing irrigation in the upper Waitaki is insane economics. These arguments don’t apply to water taken below the Waitaki dam near Kurow.

Allen Cookson, North Canterbury

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Huge Heaphy rātā Regarding the ages of notable large northern rata trees (Metrosideros robusta) in the article by Paul Stanley Ward (Spring 2016), there are a number of these trees in the Heaphy (Whakapohai) River Valley. One of these trees is so big that it takes 13 people at arms stretch to go round.

Some years ago, one of the low-hanging branches snapped off in a storm and fell across the Heaphy Track.

I was there just after DOC had chainsawed the offending branch and cleared the track. The cut was fresh so I counted the rings, 500 on a branch!

Considering how these trees grow from an epiphyte, then send a root down to the ground, then develop as a tree, this must be a very ancient tree indeed.

John Croxford, Golden Bay

Shoot the moon I would like to endorse Kevin Hackwell’s comments regarding pest control (Spring 2016): “We mustn’t waste too much time and effort in devising alternatives to existing tried and true methods” and “The best technique is still putting a bait in front of a hungry pest.”

Research is important, but it should not be an excuse to delay a pest-control programme. Some councils that have responsibilities for large urban areas do not have pest control expertise and, with recent health and safety legalisation, tend to become risk averse to the point of paranoia when a community group mentions poison baits.

The fall-back position then becomes: “Let’s do a trial with traps.” And, as anyone actively involved with pest control knows, we are not going to have a predator-free NZ using traps for rats. Trap possums and mustelids in smaller areas, yes, but not ship rats.

50 years ago

WIN A BOOK Forest & Bird is giving two copies of New Zealand’s Rivers – An Environmental History by Catherine Knight, which explores our often conflicted relationship with freshwater, RRP $49.99.

To enter the draw, email your entry to draw@ forestandbird.org.nz. Please put RIVERS 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 Rivers draw, Forest & Bird, PO Box 631, Wellington 6140. Entries close 1 February 2017.

The winners of 1,000 Butterflies were Edith Shaw, of Nelson, and George Barr-Brown, of Lower Hutt, Wellington.

For this to be successful, the Department of Conservation, Landcare Research, and local councils are going to have to get serious when it comes to working positively with community groups. I don’t believe this is happening in every area at present. Some are delaying, watering down, or blocking community pest-control initiatives. This is going to have to change if we are serious about achieving a predator-free New Zealand.

Rex Bushell Mangaiti Gully Restoration Trust, Hamilton Best letter winner

Nature Study in the Summer Holidays Hello Juniors, School is nearly finished for the year. Long, warm summer days encourage us to spend a lot of time outside, so there will be plenty of opportunities for you to pursue your own natural history hobby. All you need to make your old haunts come alive with interest is an inquiring mind, a pair of sharp eyes, and most important a notebook and pencil.

Wherever you go, listen carefully to the bird songs around you. If you cannot recognise the call, creep quietly toward the noise until you can see the bird which is singing.

You may well be surprised at the different calls made by the same bird in different circumstances, such as alarm, mating, happiness, etc. Try to identify mentally each bird and then, when you see one which you cannot place, you will take special note of it and be able to find out what it is instead of just thinking, “Oh that was probably a—“ and perhaps missing out on an interesting observation.

Happy hunting from KOTUKU and KOTARE Forest & Bird August, number 162, 1966

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Conservation news Westpower wants to build a hydro scheme at the entrance to the pristine Morgan Gorge, on the Waitaha River. Photo: Zak Shaw

WILD WAITAHA Forest & Bird has launched a campaign to stop a hydro scheme being built on one of New Zealand’s last wild rivers.

By Caroline Wood.

N

ot many New Zealanders have visited the Waitaha, a rugged and remote West Coast river that is also a wilderness and biodiversity treasure. More than 25 native bird species (including kea, kākā and kārearea) longtailed bats, and forest and green geckos make the Waitaha their home.

This is one of New Zealand’s last remaining unobstructed wild rivers. From its source in the snowcovered Southern Alps, it broadens at times to provide important habitat for whio/blue duck. It then narrows and goes through the pristine Morgan Gorge before emerging to take a short meander to the West Coast’s Tasman Sea, 15km south-west of Ross, south of Hokitika.

Its outstanding natural values are not in dispute. So why then has the Department of Conservation (DOC) agreed in principle to allow a power company permission to build a 20MW hydro scheme at Morgan Gorge for economic reasons Forest & Bird believes do not stack up?

Westpower has applied for a DOC concession to construct a weir just above the Morgan Gorge so it can extract water and pipe it through a tunnel to a power station below the gorge.

Surprisingly, DOC notified its intent to grant a concession for the proposed hydro scheme and called for submissions by 14 November.

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Forest & Bird, along with recreational users, such as trampers and kayakers, are against the hydro scheme. We have made a formal submission and launched a campaign urging our members and supporters to do the same. A hearing on the issue is due to take place in early December.

Canterbury and West Coast regional conservation manager Jen Miller says: “The Morgan Gorge is an outstanding natural feature and one of the most spectacular gorges in the country. The construction of a weir and associated infrastructure close to where the Waitaha enters the gorge will have an entirely unacceptable and inappropriate impact on the overwhelming naturalness of this special place.

“There are already consented proposals for hydro, including the schemes on the Arnold River, near Greymouth, and at Stockton. There is no case for further hydro generation that justifies the destruction of such a wild and special place.”

Clare Backes, Secretary of Forest & Bird’s West Coast Branch, says that no amount of mitigation could overcome the habitat destruction caused by the proposed hydro scheme.

“We need power to be produced but there are other options that will not destroy a wild scenic river, a river that has great intrinsic value for many of us.

“It doesn’t matter if you can’t walk up there, or paddle down it, the fact that it exists in an unmodified pristine state is important to the locals, the region, and the country.”

Forest & Bird member Warren Farrelly knows the Waitaha River well, having walked the length of it. He supports Forest & Bird’s campaign to stop the hydro scheme.

“It is one of New Zealand’s last wild rivers, and the gorge is iconic. Imagine what it would look like with a trickle of water instead of the full river flowing down it?

“To me, the Waitaha and Morgan Gorge are too precious for any exploitation to be allowed,” he said.

A hearing on the proposed Waitaha Hydro Scheme is due in early December. If DOC approves the concession, Westland District Council and the West Coast Regional Council will still need to give their consents for the hydro scheme to go ahead. *You can keep up with our campaign at www.forestandbird.org.nz/savethewaitaha.

Green gecko. Photo: Matt Barnett/DOC

Morgan Gorge is not classified as conservation grade land despite having undisputed natural values. Photo: Zak Shaw

Why isn't this river fully protected?

The Waitaha River is classified as “stewardship land”.

This means it has the weakest legal protection of all conservation land categories and can be sold or swapped in some circumstances, despite clearly having high natural values.

Many other biodiversity gems like the Morgan Gorge haven’t been recognised for their high conservation value.

This is why Forest & Bird has been campaigning for years

to have stewardship land assessed and reclassified so special places like the Waitaha River are protected from developments such as hydro dams.

When the Department of Conservation was formed in 1987, it was envisaged that stewardship land, which makes up one-third of the conservation estate (or 10 percent of New Zealand’s total land mass), would be reclassified into areas of high conservation values. Then the rest of the land, with low natural values, could be disposed of.

The Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment, Dr Jan Wright, released two reports in 2013 and 2015 calling on DOC to “identify areas of stewardship land that are clearly of significant conservation value, and reclassify them in accordance with that value”.

DOC has begun this work, but unfortunately places such as the Waitaha have not yet been reclassified, leaving them “open for business”.

“Stewardship land doesn’t have as good a level of protection as conservation land, so it’s seen as land that’s not protected. And the Department of Conservation more and more is providing for that to occur,” says Jen Miller “This river should be conservation-grade land. It still hasn’t happened, and it’s unacceptable that this situation goes on. This is not the only example. There are other places like the Waitaha around the country.”

Clare Backes added: “This area of stewardship land must have its conservation values properly assessed by DOC, before any development is allowed to take place.

“Once a hydro scheme is established, its acknowledged and considerable conservation values will be degraded.

This pristine wild and scenic river will be spoiled forever.”

SUMMER APPEAL

Freshwater needs your help Summer is here, but many of us will be pausing for thought before taking a cooling dip in our favourite river or lake this holiday season. Pollution means many of the swimming holes where we once swam and played are no longer safe.

New Zealand’s freshwater is in crisis: n Three-quarters of our native freshwater species are in danger of extinction. n River water quality continues to worsen. Between 1989 and 2013, four times more sites showed higher nitrogen pollution than those that improved. n Eighty percent of monitored lakes had degrading trends for nitrogen and dissolved oxygen, according to an analysis last year by the Ministry for the Environment and NIWA. With your donation, we can work towards restoring the right that many Kiwis have taken for granted all their lives

New Zealand's native eels are in trouble. Photo: Bryce McQuillan

– the right to swim in local rivers and lakes without fear of getting sick.

With your support, we can continue to defend our waterways across the length and breadth of New Zealand.

Together, we can stop the damage to freshwater ecosystems and turn around the decline of our native freshwater birds and fish. Please help us fight for our freshwater, and donate today at www.forestandbird.org. nz/freshwaterappeal.

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Conservation news Part of the Makaroro river that would be inundated if the dam goes ahead. Photo: Caitlin Carew

Landmark court win

Forest & Bird won its Court of Appeal bid to keep our conservation lands safe from commercial interests. But the legal battle isn’t over yet. By Caroline Wood.

I

t was a landmark win, a triumph that saw Forest & Bird’s tiny legal team take on the might of Crown Law, the Government’s far better resourced and staffed legal machine.

In late August, the Court of Appeal agreed with Forest & Bird that the Minister of Conservation’s decision to downgrade the status of specially protected Ruahine Forest Park land to swap it for other land was unlawful.

The land swap was proposed by the company behind the Ruataniwha Water Storage Scheme, to allow it to build a dam and reservoir that would flood the conservation land.

The court’s ruling meant two things. First, the $330m Ruataniwha Scheme in the Hawke’s Bay now faces a significant hurdle in gaining access to the DOC land, making the scheme less likely to proceed. Subsequently, the dam company has said it is looking at using the Public Works Act to seize the land – a process that Forest & Bird may well challenge if it actually happens.

Second, and crucially, the court said that it was unlawful for the Minister of Conservation to change the status of “specially protected” conservation land, which still has high conservation value, just to allow it to be swapped.

Forest & Bird lawyer Sally Gepp said: “This decision is a major victory for New Zealand’s specially protected lands. This land swap would have set a precedent for up to one million hectares of specially protected conservation land, which includes forest parks, conservation parks, and ecological and wilderness areas.

“This case goes to the heart of the purpose of the Conservation Act 1987, and upholds Forest & Bird’s position that specially protected Sally Gepp conservation land should not be subject to commercial or political whim.”

The Ruataniwha Water Storage scheme would provide irrigation for about 250,000ha of farm land in central Hawke’s Bay. It is being promoted by Hawke’s Bay Regional Investment Company (HBRIC), part of Hawke’s Bay Regional Council.

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Incredibly, the Minister of Conservation has decided to try and overturn the Court of Appeal’s decision. If the Supreme Court agrees to hear the case, a hearing is likely to be set down for the first half of next year.

Forest & Bird has pledged to continue the legal fight in the Supreme Court.

Team effort pays off Thanks to all our donors, members, and supporters who contributed money or time towards bringing this important legal case to court. The groundswell of support following the Court of Appeal's decision was overwhelming.

One supporter who made a significant financial contribution towards Forest & Bird’s legal costs summed up the response, saying: “I feel quite close to tears. It is such great news. I really feel part of the team, and it has been good knowing this is something I can do. It has been wonderful to be involved and make a difference.”

Meanwhile our Facebook page was bombarded with positive messages of support, including: “Thanks Forest & Bird. It shows the law can work for us, maybe DOC needs to reread that chapter.”

“Well done, from our future generations to you”.

“Hard to describe what I’m feeling right now, other than a sense of elation.”

“Thank you Forest & Bird – this is one of many reasons why I am a Forest & Bird member!”

Defending nature People like you give Forest & Bird the power to be nature’s voice in our courts and council chambers.

If you would like to make a donation to help fund Forest & Bird’s vital work defending nature, please contact Jess Winchester on 04 801 2219 or email her at j.winchester@forestandbird.org.nz.

MPI’s Achilles heel An independent review of New Zealand’s fishing compliance operations reveals serious issues that need addressing.

Forest & Bird is calling on the Ministry of Primary Industries (MPI) to urgently change its culture and promote sustainable fishing rather than pander to the commercial fishing industry.

In May, former Solicitor-General Michael Heron QC was asked to carry out an independent review following revelations that MPI failed to prosecute clear breaches of the law involving fish dumping, non-reporting of catches, and the likely non-reporting of dolphins being killed as bycatch. Heron’s report was published in September.

“The Heron review confirms MPI is in bed with the fishing industry and is failing to ensure commercial fishing is sustainable,” says Forest & Bird Advocacy and Campaigns Manager Kevin Hackwell.

“The purpose of the ministry’s fisheries section is to protect the public interest, not to promote the interests of the fishing industry. The ministry has to change its culture to do what it was set up to do – ensure the health of the marine environment and secure the longterm future of the fisheries for all New Zealanders.”

The failure to prosecute followed evidence uncovered in three MPI investigations: Operation Overdue, Operation Achilles, and Operation Hippocamp.

During Operation Achilles, in 2012, cameras were placed on six fishing vessels, revealing illegal dumping of between 20 percent and 100 percent of some quota species. Only 11 percent of the 273 trawls by the six vessels were examined, but even this small sample revealed 30 different offences.

The ministry’s own investigator said the offences clearly met prosecution evidential guidelines, but none were taken to court.

The Heron review concluded that the key reason that no prosecution occurred as a result of Operation Achilles was because a court case would have been potentially embarrassing.

In his official report, Michael Heron wrote: “The prosecution decision was affected by considerations which were not relevant under the Guidelines. In particular, potential embarrassment to MPI or officials was an irrelevant consideration.

“The decision not to take prosecution action and in particular the process leading to it was flawed.”

Forest & Bird’s Kevin Hackwell says that taking prosecutions would have highlighted the huge amount of regular illegal fishing industry behaviour, such as dumping and high-grading, and that would have shown how poorly fisheries are managed in New Zealand.

MPI is now putting surveillance cameras on more fishing vessels, but major fishing interests own the company that is providing the technology and doing the monitoring and reporting. In effect, fishing companies are being given control over providing evidence of their own offending.

Kevin Hackwell said the Heron report highlighted some poor enforcement by MPI in the past. But it failed to address the key issue of the ministry being too close to the industry.

He said: “Around 90 percent of world fish stocks are now fully or over fished. And it’s not just fishers from other countries that are disregarding sustainable limits.

“The evidence shows that some commercial fishers in the New Zealand fishing industry have a long way to go.

Forest & Bird would argue that the Ministry of Primary Industries does too.”

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Conservation news

Kōkako king The kōkako has been crowned New Zealand’s Bird of the Year after two weeks of close competition and heated campaigning.

Once threatened with extinction, there were just 660 kōkako left in 1999. Today, their numbers have passed 3000 individuals, and populations are recovering thanks to predator control and translocation programmes.

The kōkako’s successful campaign to win Bird of the Year was led by 16-year-old Oscar Thomas from Auckland, with help from the Rotoehu Ecological Trust in the Bay of Plenty.

“I first got interested in birds after my class visited Tiritiri Matangi Island when I was 10 years old. I didn’t see the kōkako that day, but it was worth the return trip. It’s haunting call and ghostly appearance has fascinated me ever since,” he said.

While many teenagers have their eyes fixed on screens, Oscar can be found looking for birds. He is one of the youngest guides on Tiritiri Matangi, helps run a club for

Photo: Tara Swan

young birders, and has volunteered to count rare birds on the Chatham Islands.

Bird of the Year is one of Forest & Bird’s most popular annual events. It aims to raise awareness of New Zealand’s unique native birds and the threats they face by asking people to vote for their favourite species. This year saw a record number taking part – nearly 20,000 people.

The kea came in second with 2608 votes – followed by the fantail (pīwakawaka) with 1508 votes. It is the first time kōkako has won Bird of the Year.

Save our seas The latest independent report on the state of our marine environment is a damning indictment of New Zealand’s marine management, says Forest & Bird.

The release of Our Marine Environment 2016 by Statistics NZ and the Ministry for the Environment details a continuing decline in the health of our seas. Our coastal waters are polluted, much of our marine wildlife is heading for extinction, and climate change and ocean acidification are a major threat.

“Despite years of promises, the Government has failed to protect our seas. As shown in this report, most of the indicators are heading downhill,” said Kevin Hackwell, Forest & Bird’s Campaigns and Advocacy Manager.

According to the report, 90 percent of our seabird and shorebird species and 28 percent of our marine mammal species are threatened with extinction.

“We are looking at a future where the next generation may not see many of the birds, whales, dolphins, and seals that we take for granted,” added Kevin Hackwell.

Forest & Bird is calling for an action plan from the Government that will address the crisis outlined in this report. We also want to see robust legislation to provide for marine reserves, a clear pathway to cleaner coastal waters, and a plan to get our greenhouse gas emissions under control. *Forest & Bird’s independent assessment of commercial fisheries, see p18

Fundraising photography workshop Come and explore Mt Ruapehu and its amazing biodiversity while taking your macro photography to the next level. Photographing Nature, in association with Craig McKenzie & Chris Helliwell, is holding a macro photography workshop at Forest & Bird’s Ruapehu Lodge, from 3 to 6 February 2017.

Mt Ruapehu is an excellent place for photography. There is an extensive range of habitats, from the alpine zone down through to wetlands and beech forests. There are opportunities for macro photography everywhere you look, from flowering alpine plants to the lichens and mosses growing on rocks and trees. Once the sun goes down, tiny creatures of the night come to life.

The cost is $395 for three nights and all meals. Any funds raised after expenses will be donated to Forest & Bird. Availability for this workshop is strictly limited, so be in quick to secure your place. For more information, please email info@photographingnature.co.nz.

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Workshop leaders Angela Simpson, Craig McKenzie and Chris Helliwell with an immature stick insect (Acanthoxyla geisovii). Photo: Bryce McQuillan

Critical role for native forests Hill country farmers, including iwi, stand to win if the Government acts on the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment’s recommendation to restore a million hectares of native forest.

In her recent report on agricultural greenhouse gas emissions, Dr Wright said allowing a million hectares of marginal farmland to revert to bush would store enough carbon over 50 years to offset 17 percent of greenhouse gas emissions from farming.

“The PCE’s report is an important signal to the Government to rethink existing offsetting initiatives, such as the Emissions Trading Scheme and the Permanent Forest Sink Initiative,” said Forest & Bird’s Climate Advocate, Adelia Hallett.

“It’s important to see Dr Wright acknowledging the critical part our native forests play in protecting us from climate change. Our existing native forests store the equivalent of 75 years of carbon emissions.”

Butterfly faces extinction The iconic forest ringlet butterfly, a species endemic to New Zealand, has now reached critically low numbers and could be facing extinction.

In the 1970s, forest ringlet butterflies were frequently seen throughout New Zealand. Declining numbers were first observed around Auckland and Wellington during the 1990s. The cause of the decline in the species has been under much debate and speculation from expert entomologists.

Photo: Melissa Hutchison The Moths and Butterflies of New Zealand Trust has asked butterfly expert Steve Wheatley, from Sir David Attenborough’s Butterfly Conservation, to travel to New Zealand. He will carry out critical field research during the butterfly’s summer breeding season, working closely with New Zealand entomologists.

Discover the southern Kaipara with our unguided multi-day catered walks through a unique private farm and intensive conservation project featuring native bush, salt-marsh wetlands, coastal forest and rolling farmland.

Relax each night in unique accommodation and enjoy delicious home-madefood.

Come and join us for a special adventure in a special part of N.Z.

GMO control stays with councils – for now A High Court ruling has upheld Northland Regional Council’s right to decide whether to allow genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in its region through the Resource Management Act. Federated Farmers appealed against a decision by the Northland Regional Council to set up a GE-free zone. But Judge Mary Peters ruled in favour of GE-Free Northland, Whangarei District Council, Northland Regional Council, Soil & Health, and others, dismissing the appeal on all questions raised by Federated Farmers.

Following the ruling, Environment Minister Dr Nick Smith indicated the Government will review councils’ role in regulating GMOs. See http://web.gefreenorthland.org.nz.

On the move Forest & Bird’s national office is relocating to new premises. From 5 December, our new address is Ground Floor, 205 Victoria Street, Wellington 6011. Our phone numbers remain the same.

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Cover story

UNDER PRESSURE

Foreign tourists love our national parks but the rapid growth in tourism poses threats to the natural values that make them so popular. By David Brooks

C

rossing the flat bare expanse of South Crater with the Mt Doom peak of Ngarauhoe behind and bare volcanic rock hills on every other side, it’s easy to feel like an explorer on Mars. That’s if you ignore the long line of brightly coloured day packs and the dust kicked up by dozens of pairs of feet in front of you.

The Tongariro Crossing is one of New Zealand’s many iconic landscapes nearly bursting at the seams with visitors in the summer months. The booming tourism industry clearly has economic benefits, but what does it mean for our conservation estate and environment? How will the Department of Conservation cope as demand grows for more visitor facilities and businesses on conservation land?

The number of international tourists coming to New Zealand annually reached three million for the first time In 2015. That figure is already edging up towards 3.5 million and is forecast to reach 4.5 million by 2022 – a 50 percent increase in six years.

More than 109,000 visitors walked the Tongariro Crossing last year, compared with just 20,000 in 1992.

Crowding has reportedly been referred to in 40 percent of visitor reviews of the seven-hour day walk.

This isn’t an isolated case. The surge in overseas visitors means booking huts on the Great Walks, such as Routeburn and Milford, is getting more difficult, and the proportion of New Zealanders doing the walks is falling. The number of campers staying at DOC campsites on the Milford Road has more than doubled during the last two summers.

Frequent complaints are heard about human waste being left near walking tracks and freedom camping areas.

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There have also been reports of visitors disturbing wildlife, such as a yellow-eyed penguin colony at Katiki Point in North Otago.

DOC Director-General Lou Sanson told the New Zealand Conservation Authority earlier this year that five areas in the conservation estate are reaching capacity during the popular summer months – the Tongariro Crossing, Milford Sound, Aoraki/Mt Cook, and the Fox and Franz Josef Glaciers.

Iconic Mt Cook is also reaching capacity during the summer months. Photo: Flicrk.com/ibthx1138

The tourism industry and government see the solution as encouraging tourists to travel to less-visited parts of the country, such as Taranaki and parts of Northland, to relieve the pressure on the tourism hotspots.

“Over the conservation estate as a whole, there is no tourism-created pressure. There are big open areas out there for anyone who wants to enjoy the great outdoors, whether they’re New Zealanders or visitors,” says Tourism

Crowds on the Tongariro Crossing. Photo: Paco Mourelle

Industry Aotearoa chief executive Chris Roberts.

But Forest & Bird Advocacy and Campaigns Manager Kevin Hackwell is less confident, saying the huge forecast increase in tourist numbers will inevitably lead to many other areas of New Zealand coming under significant pressure. ”I think the tourism industry has its head in the sand. If we aren’t careful, it won’t be long before many other places find themselves in the same situation as Milford and the Tongariro Crossing,” he says.

With the soaring number of visitors, the pressure for commercial development is rising. Plans by DOC to increase the number of permitted helicopter flights to Mt Tutoko glacier in Fiordland National Park from 14 to 80 drew an angry reaction this year. Federated Mountain Clubs and other organisations said the increase was contrary to the park’s management plan and would create noise pollution and potentially endanger climbers in a treasured wilderness area.

Proposals for a monorail and a new road and tunnel in Fiordland National Park surfaced in recent years, and in September a developer proposed building a gondola over Franz Josef Glacier. There are also proposals for roads

Having fought to protect our special areas from chainsaws and bulldozers, it will be disappointing if we have to campaign to protect them from unthinking tourism development.

through the Kahurangi and Fiordland National Parks to serve tourism and for a mountain bike trail down the southern sides of Mt Ruapehu within Tongariro National Park.

Problems can emerge over consents for developments in sensitive environments because local councils have conflicting roles being consenting bodies as well as proponents of economic development.

“Conservationists have worked hard over the decades to stop logging and mining of our special places and now it’s paying off because those protected places are attracting tourists. But we have to be careful that this success doesn’t lead to developments that destroy the very things that make these places special and attract the tourists in the first place,” adds Kevin Hackwell.

Plans to increase helicopter flights in popular tourist areas have come under fire. Photo: Flickr.com/Tony Linn

Planning for the tourism boom, see overleaf Forest & Bird

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Photo: One Shot/Miz Watanabe

Cover story

What do we want?

Forest & Bird says more planning is urgently needed to ensure that tourism does not lead to the conservation estate being degraded. Well-planned development should be concentrated in tourism hubs, so other areas can be left in a more natural state.

Kevin Hackwell explains: “Unless we do some serious planning now, we could have the same kind of train wreck as the dairy industry has had in terms of people getting angry and frustrated about the widespread negative impacts.

“Like the dairy industry, the tourism industry seems to be mesmerised by the idea of growing the volume of tourists, rather than growing the value we get from them. Rather than just accepting 50 percent more overseas tourists in the next seven years, we should be actively managing both their numbers and their impacts.

“We should be making sure that tourists are offsetting their environmental impact, contributing to this country’s conservation efforts, and putting more into our regional economies.”

Unless we do some serious planning now, we could have the same kind of train wreck as the dairy industry has had in terms of people getting angry and frustrated about the widespread negative impacts.

There are concerns that DOC – already struggling under tight budget constraints – could be forced to cut back on conservation work to spend more on maintaining tracks, huts, toilets, and other facilities for visitors. Under the Conservation Act, any use of conservation land for recreation or tourism has to be consistent with the primary purpose of conservation.

There is a growing realisation that DOC will need to be better funded to meet both its conservation and recreation demands. Debate has centred on ideas such as a border tax on tourists, an entry fee for national parks and other conservation areas, and raising fees for huts and camping sites. But Kevin Hackwell says entry fees would be difficult and expensive to administer.

“You could argue that the government could provide more funding to DOC by giving them a share of the $1 billion in GST that foreign tourists contribute annually. If you wanted to boost that funding, there could also be a border tax of some sort, which is a simple and efficient way of collecting the money.

“The main thing is that we need to start serious planning now to manage the growth and environmental impact of more tourists. Having fought to protect our special areas from chainsaws and bulldozers, it will be disappointing if we have to campaign to protect them from unthinking tourism development,” Kevin Hackwell says.

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Travel in a low carbon world New Zealand’s tourism industry promotes itself as “100% Pure”, but you don’t often hear discussion about the impact of the huge amount of fossil fuels used to bring tourists here and to move them around the country.

By David Brooks.

W

hen tourism and climate change are discussed, it usually involves the impact of climate change on our tourist industry, rather than the other way around. It’s more about what will happen to our skiing industry when the climate warms, rather than the climate impact of flying helicopters over our already retreating glaciers.

Tourism promotion for New Zealand emphasises covering large distances in the country. Self-drive tours and jet boat and helicopter rides all add to our carbon emissions.

There are programmes available to tourists and tourism companies to minimise and offset their carbon emissions, but these are on a small scale compared with the use of fossil fuels in tourism-related activities.

Former Forest & Bird president and eco-tourism operator Gerry McSweeney says the impact of tourism on climate change isn’t talked about very much in the industry.

“We need to do more work on how you do your offsetting in the tourism industry. There is an environmental impact, which can be mitigated but that means tourists must be charged appropriately,” he says.

“We keep promoting this idea that unless you’re travelling every day you can’t be having a good time.”

Gerry is co-owner, with wife Anne Saunders, of ecolodges at Arthur’s Pass and Lake Moeraki, just north of Haast. Their tourism operation is contributing to a guiltfree stay for guests.

“We’re sequestering three times the carbon our guests are spending – even if they’re flying from London Heathrow – because we’ve got 1500ha of regenerating shrublands,” says Gerry.

Forest & Bird climate advocate Adelia Hallett says that growing New Zealand’s income from tourism by endlessly increasing the number of visitors simply isn’t sustainable.

“In a low-carbon world, tourism in New Zealand needs to be about quality, not quantity,” she says.

“We have to get away from the ‘if it’s Monday it’s Rotorua’ model, and encourage people to have their own, unique, once-in-a-lifetime experiences in one or two special places – and not necessarily the places that everyone else is going to.”

We also need to think seriously about how we can reduce the amount of flying we do. Aviation is currently responsible for about two percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, but that figure is expected to rise to five percent by 2050.

“Aviation emissions are among the hardest to reduce, because there isn’t a viable alternative to aviation fuel,” Adelia says. “That means we have to reduce the number of flights we take, and offset emissions from the flights we do make, through something like planting schemes.”

In October, the International Civil Aviation Organisation approved a new voluntary market-based measure that will Photo: David Brooks

Tourism responsible for five percent of global CO2 emissions The transport sector, including air, car, and rail, generates the largest proportion, with 75 percent of all emissions. In terms of carbon emissions, air travel causes 54–75 percent and coach and rail 13 percent. Air travel is considered the main tourism contributor to global warming: It’s responsible for 40 percent of the total carbon emissions caused by the transport sector.

■ The accommodation sector accounts for about 20 percent of emissions from tourism. This involves heating, air-conditioning, and the maintenance of bars, restaurants, pools, and so on. Clearly, this varies according to the location and size of the accommodation, as well as the type of establishments – hotels having greater energy consumption than camping sites.

■ Activities such as museums, theme parks, events, or shopping also contribute to certain amounts of emissions (about 3.5 percent).

■

Source: the UN’s World Tourism Organization.

see some countries using environmental offsets (effectively credits for activities that sequester carbon, such as treeplanting) for growth in aviation emissions from 2021.

New Zealand has signed the agreement, and is expected to have to offset three million tonnes of emissions from international aviation from 2021.

Air New Zealand has experimented with low-emissions biofuels from renewable sources, and is investigating with Virgin Australia the possibility of obtaining commercial quantities. It has also invested in more fuel-efficient aircraft and offers carbon offsets for passengers.

Photo: Flickr.com/CameliaTWU

Slow tourism

“What kind of tourism do we want to see in this country?” asks Forest & Bird ambassador Gerry McSweeney.

He spent years campaigning to stop native forest logging on the West Coast, saying that tourism was the future for the local economy.

“I care about the places where we’ve campaigned to save these forests. We’ve argued to these communities they can make money out of tourism but what we’re seeing is a fairly high degree of freeloading by tourists,” he says.

“The average stay on the West Coast is 1.4 nights.

You drive in as fast as you can, you take a helicopter ride, and you drive on. Slow tourism is what we need, so people leave money behind and we can invest in the region to ensure we’re not left behind.“ The essence of nature tourism is slowing down and doing things at a more leisurely pace, which will provide a more enriching experience. Tourism of this kind will create more wealth and jobs in the local community, whereas people in self-contained campervans driving though an area often leave little money behind.

“You need a whole community effort to agree on what is special about your area and what it is worth.

You slow visitors down so they have a destination experience rather than a driving-based experience and make sure the experiences they have create jobs.”

With its magnificent landscapes, distinctive wildlife, and relative isolation, the West Coast should see that its tourism competitors are such places as Antarctica, the Galapagos, Patagonia, and Namibia, says Gerry.

“When you look at what people spend on high quality nature experiences in these places, you see the kind of potential the West Coast has.”

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Soapbox Camping beside tarn reflecting Mt Taranaki on the Pouakai Range, Egmont National Park.

Photo: One Shot

Just 1% PLEASE

Allocating just 1 percent of the government’s annual $96 billion spending to core conservation work would more than double DOC’s current budget, suggests Alex Stone.

T

he Government announcement of a predator-free goal for New Zealand by 2050 sounds good. But, so far, the budget for this is woefully inadequate and comes on top of years of cost-cutting at the Department of Conservation (DOC).

Given the importance of conservation land to New Zealand’s image and our collective future, we should invest more in conservation.

So how much does it take to run our country?

Take a look at a website page from the Treasury titled “Total Crown Expenses by functional classification”, and you’ll see that the Government spent $95.9 billion in the financial year ending in June 2016.

The big ticket items were $28.9 billion on social security and welfare. Fair enough – we have to pay pensions and look after the vulnerable. Next was $15.2 billion on health.

Also OK – you gotta take care of the sick folk. Closely followed by $13.8 billion on education – yes, we must educate our kids and pay the teachers. So far, so logical.

But scroll down towards the bottom of the list, and you find the $616 million spent on environmental protection.

Do some more digging, and you’ll find that DOC’s budget accounted for $430 million of that environmental protection spending.

That’s about 0.45% of total government spending.

In fact, spending on core conservation work is even less than this. For example, in DOC’s 2016/17 budget, just $160.6 million was allocated for natural heritage – money spent looking after species and ecosystems. And $143.3 million was put aside for recreation, such as maintaining huts and tracks.

Now consider the 100% PURE campaign. It’s selling New Zealand’s unique proposition to the world of international tourism. You don’t see pictures of hospitals, schools, suburbs, or open cast mines in the billboards.

You see stunning images of our natural world – most taken within the conservation estate.

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New Zealand has a high proportion of land held as conservation estate – about 30 percent. Or, put another way, about 8.5 million hectares of native forests and islands and beaches and rivers and lakes and alpine land. And a further 1.77 million hectares of marine reserves. Stunning stuff. Plenty of scope for those 100% PURE photographers.

And plenty of space to tuck away a tourist or two.

There’s money in them green-blue spaces too.

International tourism earned $14.5 billion in the year ending in March 2016 – or nearly 20% of our foreign exchange earnings. In total, tourism expenditure, including domestic visitors, was $37.4 billion. An overwhelming majority of those visitors were enticed by the splendours of our natural environment. Just like they saw in the 100% PURE posters and billboards. They came to experience that for real. Good on them.

So why then do we spend so little on caring for one of our greatest assets?

How about a new campaign to sit beside 100% PURE? We could call it the 1% PLEASE initiative. That’s not asking for much – just one percent of our government’s annual spending to look after the forests, the rivers, the mountains, and those, in turn, who look after them.

But no. In the past few years, we have seen budget cuts for DOC and more than 150 jobs lost. Good people, doing good work. Now less of them must do it all with less resources. Why can’t we set aside just one percent for this important government agency?

No-one who sets budget figures could refuse that, surely? It all makes good sense. It’s the ultimate in business and brand sustainability. It would also help future generations of our own citizens.

Just 1% PLEASE. Ironic, isn’t it, to think this level of investment would more than double DOC’s current budget. Puts things a bit into perspective. *Alex Stone is a Forest & Bird member, artist, and writer based on Waiheke Island.

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Best Fish Guide 2017

How sustainable is your favourite seafood?

Kingfish. Photo: Darryl Torckler

Our all-new Best Fish Guide 2017 is here. David Brooks looks at some highlights from New Zealand’s only sustainable seafood guide.

F

orest & Bird’s Best Fish Guide is back – bigger and better than ever and perfectly timed for our summer barbecues. The 2017 version offers the only comprehensive and independent information for New Zealand consumers on which seafood to buy to ensure the sustainability of our fisheries and aquaculture, and the protection of our marine environment.

Our updated guide is also timely in a year we learned some disturbing truths about unsustainable practices in our commercial fisheries. The extent of illegal fish dumping revealed in a university study and leaked Ministry for Primary Industries reports contradicts assurances by the government and the fishing industry that New Zealand has a world-leading fisheries management system (see p9).

The Best Fish Guide 2017, which is published as a free app and supporting website, gives consumers the power to improve the way the commercial fishing and aquaculture industry operates, says Katrina Goddard, Forest & Bird’s marine conservation advocate, who oversaw the development of the guide. “It’s only through consumer pressure we’re going to get that change.”

Forest & Bird hopes supermarkets and other fish retailers will play their part by giving shoppers more information on where and how fish were caught.

“Consumers should be able to go into their supermarket and find out how each species was caught and where in New Zealand it came from,” says Katrina Goddard.

“If you go to the US or Europe, it’s normal to see seafood promoted from a sustainable point of view.

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We’re lagging behind. We don’t have the same consumer pressure at the moment, but I think it’s growing.”

The guide ranks more than 84 seafood species, from the most sustainable “best choice” in the green category, down through the “OK choice” amber and orange categories, to the least sustainable “worst choice” fish species in the red category. The easy-to-use app also gives alternative choices for each of the seafood in the red zone.

Forest & Bird used six criteria to assess wild-caught seafood species’ sustainability, including stock levels, fishing methods, bycatch, environmental damage, biological factors, and the level of research/management in a fishery.

Seven criteria were used to assess farmed seafood.

The rigorous scientific methodology for the guide has been reviewed, and more information than ever has been collated. Some seafood species – for example, rock lobster (crayfish) – have more than one ranking depending on where they were caught. Others, such as trevally, were assessed by region and fishing method.

One worrying aspect highlighted by the work to compile the guide was the lack of reliable publicly available information on some species and the marine environment in general. The guide uses the Ministry for Primary Industries’ yearly fisheries reports, published scientific papers, and the knowledge of scientific experts.

“So much is unknown, and we need much more investment by the government in research and stock assessments to ensure good fisheries management decisions are made,” Katrina Goddard said.

A Statistics New Zealand and Ministry of the Environment report on the marine environment released in October also highlighted the lack of information available about much of our marine environment.

But the news isn’t all bad. There have been improvements, with some fish stocks starting to recover after overfishing and some fishing practices improving.

“There are fishing champions out there who are fishing in the most sustainable way. We need more of them out on the water,” Katrina Goddard says.

Some fish species have improved their ranking, although in some cases this depends on where they were caught and by what method. Albacore tuna has moved up from amber to light green, ling from red to amber depending on the fishing method, blue mackerel from red to amber, and scallops from red to orange, depending on the region.

Some species now have less sustainable ratings. For example, terakihi, John Dory, grey mullet, butterfish, and blue moki have all gone from amber to orange for one fishing method or region option.

“Our guide highlights how there are still problems with our commercial fisheries. There are some positives, but the overall picture is not that great,” Marine advocate Katrina adds Katrina Goddard.

Goddard

What does Forest & Bird want?

1 Traceability: When you go into the supermarket, you should be able to get information on where seafood was caught and what fishing methods were used, so you can make informed choices.

2 A review of the 30-year-old Quota Management System to ensure our fisheries are truly sustainable.

3 Better monitoring of fishing by observers or cameras to ensure the rules over issues such as dumping and bycatch are being followed.

4 More research by the government to ensure decisions on quotas and other rules are based on sound science.

5 Investment by the government and fishing companies in alternative fishing methods so harm to the environment and other species can be reduced and eventually eliminated.

The Best Fish Guide app Do you love seafood? Download our free Best Fish Guide 2017 app and find out all you need to know about the best sustainable seafood choices. The app also contains lots of great recipes from some of New Zealand’s top chefs.

More than 80 seafood species, including fish, shellfish, and farmed salmon, are ranked on the app, so the higher up the list the better. By choosing to eat more of the sustainable green, amber, and orange options, you will be helping protect New Zealand’s unique ocean environment and all the fish, marine mammals, and seabirds that live there. The app also gives alternative choices for red “worst choice” species.

“I’d love to encourage consumers to think outside the norm of snapper or hoki for dinner and try different seafood like kingfish or ling. There are some great sustainable options out there that we should try to eat more of and some not so great seafood that we should try to eat less of,” says Katrina Goddard.

“It’s not about saying no to eating seafood. Fish is fantastic.

It’s got health benefits, tastes great, and Kiwis love it. It’s about making better choices when you can and trying something different that’s still good to eat.”

Smart seafood choices We asked Katrina Goddard, who led the Best Fish Guide project, to tell us the seafood she will and won’t be buying this summer.

KAT’S TOP 5 CHOICES 1 Skipjack tuna – is in the green “good choice” zone.

2 Salmon – generally a good choice fish, see overleaf.

3 Blue cod – Pot-caught blue cod is in the amber “OK choice” zone.

4 Trevally – Purse-seine net-caught is in the amber “OK choice” zone.

5 Kingfish – Set-net-caught kingfish is in the orange “OK choice but some concerns” zone.

KAT’S BOTTOM 5 CHOICES* 1 Orange roughy – still the least sustainably fished species caught in New Zealand waters.

2 Whitebait – new to the 2017 guide but firmly in the red “worst choice” zone, see overleaf.

3 Trawl-caught squid – see overleaf.

4 Bluefin tuna – grossly overfished. There are more sustainable tuna options such as skipjack or albacore.

5 Rig (lemonfish) – commonly used by fish and chip shops. *Check out the Best Fish Guide app for alternatives.

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Best Fish Guide 2017

Five fishy tales Here we highlight five key seafood species from the new Best Fish Guide.

Hoki Hoki is one of our largest commercial fisheries, with exports all over the world. The fishing industry trumpets hoki’s certification as a “sustainably managed fishery” by the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC). However, Forest & Bird has twice taken its concerns with the hoki certification through the MSC appeal process. Following both hoki appeals, the MSC made significant changes to its certification standard.

During the last decade, hoki has moved in our guide from the bottom to the top of the red “worst choice” ranking.

And in the latest guide mid-trawl hoki has moved up into the orange “OK choice but eat less” category. Despite these improvements, the hoki fishery is still responsible for too many bycatch deaths of seabirds, fur seals, and small fish. Much hoki fishing is done by bottom trawling where heavy steel rollers attached to nets trundle along the seabed, crushing everything in their path. If bycatch and habitat damage from bottom trawling were addressed by the industry, hoki would be a much better choice.

Salmon Generally a good choice fish. All New Zealand commercially available salmon is farmed, and our assessment of salmon varies from place to place, largely because of the suitability of the local environment, the impact different farms have on the environment, and the rules around aquaculture put in place by different local councils. Our best choices are New Zealand’s only freshwater salmon farmed in the hydro canals in the Mackenzie Basin and the saltwater farms near Akaroa on Banks Peninsula. Salmon from other parts of the country are still ok choices but are less good because of environmental impacts.

Squid Squid caught by trawling is in the red “worst choice” category. But if you can find squid caught using a sea lionfriendly fishing method called jigging, it is ranked as an amber “ok choice”. The trawl fishery has been responsible for large numbers of seabird deaths, and the main squid fishery around New Zealand’s sub-Antarctic Auckland Islands has killed a lot of sea lions, which have the same “nationally critical” threat status as kākāpō and takahē.

Squid caught by jigging (hooked lines) is a far better option for our seabirds, 90 percent of which are threatened with extinction. Little squid is caught by jigging in New Zealand, but consumer pressure from consumers (ie you!) could change that.

Whitebait Snapper Snapper is one of New Zealand’s favourite eating fish, which has led to heavy pressure on populations. Snapper is caught by bottom inshore trawl and longline. It is ranked as a red “worst choice” in the guide because of depleted stock numbers, overfishing, and the by-catch of globally threatened seabirds, such as black petrels in the longline fishery. But the longline fishery has been working hard to reduce the amount of seabird bycatch, particularly in the Hauraki Gulf. This hasn’t yet seen snapper move out of the red category, but it is likely to do so in the next edition of the guide as there is a time lag in MPI reporting.

This year’s guide includes the freshwater native species of whitebait and eels for the first time.

Both are ranked as red “worst choice”. The main reason New Zealand’s five whitebait species are declining so rapidly is habitat loss and degradation but whitebaiting is also having an impact. Whitebait is the only commercial fishery managed by the Department of Conservation.

It is a popular delicacy in New Zealand, but Forest & Bird believes we should not be commercially harvesting endangered species. For more on whitebait, see p40.

All images courtesy of One Shot/Terry Wreford Hann, the Best Fish Guide’s photographic partners, see www.oneshot.co.nz or wwwnzphotos.co.nz.

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Legal watch

Defending nature Forest & Bird has been defending nature in a number of ongoing legal cases throughout the country, as our General Counsel Peter Anderson explains.

Sale of Mt Cook Station Forest & Bird opposed the sale of the iconic Mt Cook Station to private interests. The station was gifted to a charitable trust by the late owner, Donald Burnett. The purpose of the charitable trust was the preservation and protection of the ecological and heritage values of the station and surrounding area for all New Zealanders.

The trust got into financial difficulties, and the trustees attempted to sell the station to private interests. We opposed the sale on the basis that it was contrary to the purpose for which the trust was created and would not provide for the preservation and protection of ecological values. We await a decision of the High Court.

concerned about provisions that would allow for development in significant sites in the coastal environment and the protection of mangroves.

Inanga spawning habitat in Canterbury We identified what we considered to be a technical error in Environment Canterbury’s consideration of inanga spawning habitat. While the error was technical in nature, relating to the extent of inland tides (where spawning habitat is located), it has the effect of potentially undermining the protection of all the inanga spawning habitat. As a result, we lodged an appeal in the High Court.

Trans-Tasman Resources We have filed a submission opposing seabed mining in the Taranaki Bight, primarily concerned about the effects on marine mammals and sea birds. This will be heard early next year.

Mackenzie Country Rosehips is the last of the Mackenzie Basin irrigation appeals. Consent was declined for irrigation next to Lake Benmore because of the adverse effects that nuisance periphyton (epiphytic algae) in the rivers next to the site would have on fish and birds. We support the decision to decline consent and are in the process of preparing for the hearing, likely to be held next year.

Further south, we opposed an application for an irrigation consent that would allow the removal of at least 1250ha of significant indigenous vegetation in the Mackenzie Country. The actual clearance is likely to be much more, probably double.

We also appeared before commissioners on Plan Change 5 to the Canterbury Land and Water plan, which relates to water quality in the Upper Waitaki.

The primary issue for us was seeking that the limits in the plan provided for ecological health of the lakes and rivers.

Auckland Unitary Plan We have lodged appeals in the High Court on the Auckland Unitary Plan and have also joined Environment Court appeals. The most significant issue is a challenge to the decision not to consider the effects on significant natural areas where certain activities, such as quarries, are located. These cases are likely to be heard next year.

FOREST & BIRD IS.

New Plymouth Significant Natural Areas Federated Farmers appealed the Environment Court’s decision to award costs to Forest & Bird against the Council. This is a somewhat unusual case, being an appeal on costs in relation to a party other than Federated Farmers. This will be heard in early December.

Forest & Bird is New Zealand’s leading independent voice for nature, and we are working to protect and restore waterways across the country. With support from people like you, Forest & Bird will continue to defend our rivers and lakes for people to enjoy, and native species to thrive in.

Your rivers need you. Join Forest & Bird. www.forestandbird.org.nz

Ogilvy/FAB0000

Bay of Plenty Coastal Plan We appeared in the Environment Court on a hearing on the Bay of Plenty Coastal Plan, primarily

Now more than ever, New Zealand needs a strong voice for nature. Most of New Zealand’s lowland rivers and lakes are now polluted, and our regional councils are under pressure to keep allocating water to commercial water users, and turn a blind eye to polluters.

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Biodiversity Anchor Island. Photo: Chris Birmingham/DOC

Kākāpō kingdom Kimberley Collins drops in to Anchor Island, Fiordland, during this year’s busy kākāpō breeding season.

B

eing a kākāpō ranger is a bit like looking after a celebrity’s child. They’re always in the spotlight and need the utmost care and attention to thrive.

This was something I discovered when I visited Anchor Island, in Dusky Sound, earlier this year. We arrived to find rangers from the Kākāpō Recovery Programme had five hand-reared chicks in a holding pen, ready to be released into the wild.

We watched as one of the rangers went into the pen, grunting quietly to lure out the chicks (in their own language). The bush suddenly came alive with movement.

Two chicks barrelled out of the trees and waited expectantly at her shoe, making deep grunting noises to catch her attention. She bent down to hand them kūmara, and they started snapping at it blindly, occasionally latching on to her fingers before grabbing a piece and dashing off to feast.

One of only 154 kākāpō in the whole world: Photo: Kimberley Collins

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The work carried out by the rangers changes a bit throughout the year, depending on what the birds are doing. This year, they had a breeding season thanks to a major masting event that saw the island flushed with rimu fruit. Life on the island has been busy.

The breeding season is kicked off when male kākāpō create a lek – a system of tracks leading to a shallow bowl.

This is where they perform every night for about eight hours.

They jostle for a high point that will project their deep, sonic booming call across the valleys, putting enormous effort into performing – for three to four months straight.

When the females are ready to breed, they make their way up the hill and choose who they will mate with. The kākāpō rangers keep an eye on where the males make their lek and watch to see who comes up the hill to mate.

Then they follow the female back to her home range, where she will find a hollow log to lay anywhere from two to three eggs after about 10 days.

“With any luck, if we’ve done a good job of monitoring, we will find her on a nest with a full clutch of eggs,” explained Theo Thompson, one of the permanent kākāpō rangers on the island.

Female kākāpō, especially first-time mothers, are known for letting their eggs roll around in the nest, and sometimes they bump together and crack. So the rangers remove the eggs straight away, replacing them with plastic eggs that the female continues to incubate.

The real eggs are kept in an incubator where they can be separated from one another and kept safe. They’re monitored closely and checked for temperature and weight.

“They also have to be turned throughout the day so the embryo inside the egg doesn’t get twisted or stuck in a particular position,” explained Theo.

Once they reach the point where they look as though they will hatch, the real eggs are moved back into the nest of a kākāpō mum. The rangers found that, if you simply put a hatched chick in the nest, it can be quite a shock, so they try to introduce a nearly ready to hatch egg so the mother can go through the motions of having it hatch and be ready to care for the chick.

But, sometimes, that doesn’t work out to plan, and a chick will hatch without any warning. In this case, rangers still move the chicks to a nest, but the mothers need time to adjust.

“The experienced mums take it all in their stride and start feeding the chick quickly, but this year on Anchor we had no experienced mums so when we put a chick in the nest the mother’s expression was very distinct – imagine a kākāpō’s eyes widen in shock!” Theo said.

Unfortunately, the team has had to deal with a few tragedies on the island this year. Being Fiordland, the island can get hit by massive weather bombs.

Theo explained: “We didn’t think there was any risk of flooding, but one night there was a flash flood that took out two nests and killed three chicks. It was devastating because you spend a lot of time teaching these mothers how to look after their chicks, but then their nest gets destroyed and it’s all over for them for the rest of the breeding season.”

Nevertheless, 2016 has been the best kākāpō breeding season since the recovery programme started 25 years ago. Out of the 47 eggs that were hatched on Anchor Island and Whenua Hou, 32 birds have fledged – increasing the kākāpō population by about 25 percent.

Despite the ups and downs of being a kākāpō ranger, getting such excellent results makes the heartbreak and hard work worth it.

Song of the Sounds by Denise Hunter

Kākāpō Strigops habroptilus by Jo Ogier

Art and conservation join forces An art exhibition is set to tour the country to raise awareness of the cutting-edge Tamatea/Dusky Sound restoration programme, in Fiordland.

The Department of Conservation took 26 artists, including Forest & Bird ambassador Craig Potton, to this remote area to experience and learn about the restoration project. The exhibition, Tamatea – Art and Conservation in Dusky Sound, is the result of these visits. For more information, see doc.govt.nz/tamatea.

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Kākāpō ranger Theo Thompson. Photo: Kimberley Collins

The Kākāpō Recovery Programme In 1990, Forest & Bird was a founder partner of the Kākāpō Recovery Programme when it was established, alongside the Department of Conservation and Rio Tinto. The programme is a world-class conservation effort that has brought the kākāpō back from the brink of extinction – from a low of just 50 birds two decades ago to 154 this year.

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Marine

Save our

Long Point, in the Catlins, is one of the proposed marine protected areas. Photo: Sue Maturin

southern seas

The time has come to have your say on marine protection off the South Island’s south-east coast. Please make a submission today. By Caitlin Carew.

T

he coastline between Timaru and Waipapa Point in the Catlins is rich in marine biodiversity. Yet, amazingly, it doesn’t contain any marine reserves.

After a two-year collaborative process, the South East Marine Protection Forum (SEMPF) has released proposals for a network of marine reserves and marine protected areas (MPAs).

The forum has developed 20 potential sites for protection and wants to hear from members of the public during the formal consultation period, which runs until 20 December.

This is a unique opportunity to seek protection for a diverse range of species and ecosystems, such as threatened sea lions and yellow-eyed penguins, bryozoan beds, and deep sea canyons.

While New Zealand was once a world leader in marine protection, we’re now lagging behind, with less than 0.5 percent of our territorial sea and Exclusive Economic Zone in reserves. Less than three percent of these reserves are close to the mainland, in areas that New Zealanders can easily access and enjoy.

That’s what makes this opportunity so special – it’s a chance to participate in the creation of a significant network of reserves and protected areas just off a coastline close to

Giant kelp (Macrocystis) forests are a feature of more sheltered parts of Otago coastline. Note the absence of fish. One should see blue moki and blue cod, but they have been mostly fished out in some locations. Photo: Andrew Penniket

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several cities and towns in New Zealand’s deep south.

We need your help to ensure the forum recommends the full network of proposed marine reserves and MPAs, with options that better protect and represent the area’s unique marine species and habitats.

Forest & Bird’s Otago and Southland regional manager Sue Maturin is the environment sector’s representative on the forum. She says it’s now the turn of members of the public to use the submission process to advocate for the best possible protection for this special environment.

“This is our best chance to get some marine reserves and more protection in Otago, and the forum is consulting on some pretty good proposals, which if adopted and improved could be world class,” said Sue Maturin.

It’s disappointing that neither Shag Point, north of Dunedin, nor the Nuggets, in the Catlins, are included for consultation, added Sue, as these easily accessible places have outstanding biodiversity values. They were not included because they also have exceptional cultural value for mana whenua and have special recognition under the Ngāi Tahu Claims Settlement Act 1998.

Nine of the proposed protected areas are Type 1 “notake” marine reserves, and 10 are Type 2 marine protected areas (MPAs) with various fishing method restrictions. There is also a special zone for the protection of kelp forest.

Two boundary options (smaller and larger) have been presented for some of these areas (see right). This is where public submissions will be crucial in securing the best possible outcome for marine biodiversity.

For example, the Waitaki Coastal Type 1 reserve has a possible extension that would provide increased protection for little blue penguin and Hector’s dolphin habitat.

The forum has also put up two alternatives for the protection of deep sea canyon heads. These special deepwater habitats are hotspots for whales and sea birds.

The Saunders Canyon is the larger of the canyons, and Forest & Bird favours this proposed option but would like to see it extended to the shore to better protect sea lion and yellow-eyed penguin foraging areas.

Marine reserves matter – please make a submission!

Forest & Bird is urging all members and supporters nationwide to make a submission to help protect our south-eastern ocean’s unique marine habitats and the sea lions, Hector’s dolphins, yellow-eyed penguins, seabirds, and fish that live there.

We have set up a submissions page at www.forestandbird.org.nz/SEMPA. You can also download consultation documents and order hard copies at www.south-eastmarine.org.nz.

Anyone can make a public submission. It’s easiest to do online, but submissions can also be mailed to SouthEast Marine Protection Forum PO Box 5244, Moray Place, Dunedin.

Submissions close at 5pm on 20 December.

Listed below are the 20 SEMPA proposals and Forest & Bird’s preferred options: A Tuhawaiki to Pareora (Type 2): Support.

B Waitaki Coastal (Type 1): Support, and also support the northern extension to increase protection for little blue penguin and Hector’s dolphin habitat.

C Waitaki Offshore (Type 2): Support.

D Pleasant River to Stony Creek (Type 1): Support, and recommend extending to include more deep subtidal reef habitat, and increase protection for fish communities associated with kelp forests.

E Bryozoan Bed (Type 2) – Option 1: Support.

Otago shallow water sponge community. Photo: Andrew Penniket

F Saunders Canyon (Type 1) – Option 1: Support, but also recommend extending to the coast to include Hooper's Inlet and links to Harakeke Point (Option I).

G Bryozoan Bed (Type 2) – Option 2: Don’t support.

H Papanui Canyon (Type 1) – Option 2: Don’t support.

I Harakeke Point to White Island (Type 1): Support, and recommend inclusion of Tow Rock.

J White Island to Waldronville (Type 2): Support.

K Green Island (Type 1): Support.

L Akatore Estuary (Type 2): Support.

M Akatore Coastal (Type 1): Support, and recommend straightening the boundary so it’s a rectangle.

N Akatore Offshore (Type 2): Support.

O Long Point (Type 1): Support, and recommend extending to 12 nautical miles.

P Long Point Offshore (Type 2): Support, but suggest it buffers Options Q and O. Q Tahakopa Estuary (Type 1): Support, and recommend it extends to join with Long Point (Option O).

R Tautuku Estuary (Type 2): Support.

S Haldane (Type 2): Support.

T Kelp Forest (Type other): Support.

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Freshwater

Waikato water woes It will take 80 years to clean up the Waikato and Waipu rivers, as David Brooks explains.

R

estoring the mana of the Waikato River would be a jewel in the crown of efforts to improve the quality of New Zealand’s freshwater. The good news is there is a plan, the bad news is the current plan would not see New Zealand’s longest river restored to full ecological health until 2097.

“We’re not happy about the 80-year clean-up time frame. The time frame is based on a controversial economic model that calculates the cost to the national and Waikato economy, and we’re sceptical about whether these numbers stack up,” says Forest & Bird Waikato regional manager Al Fleming.

Healthy Rivers: Plan for Change/Wai Ora: He Rautaki Whakapaipai was publicly notified by the Waikato Regional Council in October. The Healthy Rivers process followed Treaty of Waitangi settlements between the Government and five Waikato iwi that required restoring the ecological health of the Waikato and its major tributary, the Waipa, so they would be safe for swimming and gathering food.

Al Fleming was one of the environmental NGO representatives on the 24-member consultative group that drew up the Healthy Rivers recommendations for changes to the council’s regional plan. It also included representatives of farming, industries, Māori interests, and other groups.

The recommendations were recently published and are open for submissions until 8 March. The regional council

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will then decide on plan changes.

“Being involved in the consultative group meant I was able to argue on behalf of the environment and achieve some of the things Forest & Bird believes are necessary. A lot will come down to what comes out of the submission process and whether points of difference between interests can be sorted out before they end up in court,” Al says.

“At the moment, we think the time frames set down are too long, and there are some potential loopholes which could allow dairy farmers to avoid strict compliance of the rules.”

The Waikato is New Zealand’s longest river, beginning on the slopes of Mt Ruapehu and winding 425km to the sea, passing through Lake Taupo and Ngaruawahia, where it is joined by the Waipa River. In pre-European times, it was an important waka route and spiritual focus for iwi, as well as an abundant source of food from eels, fish, and plants.

From the late 19th century, the river became a drain for sewerage from Hamilton and other settlements, and waste from industries and farming. The region proved ideal for dairying, with high rainfall and fertile flat or rolling land. In recent decades, the pollution from sewerage and industries has decreased, but nitrogen pollution has worsened as dairying became more intensified.

The Waikato region now accounts for more than a third of the nation’s dairy farms. The regional council’s chief executive Vaughan Payne said an area six times the

The mighty Waikato River may look picture perfect, but it’s been seriously degraded by intensive dairy farming. Photo: Andris Apse

size of Hamilton city has been converted from forestry to dairy during the last decade. The number of dairy cows in Waikato rose by 100,000 (nine percent) in the seven years to 2014/15, and by 50,000 (20 percent) around lakes Taupo and Rotorua.

A water quality report card undertaken for the Waikato River Authority, set up as part of treaty settlements to fund projects to improve water quality in the catchment, shows the extent of the pollution. Water quality gets progressively worse the further downstream the river flows from Lake Taupo. The overall rating of C for the Waikato’s water quality is a low rating on the scale.

The Waipa and many other tributaries and nearby lakes are even worse, getting the lowest rating of D, which is unsafe for swimming. The middle and lower reaches of the Waikato are also described as having degraded ecological integrity.

How does the Healthy Rivers plan propose to turn this situation around? More stock will be removed from waterways, land use intensification will be restricted, new resource consent requirements will be introduced, and there will be more management of direct discharges into rivers. Individual properties with low discharges will have their emissions capped while more serious polluters, mainly dairy farms, will have to gradually reduce their discharges.

In some respects, the proposals, by aiming eventually for a standard of water quality suitable for swimming

and fishing, are stronger than those in the Government’s proposed bottom line of wadeable rivers. The rules about fencing waterways on sloping land are also stricter than those proposed by the government.

On the negative side, there is a notable lack of ambition not only in the 80-year timescale but also in the aim of achieving 10 percent of the water quality improvements in the first decade. “The easiest gains to make in water quality will be the early ones, and it would be possible to do much better than 10 percent in the first 10 years,” Al Fleming says.

“Even then, these early gains and the overall goal of restoring the Waikato’s ecological health are unlikely to be met if the loopholes are not removed from the proposals.

Dairy farmers could avoid rules to cap and later reduce their emissions if they take part in dairy industry-approved mitigation schemes. We think it is important the regional council as the regulator of environmental standards enforces its rules rather than leaving the dairy industry to police itself.”

The proposals pay little attention to alternatives to the dominant dairy model of intensive farming with high stocking rates, high inputs such as supplementary feed and fertiliser, and the resulting high levels of pollution. Some farmers have been able to show that using a less intensive model with lower stocking rates and inputs will reduce pollution while maintaining profit levels.

Under current proposals, the community will bear most of the cost of the clean-up, but Forest & Bird believes polluters should pay a substantial share of the cost on the grounds of fairness and to provide a strong incentive for reducing pollution.

Al Fleming said Healthy Rivers offers a rare opportunity to turn around decades of neglect of one of New Zealand’s most important rivers and its main tributary. “The plan is an important step forward for cleaning up the Waikato, but we need to get it right. The proposals still need more work.”

Auckland’s water supply The Waikato River is part of Auckland’s water supply network, meeting between eight and 15 percent of the city’s annual needs. At times during the 2013 drought, the Waikato was supplying almost 30 percent of Auckland’s water.

Waikato River water is treated at Tuakau, 40km from the river mouth. The quality of river water at this point is at its worst. The water is extensively screened, filtered, and chemically treated to meet drinking water standards before being piped to Auckland.

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Young conservationists

KCC kids speak up for nature Children, as we know, make great advocates for nature. Jess Winchester meets two KCC members and finds out what makes them tick (environmentally speaking).

“So I put one mangrove in salt water, one in tap water, one in no water, and I moved one in and out of water to be like the tide.”

Eight-year-old Sam McNamara turns the pages of his (self-authored) book and points at the photos of the mangrove cuttings sitting in their stainless steel beakers.

“And I found this picture in a diving magazine – it shows life in the mangroves!” He pushes the page towards me and beams as he runs his finger around the fish weaving

between the roots.

Sam, who has written three books about nature and science, is one of a growing number of young conservationists taking practical action to protect their corner of New Zealand nature.

He inherited his grandad’s fishing rod and spends every spare moment investigating (and recording) marine life around his home in Shelley Bay, in Auckland.

When he’s not fishing, Sam is talking about his latest discovery

Land of the long black smoggy cloud Ella Stewart, 10, of Dunedin, won a Real Journey’s overnight cruise for her article focusing on why nature in New Zealand should be saved. Here is an edited extract.

Aotearoa means “land of the long white cloud”. Aren’t we proud of that? So why should we stand here and let New Zealand turn into “land of the long black smoggy cloud”?

New Zealand 2016: Tourist attraction, gleaming white glaciers, sparkling azure lakes, clean, green bush. New Zealand 2030: Melting glaciers, stinky lakes, litter-filled bush. Where did we go wrong?

[People] forgot New Zealand is inhabited by more than money. They thought by chopping down trees to clear land for bigger, better houses, they were making a better place for future generations.

How wrong they were.

I enjoy New Zealand. It is a fun, happy place to live, but if we aren’t careful, everything could vanish before our eyes. It’s our choice – are you going to believe me?

For Ella’s full entry see http://kcc.org.nz/real-journeyscomp-ellas-story.

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– he has corresponded with John Key about his findings and shares his stories in his conservation blog http://samsfishingandnature. blogspot.co.nz/.

Sam is not alone. More than 5000 members of Kiwi Conservation Club across Aotearoa spend their weekends and holidays out in the great New Zealand outdoors, supporting local conservation projects, tree planting, creating lizard gardens, making nesting boxes for little blue penguins, or fundraising.

“Mum and I did a beach tidy up,“ Sam writes in his blog. “I was really sad about how much rubbish was on the beach. We took about 10kgs of rubbish to the rubbish bins. Most of it was plastic. It is sad the sea life have to live with our rubbish floating around in the water.”

Recently, Sam became a local celebrity by catching a rare SouthEast Asian mantis shrimp. It was first found in New Zealand in 2009, and Auckland museum was keen to preserve it to learn more about its colonisation of our waters.

KCC Manager Sarah Satterthwaite was delighted to recruit Sam as a junior reporter for the KCC website.

“We want tamariki to be a voice for nature and to inspire others to get involved. Just look at Sam’s story,” she says.

“We’re not just growing the conservationists of tomorrow, they’re already leading the way – and it can only be good for the environment when we work together.” *For more information about how to join KCC, see www.kcc.org.nz.

Real Journeys Cruise for a Cause Ella’s dedication to nature saw her win a recent Kiwi Conservation Club competition. Her prize was to hop onboard an overnight cruise through the stunning Milford Sound, Fiordland, courtesty of Real Journeys, one of KCC’s supporters.

Every dollar from Real Journeys’ Cruise for a Cause has been donated to Forest & Bird specifically to fund KCC. This will help us inspire and support young conservationists, such as Sam and Ella, to make it their mission to protect New Zealand’s wild places and wildlife for all time.

We would like to thank Real Journeys for their wonderful donation of $16,785, which has been used to provide support and training to the volunteers who instill a love of nature in our children and grandchildren.

OUR KIDS ARE REALLY INSPIRED BY NATURE.

So sign up yours to Forest & Bird’s Kiwi Conservation Club and give them the opportunity to explore, engage and develop a passion for nature.

Visit kcc.org.nz and join the club.

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Forest & Bird reserve

The plight of the yellow-eyed penguin

Photo: Kimball Chen

Forest & Bird’s Te Rere Reserve offers a haven of safety for our yellow-eyed penguin, as Lucy Dickie finds out when she visited recently.

N

ew Zealand forests are certainly not for the fainthearted. They have a mysterious feel to them, being of the thick, impenetrable type. Often dominated by shrubs, vines, and thorny plants, they can be dark and foreboding environments, involving crawling around in the mud, scraping knees, or sliding over. It was a forest like this that I found myself in when I visited Te Rere Reserve in early September. And I loved it.

Te Rere is a Forest & Bird-owned reserve for endangered yellow-eyed penguins. It’s located in the Catlins, just east of the popular Curio Bay. Of the 70ha of protected area, about half is a lowland hardwoodpodocarp forest dominated by kamahi, southern rata, podocarps, and totara. This dense bush, which goes all the way out to the coast, is the natural habitat of our yelloweyed penguins.

The reserve is generally not open to the public.

Everyone who goes must aid with the conservation in some way. As such, I spent the day setting and baiting traps with the caretaker Fergus Sutherland. The main problems at Te Rere are stoats and rats, which can prey on penguin eggs and chicks. We didn’t find any of those in the traps that day. However, as we wove our way through the bush, we did spot three yellow-eyed penguins. Or, rather, we heard them before we spotted them.

The Māori name for this species is hoiho, meaning “noise shouter”. Their trumpet like, territorial call is often what alerts visitors to their presence. Being September, a few males may have been home, guarding their territory for the coming breeding season.

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We let the penguins be and went to a lookout to view the rugged coastline below. Fergus pointed out the trail that most of the penguins take on returning from sea – these 65cm high birds will climb out of the water, straight on to steep rocks. They’ll then clamber and claw their way into the forest, using their beaks to steady themselves. Many people perceive these penguins as clumsy, but they’re actually very able footed and can jump to half their height.

Once they’ve scuttled off the rocks, they’ll make their way up to 1km inland. Before human arrival, yellow-eyed penguins would have lived deep in the bush. But now they are simply making do by occupying farmland and taking shelter under flax. Te Rere is possibly the best example of the forested habitat that these penguins need.

We made our way up to the top of the reserve – the highest elevation is 200m, and there is a vegetation

Te Rere Reserve celebrates its 30th anniversary next year.

Photo: Kimball Chen

Why are hoiho declining?

Fergus Sutherland (above) and Lucy Dickie checking traps at Te Rere. Photo: Supplied

change from the dense bush below. Up here, coastal shrubs dominate, such as hebe, inaka, and turpentine. It’s quite exposed but has a great view over the forest. We continued setting traps, baiting them with chicken eggs and dry rabbit meat.

These traps have not only aided the yellow-eyed penguins but also other native birds, such as fantails, tūī, bellbirds, New Zealand falcons, and little penguins, which are now commonly seen and heard around the reserve.

Forested areas such as these are becoming difficult to find on New Zealand’s east coast. The small pockets of native bush that exist in isolated areas, such as the Catlins, act as sanctuaries for these bird species.

In the last few years, things haven’t been going well for yellow-eyed penguins and their numbers have dropped considerably. The science behind this issue is difficult and complex, with the penguins being affected by what’s happening on both land and at sea (see panel).

But, despite all the hardships, there are still some hopeful signs.

On my last evening, Fergus spotted a juvenile on one of his camera traps. It walked in an awkward way, differing from the adult penguins with the lack of the yellow headband.

This young penguin would have hatched last summer and had made it through the first year out at sea, something that has become worryingly unusual in recent times.

“I haven’t seen any sign of a juvenile in the last two years,” Fergus said with a smile.

Hopefully, this juvenile will stick around in Te Rere to become one of the breeding adults.

It’s a small indication that things might just be getting better for these penguins.

Te Rere reserve was set up in 1987 when Forest & Bird purchased a section of coastal land from local farmers.

After considerable replanting and trapping, the number of penguins steadily grew to around 120 by 1995. But that year disaster struck.

On a windy summer’s day, a fire spread from one of the neighboring farms and took hold on Te Rere. About half of the penguins were killed immediately, with others dying later from injuries. Although efforts have been made to replant the burnt area, the population hasn’t yet recovered to pre-fire levels.

And the last few years have been particularly difficult for hoiho.

“Last summer, we only had about 12 nests when normally we have around 20. These numbers mirror what’s been going on across much of the southern coast,” Fergus says.

Last summer, the total number of nests in the South Island was down by 30 percent. Only 216 nests were counted at the end of 2015, compared with 314 in the previous year.

“The yellow-eyed penguin population has declined steadily on the mainland since 2008/09,” says Trudi Webster from the Yellow Eyed Penguin Trust.

“This decline is likely due to a number of reasons.

Over the past few years, penguin deaths have been attributed to starvation, a mass mortality event, and some significant injuries obtained at sea.

“These mortalities are potentially a reflection of wider changes in the marine environment, including the distribution and availability of prey.”

Something that might significantly help the penguins are marine protected areas (MPAs), which are currently being discussed for the Otago and eastern Southland coastlines. A series of MPAs may help protect the penguin’s vital foraging areas.

“Yellow-eyed penguins forage on the seabed, where delicate structures provide habitat for prey.

These structures are often damaged by trawling and dredging,” explains Fergus.

“MPAs will also limit the disruption of the normal comings and goings of penguins and reduce the risk of them being caught in nets.”

Photo: Kimball Chen

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Our people

Five questions with…

Kevin Hague, Chief Executive, Forest & Bird, Kaiwhakahaere Matua, Te Reo o te Taiao.

What turned you on to conservation?

I grew up in England, and my holidays were spent in Devon and Cornwall. I was seven years old when the Torrey Canyon disaster happened in 1967. It was the first big oil spill, and it was a complete disaster. Seabirds were fouled in oil and the beach was disgusting, the rock pools were filled with oil rather than water, and that made a profound impact on me as a small kid.

I started an anti-pollution club at my school when I was 11, and I was involved in the Young Ornithologists Club, a kind of KCC equivalent. This is one of the reasons I can see why KCC is so important in connecting kids to conservation because that’s my journey as well.

Your Wikipedia entry calls you ”an activist”, can you tell us about that?

As long as I can remember... if I see something wrong and there is something I can do about it, I’ve felt obliged to act. I assume that comes from my parents and family.

They weren’t particularly activist themselves, but they had a strong moral code.

We came to New Zealand when I was 13, settling in Hamilton. In 1977, I started university in Auckland [studying maths and geophysics], and got involved in student politics, later becoming President of the Student Union. I was particularly involved in the anti-apartheid movement at the time of the 1981 Springbok tour. It was very confronting. You had to figure out your personal 32

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stance around that and take action consistent with it. A lot of Māori were involved in the anti-apartheid movement.

They said they could do with a bit of support around racism as well, so throughout the 80s we tried very hard to broaden it to become a general anti-racism movement.

I think probably people call me an activist because I got arrested a lot!

What does activism mean to you today?

I think it means being prepared to use the tactics of either direct action or mass movement. The things that we did in those days were combinations of mass movement tactics such as rallies, petitions, marches, and sometimes direct action. But I guess over the years I have become more and more interested in strategy, so I now approach problems by thinking very carefully about what the objective is and then work backwards from that objective in terms of how to achieve it.

The reason I make that point is that I’ve seen so many organisations respond to every problem with the same set of tactics, and sometimes the tactics of a mass movement will be the right ones, but often they won’t be. I’m now much more choosy about when to use those tactics. Forest & Bird, with our fabulous history of direct action and mass movement tactics, our great membership base, and our involved branches, we’re in a position of some authority to be able to mount mass movement campaigns where they are appropriate to our goal, and I’m excited about that possibility.

Is it too early to talk about you priorities here at Forest & Bird?

What do you like to do when you are not working?

I can say that I love the [Forest & Bird] Strategic Plan, and one of the things I’m going to be looking to do is to strengthen our operational plan so we know how these great strategic goals will be realised and what our role in this will be. I want to make sure that we are using the strength and value of our history, our reputation, and our members as effectively as we can to be Nature’s voice.

The staff I have met so far are fantastic and that fits with my experience of F&B from the outside as well. I think it’s an important strategic goal for our society to be one society. That means aligning all of the work that we do as a professional staff, but also as branches and volunteers, with the Strategic Plan so we have maximum alignment and effectiveness. I really want to get out into the field and meet our volunteers and find out what makes them tick and what they are passionate about and see how we can support that.

Ian, my partner of 32 years, and I moved from Waiheke Island to the West Coast in 2003. I’m a keen recreational user of the conservation estate both through tramping and mountain biking. And certainly one of the things I’m keen to see is a closer relationship between us, as conservationists, and recreational users. I think there’s a natural alignment there. We’ve got 17 acres. Our land is almost all regenerating bush, which is QEII covenanted. So I when I do get home it’s clearing traps and re-baiting bait stations. I also enjoy murder mystery novels! *Kevin Hague quit politics in September 2016 to become Forest & Bird’s Chief Executive. He was Green Party spokesperson for conservation, health, sport and recreation, and Rainbow issues. Prior to this, Kevin was Chief Executive of the West Coast District Health Board.

He is also an author, gay rights activist, and former Executive Director of the NZ Aids Foundation.

Howdy Grace

Welcome Adelia

Kia ora Caitlin

Grace Marshall has been appointed as Forest & Bird’s new Direct Marketing Fundraiser and will be working on our fundraising appeals.

A passionate not-for-profit professional, Grace lived overseas for eight years before returning to New Zealand two years ago. She most recently worked in direct marketing for the Cancer Society.

Grace is a keen walker and has hiked the Arctic Circle trail, in Greenland, and walked the Camino de Santiago – it took 33 days! Grace, who grew up in Aoraki/Mt Cook and Twizel, said: “I am really pleased to be working here so I can contribute firsthand to the amazing work that Forest & Bird does.”

Forest & Bird’s new climate advocate Adelia Hallett has been following the issue for nearly three decades.

Working as a journalist in the late 1980s, she lived with three scientists and got drawn into their discussions about climate change. Writing about it was the obvious next step.

Adelia has studied the issue at university, worked on climate campaigns for Greenpeace, and worked at the sustainable business daily news service Carbon News (www.carbonnews.co.nz).

She has also worked for the Department of Conservation, the Ministry of Fisheries, the union movement, and as a journalist for the New Zealand Herald and Radio New Zealand.

Adelia lives in Northland with her husband Sandy Macdonald and son.

As a long time Forest & Bird member, Caitlin Carew says she’s excited to be joining the team as Communications Advisor, based in the Wellington office. Caitlin worked for the Green Party parliamentary team as their environment campaigner before taking time out to raise her young children. Before that, she lived in Tasmania, where she worked for a sustainable living NGO and became involved in The Wilderness Society’s campaign to protect Tasmania’s old growth forests from logging. When Caitlin’s not working, she loves bushwalking with the family in nearby Belmont Regional Park, growing veges, wrangling chickens, and taking part in the odd triathlon.

Forest & Bird

| 33

Books

Christmas books Stuck for a gift for your hard-to-buy-for loved one?

Here is a round up of recently published nature, science, and outdoor titles for New Zealand.

Exclusive reader competition We have more than $400 of books to give away just in time for Christmas, thanks to our friends at Potton & Burton, who have generously donated three Christmas gift packs just for Forest & Bird readers.

Christmas giveaway The Family Pack (total value $190) Win Ghosts of Gondwana, by George Gibbs, Untouched Landscapes, by Petr Hlavacek, The Cuckoo and the Warbler by Kennedy Warne & Heather Hunt, and From Moa to Dinosaurs by Gillian Candler & Ned Barraud.

Plus we will include a DVD of the highly acclaimed Hunt for the Wilderpeople, RRP $29.99.

Email draw@forestandbird.org.nz with your name, address and keyword FAMILY.

The Outdoors Pack (total value $165) Win A Bunk for the Night by Shaun Barnett, Rob Brown & Geoff Spearpoint, So Far, So Good by Craig Potton, Protecting Paradise by Dave Hansford, and No Place to Hide by James R. Flynn, Email draw@forestandbird.org.nz with your name, address and keyword OUTDOORS.

For the Coffee Table (value $80) Fiordland by Andris Apse Email draw@forestandbird.org.nz with your name, address and keyword COFFEE. Entries close 5pm on Tues 13 December 2016.

Prizes will be posted in time for Christmas

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| Forest & Bird Te Reo o te Taiao

Protecting Paradise by Dave Hansford, Potton & Burton, $34.99 paperback Dave Hansford offers a critical examination of the many 1080 truths and myths. As techniques have become more refined, results from the aerial application of 1080 over significant areas of the conservation estate have been spectacularly successful in maintaining populations of native birds. Yet the use of 1080 attracts fierce opposition from a small group of vocal and passionate opponents. This book examines their arguments and conclusively shows the “science” put up by 1080 opponents is unsubstantiated.

Fiordland by Andris Apse, Potton & Burton, $79.99 hardback A photographic tribute to Fiordland by one of our pre-eminent landscape photographers. When Andris Apse first tramped through the Stuart Mountains in the 1960s, he was overwhelmed by the majestic scenery but frustrated by his inability to communicate his wonder at the place. So he learned to take photographs, and Fiordland quickly became his great photographic passion. Now aged 72, with 50 years of professional photography behind him, Fiordland is a master work that pays homage to the place of his early and greatest inspiration.

A Bunk for the Night by Shaun Barnett, Rob Brown, & Geoff Spearpoint, Potton & Burton $49.99 An insiders’ guide to more than 200 of the best backcountry huts to visit in New Zealand. Featuring tramping huts in the major mountain axis of the North Island, Tongariro and Egmont National Parks, as well as the Southern Alps,

Fiordland, and Stewart Island, the authors have also scoured the country for other interesting huts in out of the way places, such as those in the Bay of Islands, on Banks Peninsula, in the Whanganui hinterland, the Takitimu Mountains, and the dry ranges of Marlborough.

So Far, So Good by Craig Potton, Potton & Burton, $49.99 hardback The story, in words and photographs, of a three-month traverse of the Southern Alps, from Milford Sound to Nelson Lakes. In 1980, Craig Potton traversed the Southern Alps, a threemonth tramping and mountaineering trip that started at Milford Sound and ended in Nelson Lakes National Park.

Now, more than 35 years later, Craig Potton recounts the experience in So Far, So Good. Heavily illustrated with photographs taken on the trip, this is a book for anyone with an interest in tramping and mountaineering, and the experience of wild places.

Ghosts of Gondwana, by George Gibbs, Potton & Burton, $69.99 hardback This is a fully revised edition of the classic, award-winning book.

The challenge of explaining New Zealand’s natural origins is picked up again by George Gibbs. It presents the latest scientific research in highly readable form, highlighting studies that reveal the deep historical background of our landscapes, fauna, and flora – from ancient frogs and moa to delicate insects and the magnificent southern beech forests.

This revision incorporates the results of 10 years of intensive scientific research and includes four entirely new chapters.

New Zealand: Untouched Landscapes, by Petr Hlavacek, Potton & Burton, $49.99 hardback.

A fresh and strikingly beautiful collection of landscape photographs captured throughout the country by professional photographer Petr Hlavacek. From our most iconic locations to harder to access and protected areas, the book presents the pristine and diverse landscapes of this country, often from a new perspective. Petr’s photography is motivated by the opportunity to promote greater public awareness of our fragile landscapes, a landscape he is passionate about protecting.

No Place to Hide by James R. Flynn, Potton & Burton,$29.99 paperback Millions of educated people all over the world feel powerless in the face of climate change and its consequences, partially because the literature on the environment is so vast it is difficult to know where to begin. This short book is intended to make their search for truth manageable. It allows the reader to isolate the crucial issues and form their own opinion, and while it addresses a world audience it has a special reference to New Zealand.

CHILDREN’S BOOKS The Cuckoo and the Warbler by Kennedy Warne & Heather Hunt, Potton & Burton, $19.99 paperback.

This book recounts one of the most remarkable natural history stories in New Zealand – the bond shared between the shining cuckoo (pīpīwharauroa) and the grey warbler (riroriro). The grey warbler nest is the only one in which a cuckoo will lay its egg. It then manages to trick the warbler parents into hatching and raising the cuckoo chick as if it were one of their own. This book evokes the extraordinary qualities of this unique New Zealand story.

From Moa to Dinosaurs by Gillian Candler & Ned Barraud, Potton & Burton, $19.99 paperback.

A look back in time to the animals and plants that lived in New Zealand’s ancient past, stretching from moa to dinosaurs. The fifth title in the acclaimed “explore & discover” series for children reveals what lived in ancient New Zealand.

As well as moa and dinosaurs, it covers crocodilians and turtles, the shark-toothed dolphin, and giant penguins, kiwi, native bats, giant weta, and tuatara.

Beautifully illustrated and impeccably researched.

READER

Buy any of these titles DISCOUNT online and receive a 10% discount from www.pottonandburton.co.nz.

Use the code FOREST16.

Offer expires 31 March 2017.

Forest & Bird receives 20 percent of all sales.

Forest & Bird

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Canterbury tales Canterbury mudfish near Oxford. Photo: Lan Pham

Marvellous

mudfish

Conservation of the Canterbury mudfish is at a critical point, as Mary Ralston finds out when she visited Riverbridge, home to one of the largest remaining populations.

I

f you hold a Canterbury mudfish, or kowaro, in your hand, it is easy to see why they are not a posterchild species for New Zealand conservation. They are small, brown, and nocturnal. But they are also rare, beautiful, and perfectly adapted to their environment.

Unhappily for the mudfish, their habitat has fallen in the path of agricultural intensification on the Canterbury Plains, which has resulted in wetland drainage, increasing water abstraction, more cattle, and dry summers.

Farmer conservationist Russell Langdon.

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Mudfish are members of the galaxiid family, which also includes whitebait. Their preferred habitats are lowland wetlands, pools in swampy forests, and slow-flowing streams.

The loss of about 85–90 percent of Canterbury wetlands means these habitats, and the Canterbury mudfish, are in short supply.

Populations are fragmented and vulnerable to local extinction from land use change, drought, and the presence of predatory fish, including trout. Their perilous state has led to them being given the status of “nationally critical” – the most severely threatened subset of threatened species.

But all is not lost. Monitoring and protection of remaining populations is high priority for the Department of Conservation (DOC), and the Ashburton Zone Water Management Committee has provided funds to restore and create mudfish habitats.

One project is part of the collaborative effort to restore the Wainono Lagoon near Waimate. The regional council, DOC, the Working Waters Trust, local farmers, and

school children are working together to plant natives, fence streams, and create new habitat for mudfish.

Most of the existing populations of Canterbury mudfish are monitored every five years by DOC. Ranger Steve Harraway says there are quite a few widely scattered sites throughout Canterbury containing mudfish, mostly on private land.

Three of the biggest populations are surveyed annually. One of the healthiest of these is found at the Riverbridge Conservation Area, a private reserve near Ashburton, which I visited last year.

Farmer conservationists Russell and Velma Langdon built this 8.3ha wetland reserve from scratch in 2000 and have protected it with a QEII National Trust covenant.

Riverbridge consists of a series of drains, wetlands, ponds, and grassy areas on what was well-drained farmland.

“I have always been interested in conservation and started off breeding birds in captivity. But I prefer to see them in a natural setting,” Russell told me.

“I was also curious about what the plains looked like a few hundred years ago, so I built some ponds where there was pasture. And when you have water and habitat, the birds arrive.”

Mudfish were introduced to the reserve from a South Canterbury population. They have thrived in two habitats – a spring-fed stream and one of the ponds – and are now the largest population found anywhere.

“This year, we monitored the Riverbridge mudfish population and caught 600 in 20 traps. There were 100 originally, and some years we catch 200–300, so we’re really pleased,” says Steve Harraway.

Riverbridge is close to the Ashburton River, and, with a water table close to the surface, the wetland is reasonably stable without relying on rainfall. It provides a range of habitat and attracts a wide variety of water birds – everything from waders such as pied stilts to scaup, grey teal, shoveller, white faced heron, bittern, and marsh crake.

Thousands of native plants have been planted, stock and predatorproof fences built, and traps for stoats and cats set. It has become an important resource for schools and other groups, such as Forest & Bird, who visit to see the birds and Canterbury mudfish. It’s also a rare example of what the plains would have looked like before farming became the dominant land use.

Collateral damage Conservation of Canterbury mudfish is at a critical point. Despite the creation of new habitat and restoration of original sites, things could still get worse for this critically endangered native fish, according to Anita Spencer of DOC. “Several populations of mudfish have gone extinct after two years of drought. The problem is that sites used to be connected, which meant that populations could re-establish after drought, but this is no longer the case. This can result in an erosion of genetic diversity.

“And we are still losing populations due to agricultural intensification. For example, there was a population in a wetland near Hororata.

“The area was destroyed by a neighbouring landowner expanding

Mudfish habitat is still being lost to dairy farm expansion: the destruction of a willow wetland at Hororata.

for dairy, although by some miracle some mudfish managed to survive the diggers.

“Work by the community then went into restoring the site, but the drought in the last two years has meant mudfish have now gone extinct there.”

FACT FILE Canterbury mudfish (Neochanna burrowsius) are the most threatened of New Zealand’s five mudfish species.

Endemic to the region, they are found in a limited number of waterways in the Canterbury Plains, between the Ashley River (in the north) and the Waitaki River (in the south).

They have the ability to survive during times when there is no surface water – something most other fish can’t do.

Mudfish are considered a clean water species doing best in habitat with generally high water quality, especially during spring.

Source: DOC and Dr Leanne O’Brien

Riverbridge is home to a healthy population of Canterbury mudfish.

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Biodiversity Forest & Bird's popular annual Harbourview Beach Spring Clean. Photo: Kent Xie

Auckland’s

biodiversity gem What are the challenges involved in protecting a nationally significant wetland area in our biggest city? Mélissa Irace finds out.

T

his is a tale of persistence and dogged determination to stop encroaching development affecting one of Metropolitan Auckland’s last great natural wetland areas. It’s also a story about building awareness and appreciation of nature in our own backyard or, in this case, next to one of Auckland’s busiest motorways.

The Forest & Bird Motu Manawa Restoration Group was established in 2009, when Waitakere branch members Michael Coote and Kent Xie, and Anne Fenn, then Chair of the Central Auckland branch, decided to take an active interest in Pollen and Traherne islands, which are surrounded by the 500ha Motu Manawa-Pollen Island Marine Reserve, located in Auckland’s Waterview Inlet.

They learned that these obscure islands, lying next to the SH16 motorway causeway that connects Point Chevalier with Te Atatu, were reportedly home to a rare bactra moth as well as wetland-loving fernbirds and banded rails. They also discovered that, despite the marine reserve being one of Auckland’s largest protected wetlands, little had been done to preserve or restore the islands since the scientific reserve status given to Pollen Island in the mid-2000s, which, incidentally, Forest & Bird lobbied for.

Then there was the thorny issue of people using the wider surrounding tidal foreshore and seabed as a dog “playground” – local dog owners seemed to think chasing flocks of visiting and nesting shorebirds was an acceptable form of exercise for their canines.

Michael Coote said: “We were pretty sure that the thousands of motorists who drove past on the motorway every day just didn’t realise this gem of native biodiversity was in their midst. So we decided to change that, and held guided walks around Traherne Island and later on Pollen Island, and started promoting our long-term vision to increase the rare fernbird population in the area.”

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In 2010, the group began volunteer stoat trapping and rat baiting on Traherne Island. They were joined by Forest & Bird member Raewyn Michael, who subsequently liaised with Auckland Council to organise more stoat trapping in nearby Harbourview Reserve, Te Atatu Peninsula.

The group's predator-control activities blossomed into regular volunteer planting days, with more than 1000 fernbird-friendly plants a year now being planted in Harbourview's extensive wetlands. Raewyn also kicked off the annual Forest & Bird Harbourview Beach Spring Clean that attracts a large and diverse crowd every October.

In 2010, the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) also started taking an interest in the marine reserve area.

It decided the SH16 motorway causeway needed raising and widening, and proposed taking marine reserve land for the expansion. And so began a six-year engagement by the group that saw Forest & Bird around the table with NZTA and the Department of Conservation negotiating environmental mitigation for the best possible outcome for nature.

Michael says having the name Forest & Bird behind the group helped them get a place at the negotiating table. It was a long and painstaking task, but he’s proud of some left-field thinking during the negotiations.

“We were lobbying for fernbird-friendly eco-sourced native plantings along the motorway causeway, a genuinely novel proposal versus generic mass revegetation, but also for interpretational signage and public access to the marine reserve and Pollen Island so that we could increase public appreciation and understanding of this very special area.

“NZTA balked at the idea of the Department of Conservation’s proposal for a short boardwalk by Traherne Island because of the permits and consents required, but one day I had the alternative idea of viewing bays on the

SH16 cycleway, which require no consents. I sketched the plan on an A4 sheet of paper and handed it over during a meeting with all parties. Pretty much that exact design for viewing bays has now been built.

“In late 2016, NZTA will install interpretational signage at the viewing bays highlighting the special features of the marine reserve area. We wrote most of the text for those signs and supplied some of the photos, and are delighted that the Forest & Bird logo will be on them.”

Motorway rebuild mitigation measures also included NZTA monitoring native birds in the fenced grounds of the Te Atatu Pony Club, which is in the southern end of Harbourview. Monitoring proved the pony club is a major roosting site for endangered wrybills, making it an area of national conservation significance.

The Forest & Bird Motu Manawa Restoration Group will need that evidence. With the motorway expansion due for completion in 2017, there is still lots of work to be done to protect the wider area from encroachment. The Open Space Management Plan for Harbourview has expired, and public consultation on a new plan is due to start in 2017.

The pony club will depart from its pastures within two to three years, and Forest & Bird Motu Manawa Restoration Group believes it should be at least partly replaced by a fenced shorebird and wader sanctuary.

The group says the sanctuary should have predatorresistant fences and be made pest-free. The public could visit, with formed paths, bird hides, and interpretational signage provided, but dogs would need to be excluded.

Godwits on Harbourview foreshore with Motu Manawa-Pollen Island Marine Reserve behind.

The group will also be up against proposals to build an urban Māori marae and possibly an Auckland Transport bus interchange on land at Harbourview Reserve. And Michael believes there will probably be other interest groups who want to build their pet projects using ‘’just a bit here and just a bit there” of the open green space.

It looks like Forest & Bird Motu Manawa Restoration Group will be kept busy in the years ahead protecting this stunning but vulnerable wetland area in the face of developers’ bulldozers and Auckland’s ever-expanding urban metropolis.

Ninety percent of Auckland’s wetlands were drained between the 1880s and the 1950s. The Waterview Inlet/Motu Manawa/Pollen Island Marine Reserve/ Harbourview area is one of the few remaining large wetland complexes left that are suitable for native and migrant bird feeding, roosting, and breeding in Auckland’s upper Waitemata Harbour.

TE ATATU NORTH

WAITEMATA HARBOUR

• HARBOURVIEW MARINE RESERVE SH 16

• POLLEN ISLAND

• TRAHEME ISLAND

The area is home to wetland-loving fernbirds and banded rails.

Photo: Kent Xie

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09 307 8005 fullers.co.nz Forest & Bird

| 39

Freshwater

Large adult inanga. Inanga is the most common whitebait species. Photo: Paul Franklin

How many (native fish) eggs

to make a whitebait fritter?

It’s a lot more than you might think, as Dr Paul Franklin explains.

A

s whitebait season draws to a close, many hundreds of kilos of baby native fish have been hauled out of the lower reaches of our rivers and turned into that beloved New Zealand delicacy – whitebait fritters!

We don’t know how much whitebait has been taken this year because it’s an unregulated fishery. Nor do we know how much the whitebait species can withstand the multitude of stressors (from habitat loss to harvesting) before there are significant ecological effects.

What we do know is that many whitebait fritters have been eaten this year. The debate over the best recipes are never ending, and I don’t claim to know the best recipe, but I do hope to provide some insight into how many native fish eggs might go in to making a whitebait fritter.

Four out of the five whitebait species are threatened.

Photo: Rob Suisted

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| Forest & Bird Te Reo o te Taiao

And the answer might just surprise you.

Whitebait are the juveniles of five species of native galaxiid fish, returning to freshwater after spending the first few months of their lives at sea. This migration into freshwater is a critical part of their life-cycle, as they move upstream to the habitats where they will feed, grow into adults, mature, and then begin the cycle all over again.

Understanding of the spawning biology of the whitebait species is relatively poor. However, all five have a somewhat unusual reproductive strategy that makes them uniquely susceptible to changes in river flows and bankside vegetation.

In autumn and winter, all five species lay their eggs in habitats temporarily submerged by high water levels. For inanga (Galaxias maculatus, the most common whitebait species), which migrate downstream to estuaries to lay their eggs, this is high spring tides. For the other four species, banded kokopu (G. fasciatus), giant kokopu (G. argenteus), koaro (G. brevipinnis), and shortjaw kokopu (G. postvectis), this is high river flows caused by rainfall.

The eggs of inanga are about 1mm in diameter and are typically laid within dense grasses that retain moisture and provide shading. These conditions help the eggs to survive out of water until they are ready to hatch about three to four weeks later.

The eggs hatch when the spawning sites are reinundated by high river flows or, in the case of inanga, high spring tides. The larvae are then washed out to sea,

where they stay for several months before finally returning to freshwater as whitebait. It seems easy really, doesn’t it?

Well, let’s look at it in a bit more detail.

An average-sized adult female inanga will lay about 2000–3000 eggs (McDowall 1984). Studies have shown that, on average, only about 11 percent of eggs survive through to hatching (Hickford et al. 2010). Once the eggs hatch and the larvae make it to sea, survival is very low. No data are available specifically for inanga, but mortality of larval fish at sea has been estimated at >98 percent (Zeldis et al. 2005).

On returning to freshwater, investigations have shown that about 30 percent of whitebait may be caught in the whitebait fishery (Baker and Smith 2014). An unknown number of these remaining fish then survive to adulthood and successfully spawn (let’s assume 50 percent, but it has been suggested this is more likely to be less than 20 percent).

About 100g of whitebait would be considered a decent serving for one. Depending where you are in the country, that is about 200–250 whitebait. That means that it takes at least 260,000 to 325,000 eggs to make whitebait fritters for one!

How many eggs were required to make your whitebait fritters this year? *Dr Paul Franklin is a Freshwater Ecologist at NIWA.

An inanga spawning site in the Waikato River at high tide. The arrows indicate where eggs (pictured below) were found. Photos: Paul Franklin

A version of this article first appeared on the Waiology blog.

References cited are available on request.

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Forest & Bird

| 41

Seabirds

Oiled wildlife

do’s and don’ts

What’s the best way to look after birds and other wildlife caught in an oil spill?

Dr Louise Chilvers says it’s vital to follow the right steps to keep everyone safe.

T

he local community, including Forest & Bird volunteers, mobilised in June this year to help wildlife affected by a diesel spill into Lake Pupuke, Auckland. It was an unusual location for a spill, being inland and from a land-based source. Unfortunately, in the rush to help, some of the advice shared on social media about how to look after the affected wildlife didn’t follow best practice and could have led to the birds (and the volunteers trying to help them) being put at risk.

Responding to oiled wildlife can be a dangerous undertaking, not only because stressed wildlife can react defensively but also because the toxic effects of petroleum products are known to be extremely harmful to people.

Petroleum products are highly volatile, and the inhalation of gases given off by both heavy (black tar) oil and light

Little penguin affected during the CV Rena grounding, swimming in a clean freshwater pool after decontamination wash and drying to allow feather realignment and to regain full waterproofing

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| Forest & Bird Te Reo o te Taiao

oils (petrol and diesel) can cause serious lung damage and respiratory distress.

Petroleum products can also be absorbed through the skin, causing anything from skin irritations to chemical burns and blood toxicity in extreme cases. Special protective clothing, nitrile gloves, eye protection, and often breathing apparatus is needed when dealing with oiled wild animals (see photo).

The main effect of oil on wildlife is the external contamination of feathers or fur, which causes loss of waterproofing and so hypothermia and drowning. Animals affected by oil contamination are not only oily and bedraggled but are also dehydrated, have limited foraging ability, and are physically stressed.

All birds with significant oiling need to be removed from the environment of the contamination, placed in a quiet, warm, well-ventilated area, given rehydration fluids, and assessed by a veterinarian for any secondary injuries or complications.

Only after the birds are hydrated, warmed, and quietened can the process of decontamination be considered. The time period for this may be 12 to 48 hours, and without this quieting period the animals are unlikely to survive the stressful wash/decontamination process.

This is not where the story ends for the birds.

Once cleaned of external oil, well rinsed, and dried appropriately, the birds need quiet, warm areas to preen

and access to clean freshwater pools for swimming and to realign feathers and regain full waterproofing. During that time, adequate and appropriate food and water needs to be provided so they can recover strength before being released back into a cleaned environment.

If any of these steps are missed, the wildlife may not survive, and all the hard work volunteers and professionals put into saving the animals will be lost.

HOW CAN YOU HELP? It is stressful to see oiled wildlife in your area, but it is important to ensure that the right things are done for the animals and people’s safety. So, if something like this happens in your area, what can you do?

1) If you see oil pollution in waterways, lakes, or the sea, even if animals are not involved, immediately contact your local regional council’s Pollution Hotline (see panel).

2) If a major oil spill is going on in your area, such as the CV Rena, there will be a hotline set up for calling in wildlife sightings and to register to volunteer to help with the oil response and for oiled wildlife response.

3) If you and others in your area are interested, and have wildlife and rehabilitation skills, form a group and have a single contract point for your national oiled wildlife response (NOWRT) coordinator, who will be a staff member at your regional council.

For more information, go to massey.ac.nz/ wildbaseowr or www.maritimenz.govt.nz/ about/what-we-do/safety-and-response/MPRS/.

New Zealand leads world New Zealand is one of only nine countries in the world that has a national oil response plan that includes wildlife.

Maritime NZ’s Marine Pollution Response Services (MPRS) works to minimise the effect of oil pollution on our marine environment. MPRS is supported by regional council staff and, if oiled wildlife is involved, Wildbase at Massey University. Wildbase manages the New Zealandwide National Oiled Wildlife Response Team (NOWRT).

This maritime-based structure usually applies only for spills that have the potential to affect the marine environment. For an inland spill, such as the Lake Pupuke incident, a response team can be mobilised under the Resource Management Act. The Lake Pupuke team was led by Auckland Council.

Marine oil spills are classified and responded to in three tiers: TIER 1 is an industry-led response, such as a minor spill at a petroleum storage facility.

TIER 2 is a regional council-led response, such as an oil spill in a port or the Lake Pupuke spill under the RMA. TIER 3 is a nationally significant marine response led by MPRS, such as the CV Rena in Tauranga in October 2011.

Combined, the plans, equipment, planning, and preparedness level in New Zealand makes it one of the most equipped countries in the world. *See www.maritimenz.govt.nz/public/environment/ responding-to-spills/national-plan.asp.

Regional pollution hotlines Northland Auckland Waikato Taranaki Bay of Plenty Gisborne Hawkes Bay Manawatu/Horizons Wellington Nelson/Tasman West Coast Canterbury Otago Southland

Black swan from Lake Pupuke, Auckland, being washed by veterinarian Janelle Ward from Waikato Institute of Technology and Mikaylie Wilson from Auckland Zoo. All photos: Maritime NZ (MNZ)

0800 504 639 09 377 3107 0800 800 401 0800 736 222 0800 884 883 0800 653 800 0800 108838 0508 476 558 0800 496 734 03 546 0200 0508 800 118 0800 76 55 88 0800 800 033 0800 76 88 45

*Dr Louise Chilvers is a Senior Lecturer for the Massey University, Wildbase Oil Response, who train and lead NOWRT for Maritime NZ. Forest & Bird

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Our partners

Red-footed booby (left) with Kermadec petrel flying overhead. Right is the Herald Petrel.

Photos: Steve Wood

Kermadec discoveries Two new bird species were added to the official list of New Zealand birds on a recent Heritage Expeditions Forest & Bird fundraiser voyage. By Caroline Wood.

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arlier this year, Heritage Expeditions ran a fundraising voyage to New Zealand’s Kermadec Islands as part of its long-standing partnership with Forest & Bird.

The expedition to the rarely visited and little known subtropical Kermadec Island group resulted in two exciting bird discoveries.

One Herald petrel and at least two red-footed boobies were seen and photographed by participants on the 11day voyage. While many on board managed to see the boobies, only keen birders Steve Wood and Tim Barnard saw the Herald petrel.

Steve said: “After a dozen or so years of pelagic birding, going to some amazing places, and seeing some truly awesome birds, the prize would have to be finding something new for New Zealand. It’s every birder’s dream, including mine.”

In September, the sightings were officially verified by Birds New Zealand and added to the official list of New Zealand birds.

Birds New Zealand president David Lawrie said: “Few birders experience the thrill of finding a new bird species for the country, and to add two within two days is unprecedented.”

Heritage Expeditions, which was set up in 1985, has been a long-standing supporter of Forest & Bird and gives a portion of its profits from fundraising expeditions to our conservation work.

Napier Island where the red-footed booby was spotted. Photo: Steve Wood

Founder and owner Rodney Russ is a conservationist and biologist, and still leads many of the expeditions that take people by ship to some of the most remote and interesting nature destinations in the world, including New Zealand’s sub-Antarctic islands, Antarctica, Russia, and the South Pacific.

Rodney led the Kermadec Islands expedition, and one of his staff members Chris Collins was first to identify the red-footed booby.

“Most people didn’t see the Herald petrel, but news about the red-footed booby spread like wildfire around the ship and a lot of people wanted to go to the island in the Zodiac to see it,” says Rodney.

Heritage regularly runs Forest & Bird fundraising expeditions, which are popular with members attracted by the combination of conservation, adventure, education, and the chance to travel with experts and others who have a shared passion for nature.

Rodney Russ Russ explains: “The partnership works because we have shared values. One of the underlying principles of Heritage Expeditions is the importance of advocacy in conservation.

“Forest & Bird is the best advocate for conservation in New Zealand. By making people aware of nature, giving them information, they take a sense of ownership for it. We take people to outlying, wild places and share the values of these islands and also encourage them to take some kind of ownership.

“As owner of the company, I really do appreciate the relationship between Heritage Expeditions and Forest & Bird. It’s a real pleasure to take New Zealanders and Forest & Bird members to some of these far-flung nature reserves.”

The proposed Kermadecs Ocean Sanctuary has raised the profile of these little-known islands. Heritage Expeditions is already taking bookings for a voyage in March 2018. See www.heritage-expeditions.com/trip/ kermadecs-land-dreams-7th-march-2018.

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In the field

Raukawa gecko, head covered in flax pollen as it had been feeding on flax nectar. It is the most abundant gecko species on the island.

Photo: Trent Bell

A gecko’s tale Ann Graeme heads to Mana Island, on Wellington’s Kapiti Coast, to monitor geckos with New Zealand’s lizard and frog experts, EcoGecko Consultants.

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e advanced through the forest in a ragged line, our head torches quartering the ground and roving up and down the tree trunks. Spiders eyes shone in the torchlight. There was a leggy cave weta, and there was a translucent leaf-veined slug.

Lucy spotted the gecko and grabbed it. “Ow!” she exclaimed. The gecko had locked its needle-sharp teeth onto her finger.

But she didn’t shake it off. You don’t when it’s a rare Duvaucel’s gecko – and EcoGecko’s principal herpetologist Trent Bell has expressly told you not to do so.

“You might damage their fragile teeth,” he explained.

That’s what I really liked about our leader; he cared about the welfare of the wildlife – as well as his human team.

It is often said that, before people came here, New Zealand was a land of birds and lizards.

Birds, yes, but I used to be sceptical about the lizards.

That is, until I went to Mana Island to monitor geckos with Friends of Mana Island and EcoGecko Consultants.

Pest-free Mana Island is home to a host of species of skinks and geckos, some the original inhabitants and some brought to this safe haven. Our native species aren’t very large, not like goannas or komodo dragons, and you scarcely see them in the daytime. But go out at night and the island is alive with little rustling lizards.

Slender, slinky skinks scuttle, a little like shiny slithery snakes. The letter ‘s’ could have been invented just for them. But they are less visible – and less endearing – than the geckos. A gecko has a baggy skin, soft and cool to the

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touch, and it raises its body on its tiny, splayed fingers as it watches you with its bulging eyes.

Raukawa, previously called common geckos, peep out of the compost bowl on the bench in the volunteers’ house. Just outside, gold-stripe geckos wind around the flax flowers, licking the nectar with pink tongues. Down among the boulders on the beach where pohuehue scrambles and cushions of coprosma grow, more Raukawa geckos twine among the twigs, eating the berries and catching moths.

We were to become very well acquainted with Raukawa geckos. Last year, 28 ngahere geckos (previously known as forest geckos) were transferred to Mana Island from the Wellington mainland to allow the continuing development of Belmont Quarry. The geckos were released on the island

by EcoGecko Consultants on behalf of GBC Winstone.

The tangata whenua, Ngati Toa and Taranaki Whanui, gave their blessing to the transfer, and Ngati Toa, together with the Friends of Mana Island, are monitoring the newly arrived geckos.

To keep them together, the ngahere geckos are confined in a patch of low forest surrounded by a lizard-proof fence. This should be a fine home for the newcomers, but it seems that the numerous Raukawa geckos who already lived in the forest patch were competing with them and taking over their shelters.

Our team’s job was catch the Raukawa geckos and move them to forested areas outside the lizard fence.

The 52 lizard shelters had been spaced through the

twiggy undergrowth. Each shelter was a sleeve of foam loosely wrapped around the tree trunk with the free end hooked onto nails, just the sort of safe, warm, dark place where a lizard would like to hide in the daytime.

It was like a treasure hunt. Three people would encircle the tree, one to gently open the shelter and catch any geckos, one with cupped hand to catch escapees fleeing up the tree and one to hold the cloth bag and watch below. A shelter might have 10 geckos piled inside, and you had to be quick to catch them all and put them into the bag!

We captured and re-homed 97 Raukawa geckos from the lizard enclosure. We probably didn’t catch all of them but enough to give the little population of ngahere geckos a better chance.

But, while this daytime work was fun, being outside on a moonlit, windless evening was paradise. The little blue penguins were braying as they waddled ashore, a kiwi darted out of the torchlight, lizards and spiders were out hunting, and you could hear the tiny crunch of weta jaws on the leaves. Down by the water’s edge, a big blue rock crab sat boldly on a rock – chewing up a gecko!

If I imagined into the scene some of our lost species – a laughing owl, moa, perhaps an adze-bill – this might have been night time in New Zealand a thousand years ago.

Goldstripe gecko, one of the rarer lizard species on Mana Island. Photo: Trent Bell

Lizard life There are a lot of lizards in New Zealand, as many species as there are of land birds. The lizards are all derived from two ancestral lines, one for geckos and one for skinks. Over long periods of time, lizard populations have been isolated by terrain or by habitat and have evolved into many new species.

Most lizards lay a clutch of eggs, but in chilly New Zealand our skinks and geckos have adapted to giving birth to just a few live young. Now the introduced Australian rainbow skink has spread as far south as the Waikato and Bay of Plenty, and it lays up to eight eggs three times a year. These fast-breeding “plague skinks” are a threat to our slow-breeding native species.

One of the ngahere geckos found on the trip.

Being outside on a moonlit, windless evening was paradise. The little blue penguins were braying as they waddled ashore, a kiwi darted out of the torchlight, lizards and spiders were out hunting, and you could hear the tiny crunch of weta jaws on the leaves.

Ann Graeme with Trent Bell. Photo: supplied

Gecko hunters

The team found this Duvaucel's gecko, one of the original animals released in 1998. So it's at least 18 years old! Photo: Trent Bell

Our gecko-catching team was a mixed bunch. There were volunteers from Friends of Mana Island, a keen young DOC officer, a retired wildlife ranger, a professional weed contractor, an EcoGecko administration employee, and two professional herpetologists, Trent Bell and Sarah Herbert (working on behalf of GBC Winstone).

EcoGecko director Trent is a young lizard expert, a conservationist, and a Forest & Bird member. He is also stone deaf. Assisted by his wife Asha and Sarah, both using sign language, he taught us how to handle and measure the geckos and record their data. His skill and love and passion for the wildlife overcame any commuication barrier between us, and it was a privilege to be part of his team.

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Going places Being so far south meant the sun was always low on the horizon.

Normally taller, scrub and podocarp trees grow low and tough, stunted by harsh weather on the rolling, open hills.

Rakiura’s (almost)

wilderness area

Lauren Kelley spent 10 days bush-bashing across a proposed wilderness area on Stewart Island/Rakiura, where she meets plenty of locals – of the kiwi feathered variety. Photos by Neil Silverwood.

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any people go to Stewart Island to hike the Rakiura Track. Some venture onto the north-west or southern circuits, but few head south and get off the beaten path. The goal of our trip was to tramp across the windswept wilderness from South Pegasus to the imposing granite peaks of Gog and Magog, then make our way to the bottom of the Tin Range and connect to the Southern Circuit via the Range’s broad tops. We wanted to experience the raw and beautiful nature of an untracked wild land.

The southern region of Stewart Island is rugged and lonely. It’s a low rolling landscape punctuated by small barren peaks. Among dense, gnarled mānuka and leatherwood scrub, podocarp trees such as rimu and miro, usually forest giants, grow bonsai-like, reduced to scraggly, tangled shrubs rising, in places, only a metre above the spongy, moss-covered ground.

It was a nice feeling to travel with ease in the shelter of open forest after days of wading through scrub exposed to the elements.

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This part of the Rakiura National Park is a proposed wilderness area. Its unique natural values, remote location, and lack of tracks and man-made structures, save a few hunting huts, make it a prime candidate for becoming a gazetted wilderness area.

According to New Zealand policy, wilderness areas must be large enough to require at least two days to traverse on foot and be buffered by other natural landscapes. No tracks, structures, or commercial operations such as mines can be built in a wilderness area and powered vehicles, including boats and aircraft, are prohibited.

They are areas set aside for the protection of intrinsic natural values and quiet enjoyment of the wild. The 2011– 2021 Department of Conservation Stewart Island/Rakiura Conservation Management Strategy established a five-year timeline to investigate the designation of the southern half of the island as a legal wilderness area, but there has not yet been any engagement on the issue.

Our trip started with a boat ride from Oban to the South Pegasus Hunter’s Hut. The three of us quickly bid farewell to the hut and its occupants and set out following a rough track, but it wasn’t long before the track disappeared on the open scrubland. For the next 10 days, we saw no other people and very few signs of human life.

The bush cover and terrain varied greatly. We travelled through scrub so dense we had to crawl beneath it, open podocarp forest where kākāriki flew overhead, and the occasional knee-deep bog. Each night, we heard the calls of kiwi outside our tent, and I wondered what New Zealand’s original settlers must have thought of that nightpiercing sound.

One evening we went to search them out. Rounding a corner, we spotted two in our path and stopped to watch in awe as they made their way slowly toward us, probing the ground for insects. I’ve seen kiwi in captivity, but it was nothing short of magical to see them free and undisturbed in their natural environment.

Stewart Island is bang in the middle of the Roaring Forties, and the weather is as variable as the bush. Leaving the Pegasus area, we spent three days on the tops of the Tin Range making slow progress in strong winds, driving rain, and dense cloud and were happy to descend out of the wilderness onto a well-marked track and a welcome fire in Rakeahua Hut to end the tramp.

The kiwi gave me one final farewell as I exited the toilet on our last morning. One wanted to get into a burrow near the path, and I was unknowingly blocking its way, so it charged at full speed, toddling on its ungainly legs and grunting loudly. I leaped aside just in time for the kiwi to dash under the bank and hide.

It was a gruelling 10 days, but we all felt a sense of accomplishment at the end and were happy to arrive back in the land of pies and hot chips. Wilderness areas, by

The predominant landscape of the proposed wilderness area with Magog and Hielanman peaks in the background.

Early tin miners diverted water from Pegasus Creek and other nearby streams to aid their mining operations.

definition, are our most remote places and require great physical effort to access. However, their protection relies largely on people who may never have a chance to explore and enjoy them.

Wilderness areas are pristine and home to some of our most vulnerable species. They are places where natural processes can take place largely free from human impact, noise, and traffic and where only the hardiest trampers can go to recharge. The southern half of Stewart Island is wilderness in all but its legal definition.

Getting there Access:

Travel from Oban to the South Pegasus Hunter’s Hut or other landings in the area is easy, though cost may vary depending on number of boat passengers. There is a water taxi between Oban and the Rakeahua Hut at high tide or to/from Fred’s Camp any time of day.

Grace:

This tramp is difficult and requires strong navigation skills. The area is isolated and prone to extreme weather conditions. Trampers should carry a sat phone, mountain radio, or locator beacon in case of emergency and always leave intentions. The trip can be done in five to six days using water taxis at the beginning and end. But it’s worth allowing extra time to go exploring or wait out bad weather.

Accommodation: Take a tent! The North and South Pegasus Hunter’s Huts are for hunting parties rather than trampers and need to be booked with a hunting permit. The Rakeahua Hut is part of the Southern Circuit and has six bunks and a fire.

There are no huts in the wilderness. Though we carried a camp stove, we cooked on small open fires as often as possible to conserve fuel. Our favourite nights were along the coast where we foraged for cockles, mussels, and pippies for dinner.

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Obituary

Environmentalist, gardener, adventurer Distinguished Life Member Margaret Peace, of Marlborough, died on 20 September, aged 93. She was a member of Forest & Bird for an incredible 81 years.

A spade-wielding conservationist well into her 80s, Margaret Peace’s last hurrah was leading the restoration of weed-infested Blind Creek behind her Tuamarina home into a 1.5ha community planting of native riparian species. Despite failing eyesight and hearing, she made the most of the opportunity to educate volunteers and visitors from schoolchildren to Marlborough District Council employees.

Margaret joined Forest & Bird as a 12 year old, growing up in rural places with the natural world her playground while learning a love of the “English garden” from her mother. During 25 years teaching biology while raising a family alone, Forest & Bird journals were among her textbooks.

Rachel Carson’s 1962 book triggered a switch in interest from biology to ecology and the environment.

In 1975, Margaret retired from teaching and wrote a thesis on the plant ecology of Kaitorete Spit, separating Te Waihora/Lake Ellesmere from the Pacific Ocean in Canterbury, earning a Master’s degree. She moved to Tuamarina, north of Blenheim, transforming

a paddock of towering docks and thistles into a bountiful pesticide- and herbicide-free garden and a 1000m2 forest of native trees, shrubs, and vines, mostly propagated from locally collected seeds and cuttings.

“My aim was to recreate a little piece of pristine Marlborough before Māori and European modification of the landscape for food collection and farming,” she explained in a 1991 Forest & Bird magazine article.

An advocate for “productive diversity”, Margaret ran courses on organic gardening, permaculture, and native planting and shared her philosophy with scores of Willing Workers on Organic Farms (WWOOFers).

Her years in Marlborough were spent encouraging farmers, foresters, vineyard owners, and the local council to value biodiversity, reduce pesticide use, plant native trees, and restore wetlands.

An adventurer, Margaret visited countries including Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Papua New Guinea, and the Galapagos Islands saying: “Travel should not be indulgence in food, drink, and sunshine ... talk with them, don’t gawk at them. Use the environment

as a learning experience.”

Margaret was awarded a Queen’s Service Medal in 2005 and won Marlborough District Council Community Awards in 2010 and 2012. She was a member of the Marlborough Sounds Maritime Park Board, National Pesticides Board, and Marlborough Catchment Board and co-founder of the Agricultural Chemicals Action Group, active in the 1970s. She chaired Marlborough Forest & Bird from 1977 to 1985, sat on the National Executive from 1981 to 1984, then co-chaired the Marlborough branch.

By Penny Wardle

Brian Bell – conservation pioneer With the passing of Brian Bell, New Zealand has lost one of its most influential champions of wildlife conservation.

Brian made a landmark contribution to conservation in pioneering endangered species management and island ecological restoration techniques. He led the way in translocations of endangered species and eradication of pests on offshore islands, working with others, including fellow acclaimed conservationist the late Don Merton.

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of the Department of Internal Affairs, which later became the Wildlife Service, from 1957 to 1987. He became Director of the Protected Fauna Unit, and in this pivotal role he conceived and directed groundbreaking advances in threatened species management. These included programmes that saved the black robin and kākāpō from extinction.

A defining moment in our conservation history was the devastating discovery in 1964 that rats had reached Big South Cape Island/Taukihepa off Stewart

Island and decimated local bird populations. Brian directed work to relocate South Island saddleback/ tīeke, South Island snipe, and Stead’s bush wren from the island. The snipe and wren were lost, but the transfer of saddlebacks to rat-free islands saved the species from extinction.

A life member of Forest & Bird, Brian recognised earlier than most the importance of having islands free of predators as refuges for endangered species. Among the many island pest eradication programmes he was involved in were

the removals of cats from Te Hauturuo-Toi/Little Barrier Island, goats from Macauley Island in the Kermadecs, and weka and possums from Whenua Hou/Codfish Island.

Brian and his wife, Sue, raised nine children, who share his passion for birds, islands, and conservation.

After the Wildlife Service became part of the newly formed Department of Conservation in 1987, Brian set up his own ecological consultancy company Wildlife Management International Limited in 1992, which continues under the direction of his family.

Brian was a seabird expert, and he considered that his greatest achievement was developing techniques to translocate seabirds

from one location to another.

It began with moving fluttering shearwater from Long Island to Maud Island in the Marlborough Sounds between 1991 and 1996.

He was highly involved in the Ornithological Society of New Zealand and served as its President from 1975 to 1980 and from 1990 to 1995. He was awarded many awards during his lifetime, including the Queen’s Service Medal.

Brian leaves a huge legacy to our country’s natural heritage through the species still with us – and the islands restored as a result of his vision, audacious actions, and drive.

By Lou Sanson *Brian Douglas Bell: Born 5 March 1930, died 1 October 2016

Award-winning photojournalist David Hallett On assignment for The Press one day, David Hallett was sent to Orana Wildlife Park in Christchurch to photograph a giraffe in a crate being lifted on to a truck for transfer to a new home.

All was going well until David spotted a rainbow trout leaping out of the water nearby to eat a passing dragonfly. With lightning speed, David reacted, snapping what was to become The Press photo of the week – a trout feasting on a dragonfly.

That David, an award-winning photojournalist, almost missed the shot he was meant to take isn’t surprising for those who knew him.

David’s first love was native fauna and flora, and hanging out in bush and swamps with birds brought him immense pleasure.

Birds are difficult and fickle photographic subjects, but the challenge of capturing the perfect

Photo: David Hallett

image is what drove David. For Native Birds of New Zealand – arguably his best book – Taranakiborn David drove the length of the country finding and photographing feathered wonders.

Only one eluded him – the yellowhead or mohua. Few in number, they feed in the canopy of the South Island beech trees. David spent much time visiting a mohua hot spot in the Catlins and made frequent trips to Ulva Island, off Stewart Island.

On one such trip, he caught the ferry to Ulva Island daily for a week and waited in an area where mohua were known to be. His saint-like patience went unrewarded. On David’s final return trip from Ulva, an American tourist asked for help identifying a mystery bird he had caught on camera. Always generous with his knowledge, David was aghast to see the elusive mohua captured in a series of close-up images as it hopped along the forest floor.

Such was the scale of his disappointment, David toyed with abandoning the book project altogether, but, luckily for bird lovers everywhere, he decided to go ahead and publish his collection.

As for the elusive mohua, David told one journalist that “it just needs more time”. No-one, including David,

knew he was, in fact, out of time. He died suddenly of a heart attack in August, aged 61. But his spirit lives on in his legacy of books and photos of New Zealand’s native treasures.

By Yvonne Martin *David Hallett was a member of Forest & Bird for 20 years and during that time allowed us free use of his wildlife photographs. Over the years many of his incredible images have appeared in this magazine.

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Conservation in the city Zealandia from the air.

Photo: Rob Suisted

Zealandia turns 21

As Wellington’s Zealandia celebrates its 21st birthday, sanctuary founder Jim Lynch reflects on what has been achieved and lessons learned along the way.

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y first sight of Karori Reservoir was in 1990 during Forest & Bird’s city-wide biological survey for Natural Wellington. Our efforts to enter had been rebuffed by the caretaker, and we snuck in to see what this place was like. I can remember that feeling of awe as we walked out on to the top dam, still full of water, and this magnificent valley opened up before us. It was then that I knew that this place was special.

Our survey showed the valley was in an unparalleled strategic location: snuggled up close into the city with all the other reserves and bush patches radiating from it like spokes from the hub of a wheel. It looked perfect for the role of a biological nursery to repopulate Wellington with its lost native species.

Two years later, the Greater Wellington Regional Council announced the reservoir would be retired and returned to Wellington City Council for public use. My proposal for a fenced sanctuary was greeted with enthusiasm, and the two councils put up $60,000 for a comprehensive feasibility study. A year later, we had their permission to go ahead.

Initially, everything looked straightforward. Finance seemed to be readily available, the councils were supportive, and public enthusiasm for the idea was high, with 2000 Little spotted kiwi.

Photo: Simon Woolf people quickly signing up for

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membership. The trust was officially launched in July 1995.

Then the going got tough. Funding sources dried up, competition from city projects increased, and political support waned. We managed to raise $2.4 million for the 8.6km fence (the first multi-species barrier in the country), and the regional council covered the eradication. Many generous private donations allowed the trust to progress.

The fence was built in the summer of 1999, and the eradication was all over by October. We held our breath to see if it would hold back the tide of nasties and it did – until mice were discovered in the valley six months later.

The next five years were a slow patient grind of raising money, carefully establishing native species in the valley, and building essential infrastructure such as tracks and visitor facilities. With species build-up in the valley taking time to show results, it was hard going. Key to our survival was our membership and volunteer force, which helped maintain momentum and enthusiasm. An explosion in the tūī population and success with translocations helped build credibility.

In 2006, the city council and the trust entered a partnership to build a new visitor/exhibition centre and rebrand the enterprise as Zealandia, with a view to securing its financial future. The move was not popular with everyone, including many members. Cost overruns, optimistic visitor projections, naïve public relations, and poor judgement about admissions pricing didn’t help our public profile. However, this has proven to be the right move. The project just needed time to work.

In 2012, a proposal to merge Zealandia with the zoo, the botanic gardens, and Otari to form a single councilcontrolled trust met with universal disapproval. After public consultation, the council scrapped the idea and entered

into an arrangement to permanently secure Zealandia’s future. The result is a genuine and productive community/ public partnership under a reformed trust board ably led

by Chair Denise Church.

From a conservation standpoint, it has been an unqualified success. The fence has allowed the successful reintroduction of many of our most threatened species.

There have been 12 successful fauna translocations, and resident species have boomed. Planting programmes are returning missing flora to the valley. Visitors can see birds at any time of the day or year in the valley, and the parks and gardens around the city are alive with birdlife.

Visitors now exceed the predictions in the original feasibility study (126,000 per year), with satisfaction levels consistently more than 90 percent. Membership continues to grow and is nearing 11,000. The 450 volunteers add tremendous value. The visitor centre is humming.

Zealandia is returning a financial surplus, and the trust expects to be debt free within three years. Our once ambitious goals are all now being met or on target.

Zealandia has driven a big change in public attitudes towards conservation, and the city council regards it as a key asset that returns tens of millions of dollars per year in economic value as well as enhancing Wellington’s green reputation.

Where to from here? We are now in the comfortable position of being able to watch nature repair itself and make sure the nasties don’t break in. There are only a few bird species that could be added, and the emphasis now will be on plants, reptiles, invertebrates, and freshwater species. Conservation will focus on lake restoration and the canopy transition from pines to podocarps. A science programme, partnerships, and community engagement will be priorities.

What lessons have we learnt along the way? The most important is that funding for conservation is limited.

Community enterprises need a “mothership” to survive and thrive: partners who can help weather the storms.

Being the first of its type, we were learning on the job and mistakes were made. The Karori model isn’t appropriate for all situations. Wellington’s size and relative affluence make it an option. Smaller centres may need to scale down to be viable.

We know that predator fencing works. During 16 years, the fence has held firm and allowed the most sensitive of threatened species to survive in the most hostile environment imaginable: an urban cityscape. Fencing has limitations, and the capital cost can be a hurdle. It may not be the right solution everywhere, but there is no doubt that it has a place in the limited conservation toolkit.

In 1995, we were talking about a seemingly improbable future. Today, 21 years later, the forest is no longer silent.

There is a cacophony of birdsong from dawn to dusk with kiwi calling into the night. The future is here.

Up close with kākā , one of Zealandia's success stories with more than 800 kākā fledged since 2004. Photo Paul Ramos Little

Native species thriving Before Zealandia’s fence, nine native forest bird species were resident in the area, including tūī, fantail, morepork, kingfisher, white-eye, grey warbler, and shining cuckoo.

Today, 28 native bird species are resident and breeding in the valley.

Kererū, NZ falcon, paradise shelduck, and pied shag have self-introduced.

The remainder have been successfully translocated, including little spotted kiwi, kākāriki, kākā, whitehead, hihi, robin, saddleback, brown teal, and black teal.

Tuatara. Photo: Brendan Doran Bellbirds are present and breeding but not yet securely. Tuatara, Maude Island frog, and Cook Strait giant weta have been established, with spotted skink the latest addition.

It hasn’t all been plain sailing. For example, several translocations have failed – bellbirds, tomtits, weka – because of the presence of dominant competitors or incompatibility with mouse control.

FACT FILE Location:

Zealandia’s visitor centre. Photo Rob Suisted

The old Karori reservoir, Waiapu Rd, Karori, 2 km from Wellington CBD. Size: 223 hectares (similar to Tiri Tiri Matangi Island).

Ecosystem; regenerating coastal podocarp, broadleaf forest with stands of exotic pines, hinau, kohekohe, and rewarewa. Two dammed lakes.

Website: www.visitzealandia.com.

Forest & Bird

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Conservation crossword set by Māyā

Set by Maya

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CONSULTING BIOLOGISTS

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ESTABLISHED 1972 (a subsidiary of Babbage Consultants Ltd)

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27 Specialists in 19th century maps and prints. Shop online at

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ACROSS 1 “Forest and Bird” bird (4,6) 6 Slightly open a night bird (4) 9 Foxes, for example, eat rook and other birds (10) 10 (...other birds...) (4) 11 Ghost town where an auk, a wagtail and a heartless rat run into each other (10) 13 I’d left yellowhead in carefree existence (4) 15 Bird to feel sorry about, with left wing lost (5) 16 Good gracious, I hear seabirds and birds of prey! (8) 19 Hadn’t sat around a tree (8) 20 Painter needing no introduction to once-popular song (5) 22 Type of forest and bird shifting northwestward for princess (4) 23 Assistant uses a man in various ways (10) 25 The Office of President, elliptically speaking (4) 26 10, lacking hard piece of wood, sits around environmental researchers (10) 28 Cleans for ruminants (4)

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Ideal Christmas presents. We ship worldwide.

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29 Rescued bird dressin’ behind the forest where Jankowski and Heidegger walked (5,5) DOWN 1 Most wanting plants with end folded over (5) 2 Strange beginnings to our darkest days (3) 3 Left last word to a musical transition (10) 4 Che’s losing ‘er, with heart exchanged for fruit (6) 5 Alien Doctor’s a crustacean! (8) 7 Bird families for the Dodger (4,7) 8 Wandering, unlike a tree (8) 12 Keats’ inspiration: darkness during storm (11) 14 Professor acting as sentry? (10) 17 Forest where I left English novelist (8) 18 Hostile contemporary, 49, holding muscovite, perhaps (8) 21 All together in French bar, almost (2,4) 24 States in natural science, initially inverted, found before Boyle (for example) (5) 27 Blubber obtained from calypso bulbosa (3)

Send your answers to the Editor, Forest & Bird magazine, 205 Victoria Street, Wellington 6011, or email draw@forestandbird.org.nz. Entries close 1 February 2017. The winner will receive a copy of The Unburnt Egg – more stories of the museum curator, by Brian Gill, RRP $38. Answers will be published in the next issue.

| Forest & Bird Te Reo o te Taiao

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Forest & Bird

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2016 Index A

AGM, Spring 38, 40 Auckland, Autumn 34, Winter 30, Spring 42, Summer 38 Akatawara, Spring 35 Albatross, Chatham Island, Winter 43 Albatross bycatch, Spring 15, Summer 9 Amazing facts, Autumn 37, Winter 19 Anderson, Peter, Autumn 24, Spring 17, summer 21

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Baignent-Mercer, Dean, Autumn 28, Spring 20 Battle for our Birds, Autumn 18, Winter 22, Spring 9 Bats, long-tailed, Autumn 20 Beech mast, Autumn 18, Summer 9 Bell, Brian, Summer 50 Bequest, Autumn 36, Spring 32 Best Fish Guide, Winter 8, Spring 1, Summer 18 Bilbrough, Phil, Winter 13 Bioblitz, Winter 50 Biodiversity Policy Statement, Spring 10 Bird of the Year, Summer 10 BirdLife International, Winter 25 Board, Spring 41 Brackenbury, Gerry, Spring 47 Brough, Carolyn, Autumn 31 Bushy Park, Winter 50, Butterfly, forest ringlet, Summer 11 Bycatch, Spring 16, Summer 9, 18

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Canterbury water, Spring 8 Carew, Caitlin, Summer 33 Chatham Islands, Winter 43 Citizen science, Autumn 22, Winter 45 Climate, Autumn 6, 12, 14, 15, 16, 48, Winter 11, 18, Spring 26, 42, summer 14, 22 Conservation in history, Autumn 32, Winter 20, Spring 25 Conservation in the city, Winter 36, Summer 52 Corbett, Sheryl, Spring 40 Cutler, Andrew, Autumn 2, Winter 2, Spring 2, Summer 2

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Dawson, Laura, Spring 41 Defending nature, Winter 12, Summer 21 Dennis, Andrew, Spring 50 Department of Conservation, Autumn 18, Winter 22, Spring 9, 31, 48, Summer 8, 12, 16 Dickison, Mike, Autumn 32, Dorsser, Jaap van, Spring 47 Dusky Sound, Spring 48

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Environment Canterbury, Spring 8 EEZ, Autumn 8, Winter 12 Elliott, Graeme, Autumn 18 Environment Canterbury, Autumn 24 Ewers, Maryann, Winter 22

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Falcon NZ, Summer IBC Falla-Meo, Claire, Spring 32

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Falla, Graham, Spring 32, 41 Farming, dairy, Winter 8, Spring 8 Fenwick, Rob, Winter 28 Fenwick, Sir George, Winter 28 Feathers, Winter 40 Fensham Reserve, Spring 29 Fleming, Al, Summer 26 Forest, native, Autumn 48, Spring 20, Summer 11 Friends of Flora, Winter 22, Forest & Bird history, Winter 20, 28 Frogs, Hochstetter’s, Autumn 38 Freshwater, Autumn 22, 24, Winter 14, Spring 30, Summer 6, 26, 36, 40, Fundraising, Autumn 40, Winter 8

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Gardener’s tree daisy, Spring 28 Garden Bird Survey, Winter 9, 46 Gavin, Murray, Spring 39 Geary, Amelia, Winter 10 Geckos, Summer 46 Gepp, Sally, Autumn 8, Winter 12, Summer 8 Goddard, Katrina, Spring 12, Summer 18 Graeme, Kate, Grace, Roger, Spring 40

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Hallett, Adelia, Summer 33 Hallett, David, Summer 51 Hall’s Arboretum, Winter 35 Hackwell, Kevin, Autumn 8, 13, Winter 13, Spring 16, 18, Summer 9, 12 Hague, Kevin, Summer 32 Hauraki Gulf Autumn 34 Hay, Tom, Winter 42 Herbert, Sarah, Autumn 38 Heritage Expeditions, Autumn 50, Summer 45 Huia, Spring 25

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Important Bird Areas (IBAs), Autumn 26 Indegenous Flora Seed Bank, Autumn 47 Island pest eradication

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Kahurangi National Park Kaikoura, Autumn 44 Kākāpō, Spring 48 Kermadec Islands, 45 Kea, Winter 19 Kawakawa looper, Autumn 52 Keey, Geoff, Spring 43 Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary, Winter 11 Kiwi Conservation Club, Autumn 11, Winter 8, Summer 28 Kōkako, Autumn 23, Summer 10

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Lake Ellesmere, Autumn 24 Land and Water Forum, Winter 15 Land farming, Spring 17

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Mana Island, Summer 46 Manawatū branch, Autumn 47 Marine protection, Autumn 8, 34, Spring 16, 22, 24, Summer 18, 20, 24

| Forest & Bird Te Reo o te Taiao

Martin, Debs, Autumn 20 Marshall, Grace, Summer 33 Martin, Nicholas, Winter 51 Masting, Autumn 18, Winter 22, Spring 9 Maturin, Sue, Spring 22, Summer 24 McDonald, Guy, Winter 33 McGregor, Hōne, Autumn 6, Winter 6, Spring 6, 10 McClelland, Anthea, Autumn 47 McNamara, Sam, Summer 28 McQueen, Stella, Spring 30 McQuillan, Bryce, Autumn 41, McSweeney, Gerry, Spring 33 Moeraki, Spring 33 Ministry for Primary Industries, Spring 15, Summer 9, 18, 21 Miller, Jen, Summer 6 Molloy, Les, Spring 36 Moa, Autumn 32 Moffitt, Sian, Winter 11 Mokaihaha, Autumn 23 Moths, Winter 50 Motu Manawa, Summer 38 Mudfish, Canterbury, Summer 36 Muir, James, Spring 41 Murray, Andy, Winter 26

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Nature Heritage Fund, Spring 36 Ngaruroro River, Spring 11 Northland forest collapse, Autumn 28, Winter 16, Spring 20 North-West Wildliink, Winter 30

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Oates, John, Spring 41 Oiled wildlife, Summer 42 Obituary, Autumn 42, Winter 42, Spring 50, Summer 50 Ocean acidification, Spring 42 Old Blue Awards, Spring 40 Otago’s ocean sanctuary, Spring 22, 24 Otari Wilton’s Bush, Winter 36

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Packaging, sustainable, Spring 46 Parker, Roger, Winter 16 Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment, Summer 10, 11 Peace, Margaret, Summer 50 Penguin, Fiordland crested, Winter 24 Penguin, yellow-eyed, Autumn 9 Peterson, Chris, Winter 14 Poetry, Winter 36, Spring 44 Potton, Craig, Spring 38 Predator control, Autumn 18, Winter 38, Spring 9, Spring 18 PureNature, Winter 44

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Rakiura/Stewart Island, Summer 48 Rātā, Spring 35 Real Journeys, Spring 49, Summer 29 Reconnecting Northland, Spring 20 Resource Management Act, Autumn 9, 31, Winter 12, Spring 17, Summer 21 Rifleman, Spring 20 Ruahine Forest Park, Autumn 10, Winter 12, Summer 8

Ruataniwha irrigation, Spring 11, Winter 12, Summer 8

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Sagar, Paul, Spring 50 Sanderson, Val, Spring 25 Salps, Autumn 53 Seed bank, Autumn 47 Seabirds, Autumn 26, 44, Winter 24, 43, Spring 15, Summer 30, 42, 45 Sea lions, Spring 15, Summer 20 Shadbolt, Peter & Mary, Autumn 36, Significant natural area (SNA), Autumn 23 Slooten, Liz, Spring 47 Solarcity, Autumn 46 South-East Marine Protected Area (SEMPA), Spring 22, 24, Summer 24 Speargrass weevil, Spring IBC Spider, sea (Desis marina), Autumn 41 Springtails (Collembola) Winter 26 Stephenson, Gordon, Autumn 42, Stewart, Ella, Summer 28 Stidolph, Bob, Spring 25 Storey, Richard, Autumn 22 Sub-Antarctic Islands, Autumn 50 Sutherland, Neil, Spring 40

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Tai Haruru Lodge, Spring 52 Taranaki (North) Branch, 31 Te Araroa trail, Winter 48 Te Reo o te Taiao, Autumn 10, Te Rere Reserve, Summer 30 Te Rūnanga o Te Rarawa, Spring 21 Tern, black-fronted, Winter 53 Thames Forest & Bird branch, Winter 35 Thomson, Sarah, Autumn 30, Thompson, Trevor, Spring 28 Tongariro crossing, Summer 12 Tourism, Summer 12 Translocations, Summer 46 Tussocks, Autumn 37

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Waikato River, Summer 26 Waipu River, Summer 26 Wairarapa dam, Winter 10 Wairarapa branch, Spring 28 Waitaha River, Summer 6 Wallace, Connor, Spring 39 Washdyke Lagoon, Spring 50 Watson, Chris, Autumn 11 Waiheke, Autumn 10 Wetlands, Summer 38 Whyte, Toby, Spring 46 Wildlife Act 1953, Autumn 33 Whitebait, Spring 30, Summer 40 Winchester, Jess, Autumn 36

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Yellow-eyed penguin, Summer 30 Young conservationist, Autumn 30, Winter 11, 32, Summer 28 Young, David, Winter 36

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Zealandia, Summer p52 Zero Invasive Predators, Winter 38

Fearless falcon I unexpectedly came across this adult (most likely female) New Zealand Falcon (Falco novaeseelandiae) in breeding plumage while on a photographic trip to Westland.

I was visiting a photographer based in Fox Glacier and she was introducing me to the photographic opportunities around the area. We had just found our way out onto the beach near Arnott Point south of Knight's Point, Haast, (a walk that involved a near hip-deep stream crossing) when we saw this bird.

On my identifying it as a kārearea my companion very kindly, offered me the loan of her Canon 100400mm F4 lens to photograph it with. It was taken with a Canon 60D. I have been a keen amateur photographer for some 40 years.

While I specialise in landscape photography, I dabble with natural history and travel photography as opportunities arise.

Wynston Cooper Invercargill

PARTING SHOT COMPETITION Send us a stunning photo of one of New Zealand’s native birds, plants, animals or marine life and win a great prize.

This issue’s winner will receive a UP-RISE II 22 compact shoulder bag (RRP $110) that fits a DSLR with medium lens attached, a flash and essential accessories. The unique expansion system will allow you to add storage depth with one simple zipper motion, while still keeping gear protected.

Features include: ■ 2-in-1 – expand or contract the bag with one simple zipper ■ Quick-action top access ■ Agile and steady – non-slip shoulder strap, compatible with ICS belt (sold separately) ■ Well-padded with LCD screen protector ■ Well organised – dedicated pockets for all essentials ■ Match and use with another Vanguard products.

■ Keep dry – total coverage rain cover.

The prize is courtesy of CR Kennedy.

For more details see www.crkennedy.co.nz.

Please send a high-res (max 7mb) digital file and brief details about your photo to Caroline Wood at editor@forestandbird.org.nz

we ARE climbing

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