Forest & Bird Magazine 389 Spring 2023 by Forest & Bird

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Z E A L A N D ’ S

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SPRING 2023

№ 389

CREATIVE CONSERV ATION Celebrating nature’s heroes Hidden wonders of Piopiotahi

Restoring a sponge city

Bird of the Century

Contents ISSUE 389 • Spring 2023

Editorial

2 All in it together 4 Letters + competition winners

News 6 8 10 12

Court of Appeal win Centennial conference, hoiho win Hauraki Gulf latest Westland petrel mining threat

Cover 14 15 16 18

26 Forest & Bird Centennial Lenz Reserve Arethusa, Rangitīkei

Centennial stories 20 36 39 52

Conservation heroes Children’s voices Sanderson’s school tribute Potted history of Forest & Bird Part III

Birdlife

24 Kākāpō return to the mainland

Predator-free NZ 26 Busting rat myths

International 27 Dusky bird find

Biodiversity

21 NPS Biodiversity, supporters’ survey, fundraising run

34 Driving out nature

Bird of the Century 28 Will an extinct bird win?

Everyday heroes

Vote nature

22 Letter to the future

30 Restoring a sponge city

Walter Scott, Pāuatahanui

COVER SHOT New Zealand sea lion.

Ross Mastrovich. This custom centennial cover was inspired by a 1985 Forest & Bird masthead and cover. PAPER ENVELOPE Pīwauwau rock wren. Jeremy Sanson. RENEWAL Pepe para riki common copper butterfly. Donald Laing

Thank you for supporting us! Forest & Bird is New Zealand’s largest and oldest independent conservation charity. Join today at www.forestandbird.org.nz/joinus or

EDITOR Caroline Wood E editor@forestandbird.org.nz

ART DIRECTOR/DESIGNER Rob Di Leva, Dileva Design E rob@dileva.co.nz PRINTING Webstar www.webstar.co.nz PROOFREADER David Cauchi

ADVERTISING ENQUIRIES Karen Condon T 0275 420 338 E karen.condon@xtra.co.nz MEMBERSHIP & CIRCULATION T 0800 200 064 E membership@forestandbird.org.nz

email membership@forestandbird.org.nz or call 0800 200 064. Every member receives four copies of Forest & Bird magazine a year.

Forest & Bird is published quarterly by the Royal Forest and Bird Protection Society of New Zealand Inc. Registered at PO Headquarters, Wellington, as a magazine. ISSN 0015-7384 (Print), ISSN 2624-1307 (Online). Copyright: All rights reserved. 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 from responsible sources.

Opinion

In the field

Market place

Marine

Our Partners

Last word

Research

Going places

Parting shot

Tourism

Books

Forest & Bird awards

Tribute

32 Rethinking the Kermadecs

40 Underwater wonders Fiordland 33 Bird prey diets 33 Milford sound consultation

44 Distinguished life members 46 Kōtuku and Youth 48 Old Blues

CONTACT NATIONAL OFFICE Forest & Bird National Office Ground Floor, 205 Victoria Street Wellington 6011 PO Box 631, Wellington 6140 T 0800 200 064 or 04 385 7374 E office@forestandbird.org.nz W www.forestandbird.org.nz

50 Webs of intrigue

62 Classifieds

57 Centennial tūī

64 Night surprise

58 Rakiura rambles

IBC Dancing dotterel

60 Ahuahu, birds of Mercury Island 61 Graham Petterson

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

www.facebook.com/ ForestandBird @forestandbird @Forest_and_Bird www.youtube.com/ forestandbird

Royal Forest and Bird Protection Society of New Zealand Inc. Forest & Bird is a registered charitable entity under the Charities Act 2005. Registration No CC26943. PATRON Her Excellency The Rt Honourable Dame Cindy Kiro, GNZM, QSO Governor-General of New Zealand CHIEF EXECUTIVE Nicola Toki PRESIDENT Mark Hanger TREASURER Alan Chow BOARD MEMBERS Chris Barker, Bruce Clarkson, Kaya

Freeman, Kate Graeme, Ben Kepes, Vanessa Macdonald, Nigel Thomson CONSERVATION AMBASSADORS Sir Alan Mark, Gerry McSweeney, Craig Potton DISTINGUISHED LIFE MEMBERS Graham Bellamy, Linda Conning, 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

EDITORIAL

TIES THAT BIND

or a century now, we have been working together to protect te taiao. This is an outstanding achievement. Forest & Bird has given five generations of passionate nature lovers a way to come together to further their personal conservation goals, whether it be by volunteering locally or using the organisation’s political clout to access and influence decision-makers. There is strength in numbers but also friendship, support, diversity of ideas, and unity of purpose. All this leads to vastly increased effectiveness. The ties that bind give all of us the strength to deal with the challenge, sometimes as a lone voice, of standing up for te taiao wherever we happen to live in Aotearoa. At our recent centennial conference, panellists emphasised the importance of two Rs – relationships and respect. Relationships take time to build, often years, and may be with traditional conservation allies or with groups that have some commonality of purpose, but not 100% alignment. Once established with strong bonds, these relationships enable people and groups to have differences, learn from them, and continue to work towards new goals. The relationships endure because they are based on a strong foundations of mutual trust and respect. By working with others across diverse groups and interests, Te Reo o te Taiao Forest & Bird can be more effective because our messages and policies are more likely to be heard and acted on by decision-makers in government and industry. We invited leaders representing the air travel and farming sectors to come and speak at our centennial conference. They were grilled by MC Jesse Mulligan

Planting day, Centennial Park, Auckland.

Forest & Bird Te Reo o te Taiao

Richard Hursthouse

about the impact of their activities on the climate and biodiversity. For Forest & Bird’s traditional audience, it was an opportunity to hear what they had to say, ask questions, and have a two-way dialogue. This led to challenging conversations, a better understanding of each other’s positions, and a potential path forward to build positions beneficial for te taiao. Of course, Forest & Bird remains fiercely independent and will always put nature first. The bottom line is that we will always fight as hard as we can to protect and restore nature, in whatever ways work best. We can develop our conservation stance in splendid isolation and be just one voice for nature. Alternatively, we can work with other sectors, with some shared values, to be a stronger voice Working with our traditional conservation allies, partnering with tangata whenua, and developing relationships with new (and sometimes unexpected) allies makes for a loud voice that will be impossible for governments, councils, and regional authorities to ignore. In this way, Te Reo o Te Taiao Forest & Bird will maximise its effectiveness over the next 100 years. He waka eke noa, we are all in this together. Ngā manaakitanga

Mark Hanger Forest & Bird President Perehitini, Te Reo o te Taiao

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LETTERS YOUR FEEDBACK Forest & Bird welcomes your thoughts on conservation topics. Please email letters up to 200 words, with your name, home address, and phone number, to editor@ forestandbird.org.nz, or by post to the Editor, Forest & Bird magazine, 205 Victoria Street, Wellington 6011, by 1 November 2023. We don’t always have space to publish all letters or use them in full. Opinions expressed on the Letters page are not necessarily those of Forest & Bird.

LAND OF THE RISING SUN Recently, I’ve been thinking about our nation’s psyche on environmentalism, particularly how many Kiwis feel it holds almost no meaning to them relative to their dayto-day lives. Indeed love and respect for one’s natural environment is a learned behaviour, not one acquired by osmosis merely by being born as a New Zealander. Most Kiwis’ feelings on environmentalism are sourced heavily from the decades-old “Clean Green New Zealand’” marketing campaign – a promotion that was more of a statement on our nuclear-free stance than our “clean waters” and “virgin forests”. To put it bluntly, our nation’s current psyche on environmentalism is dated at best. Can we improve? Let’s turn to Japan, where there’s something called Soji, a practice in which school students are taught from a young age to tidy their classrooms and schoolyards. This active learning technique instils a base level of respect for their surroundings, making Japan a highly environmentally respectful and clean nation. I won’t pretend Soji is the answer to New Zealand’s problems, but if you’ve ever felt frustrated by our nation’s attitude toward our environment – just know that BEST Japan has proven it’s a learned behaviour that LETTER can be nurtured from a young age. WINNER Khyan Coslett, Auckland

MAGICAL MOMENTS Thank you, musicians and composers who collaborated to produce the lovely Force of Nature music. You created a magical experience for us this morning. As we listened to the CD while enjoying coffee on the deck of our holiday home on the New South Wales coast, a humpback whale breached several times just off the headland in front of us. We have a good view of the ocean and spot several humpbacks each day at this time of year. The females give birth in the warm waters off Queensland. Later, they will return, travelling south to Antarctica with their calves. “Far from land, two solitary friends – albatross and whale – meet to dance and play,” say the notes to Rob Thorne’s Toroa. Here, the humpbacks travel close to the coast. There are no

Forest & Bird Te Reo o te Taiao

WRITE AND WIN The best contribution to the Letters page will receive a new edition of Tongariro National Park by Desmond Bovey, Potton & Burton, RRP $39.99. An artist’s exploration of the plants, animals, and landscapes of Tongariro National Park. This field guide with 400 illustrations is a treasure for anyone who loves these stunning landscapes.

albatrosses. Instead, gannets are the whales’ companions, creating dramatic splashes as they divebomb for fish. Elizabeth and David Teather, Canberra, Australia

CAT MENACE I agree that Predator Free 2050 should include three new species to its eradication list – hedgehogs, mice, and feral cats. The feral cat problem loomed large in the Roxburgh district when we went to live there in the mid- to late 1970s. Our house backed on to a large hill that was part of the Old Man Range. The area was full of feral cats. We had 20 or more looking in our windows begging for food. Holidaymakers from Dunedin used to stop at the park in Roxburgh and leave their pet cats behind when they continued on to Wanaka or Queenstown. The harsh Central Otago winters were hard on them. Peter Wishart, Dunedin

WHEN WILL WE LEARN? How I would love to see hoiho saved (“Can genomics save hoiho?”, Winter 2023) but not at any cost. Look at the mess we are in all over the world, all caused by “wonderful” technology. The negative effects of gene editing or gene drives might not be discovered for many decades, then it will be too late. Why don’t we address the issue that would have the biggest change and reasonably quickly? Over-population. Close to 8 billion homo sapiens. We are so arrogant that any suggestion there are too many of us results in cries of “foul”. A population reduction would almost immediately start relieving many pressures on the environment. Maybe it would also have consequences that advantage hoiho. Books were written about over-population 50 years ago, and still we do nothing. Our unmitigated arrogance has got us into this mess. I agree with John Flux, who said, “Stop trying to improve the natural world and just let it adapt the way it sees fit. Humanity occupies far too much space.” Far, far too much space in my opinion. We are a disaster on this planet. Yvonne Summers, Levin

INSECT DISCOVERIES I have discovered so many insects living in my urban garden. So many insect species are represented. The cutest is a wētā that lives inside the gate to the courtyard. The most interesting was a cicada shedding its casing. The slug was living in my compost bin. So much can be observed if one takes the time to look around. PS I enjoyed the Centennial issue. Margaret Jeune, Wellington

SOUTHERN KAURI The article “Our Remarkable Southern Kauri-lands” is a great read. However, I was surprised to see the unconscious bias in the author’s statement, “the high quality and quantity of timber that could be gained from logging kauri led to the establishment of a substantial industry, a key factor in kickstarting the New Zealand economy”. Firstly, a substantial economy already existed and had done so for hundreds of years. Secondly, the unrestrained destruction of a natural resource hardly merits the description “industry”. A more accurate observation would be, “Unfortunately, the high quality of kauri timber resulted in the complete destruction of one of the world’s great forests.” Greg Billington, Picton

BOOK GIVEAWAY We are giving away two copies of Blue Duck Station: The land, the rivers and the people by Nicola McCloy, Bateman Books, RRP $69.99. A captivating portrait of one of the country’s most environmentally significant stations, nestled alongside Whanganui National Park. The working station combines traditional farming practices with tourism, conservation, and new ways of doing things. To enter, email your entry to draw@forestandbird. org.nz, put BLUE in the subject line, and include your name and address in the email. Or write your name and address on the back of an envelope and post to BLUE draw, Forest & Bird, PO Box 631, Wellington 6140. Entries close 1 November 2023. The winners of Takahē Bird of Dreams by Alison Ballance were Diana Monaghan, of Palmerston North, and Dannielle Jordin, of Lower Hutt. The winners of Genomes at Work by Jane Young were Richard Morrison, of Ashburton, and SW Brown, of Hamilton.

Forest & Bird

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Spring 2023

NATURE NEWS

Fishing boat, Mangonui.

iStock

TARAKIHI TURNAROUND

Thanks to you, our generous supporters, Forest & Bird has won an important legal appeal that will have major ramifications for the wider commercial fishing industry.

recent win in the Court of Appeal sends a clear message that government decisions must put sustainability before commercial interests when deciding catch limits for tarakihi. In June 2021, the High Court found the former Minister of Fisheries Stuart Nash made an error of law when deciding the catch limit for East Coast tarakihi in 2019. Fisheries Inshore New Zealand appealed the High Court decision, leading to last month’s Appeal Court decision. Fisheries Inshore is a business unit of the Ministry for Primary Industries and has responsibility for administering the Fisheries Act on behalf of the Minister. Tarakihi is a highly soughtafter eating fish, with 90% of the catch sold locally. The East Coast population had been fished down to just 15% of its natural abundance. In 2018, the Minister decided the

Forest & Bird Te Reo o te Taiao

stock should be rebuilt within 10 years. But the following year, after industry lobbying, he extended that to 20 years. He also decided to reduce the commercial East Coast tarakihi catch by about 10%, when a much larger cut was needed. Instead of making legally binding catch limits, he relied on an industry promise to rebuild the stock using voluntary measures, such as a commitment to “move on” if too many juveniles were being caught in an area. Forest & Bird said at the time that a voluntary rebuild plan shouldn’t be allowed to replace an appropriate tarakihi catch limit. When that advice was ignored, we launched a judicial review of the Minister’s decision, which was heard in the High Court, and we won. The decision went up to the Court of Appeal, and we won that too. The

case could end up in the Supreme Court if the latest decision is appealed. “A charity such as Forest & Bird shouldn’t have to take fisheries decisions to the courts for judicial review, but when the future of our oceans is at stake we will not hesitate to act,” said chief executive Nicola Toki. “Thank you to the many Forest & Bird supporters who have made generous gifts to legal appeals over the past four years. It means we could afford to take this important case and other legal issues to court – and win!” The Court of Appeal confirmed the length of time to rebuild depleted fish stocks must be set based on science. Other considerations, such as social, cultural, or economic factors, can only influence the way and rate at which the rebuild happens – not the time frame. “It’s an absolute no brainer that, when a fishery is overfished, as it has been in this case, the time taken to rebuild the stock should reflect the science – not voluntary plans with highly uncertain outcomes,” added Nicola. “If we don’t base these decisions on good science, we will lose some fish species forever – and that is unforgivable in a biodiversity crisis.” The Court of Appeal’s findings mean the government must now use a scientific approach to manage other overfished commercial stocks too.

Terry Hann

Called harbourer of ships and tribes, Rekohu, Wharekauri, the Chatham Islands... ...we call it home!

NATURE NEWS

INSPIRING BOLD LEADERSHIP

A round up from Forest & Bird’s Centennial Conference.

“

t’s time for decision-makers to take their bread and butter and eat a reality sandwich. We can’t just saunter through a planet on fire like it’s business as usual,” Forest & Bird’s chief executive Nicola Toki told delegates during her state-ofthe-nation speech at Forest & Bird’s Centennial Conference. “Politicians have been kicking the climate action can down the road for three decades. It’s wildly irresponsible and deeply unfair, not just for people, but also for our wildlife, who don’t have a voice nor a vote.” Nicola called for transformative thinking, including prioritising and funding nature-based solutions, to create a better world for our rangatahi, tamariki, and mokopuna. The conference was an

Forest & Bird Youth

Forest & Bird Te Reo o te Taiao

invigorating call to action, a celebration of the remarkable achievements of Forest & Bird to date, and a chance to plan ahead for the next 100 years of conservation mahi. Its theme Inspiring bold leadership in a time of crisis brought iwi leaders, industry executives, academics, journalists, and young environmental kaitiaki to the stage to debate the issues and answer questions from the audience. President Mark Hanger kicked off proceedings with an illustrated presentation of Forest Bird’s highlights and wins over the past century, setting the scene for an uplifting day of kōrero, debate, and challenging ideas. The Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment, Simon Upton, delivered a keynote speech calling for quality environmental data to inform change, saying bold leadership needed to be built on solid scientific foundations. Conference MC Jesse Mulligan chaired a series of engaging panel discussions, including the future of conservation, the role of big business and farming in the climate crisis, and why iwi and young people should be at the heart of all environmental decision-making – with the rangatahi panel chaired by George Hobson. Nicola Toki concluded her

Zoë Brown

speech by saying Forest & Bird’s biggest wins, such as saving Lake Manapouri or the fight for our forests, were only made possible by thousands of everyday New Zealanders. “It’s people that make up the heart of the Society, so I must thank the Forest & Bird whānau for coming together to make change for wildlife and wild places – our board, our staff, our branches, our donors, our volunteers, our Kiwi Conservation Club, and our Youth Network.” Forest & Bird’s centennial award winners (see page 44) were celebrated during the sold-out Sanderson Dinner, with Dame Anne Salmond giving the keynote address. The following day, Nicola planted a tōtara to mark Forest & Bird’s 100th birthday during by a tour of

Elisabeth Easther as Pérrine Moncrieff.

Wellington Branch’s Tanera Gully restoration planting site in the heart of the city. Another conference weekend highlight was Elisabeth Easther performing her one-woman show A Rare Bird, a moving tribute to the pioneering conservationist and founder member Pérrine Moncrieff. Delegates also enjoyed Feathers and Foliage, an exhibition of nature-inspired art organised by the Wellington Branch to mark Forest & Bird’s centennial. It attracted more than 500 visitors and $21,000 of sales, with 20% being donated to support the branch’s work.

DIARY DATES

NELSON CONCERT Following a sold-out premiere in Auckland, PACT’s acclaimed Force of Nature concert will be performed at the Nelson Arts Festival on Saturday, 28 October 2023. The eight new pieces of chamber music and taonga pūoro were created to celebrate Forest & Bird’s 100th birthday. To buy tickets, go to www.nelsonartsfestival.nz. TIMARU EXHIBITION Our South Canterbury Branch is working with the South Canterbury Museum on a Forest & Bird centennial exhibition. Focusing on pekapeka long-tailed native bats, the displays will showcase the branch’s work, including habitat and species restoration in its reserves and the wider South Canterbury region. The exhibition runs from 13 October 2023 to 1 April 2024.

OTHER CENTENNIAL STORIES IN THIS ISSUE n Celebrating conservation through

poetry and art, see page 14. n Search for environmental heroes,

see page 20. n Bird of the Century, see page 28. n Children and conservation,

see page 36. n Sanderson tribute, see page 39. n Defining the wilderness,

see page 54.

WIN FOR

HOIHO

Rakiura Stewart Island aquaculture project has been declined fast-track consent after Forest & Bird and the Yellow-Eyed Penguin Trust voiced concerns about its effects on nearby hoiho. Ngāi Tahu Seafood Resources Ltd applied to establish a large finfish farm, likely for breeding salmon, that would have occupied 2500ha in Foveaux Strait, 2–6km off Rakiura. Conservationists were concerned about the proposed fish farm’s impact on the wildliferich area, especially critically endangered hoiho, with the mainland population in freefall and close to being functionally extinct. “It’s great the panel listened to our concerns. Hoiho need all the help they can get, and even the loss of one individual is significant,” says Chelsea McGaw, Forest & Bird’s regional conservation manager for OtagoSouthland. “This proposal could have resulted in changes in the benthic system affecting their foraging area, bird entanglement, and disturbance. They are very troubled by any human activity.” In declining the application in August, a government-appointed expert consenting panel highlighted the importance of the area for a number of threatened indigenous fauna, including sensitive seafloor ecosystems, marine mammals, sharks, and sea birds. The proposal is offshore from Rakiura National Park and technical experts agreed it was part of an area of Outstanding Natural Landscape and an area of Outstanding Natural Character. ☛Rakiura rambles, see page 58

Close your eyes and imagine New Zealand’s natural world as you want to see it

A gift to Forest & Bird can make your wishes come true. If you’d like to talk in confidence about investing in nature in your lifetime or including a gift in your will, please call Jo Prestwood 04 801 2212 or email j.prestwood@forestandbird.org.nz

www.forestandbird.org.nz

NATURE NEWS Darryl Torckler

LOVE THE GULF

Forest & Bird welcomes new measures to protect Tīkapa Moana but warns more needs to be done to protect this Auckland taonga.

orest & Bird is calling on all political parties to back new legislation that would increase the total Auckland maritime area under high protection in the Hauraki Gulf. In August, Prime Minister Chris Hipkins announced his government would legislate for 19 new marine protection areas and introduce a Hauraki Gulf Fisheries Plan to reduce the impact of fishing. The government plans to introduce the Hauraki Gulf Tīkapa Moana Marine Protection Bill into Parliament before the House rises. But it will need the support of the next government to be passed into law. Forest & Bird has spent more than a decade campaigning for the Gulf to be protected, alongside other concerned organisations. “The immense pressure of fishing and pollution on this unique and treasured part of the moana was unsustainable. We have witnessed a decline in both marine life and seabird populations,” said Forest &

Hauraki Gulf petition handover. Lynn Freeman

Forest & Bird Te Reo o te Taiao

Bird’s chief executive Nicola Toki. “But these new protection areas offer a first step towards reversing that decline. This is a genuinely historic moment. “We thank the Forest & Bird supporters who have supported our Arohatia Tīkapa Moana Love the Gulf campaign. They should be proud of what they have helped to achieve.” The Bill includes: n Extending the Cape Rodney– Okakari Point Marine Reserve (Goat Island) and the Whanganui A Hei (Cathedral Cove) Marine Reserve, on the Coromandel Peninsula. n Creating 12 new high protection areas to protect and restore marine ecosystems, while allowing for customary practices of tangata whenua. n Establishing five new seafloor protection areas to preserve sensitive seafloor habitats by prohibiting bottom-contact fishing methods. Once passed, 6% of the Gulf would be under high protection. Forest & Bird wants to see 30% protected. Forest & Bird welcomes the first ever fisheries plan that would take an ecosystems-based approach and be tailored for a specific area. But we are concerned that Danish seining and bottom trawling – destructive fishing methods that harm the seafloor – will still be allowed in other parts of the

Hauraki Gulf. “When the government consults on the proposed Hauraki Gulf bottom trawl areas, it’s vital that the New Zealand public send a clear message that it needs to end,” added Nicola. Last December, Forest & Bird launched Arohatia Tīkapa Moana Love the Gulf campaign, led by Bianca Ranson. As a Waiheke Island resident, Bianca has witnessed the Gulf’s ecological decline firsthand. She was determined to help preserve it for generations to come. Together with our Hauraki Gulf Alliance partners, Bianca handed over a 36,589-signature petition to end bottom trawling to Minister for Oceans and Fisheries Rachel Brooking in June. The signatures had been gathered by Forest & Bird, Greenpeace, Legasea, and WWF-New Zealand. “Forest & Bird thanks everyone who protested, made submissions, wrote letters, or sat on committees for more than a decade to get this far. The work isn’t done, but it’s a big step forward,” said Bianca.

Bianca Ranson with Oceans and FIsheries Minister Rachel Brooking.

ALWAYS SONG IN THE WATER

Art inspired by Moana Oceania featuring works by Robin White, John Pule, Denis O’Connor and more...

Exhibition on now until Feb 2024 maritimemuseum.co.nz

John Pule, Momoheaga, 2020. Private Collection

Spring 2023

NATURE NEWS

MINE THREAT

Westland petrel coming into land at night. Bruce Stuart-Menteath

Forest & Bird is concerned about the risk to endemic Westland petrels from a proposed industrial-scale mining operation south of Punakaiki. Suzanne Hills

n the forested Paparoa foothills lies a remnant of a once extensive ecosystem – a healthy seabird forest. As the sole breeding ground of the Westland petrel, it is the last of its raucous kind on mainland Aotearoa. The birds breed along a 4km stretch of coastline within a total area of 8km2. The colony is of particular significance to Forest & Bird as part of it includes our Dick Jackson Memorial Reserve. The Westland petrel is a quirky winter breeder and nocturnal while ashore, arriving back to their breeding colonies after dusk and leaving again before dawn – innate behaviour to avoid the risk of being taken by aerial predators, such as kārearea. Light distraction from street,

vehicle, and building lights is a wellknown risk for nocturnal seabirds including the Westland petrel. The fledglings are particularly vulnerable as they embark on their maiden flight, navigating for the first time from their forest world to their oceanic one. Recognising the risk, the streetlights in Punakaiki are turned off during November and December to protect the fledgling birds from light distraction. Vehicle headlights, particularly those of modern vehicles with bright LEDs, present a hazard as the fledglings fly over State Highway 6 to reach the Tasman Sea. Luckily, current traffic volumes at night are low. But a proposal by mining company TiGa Minerals and Metals

The proposed mining site, centre left, at Barrytown Flats.

Forest & Bird Te Reo o te Taiao

Neil Silverwood

for a huge mineral sand mining operation at Barrytown Flats, 3.5km south of the Westland petrel breeding colony, would change this situation, putting the birds at additional risk. The largely Australian-owned company has applied to West Coast councils for new resource consents for an open-cast mine, including processing, loading out, and trucking heavy mineral concentrate to the ports of Westport and Greymouth. The proposed new industry, which could be operating for up to 50 years, would see industrial-style mining for ilmenite, garnet, zircon, and gold along the SH6 Coastal Road, a popular tourist route. Earlier this year, Forest & Bird ran a webinar raising awareness of the proposed mining operation’s threats to Westland petrels. Once the resource consents are publicly notified, we will be making a submission against it. Forest & Bird’s West Coast regional manager Nicky Snoyink said: “As TiGa hold or have applied for mineral mining permits covering the majority of the Barrytown Flats, this first resource consent is critical. “If consented, it could open the floodgates to the company’s long-term plan of numerous mines

operating over the next half of the century. The Coastal Road would become heavily industrialised.” The proposal involves 50 heavy truck and trailer movements and 160 light vehicle movements every day. The vehicle headlights would pose significant light distraction risk for the petrels, as would the lights on the mine site and buildings. Light disorientation often results in fledglings crash landing (known as fallout) on the road, where they stay as they cannot take off again without a raised launch pad. If they are not found by an observant human and relaunched from nearby cliffs, they will succumb to exhaustion, predation, or being hit by a vehicle. Members of the local community, including Forest & Bird’s West Coast Branch, are determined to stop this ill-conceived scheme and have formed the Coast Road Resilience Group to campaign against it. If you would like to be kept informed when public notifications are

↑ PUNAKAIKI Westland petrel colonies (3.5km north of proposed mine)

SH6

Paparoa National Park

Proposed mine site on Barrytown Flats Canoe Creek

• Barrytown

SH6

↓ GREYMOUTH open and receive guidance points on how to make a submission against the mine, contact info@ coastroadresidents.nz. Suzanne Hills is chair of Forest & Bird’s West Coast Branch.

TĀIKO TALES

The species currently balances on a knife edge, with an estimated 4000 breeding pairs. With multiple serious threats on land and at sea, the population is highly vulnerable. As habitual ship followers, tāiko are among the top 10 seabird species most likely to die as unintended bycatch from New Zealand commercial fisheries. Migration to South American waters poses further (but largely unknown) threats from longline and trawl fisheries. Climate change may also have major impacts by changing the abundance and distribution of their food sources at sea while increasing cyclonic events on land. In 2014, Cyclone Ita flattened large areas of forest cover in Barrytown’s Westland petrel colony, and slips are thought to have destroyed hundreds of burrows just as the breeding season was about to begin.

PROUD SUPPORTERS OF FOREST & BIRD

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from every one of Ashley’s winning Bird of the Century wraps sold will go to Forest & Bird to help protect NZ’s wildlife. At Honeywrap we’re passionate about reducing the amount of plastic on our planet as well as educating and inspiring people to take simple actions that make a combined difference. Our amazing beeswax wraps are a sustainable, natural, reusable alternative to plastic for food storage - an easy change you can make at home that helps protect our precious environment. We are proud to use our voice to support Forest & Bird in their centennial year, and to inspire people to care about our environment and our amazing New Zealand birds.

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COVER

CREATIVE CONSERVATION

Welcome to 26 Forest & Bird Centennial, a creative collaboration highlighting the importance of volunteers working at-place to restore nature for future generations. Caroline Wood

oetry and art have the power to help us connect with nature, open minds to new perspectives, and better understand a landscape or species. Forest & Bird has teamed up with 26 writers and artists for an exciting project to mark our 100th birthday – and (hopefully) inspire more people to use their time and skills to nurture nature. The writers and artists were randomly paired up and invited to visit 13 of Forest & Bird’s 120 conservation projects around the country. The locations showcase a variety of habitats, species, and interesting natural features. Each writer created an original centena and a 260-word essay inspired by their visit. A centena is a poem of exactly 100 words that must start and finish with the same three words. The artists used a variety of mediums to create original artworks that responded to the landscape, people, species, and conservation challenges encountered during the visit. It is the second time Forest & Bird has worked with this global not-for-profit organisation for

writers who believe in the power of words. Its members donate time to creative projects around the world, most recently focusing on environmental and climate issues. Writer-editors Jane Berney, Paul White, and Jayne Workman, from the Aotearoa chapter of 26, have been leading the creative side of the centennial project. “After the success of the 26 Habitats project in 2021, we were delighted to be invited by Forest & Bird to take part in this once-in-alifetime project,” says Jane Berney. “We were warmly welcomed and hosted by volunteers at each reserve, had the privilege of visiting some of the most wonderful places in Aotearoa, and got to work with 13 superb artists recruited by Forest & Bird for the project.” Over the following pages, we showcase the first five projects. The remaining eight projects will be published in Forest & Bird magazine and on social media over the next six months. “The Forest & Bird whānau is thrilled to have welcomed the 26 NZ writers and artists to our projects so they could see the

wonderful work conservation volunteers are doing around the country,” says Forest & Bird chief executive Nicola Toki. “They have dedicated a huge amount of time, creativity, and aroha to this project, and the results are spectacular.”

ARETHUSA RESERVE ARK IN THE PARK NGAHERETUKU

ATAWHAI WHENUA

WALTER SCOTT RESERVE

BLOWHARD BUSH RANGITĪKEI RESERVES BUSHY PARK TARAPURUHI

PĀUATAHANUI WILDLIFE RESERVE

FENSHAM RESERVE

WESTLAND PETREL COLONY

CALDER GREEN

THE LENZ RESERVE

COMING UP IN FUTURE ISSUES Westland petrel colony, Punakaiki (writer Richard Pamatatau, artist Lynette Hartley) Atawhai Whenua, Waiheke Island (writer Leah Royden, artist Sophia Nouchi) Bushy Park Tarapuruhi, Whanganui (writer Catherine Macdonald, artist Lee Byford-Danes) Ngaheretuku, South Auckland (writer Chris Bowring, artist Amy Parlane) Ark in the Park, Waitākere Ranges (writer Lee Ryan, artist Cathy Hansby) Blowhard Bush, Hawke’s Bay, (writer Scott Moyes, artist Sophie Lankovsky) Calder Green, Christchurch (writer Gail Ingram, artist Georgette Thompson) Fensham Reserve, Wairarapa (writer Hayden Maskell, artist Sam Hughes).

Forest & Bird Te Reo o te Taiao

For more information, go to

www.26.org.uk.

THE LENZ RESERVE CATLINS

THE GATHERING The birds in my artworks always mimic the lives of humans, and I wanted the viewer to feel as if they were peering into a special scene where a ARTIST ‘working party’ Gabby Mckenzie meets to discuss track maintenance and trapping. Gathered around an old metal cog leftover from early logging activity are a riroriro, mātātā, korimako, and miromiro. Wētā, kahukura butterfly, and a Tautuku forest gecko are quiet onlookers to the proceedings. Medium: Acrylic paint on canvas.

WRITER

Sue Heggie

THROUGH THE LENZ As they do, lashing storms pass. Rushes slow to a standstill. The windless reserve now heady and sweet. The community emerges, taking the air. Fuzzy koru unfurl, ask questions. Sunlit, intricate patterns play to the gallery. Green mosses well up, tautuku poke orange tongues. Excited miromiro chase, coy pīwakwaka fan-flirt. The kārearea remains poised, unmoved. Damage is done. In shadow, anguished trees lean and drape. Unripe berries drop too soon. Sodden frail bodies merge with mulch. Banks gape denuded; dunes simply slip away. But today, spoonbills spoon, leggy kōtuku reflect, cryptic mātātā mind their business, kārearea swoop. As they do.

n my first night in The Catlins I dined with the aptly-named Sutherlands, Fergus and Mary. On the delicious menu were Fergus-caught blue cod and Central Otago apricots. The Sutherlands are a species specific to the Catlins. Born and bred Southerners, they have spent their lives volunteering for Forest & Bird. They live, breathe, and care for the Lenz Reserve. They generously share their time, fish, and extensive knowledge. The next day, Fergus and Gavin White, the resident hunter-conservationist, guided me on an amble around part of the reserve. Gavin too is encyclopaedic in his knowledge of the Lenz. We walked from the on-site accommodation through the bush to Fergus’ fascinating Walk Through Time. I think I saw a moa in the distance. Later, we went through the forest to the beach and, after a wild storm, trees were down, and dunes and banks gouged. But the forest was alive with birds, mosses plumped after rain and ferns freshly washed. The podocarp forest was awesome in the true sense of “awe”. I heartily thank Forest & Bird and the team at Lenz reserve. I didn’t see the rare Tautuku gecko, but I did meet Gavin who discovered it lives here and Fergus gifted me his watercolour of it, so I’ve practically seen it. A bonus is that, without internet, no news is good news there. I slept like a rātā log. My bag weighed heavy with Gavin’s venison on my homeward journey, my heart light with the experience. Fergus’ advice and now mine – put Lenz Reserve on your bucket list. Spring 2023

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COVER

ARETHUSA RESERVE NORTHLAND

ARETHUSA’S GOLDEN LEGACY The kōtare in my artwok evokes the idea of leaving a legacy by embodying the contributions of many ARTIST volunteers eradicating pests to Simon Dowling save the forest and birds. Native flora is entwined within a sacred golden border that represents pure nature. Introduced freesias on the reserve’s fringes are depicted outside the border. Arethusa was gifted to Forest & Bird by Dagny Oxford in 1985, and its rare dune lake habitat is slowly being restored by the Far North Branch. Kauri cones represent the volunteers who planted these regenerating trees 35 years ago. Medium: Pen, pencil, watercolour, and acrylic on cotton rag paper.

WRITER

Paul White

THIS FAR NORTH Between two oceans hides a hollow place where forest now is no more than buried wood shrouded in a blanket made of swamp. Above life breathes, though some of it needs killing. Rats, possums, mice and weeds are not what any garden wants. What gardens want was grown here once. Full, fragrant freesias still bloom every year beside tall raupō, adolescent kauri trees next to umbrella ferns where rare frogs leap bitterns boom and small working bees tend the place with human hands while hunched kōtare watching know the best place to look for fish is not between two oceans.

Forest & Bird Te Reo o te Taiao

ost people whizz past to see where the oceans meet, off Cape Reinga. But there’s another place of myth and magic on the slim Aupōuri Peninsula. This myth is Greek. Arethusa was a water nymph who bathed naked in a river that was itself the river god Alpheus. He fell in love with her, and so revealed himself in human form. Terrified, Arethusa ran, perspiring so much she transformed into a stream. Alpheus became a river again, into which Arethusa flowed; their waters mingled. Turning off the road at Pukenui I found the gate next to the one marked “Not Arethusa”. Frogs leapt luminescent in the headlights, rain pelted, and the track slid under the tyres. In the morning, a kāhu glided over what looked like a field of reeds, and fantails pretended they were glad to see me at the lodge. When the others arrived, we walked the grass path that Scotty diligently mows, met Murray with his home-made mouse trap and learned that the European pines need felling, weeds choke anything but themselves. Locals were jogging and strolling, with and without babies in buggies, round “their park”. A bit overgrown, some think. To Chris, Marianna, and those who drive an hour or more for working bees, though, this is where rimu and tōtara planted by volunteers in the 80s are thriving, where kohekohe is reseeding naturally again, and kauri, which rarely survives near water, is growing strong. It turns out that Dagny Oxford’s legacy came with a hidden magic power. Wetland captures carbon faster than a forest can.

RANGITĪKEI RESERVES MANAWATŪ-WHANGANUI PŪRIRI RĀHUI The four main trees species in my artwork are kahikatea, mātai, rimu, and tōtara. It is designed to spin, showing different ARTIST perspectives of the Anya Greenwood forest. There is still much mahi to be done to help nourish our whenua, so I feel humbled to be involved. Sharing this hīkoi with Jayne highlighted the ways we can support each other in our passion for these reserves and beyond. It reminded me of our responsibility to decolonise these spaces while sharing our interconnectedness. I hope this mahi toi will inspire us to return to te ngahere as kaitiakitanga. Tēnā koe! Medium: Watercolour on wooden board. WRITER

Jayne Workman

RANGITĪKEI RĀHUI In tiny emeralds strung along te awa, Rangitīkei, Turakina, Mangahoe, glinting between vast pastures, hungry deer wander and fences fall. Here, in glades of green, under silken velvets of spongy moss, mycelium meadows murmur, delicate hyphae sensing into forest’s leafy felt, lacing earth with life. Pūtōrino drift with flutter and song over Ngā Wairiki rua kai as fruits of fungal orchards, jelly, pink and puff, ripen, burst and pop. Above, translucent finery garlands Kahikatea, slender stems wavering starward from Mataī’s damask, up where the Mother Tree sways. Here, ancient wisdom’s told, a storey at a time, in tiny emeralds.

ur first visit came on a sunny April morning that spoke more of late summer than approaching winter. Winding deserted, narrow roads from the Marton home of Michael Voss, Forest & Bird’s local reserves coordinator and our guide for the day, I was surprised how far we travelled, how tucked away they were. First, Sutherland’s Pūriri, then Pryce’s Rāhui, behind rusting decades-old gates. Each of five, ranging from 7ha to 60ha, is a tiny pocket of ancient forest, miraculously preserved amidst the farmed landscape. These pristine ecosystems dot the Rangitīkei, Turakina, and Mangahoe like precious jewels, crowning the awa before they run out to the west coast’s driftwood-ridden beaches, south of Whanganui. With their thicketed rooms and twiggy tunnels, swaying sun-spangled canopies and orchestral native birdsong, translucent ruby berries and towering kahikatea, tangled lianes and flamboyant fungi, their intricate embroider of countless ferns and centuries-old rua kai, these wondrous ngahere are a lesson in wisdom and beauty, cooperation, community, and generosity entwined over thousands of years. Pulling up on a wet, wintry Wednesday night, outside Marton’s Friendship Hall, a warm glow emanating from frosted glass doors, I reflected how such qualities are mirrored here. At these monthly meets of Forest & Bird’s Rangitīkei branch, volunteers share progress and make plans for their vast mahi. Anya and I were welcomed like friends. Together, great things have been achieved. But challenges remain. In this story of community, the invisible threads that connect and nourish us, an inspiring example is set. But it needs all of us. We must look within, inter-be. We’re all kaitiaki. Spring 2023

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COVER

WALTER SCOTT RESERVE MT PIRONGIA, WAIKATO NGAHERE KŌRERO This place is very dear to my heart. My family have lived and farmed in this area for many generations. While visiting, we were followed by a fantail and greeted by a kererū, and they became the stars of my ARTIST painting alongside the reserve’s Dannika Tukua stunning flora. The greenstone taonga represents a large patu found by my grandfather when clearing scrub at Ngutunui. With moa and huia remains, one can’t help feeling a spiritual connection and immense curiosity about who and what walked before us. It was a privilege to paint my interpretation of this place, a unique treasure and piece of Aotearoa New Zealand history. Medium: Acrylic paint and pen.

GOING WITHOUT So much change. That noise is a drone herding sheep without dogs. WRITER

Those collars corral cows obeying GPS signals without fences. But this bushy slope on the mountain’s shoulder thrives without technology. These 100 acres hum with silence, glow with green, smell of loam and leaf fall and showcase tender baby ferns that draw circles in the air. No whizzy gadgets here. But only one pīwakawaka speaks up, one kererū lumbers by, one distant tūī calls. Shouldn’t there be more? Just as well kind people mindfully tend this place, for without their care there will be Oh, so much change. 18

Forest & Bird Te Reo o te Taiao

Lindsey Dawson

once met an engaging Māori man from Pirongia in the Waikato. His Scottish surname matched one in my family tree. Maybe we were cuzzies, we joked. We talked about lovely Mt Pirongia, and he said that, when he was troubled, he would climb its slopes to talk with the patupaiarehe, the fairy people. I went all goose-bumpy. ‘What did they look like?’ I asked. Small, he replied. And pale. And most definitely real. They always eased his mind. Some time I’ll go there, I thought, and finally, I did. I saw no creatures of spirit, but Pirongia’s spirit embraced me. Stepping into Forest & Bird’s Walter Scott Reserve felt like entering ancient glades – deeply shadowed, lush, quiet and fragrant, and blessed by kererū and pīwakawaka. Such balm for the soul. This 100-acre reserve on the mountain’s southern side was gifted to the Society in 1963 by Mollie and Lilian Valder. They had earlier left it largely untouched, fenced off from their own adjoining farm. Running it was a mighty job for unmarried sisters in the 1930s and 40s. Their friend and neighbour, Walter Scott, mentored them, and so they named the reserve for him. The doughty Valders were cultured – musician Mollie had a grand piano. Lilian was not just handy with axe and gun but was a good soprano as well. What a beautiful legacy they left. And how proud they would be of the local Waikato Branch volunteers who maintain it, clearing tracks and managing 145 bait stations to target rats and possums.

PĀUATAHANUI WILDLIFE RESERVE GREATER WELLINGTON IN THE HIDES The artwork depicts early morning at the reserve, tide outgoing, a time when the land is awakening, and ARTIST its inhabitants Amelia Hadfield are emerging into the quiet stillness. The bird hide at Pāuatahanui with its narrow view window creates its own frame of the landscape. Here visitors are observers and not inherently part of the delicate ecosystem. Kōtuku, poaka, and kawau pū are wading in the shallows, while a mātātā is perched in the harakeke, with others hidden among raupō. Medium: Oil paint.

WRITER

Jane Berney

PĀUATAHANUI From the air the shore would shimmer with our kin. White-capped wings fledgling waves our nesting place, an alchemy of sand and salt, mud and brine. Undergrounds of tiny crustaceans, constellations of flight lines, intercepted by Humankind blind, it would seem to the murmurations of Papatūānuku. Now, She is restless Her rhythm disrupted, her path uncharted as She unfurls her foamy petticoats across the Bay the tide seeks refuge beyond filigreed borders, across mudflats and meadow grass seeping into the cottage named ‘Stout’. In the Hides they perch hoping to sight us, while we keen and cry from the air.

s we are guided by the Chair of the Pāuatahanui Reserve Committee, Robin Chesterfield of Forest & Bird’s Kāpiti-Mana Branch, I am struck by the absence of things. The absence of an abundance of land; between wars, the Estuary was drained for a cricket pitch, reclaimed by water now. Into this watery field, volunteers built tiny islands for the birds. We learn that pied stilts prefer vegetation-free surrounds; sitting on top of stone nests, they need to have clear sight of approaching predators. We learn also that Robin managed to dissuade a subdivision on the boundary of this precious Estuarine Reserve that cats were not welcome. As a cat owner who observes the curfew strategy, I am impressed. Robin deserves to smile like a Cheshire. The absence of felines. Though they join the list of other predators who demand constant vigilance by Robin and his merry band of volunteers. Our generous guide, who’s given up his lunch hour, explains it’s like looking after a 50-acre farm. Of water and sand and creatures. And volunteers. After our tour, Robin shows us the cottage that has had water seeping through it, makes us a cup of tea before sharing more of the work, the endless work of the volunteers who are the essence, the understorey of this place. The devoted volunteers, whose feathers were gently ruffled by our arrival a little later from the airport than they expected. But who can blame them; they are the protectors of this place. They care and tend and nurture, they gift their time to nature. We need to protect them too. Spring 2023

CENTENNIAL Craig McKenzie

Who inspires you to care for te taiao? Nominate your hardworking kaitiaki today!

HIGH FIVE YOUR HERO

Forest & Bird has launched a centennial project honouring unsung conservation heroes of Aotearoa.

e all have someone who kindled our love for the natural world. Perhaps it was a teacher who took you to a nature sanctuary, an artist who captured the beauty of a bird in a painting, or a neighbour who spent every weekend in the bush trapping. There are many people making a huge contribution to conservation all over the motu, but their efforts often go unacknowledged – until now. Forest & Bird is asking you to nominate your conservation hero, and we will share their stories through this magazine and on our website and social media channels. If you choose, we can also send them a certificate thanking them for their work to protect nature. The aim is to encourage more New Zealanders to get involved in helping look after the natural world. “People might think that pest control and planting native trees are the main activities when it comes to protecting the environment, but there are many different ways we can look after te taiao,” says Nicola Toki, Forest & Bird’s chief executive. “Art, storytelling, organising fundraisers, and environmental education are some examples of the different kinds of actions people take to protect the natural world.” Conservation Heroes kicked off during Te Wiki Tūao ā-Motu National Volunteer Week and will run until the end of March 2024. You can nominate your hero in English or te reo Māori at www.forestandbird.org.nz/events/conservationheroes.

Forest & Bird Te Reo o te Taiao

CONSERVATION HERO Te Huia Wesling Macgregor, 20, of Paekākāriki NOMINATED BY Forest & Bird senior

fundraiser Helen Ward, who says Huia gives her hope for the future.

“

hen I was eight or nine, I started getting Kiwi Conservation Club magazines. I think that planted a seed of passion and an interest in the outdoors,” says Te Huia Wesling Macgregor. At the age of 12, Huia started volunteering first as a Youth Ambassador at Wellington’s Zealandia Ecosanctuary and later with the Department of Conservation. “I’m really grateful to all the people who took a chance on a little child who just wanted to hang out with the birds and be outside,” she says. “The people who work in conservation are so incredibly inspiring. No matter where you go, you’re going to find dedicated people who love what they do. They put their heads down, keep going, and achieve incredible things. “I want to take my passion for the outdoors and conservation, and use it to inspire other rangatahi, other young people, to get involved with nature.” Huia was one of four environmental kaitiaki to feature in Forest & Bird’s Centennial Speaker Series webinar that helped launch the Conservation Heroes project. Across four discussions, Forest & Bird staff interviewed their very own conservation heroes about their work and why it matters to them.

You can watch the recording – and all previous instalments of the Centennial Speaker Series – at https://bit.ly/3POerru.

BIODIVERSITY

Leanne Buchan

BOOSTING BIODIVERSITY

he National Policy Statement for Indigenous Biodiversity (NPSIB) came into force last month – the first time our native species and habitats have had this level of protection in law. The policy requires councils to identify areas with significant indigenous biodiversity (Significant Natural Areas) and manage any negative effects on them from new developments and activities. Specific wins include recognition that Māori have a vital role as kaitiaki of their whenua and have an abiding interest in the health of their environment. Councils need to take a precautionary approach when considering adverse effects on indigenous biodiversity and also

promote resilience to the effects of climate change. “We congratulate Associate Minister James Shaw, and everyone involved in getting the NPSIB. It the first time our country’s native species and habitats have had this level of protection, and it’s been 30 years in the making,” said Forest & Bird chief executive Nicola Toki. From 2017, Forest & Bird worked as part of the Biodiversity Collaborative Group (BCG) to help draft the policy, alongside Federated Farmers, the Environmental Defence Society, the New Zealand Forestry Association, a representative of the Iwi Chairs Forum, and representatives from infrastructure industries.

WHAT ARE YOUR CONSERVATION PRIORITIES?

RUNNING FOR NATURE

Our biennial supporters’ survey is your chance to tell us more about why nature is important to you and what you think about the state of Aotearoa New Zealand’s wildlife and wild places. The survey will take about 10 minutes to fill in, and your responses will help us plan our work and fundraising priorities next year. We are also looking for a small group of “Giving Leaders” to help create a matched-giving fund for this year’s Christmas appeal. We are raising funds to support our predator and pest-free campaign work next year. In 2021, a total of 67 Giving Leaders helped raise more $500,000 for our legal work, including the successful Te Kuha appeal. If you were one of them, thank you! If you haven’t received your survey yet or you would like to find out more about becoming a Giving Leader, please contact Jo Prestwood at j.prestwood@ forestandbird.org.nz.

Passionate Australian conservationist Alex Bezzina completed his northbound run of the 3000km Te Araroa trail in less than 60 days and raised an incredible $25,000 for Forest & Bird. A huge thank you to Alex’s 320 donors, who helped keep him motivated during the gruelling challenge. Alex is a passionate conservation scientist and a lover of New Zealand fauna, having studied tokoeka, Aotearoa’s rarest kiwi, for his Masters. He completed his run in April and credits his dad, Andrew, as the “true hero” of the story as he provided vital support on the road, including helping with cooking, laundry, and gear maintenance. Alex is waiting to hear whether his run was the fastest northbound route of the trail. Whatever the result, the massive commitment he showed to support nature in Aotearoa was inspiring, and we really appreciate his support. Find out more at www. thelosthobbit.run.

Spring 2023

V O T E N AT U R E

LETTER TO THE FUTURE Here we publish messages from two passionate conservationists nine decades apart. Forest & Bird’s founder Val Sanderson, 70, sent his letter to all candidates in the 1935 general election. Meanwhile, George Hobson, 19, is writing to the future from 2023 and hoping today’s political leaders will take action to heal the planet – before it’s too late.

STOP THE FLOODS In a friendly spirit, the Forest and Bird Protection Society, which is not concerned with party politics, makes an appeal to all candidates in the General Election in full confidence it will not be ignored because it is definitely and unquestionably an appeal for national welfare. “The worst in living memory” was the comment of some old settlers on recent floods in the North Island, and it is not long since similar remarks were made about other devastating floods in other districts. Each big flood prepares the way for a worse one, and there is no doubt that this increasing flood damage is Nature’s punishment for the foolish destruction of protective forests on watersheds. Very costly protective works have been set up on the lower reaches of some rivers, but this kind of operation is a reminder of the old saying that it is better to build a fence at the top of a precipice than to maintain an ambulance at the bottom. The usual procedure to prevent flood damage in New Zealand is at the wrong end. The proper place is in the high country above the sources of the rivers, and the proper method is in restoration of Nature’s protective covering of the soil. That slogan of American paint manufacturers “Save the surface and you save the lot” does apply with special force to the countryside of New Zealand, which is-mainly mountainous and hilly. The configuration of the country makes it particularly susceptible to disastrous erosion unless protective forests are carefully maintained on watersheds. The need of action is admitted by every thinking man and woman, but there is not nearly enough pressure on the authorities for the operation of an effective policy. Here is a case where all members of all parties can be united on one platform – New Zealand. Whatever party or combination of parties may win the election, the new Parliament should be composed of members who will be all supporters of vigorous action for the saving of the country’s surface. One urgent need is an extension of the campaign against deer, which are spoiling the soil-protective functions of forests and bringing death to the forests themselves. How is it possible to win the war against deer when their increase is twenty times as great as the total of the slain? The issue really is: New Zealand for deer or for mankind? Every year’s delay in the planning and working of a campaign big enough to assure the conservation of our existing forests, wise re-afforestation and conquest of the deer will add hugely to the cost of the large-scale operations which some Government will be forced, by dire need, to undertake in the future.

EV Sanderson (President) 1935

BACKGROUND Sanderson was writing in the aftermath of some unusual weather events. Over the

Forest & Bird Te Reo o te Taiao

sweltering summer of 1934/35, the temperature was 1.8°C above average, a record that wouldn’t fall until 80 years later. In February 1935, Northland, Taranaki, and the West Coast experienced heavy rain, floods, and slips. There was more flooding in Auckland and Northland five months later. In his letter, sent just before October’s general election, Sanderson references these floods and offers up nature-based solutions to reduce the future risk. Sadly, his advice was not fully heeded.

GEORGE HOBSON Climate activist and conservation advocate, Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington

10 WAYS TO HEAL

’m 19 and have spent my life growing up in the shadow of climate change. As a young child, I vividly remember hearing stories about how “one day the ice might melt” and polar bears become extinct. Now it feels like every second day I see another report painting a horrifying picture of the consequences if we don’t take urgent action: even more extreme weather events, food insecurity, conflict, climate refugees, ecosystem breakdown, unliveable temperatures. My biggest fear is we don’t act in time to stop these things happening, and they come true. I do have hope (and try not to be immobilised by fear), but it is incredibly hard to see successive Aotearoa governments failing to act and jeopardising the future of young New Zealanders. What could possibly be more important than the wellbeing of people and planet? Do I know all the answers? No. But I do know we need to work together and demand the right to a safe, liveable, nature-friendly future. A good place to start is Climate Shift: a 10-point plan for climate action written by Forest & Bird, Greenpeace, and Oxfam that is backed by more than 40 organisations. If the next government was to implement these practical and achievable policies, a strong foundation will be laid for everyone’s future. Nature can protect us from climate change. But we need to protect nature first. This means safeguarding old growth forests – they hold carbon that is equal to 86 years of our country’s emissions. We need to rapidly rewet our drained wetlands so they can absorb more carbon and look after existing wetlands, such as Kopuatai Peat Dome, in the Waikato, which has been sucking up 20,000 tonnes of CO2 a year for the last 11,000 years. Let’s bring our forests back to health by getting rid of introducing predators and browsing mammals, and restore our ocean carbon sinks by properly protecting our oceans in law. Let’s change the way we do agriculture, cut our fossil fuel use, move to more compact cities, eat less meat, stop mining conservation land, and demand more sustainable transport. Vitally, all of this must be done in accordance with Te Tiriti, acknowledging and being led by Māori climate action at an iwi and hapū level. In 1935, Forest & Bird’s founder Val Sanderson wrote to all election candidates asking them to unite on one platform: Aotearoa New Zealand’s future. These words ring as true today as they did nearly 90 years ago. Now is the time for us to collectively work towards transformative change to heal our planet and ourselves. Our members of Parliament represent the wishes of the people, and it’s vital they hear us demanding ambitious climate and nature-friendly policies. Please head to www.climateshift.org.nz to find out how you can help.

URGENT ELECTION APPEAL I know you care deeply about endemic species like the forest ringlet butterfly and wild places like Te Kuha, home to this endangered pepe. Despite winning in the Supreme Court, we are still battling to save this pristine mountain top on the West Coast from an open-cast mine. If you can’t stand the thought of losing more species and places like these, please make a donation before the election. Your donation will get a powerful message in front of every candidate in a way they can’t ignore. Whatever party is elected to government, we will demand they deliver leadership to secure a safer future for all New Zealanders, bringing fresh hope for you, your whānau, and the wildlife and wild places you love. Please donate today at www.forestandbird.org.nz/ election-emergency. Ngā mihi maioha George Hobson Forest & Bird’s election campaign lead

Spring 2023

BIRDLIFE DOC’s kākāpō rangers Petrus Headman (right) and Daryl Eason.

KĀKĀPŌ RETURN

There was plenty of aroha on display when four boomers returned to the mainland in a historic translocation. Stuart Attwood

he news that kākāpō had been released at Sanctuary Mountain Maungautari spread around the country very quickly in July. For the first time in nearly four decades, our lovable ground parrots were returning to live on mainland New Zealand. I was given the opportunity to photograph this historic event by the team at Maungatautari. It was a day of celebration, with a sense that a conservation ‘’win’’ had been achieved and we were witnessing something special. We arrived early on a very misty wintery morning and headed down to Pōhara Marae to be welcomed along with representatives from Ngāi Tahu, the Department of Conservation, the Kākāpō Recovery Team, Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari staff, and other dignitaries. A key aspect of the translocation was the iwi ki te iwi (iwi to iwi) transfer of the four manu from Ngāi Tahu to Ngāti Koroki Kahukura, Raukawa, Ngāti Hauā, and Waikato. As we gathered for a pōwhiri, the four young male kākāpō were travelling up country towards Maungatautari. Motupōhue, Bunker, Ōtepoti, and Māhutonga had left Whenua Hou, west of Rakiura

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Stewart Island, that morning and flown to Queenstown. From there, they took another flight on to Auckland. The first discussions about bringing kākāpō to Maungatautari, one of Aotearoa New Zealand’s mainland ecological islands, were held 15 years ago. It’s clear that achieving this milestone has taken a huge effort and thousands of hours of mahi by many people to make Maungatautari a safe liveable habitat for kākāpō. Included in the work was modifying 37km of the sanctuary’s predator-free fence. A convoy of DOC vehicles with their mossy green passengers appeared. A few tears were shed at the sight of the birds heading towards the maunga. After a karakia, the birds were taken out of their boxes for their first look at their new residence. There was an audible gasp from the crowd at the sight of these beautiful parrots, more tears, and delighted grins. The birds were carefully placed back into their boxes and taken into the bush to be released, each accompanied by a small prearranged group of visitors. With a little encouragement, our bird, Ōtepoti, eventually wandered out of his box. He jumped onto a fallen ponga log to pose for a few photos before walking off into the bush. It was incredible to see how such a brightly coloured bird could vanish so quickly and completely. Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari encourages people to visit and see the range of native species in its ancient vibrant forest. But it would be best to come with low expectation of seeing kākāpō – they are nocturnal and experts at hiding away. But you will still know you are in the presence of these taonga manu. After a long absence, the boom of kākāpō has returned to the Waikato once again. For more information, go to www.sanctuarymountain. co.nz.

Karakia before the birds were released.

Bunker, Whenua Hou. Jake Osborne

TRUST IN NATURE

orest & Bird established the Threatened Species Trust in 1990, seeking sponsorship to fund a kākāpō recovery programme. The population numbered just 43 at the time. Just before the Trust was launched, a kākāpō chick died, the first to have hatched in nine years, according to Forest & Bird. The partnership with the Department of Conservation saw Comalco commit to $1 million in sponsorship for kākāpō over six years. Similar programmes would also be established for kōkako, kiwi, and takahē. In 2002, Conservation Minister Sandra Lee announced 47 eggs found on Whenua Hou Codfish Island represented one of the biggest breakthroughs in years for New Zealand species management. She said the Comalco-sponsored Kākāpō Recovery Programme had enabled DOC to invest in researching the nutritional needs of the birds to maximise their egglaying capacity, resulting in the “avian harvest”. “This is outstandingly good news and has real potential to reward decades of intensive efforts to bring this threatened species back from the brink of extinction,” she said in 2002. Two decades later, the success of the programme means there aren’t enough predator-free islands left for today’s population of 248 kākāpō, hence the recent trial translocation of four male birds to Maungatautari. While this is good news, there needs to be a lot more investment in predator control before breeding kākāpō can return to the mainland, said Alison Ballance, author of Kākāpō. “Not only are there not enough islands, but there’re very few places on the mainland that are big enough,” she told RNZ’s The Detail. DOC’s species protection programme has a budget of just $29 million a year. This means there are plenty of critically endangered species not getting any attention. Saving our 4000 species at risk of extinction needs serious investment in both predator and browsing mammal control, says Forest & Bird’s chief executive Nicola Toki. “Think about the southern dotterel, a critically

Campaigning for kākāpō in the 1990s. Forest & Bird archves

endangered species that now only breeds on Rakiura Stewart Island,” said Nicola. “It’s on an island, it’s being plagued by predators, and it’s having both its habitat and its eggs destroyed by deer, and we’re not talking about it. I find that incredible.” Tūturiwhatu southern dotterels were once widespread and used to breed along the Southern Alps. There were estimated to be 126 left on Earth in April 2023, a 13% population decline in 12 months. Nicola called on all political parties to make a longterm financial commitment to protecting native species and pest control, which also brings climate benefits as healthy forests hold more carbon.

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Spring 2023

P R E D AT O R - F R E E N Z

A RATTY TALE Conservation ecologist Dr Jo Carpenter teamed up with graphic artist Sarah Little to create a comic strip illustrating the findings of a research paper into ship rat responses to mast seeding.

he resulting comic explains the issue, method, findings, and recommendations in plain English, with delightful illustrations of native bush and birds. It’s believed to be the first time Manaaki Whenua Landcare Research has collaborated with an artist to show the findings of a scientific paper. High-elevation beech forests are usually safe havens for native species because rats prefer to stay away from these chilly zones and remain at lower levels. When there is a beech mast and the forest produces a bumper crop of seeds, rats move upwards, towards or even into the alpine zone. Jo and her colleagues wanted to know whether the rats were moving from the lower bush or multiplying from small hidden higher-altitude populations. Using microchips and tracking collars, they concluded rats were moving up and this was driving the explosion of rat numbers at high altitudes during a beech mast. This is useful information for conservationists to know so they can blitz low-mid forest zones with predator control to stop the ship rats moving into higher elevations. Jo, who was an avid member of the Kiwi Conservation Club when she was a child, says any Forest & Bird supporter is welcome to use the cartoons to support their work or for educational purposes. She will send you the PDFs if you email her at carpenterj@ landcareresearch.co.nz.

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The study was carried out by Manaaki Whenua researchers Jo Carpenter, Adrian Monks, John Innes, and Dean Anderson, and DOC’s James Griffiths. You can download their paper at https://bit.ly/3Ox8RZn.

I N T E R N AT I O N A L Dusky Tetraka was last seen in 1999.

FOUND! ONE OF 10 LOST BIRDS

Conservationists are taking steps to protect the dusky tetraka in Madagascar after an expedition team sighted the species for the first time since 1999.

usky tetraka, a small olive and yellow-throated bird that hops around on the ground, had eluded ornithologists for 24 years. The last documented sighting was in 1999, making it one of the top 10 most wanted by the Search for Lost Birds, a collaboration between Re:wild, American Bird Conservancy (Birdlife in the US), and Birdlife International. It was rediscovered by an expedition team led by the Peregrine Fund’s Madagascar Program, who searched the remote tropical rainforests of the northeastern part of the country. “Now we’ve found dusky tetraka and better understand the habitat it lives in, we can look for it in other parts of Madagascar and learn important information about its ecology and biology,” said Lily-Arison Rene de Roland, expedition leader and Madagascar Program director for The Peregrine Fund. Rene de Roland’s team had to drive for more than 40 hours and hike for half a day Lily-Arison Rene up steep mountains to the last spot the bird de Roland had been seen. When they arrived, they found much of the forest had been destroyed and converted to farms for vanilla, even though the area is officially protected as part of a co-managed protected area. They moved to a lower altitude and sighted the bird near Andapa in January. Meanwhile, a second team, led by Armand Benjara and Yverlin Pruvot, found the bird on the Masoala peninsula, where they caught and released a single dusky tetraka in a mist net. Rene de Roland also rediscovered the Madagascar pochard in 2006 in northwestern Madagascar and was a student working with The Peregrine Fund

John C Mittermeier

when the Madagascar serpent eagle and red owl were rediscovered. “Several species from the extraordinary island of Madagascar were until fairly recently ‘lost’ but have been found and are now regularly seen,” said Roger Safford, Senior Programme Manager for Birdlife’s Preventing Extinctions Programme. “Dusky Tetraka was the awkward exception, and it is a credit to The Peregrine Fund team that they have come up with such a thorough set of records of this mystery bird. “Now we can begin to understand why and take the actions to make sure the forests that meet its seemingly rather precise needs are conserved.” Santa Marta Sabrewing, another of the top 10 lost birds, was rediscovered in Colombia in July 2022 by Yurgen Vega. Eight birds are still to be rediscovered, including our very own South Island kōkakō, the siau scops-owl in Indonesia, the Himalayan quail and Jerdon’s courser in India, the itombwe nightjar in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Cuban kite in Cuba, the negros fruit dove in the Philippines, and the vilcabamba brush-finch in Peru. Forest & Bird is Birdlife’s partner and country representative for Aotearoa New Zealand.

Spring 2023

BIRD OF THE CENTURY

WILL A LOST BIRD WIN?

The nation’s favourite election is back, and the stakes are higher than ever before. Caroline Wood

“There is only one bird in which the bills of the sexes are different in shape, and that is the huia, now so rare that it is probably extinct,” Val Sanderson, 1933. Lily Daff. From original painting commissioned Forest & Bird

Forest & Bird Te Reo o te Taiao

ird of the Year becomes Bird of the Century in what promises to be the hardestfought competition yet, with five new candidates (all sadly extinct) causing a flutter. To celebrate Forest & Bird’s 100th birthday, we’re searching for the native bird that has captured New Zealanders’ hearts over the last century. Five lost birds will be added to the running this year, all of which have had possible sightings recorded within the last 100 years. Will one of them be crowned the winner? That decision will be up to you and the public vote, so be sure to check out our new Bird of the Century website and vote when polls open on 30 October. The inaugural Bird of the Year competition took place in 2005, as a poll included in Forest & Bird’s firstever email newsletter, with the tūī taking out the title. The idea came from conservationist Michael Szabo, who at the time was editor of Forest & Bird. “After 31 years, Radio New Zealand was publicly considering dropping the daily bird call from its daily Morning Report show,” said Michael, who is now editor of Birds New Zealand magazine. “There was such an outpouring of support for the bird calls that RNZ decided to retain them. That gave me the idea of starting an annual Bird of the Year poll. “The inaugural poll was organised shortly afterwards, and the tūī was duly elected Bird of the Year 2005.” It was fitting as the tūī was on Forest & Bird’s logo at the time and had been for the previous 80 years. A total of 865 votes were cast for 76 birds. Geoff Robinson preparing to call time on the daily bird call, May 2005. By kind permission Murray Webb/ Alexander Turnbull Library

If nature offered us our choice – if we were asked what gift would contribute most to make our surroundings happy and beautiful – surely we would ask for Birds. And could we ask for anything more beautiful than the New Zealand Birds – the cuckoo, the bellbird, the tui, whose song rivals even that of the nightingale? Their value as bringers of joy and beauty into our lives seems obvious and yet their rapid destruction during our short New Zealand history seems to indicate that it has been forgotten. Sir Thomas Mackenzie, former Prime Minister and Forest & Bird’s first President, 1923-1930.

The poll was seen as a “resounding success” by Forest & Bird, which announced the competition would run annually. “The enthusiastic response has been a reminder that New Zealand’s native birds are an intrinsic part of our national identity and one that we should celebrate, cherish, and protect,” said general manager Mike Britton. Since 2005, Bird of the Year has grown to become a national institution and an international celebration of Aotearoa’s unique native birds. A record 61,000 people voted in 2021’s competition. “We’ve had some crazy moments – voting scandals, a bat winning, and kākāpō being booted out last year for being too popular,” said Nicola Toki, Forest & Bird’s chief executive. “We hope New Zealanders and everyone around the world will get involved in the fun of Bird of the Century 2023. “We are looking forward to sharing the amazing stories behind our living and dearly departed feathered friends and asking New Zealanders to speak up for them.” Check out all the 2023 candidates at www.birdoftheyear.org.nz.

CENTENNIAL CANDIDATES Five new birds – all extinct – will be in the running for the first time, joining 70 other candidates vying for Bird of the Century.

Piopio.

John G Keulemans

Piopio Often considered to be New Zealand’s native thrush, piopio was split into North and South Island species in 2012. But the last confirmed record of this songster was a bird shot in 1902, with unconfirmed sightings continuing into the 1970s. Huia The last generally accepted sighting of this iconic songbird was in 1907, but it’s likely huia persisted into the 1920s. Unconfirmed but credible sightings from the Urewera Ranges even extend into the 60s. Whēkau The last confirmed record of the laughing owl was a dead specimen found in Canterbury in 1914, but sight and sound records persisted into the 1930s. Tutukiwi The South Island snipe became extinct in 1964 after its last refuge, Big South Cape Island, was invaded by ship rats. The Wildlife Service launched a desperate rescue attempt led by Don Merton. Two males were captured, including this one pictured, but both died in captivity. Mātuhituhi bush wren This small and nearly flightless bush wren once lived on all three main islands of Aotearoa. It was last seen in 1955 on the North Island and in 1968 on the South Island. Birds were translocated from Big South Cape Island to Kaimohu Island in 1964, where the last of them died in 1972.

Huia.

Lily Daff, 1929

Whēkau. Cuthbert & Oliver Parr, 1909

Male tutukiwi. 1964

Don Merton,

Mātuhituhi.

Don Merton, 1964

CROWNING GLORIES Here are the previous 18 winners of Bird of the Year. Kākāpō is the only bird to have won twice. 2005 Tūī 2006 Pīwakawaka 2007 Riroriro grey warbler 2008 Kākāpō 2009 Kiwi 2010 Kākāriki 2011 Pūkeko 2012 Kārearea New Zealand falcon 2013 Mohua yellowhead

2014 Tara iti New Zealand fairy tern 2015 Kuaka bar-tailed godwit 2016 Kōkako 2017 Kea 2018 Kererū 2019 Hoiho yellow-eyed penguin 2020 Kākāpō 2021 Pekapeka long-tailed bat 2022 Pīwauwau rock wren Voting opens Monday 30 October 2023 Voting closes Sunday 12 November Winner announced Monday 13 November Spring 2023

E V E R Y D AY H E R O E S

SEEDING A

SPONGE CITY

Volunteers Eraena Catsburg and Lindsay Olsen at the Two Paddocks restoration project. Kathy Ombler

Forest & Bird member Jill Visser set up a volunteer group to restore a former wetland on the Kāpiti Coast because she wanted to take hands-on action to help mitigate climate change.

rowing up in Whanganui, I’ve always loved water – the ocean, the lakes, and of course the river. So many of my childhood memories involve being in, on, or near water. The feel and smell of it, the plants and creatures inhabiting it. How wonderful then to learn the preservation and restoration of wetlands can provide solutions to two of the biggest challenges facing us – climate change and biodiversity loss. As extreme weather events intensify across the globe, knowledge is spreading internationally about the vital role wetland areas can play in meeting those challenges, and the term “sponge cities” has, almost overnight, entered everyday speech. In November 2021, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres spoke through tears, saying “Our addiction to fossil fuels is pushing humanity to the brink.” It was one of those light bulb moments. I remember thinking world leaders aren’t going to do it. We have to do it ourselves. Over the years, like many others, I’ve been doing all the green things I could to keep my carbon

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footprint down. But now I feel strongly that more is required, so I began my search for other ways to meaningfully contribute. This raised some challenging questions. There are so many good initiatives out there – where should I focus my energy? Do I join an existing organisation? Get into lobbying and advocacy? What would give the biggest bang for my climate-mitigation buck? And perhaps most difficult of all, what do I actually have to offer? Feeling completely

Potting up in the Queen Elizabeth Park nursery. Jill Visser

overwhelmed, I decided to seek expert guidance and emailed climate scientist Professor James Renwick at Te Herenga Waka Victoria University. I put to him the question, “If you were a layperson wanting to take climate change action, what would you do?” I explained that I felt drawn towards the restoration of native ecosystems, particularly wetlands, and asked whether that was a worthwhile endeavour given my goal. His answer couldn’t have been more generous or affirming. In a nutshell, his response was anything that restores ecosystems and environments, and either increases absorption of greenhouse gases or reduces their emission to the atmosphere is a fantastic thing to be doing. So with a big thumbs up from James and a few more enquiries, I was off, and one morning in March 2022 I found myself at the Greater Wellington Regional Council native plant nursery in Queen Elizabeth Park on the Kāpiti Coast. It sits at the southern end of what was once a vast network of swamps and dunes, extending 65km northwards from Paekākāriki to the Manawatū River. Sadly, I’ve become increasingly

Pene Burton Bell.

Jill Visser

familiar with statistics surrounding wetland loss, and Kāpiti’s Great Swamp has suffered the same fate as about 93% of Aotearoa New Zealand’s once abundant biodiverse wetlands – that of being drained and altered beyond recognition for human use. The rate of loss in Aotearoa is well above the international average, with only tiny pockets now surviving, and despite RMA protection this loss is continuing, sometimes illegally. In early 2022, two volunteer-led restoration groups operated out of the Greater Wellington Regional Council nursery at Queen Elizabeth Park. I joined the Wednesday group led by Pene Burton Bell, chair of Forest & Bird’s Kāpiti-Mana Branch, who is extremely experienced and has been doing this valuable work for years. Russell Bell has been a driving force there and is a prime mover in working with the council to retire areas of the park from grazing, making them available for rewetting and restoration. At first I felt a bit whakamā about my lack of experience and decidedly limited botanical knowledge. But I do have good organisational skills (yes, I do have something to offer!) and, urged on by Russell’s advice (you don’t need to be an expert), I found that, once the goal was established, everything flowed from there. Within a few months and supported by generous mentoring

from those with more knowledge than I have, I established a sizable new group of excellent volunteers. We meet monthly to restore a 7ha area within Queen Elizabeth Park known as Two Paddocks, and, although we have all sorts of different backgrounds and experience levels, we are all there for the common goal. It can be hard work at times, but it’s interesting, fun, and absolutely rewarding. Despite the foraging skills of the many resident pūkeko, we are helping 900 or so plants from last season become established – including kahikatea, tī kōuka, coprosma, mānuka, swamp maire, carex, and more – as well as preparing for the next planting season. We attack the ever-present blackberry, and in the nursery we propagate seeds and pot up seedlings for the future. Within this beautiful environment and in good company, we’re learning about the various jobs required to get the right plants into the ground. Over time, this will enable the return of plants, birds, insects, and fish to the area. I think we’ll need to change the name of Two Paddocks soon – it’s transforming before our eyes into the beginnings of a wetland ecosystem.

Mira O’Connor is one of Jill’s volunteers. Kathy Ombler

Spades of enthusiasm.

Kathy Ombler

TAKING ACTION

Before embarking on this wetland restoration, I felt hopeless in the face of the climate and biodiversity challenges confronting us all. But focusing on this long-term project, with its camaraderie and sense of common purpose, means those other feelings don’t get a look in as much as before. Katherine, one of our volunteers, recently said, “It’s so satisfying. It might be a bit of an effort to get out there, but no matter what else I achieve in the week, I Jill Visser can say ‘I did that’.” An excellent report commissioned by Forest & Bird, which featured in the Autumn 2023 magazine, shows a large number of historic wetlands on public land that could potentially be re-wetted and brought back to life. Hence my purpose in writing this – to encourage anyone who may be asking that same question “What can I do?” into action. Of course, not everyone will arrive at the same answer, but I encourage you to do what you can. To quote Antonio Guterres again, “Our world needs climate action on all fronts – everything, everywhere, all at once … we don’t have a moment to lose.” This article is the first in a new series called Everyday conservation heroes. If you have a story to share, please contact editor@forestandbird. org.nz. Spring 2023

OPINION

RETHINKING RANGITĀHUA

ew Zealanders take pride in nature – it’s part of EEZ – taking us a fair whack closer to the 30% goal we our identity – and our ocean territory is among signed up to last year as part of the Kunming-Montreal the largest in the world. Despite this, less than half Global Biodiversity Framework and fulfilling goals in a percent of our marine environment is fully protected. Te Mana o te Taiao, Aotearoa New Zealand’s national This is an alarming truth for a country that used to biodiversity strategy. be a global leader in ocean conservation and where Ngāti Kurī, Te Aupouri, and Ngai Takoto have 90% of seabirds, 85% of shorebirds, and 22% of marine customary interests and association with Rangitāhua. mammals are threatened or at risk of extinction. Ngāti Kurī particularly have been long-standing The Kermadec Rangitāhua Ocean Sanctuary fiasco advocates for the sanctuary. illustrates New Zealand’s problem. The sanctuary It’s deeply disappointing that, after so many years stemmed from a great vision to protect a biodiversity of working together, nature, people, and the planet are hotspot at the northernmost edge of New Zealand’s no better off. We owe it to future generations to take Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). urgent steps to protect and restore our declining marine Unfortunately, in 2015, a rushed biodiversity. It’s deeply announcement and lack of consultation by the We urge Te Ohu Kaimoana to continue disappointing talks with the government in good faith and then government left mana whenua and wider iwi feeling blindsided. It also raised legitimate that, after so to recognise that – as demonstrated by recent issues about Māori commercial fishing quota research – large-scale, offshore, and fully many years guaranteed in the 1992 Fisheries Settlement protected marine areas protect biodiversity of working (although very little, if any, commercial fishing without negatively impacting fishing. together, occurs in the remote Kermadec region.) The sanctuary would create a no-take fully nature, A five-and-a-half-year negotiation between protected zone preventing all fishing and people, and the government and Te Ohu Kaimoana – the mining in the area, adding to the protections the planet are already in place. entity that represents Māori commercial fishing no better off. interests – aimed to resolve these issues and If we’re going to make progress on marine seemed to be on track. protection, we urgently need new tools that But the good-faith process has ended with Te Ohu are fit for purpose, enabling the large-scale protection Kaimoana’s outright rejection of a significantly revised our oceans so desperately need, while also upholding Te sanctuary proposal, with no good outcomes for anyone. Tiriti o Waitangi. The sanctuary would be transformational for climate Marine protection isn’t a nice to have. In a world and biodiversity. It would cover a deep ocean trench shaped by climate change, biodiversity loss, and global and a chain of submarine volcanoes – geology that expectations for action, it’s essential. supports a rich diversity of marine life. Around one-third of New Zealand’s fish species live By Nicola Toki, of Forest & Bird, Dr Kayla Kingdonin the Rangitāhua Kermadec, alongside more than 250 Bebb, of WWF-New Zealand, and Gary Taylor, of species of coral and bryozoan. The ocean here supports the Environmental Defence Society. This is an edited more than six million seabirds, as well as sea turtles, version of their Op Ed published in The Post in July. whales, and dolphins. The sanctuary would also bolster our ocean creds on the global stage. The Kermadec Rangitāhua Ocean Sanctuary would protect around 15% of our

Plate coral and demoisselles, Rangitāhua. SeacologyNZ

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RESEARCH

WHAT DO BARN OWLS EAT?

A barn owl in flight. Kurien Koshy Yohannan

The waste pellets of New Zealand’s carnivorous birds, including kārearea, ruru, and barn owls, are shining a surprising light on their diet. Luke Appleby

issecting undigested prey may sound a bit gruesome, but Wingspan is using this method to advance our understanding of the diet and health of New Zealand’s birds of prey. Carnivorous birds are unable to digest all parts of their prey so expel the remains as pellets. “The benefit of studying these pellets is that we can dissect them, look at the remains, and identify what the birds have been eating,” says Shannon Campion, of Wingspan National Bird of Prey Centre, in Rotorua. “This is much more reliable than trying to observe the birds in the wild to see what they eat.” This method showed, for example, that 95% of kārearea New Zealand falcon’s diet was made up of introduced species. This followed a dissection of pellets collected from the Kaingaroa Forest in 2009. That insight is interesting, as it shows the adaptability of the endemic species and challenges any perception that falcons are responsible for the demise of our native wildlife. In March, Wingspan ran a pellet dissection workshop focused on the diet of barn owls – a fairly new species in New Zealand. “They’ve been flying across the Tasman from Australia for a long time now, with the first reported sighting in 1947, but they weren’t recorded breeding here until 2008,” Shannon says. “So there’s more to learn about what their impact will be, whether they will affect the populations of the prey they eat, and whether they compete with other native species. So far, we consider their presence to be fairly benign.” The workshop was funded by a $6,580 grant from the ANZ New Zealand Staff Foundation and included attendees from the Department of Conservation, private conservation and restoration groups, students, and people working in bird rehabilitation. The grant allowed the raptor conservation charity to offer the workshop free of charge. The samples taken during these dissections have been added to Wingspan’s extensive research collection to aid in prey identification. It is hoping to run a series of similar events in the future.

Despite being fully protected under law, some people still see birds of prey as a pest, as they sometimes target prey like chickens and small birds. “Unfortunately, they can also be met with the end of a shotgun, which is terrible really, because kārearea are a threatened species and found nowhere else in the world,” Shannon adds. Only about one in four kārearea will survive through their first year. Many of their eggs and young fall victim to pests such as rats and possums – making pest control one of the biggest things we can do to help them. For more information, go to www.wingspan.co.nz.

KILLS FOES NOT FRIENDS PINDONE PELLETS are a cost-effective way to control possums and rats, approved for use in sensitive environments. Very low risk of primary or secondary poisoning to domestic pets and native wildlife. For more information, go to keyindustries.co.nz Spring 2023

BIODIVERSITY

DRIVING OUT NATURE

Crate Day, Ashley River.

Some off-roaders are riding roughshod over nature and giving law-abiding drivers a bad name. Chelsea McGaw. Grant Davey

“

ff-roading”, whether in four-wheel drives, ATVs, or motorbikes, is a popular past time in Aotearoa New Zealand. The AA says our country is perfect for this kind of activity. But our native wildlife would disagree, especially ground-nesting bird species such as tūturiwhatu dotterel, terns, wrybills, and torea oystercatchers. A single tyre track on a beach or in a gravel river bed can completely destroy their nests. Vehicle ploughing through a blackbilled gull colony.

In December 2022, about 70 four-wheel drivers ignored conservation warning signs and drove onto a Canterbury riverbed where endangered black-fronted terns and banded dotterel were nesting. 34

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The large Crate Day gathering at Ashley River, north of Christchurch, caused much consternation among local conservationists, who feared they were destroying nests. “There can be hundreds of four wheel-drives going from the Okuku junction to the gorge on Crate Day,” says Grant Davey, of Ashley Rakahuri Rivercare Group. “There aren’t many birds nesting on this narrow section, but those that are there are in extreme danger of losing their nests.” “In other parts of the river catchment, we have captured trail camera images of drivers going through a black-billed gull colony at quite high speed. About 800 birds had just started to nest there. A while later, they abandoned that site and went to another location nearby. “A couple of years ago, we had several incidents at a combined black-fronted tern and black-billed gull colony. The Department of Conservation seriously looked into these and spoke to most of the people involved. The motorbike riders killed around a dozen young gulls.”

Restoration plantings can also be ruined by motorised vehicles venturing into places they are not supposed to be. In May, a fourwheel drive vehicle drove through Otaki estuary reserve, where only walkers, bikes, and dogs on leash are permitted. A large number of native plants, some of them 20 years old, were destroyed. Volunteers would have put much effort, money, and many hours into revegetating areas such as this, caring for them, and controlling pests. Fragile wetlands can also be impacted, especially those that are ephemeral – only visible when there has been rain or when the

Hatched wrybill chick and aboutto-hatch chick both killed by flying stones from a 4WD.

water table is high. Last year at Macetown, Otago, wetlands were torn up and new off-road tracks were illegally created by 4WDs and off-road motorcyclists. Compliance in remote areas often ends up being policed by the local community, which can cause conflict and aggression. Motorbike zooms through a combined black-fronted tern and black-billed gull colony.

The Ashley Rakahuri Rivercare Group has had success in minimising vehicle disturbance along the Ashley River, although the birds remain vulnerable at the estuary. It has used a combination of education, publicising problems in the media, and persuading Environment Canterbury to block most of the entrance ways so drivers cannot gain access to wildlife-sensitive areas. “Last season was very quiet. I never saw a four-wheel drive out there, just a couple of motorbikes. There were just a few tracks going through nesting colonies and a few vehicles featuring on trail camera photos, but I didn’t see any nests that had been run over,” adds Grant.

FINDING SOLUTIONS Forest & Bird is raising awareness of the impacts of driving on beaches, riverbeds, and wetlands so drivers can enjoy their off-roading while leaving nature in peace. Our conservation team and branch volunteers have been advocating for new bylaws on beaches with high numbers of threatened shorebirds, seabirds, and marine mammals such as pakeke sea lions or kekeno New Zealand fur seals. Many councils already have local bylaws designed to control vehicles on beaches, but these are often ignored or unenforced. This is complicated by the definition of a “road” in the Land Transport Act, where it is defined as any area the public has access to – including river beds and beaches. The definition was originally intended to allow New Zealand Police to enforce laws such as speed limits and the wearing

of seat belts. However, it has unintended consequences. “Riverbed” can also be also misconstrued by the public as being the wet part of a river, when in fact it includes the space of land extending between the outward extremities of any stop bank or flood protection vegetation. Forest & Bird is looking at how the definitions in the Act could be altered to still allow enforcement while also discouraging driving in sensitive areas. We are are also looking whether other legislative mechanisms, such as the Natural Built and Environment Act, could be used to protect nature from offroad drivers. The majority of off-roaders are responsible and mindful. There is probably only a small number who either don’t know or don’t care about their impact on native flora and fauna.

If you see any illegal or suspicious activity on public land, you can confidentially report it to the 24-hour DOC emergency hotline 0800 DOC HOT (0800 362 468), or contact New Zealand Police.

NATIONAL KIWI HUI

his year’s kiwi hui was held at Muru Raupatu Marae, Ngāmotu New Plymouth, where kiwi conservation practitioners, tangata whenua kaitiaki, scientists, community groups, and advocates gathered to share knowledge and network in their pursuit of of increasing kiwi across the motu. Elvisa van der Leden, Forest & Bird’s conservation manager for Taranaki and Waikato attended as the Society’s representative on the National Kiwi Recovery Advisory Group. The three-day hui covered a range of topics, including looking at the effects of drought on kiwi populations, predator control methods, best practice guidelines, the importance of mātauranga Māori, research on dog owner attitudes, and an inspiring presentation about the collaborative kiwi mahi going on in Taranaki. Dr John McLennan shared stories and perspectives from his 40-year career working with kiwi. His messages of hope and the power of community in pursuit of conservation resonated with everyone. These hui are important in sharing updated research, knowledge, networks, and ideas for building stronger conservation practices and discovering new ways to empower communities to practice stewardship for nature, including vulnerable taonga species like kiwi. By Elvisa van der Leden Spring 2023

CENTENNIAL STORIES

CHILDREN IN

Auckland schoolchildren planting trees for Arbor Day, 1990. New Zealand Herald

CONSERVATION

Young people have played an important but overlooked role in conservation over the past 100 years, says Emma Graham.

hildren and their education are a key component in conservation practises in this country, and Forest & Bird has always made efforts to facilitate the involvement of youth in its conservation work. As a Masters student, I was interested in the impact of children in Aotearoa New Zealand’s environmental history over the past century but found that, despite children’s importance to conservation today, there had been little academic research on the topic. I chose two distinct time periods, 1923–1940 and 1988–2019, to look at why and how children were encouraged to become involved in advocating for nature – and whether this changed over time. I used Forest & Bird’s journals, correspondence, photographic archives, and newspaper articles as a basis for my research. By examining children’s standing in the oldest national conservation organisation, I discovered many continuities in the role children played in conservation over the past century but some key differences too. From 1923 until 1940, children’s involvement in environmental issues was encouraged but only when it aligned with other social, political, and economic agendas of the day. For example, planting a tree on Arbor Day was seen as a patriotic act, as well as being good for the birds and economy. Early conservationists did provide important, ongoing education specifically for children, allowing them to develop their own opinions and desires to be involved in conservation. Many went on to become lifelong nature champions. But there was a dramatic step change in Forest & Bird’s approach towards involving children in conservation in 1988, when it established the Kiwi Conservation Club, the first national children’s conservation organisation in Aotearoa.

Forest & Bird Te Reo o te Taiao

This was built on a very different foundation – the belief that with the right encouragement children could make meaningful environmental change themselves. This saw children taking on a role that was much less driven by adults and much more about their own sense of connection to the natural world. Then, in 2016, Forest & Bird’s Youth Hubs were established for 14–25 year olds. These groups are organised and led by young people. Although this change is indicative of progress, there is still work to be done – for example, by reviewing the way we teach children in schools about their role and importance in Aotearoa New Zealand’s conservation history. Perhaps our attitudes towards children in conservation need to change too, if we are to face the environmental challenges of the future with a fighting chance. If given the right support, children can be powerful voices for nature in their communities. In 2019, Forest & Bird awarded a Force of Nature history project scholarship and archive support to Masters student Emma Graham (née ten Have), of Te Herenga Waka Victoria University of Wellington, to research the contribution of children in Emma Graham environmental history. Emma delved into the Society’s archives for her 10,000-word research essay A century of Children’s Involvement in New Zealand Conservation: The Role of The Royal Forest and Bird Protection Society. The following pages are based on Emma’s research and findings.Thank you to environmental historian Dr James Beattie for supervising Emma’s research.

PLANTING A SEED

(1923–1940)

oday, there is a growing youth-led environmental Nevertheless, there remained a few bad eggs. One movement in Aotearoa New Zealand, but the newspaper article described a Taranaki teacher’s horror role of children in conservation is not new. at finding some of the boys in her class “swinging From its foundation in 1923, Forest & nestling birds by the head until they Bird focused on educating children were decapitated” (Bay of Plenty about nature. This kaupapa continued Beacon, 1940). The New Zealand throughout its history, evolving and The teacher questioned the children, Native Bird Protection adapting with the landscape itself. who replied that “their father had told Society has decided The early Forest and Bird prioritised them birds were no good”. She made wisely that bird-lovers children, who founder Ernest “Val” 12 of the boys members of Forest and are made as well as Sanderson described as possessing a Bird and instructed them to read the born. By devoting “natural sympathy” for wildlife, and he quarterly magazine. The boys later their attention to made every effort to reach out to them. became the driving force behind the schoolchildren, Boy Others supported him in this work, protection of native birds in the district. Scouts, country including his friend and Vice-President The School Journal, which was leaders, and especially Pérrine Moncrieff, ornithologist, bird established in 1907, always supported to the School Journal, advocate, and Girl Guide leader. Forest and Bird initiatives and the The Society offered a one shilling conservation cause in general. the members of the child membership and special rates for In Forest & Bird’s archives, there Society are creating families and schools, and campaigned are countless letters to Sanderson the sentiment without for a bird day in schools. Sanderson from various teachers asking him which laws are of very also published bird posters and books for literature and photos that will be little use. for children, while providing written appealing to children who are “keen (The Press, 1923). resources to teachers. naturalists”. One of its first child-focused Sanderson always responded publications was the poster Young New Zealanders enthusiastically. He provided information on what to Protect Your Birds! Published in 1923, it was sent to feed native birds in a child’s garden and identification 2000 schools and is the first instance of the Society of birds based on endeavouring to children’s descriptions show children and encouraged children what native birds to study their habits and looked like. form their own “Bird A dedicated Clubs” in schools. children’s page In 1928, Forest and was included in Bird established an its magazine from essay competition in its 1926, an initiative magazine for children of founder member to write about their own and Vice-President observation of a bird Arthur Messenger, and its habits. Some of a talented artist the winning essays were and writer. Later published, and the winner the Junior Section received a £5 prize. would be written An essay from by children the Chatham Islands themselves. emphasised the Cover of Birds magazine, 1930, Young New Zealanders poster, Perhaps the “shamefulness” of featuring Pérrine Moncrieff. 1923. Te Papa (CA000450) most pressing destroying the native issue for the early pigeon, pointing out their value in seed distribution. Forest and Bird was the need to put a stop to harm to Why did the early Society prioritise children so native birds by “young vandals”, including stealing adamantly? eggs. It achieved this by establishing bird clubs in The answer lies in the context of a newly settled schools and sparking an interest in their protection. country, which was heavily focused on breaking in the

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Spring 2023

CENTENNIAL STORIES land for farming and production, making adults difficult to reach with environmental issues, according to New Zealand historian Kirsty Ross. Adults who had a sense of connectedness to the land, and a desire to save it, turned to children, who, they reasoned, were more willing to listen and learn, Ross argued. As New Zealand-born Kiwis began to identify with indigenous nature, there was a growing sense of instilling into children a love of natural heritage as a way of ensuring they carried this patriotism into adulthood, says historian Paul Star. Sanderson’s ties to Scout groups in New Zealand and the Society’s support of planting initiatives, such as Arbor Day, were part of the movement to educate children about the environment as a form of patriotism. The New Zealand Scouts Association, which wanted to encourage a love of nature and respect for animals among its young members, formed an early alliance with Forest and Bird. It later created a bird warden proficiency badge. In the late 1920s, Sanderson wrote to Scouting leader Roy Nelson, later President of Forest and Bird, saying: “You will find the bird and forest work of great interest to the boys. It will be their work to look after them someday and we wish you every success.” Scout groups helped distribute the Society’s posters, taking them into the remote places. In 1932, Sanderson supplied them with posters and galvanised tacks so they could put them up in tramping huts and on trees where birds might be found. During his 20-year leadership of Forest and Bird, Sanderson repeatedly spoke, with a sense of urgency, of the need for adults to save New Zealand’s nature for their children. In 1938, he published a poster and advert featuring his daughter Ruth with the tagline Saving New Zealand for your children. Although a bird day in schools never eventuated, Val Sanderson’s daughter Ruth superimposed over native bush, 1938. the Society did Alexander Turnbull Library launch Bird Month in August 1931, and it ran for 15 years, a precursor, perhaps, to Bird of the Year. 38

Forest & Bird Te Reo o te Taiao

This poster was first published in 1929 and reprinted in 1934 in this lovely green colour. It was 2ft long. About 3000 were distributed with the School Journal in 1930s. The poster’s words were written by Sanderson and Leonard Cockayne, and its publication marked a shift in the Society’s focus from birds to include native forests. The wording invoked a call to patriotism and emphasised the importance of forests in supplying timber and for farming, birdlife, and our world class scenery. Alexander Turnbull Library

Over the first two decades of Forest and Bird, Val Sanderson and his fellow volunteers helped instil a love of nature in children, highlighted the need for environmental education to be included in schools, and created written and pictorial nature resources specifically for young people. The Society also worked with the Scouting movement, schools, and other organisations to encourage children’s participation in hands-on conservation activities, including planting and bird care efforts, while encouraging their parents to cherish their forests and birds for future generations. IN THE NEXT ISSUE: Emma Graham looks at the birth of Forest & Bird’s Kiwi Conservation Club, which prioritised child-centred conservation, an approach seen as a key milestone in environmental education in Aotearoa.

Pōhutukawa planted on Arbor Day 1934 flourishing in 2012. Wellington College Archives

From left Alex Greenwood, Kate Littin, Glen Denham, Eddie Fraser, Tai Renner. Caroline Wood

TŌTARA TRIBUTE

Wellington College organised a heartfelt ceremony in memory of Forest & Bird founder Ernest “Val” Sanderson and its legendary headmaster JP Firth.

al Sanderson was eight when he started as a paying pupil at Wellington College in 1874, the year the school opened at its current site next to Government House, in the capital. For the next 10 years, he would take the short walk from his family home, in Brougham Street, to attend classes. Sanderson, a keen cricketer, helped its longestserving headmaster JP Firth develop a muddy swampy ground into a sports field. The school and its grounds would have been a place of safety for Val and his brother Louis as their home life was unhappy, with a violent father. Joseph Firth had a hugely formative influence on all his boys, including the Sanderson brothers. He cared for them as individuals and encouraged them to take an interest in their own education. After retiring, Firth became a founder member of his former pupil’s Native Bird Protection Society of New Zealand, when it was established in 1923. He stressed the value of teaching children about nature, edited the fledgling magazine, and campaigned to restore Kāpiti Island. Firth died in 1931, and, when his wife Janet passed away in 1939, she left £100 to the Society, the equivalent of $17,000 today. Sanderson paid tribute to the couple, saying they were “enthusiasts for the conservation of New Zealand’s forest and bird life”. Wellington College Old Boys Association organised a commemorative tree-planting to mark Forest & Bird’s centennial. Our Wellington Branch donated the tōtara, which was raised from wild-collected seed in its Highbury Nursery. Volunteer Richard Grasse, who taught at

Wellington College for 10 years, manages the nursery. A plaque in memory of Sanderson and JP Firth was blessed and unveiled. Old Boys Association President Ted Thomas said: “We wanted to pay tribute to Val Sanderson, one of our early conservationists and founder of Forest & Bird, who has played an important role in the history of New Zealand. He is another of our 33,000 Old Boys to have made a significant contribution to the nation. “Val also made a significant contribution in helping our longest-serving Headmaster JP Firth (1892-1920) develop what was a muddy, swampy ground to the sports field the College has today. The link between the two continued long after Firth retired in 1920 as Sanderson battled with government departments to restore Kāpiti Island.” Wellington Branch chair Kate Littin, whose son Eddie Fraser is a pupil at the school, thanked the Old Boys Association, college archivist Mike Pallin, headmaster Glen Denham, and the prefect team led by headboy Tai Renner for a wonderful tribute. The tree-planting took place 89 years to the day that national Arbor Day was re-established by Elizabeth Gilmer, a Forest & Bird Vice President, as a way of engaging children in a love of New Zealand’s flora and fauna, and promoting responsible citizenship. Gilmer, who was the daughter of Prime Minister Richard Seddon, organised for a tree planting to take place at Wellington College, and used her contacts to invite the Governor-General Lord Bledisloe, who popped over from Government House to attend. Forest & Bird sent three representatives to the event on 1 August 1934, including Val Sanderson. Together with many enthusiastic shovel-wielding pupils, they planted the pōhutukawa trees still flourishing today in front of the school, outside Firth Hall (see image left).

Arbor Day at “Coll”, 1 August 1934.

Wellington College Archives

Spring 2023

MARINE Spiny sea dragon.

Sea dragons THERE BE

A natural phenomenon called deepwater emergence makes Piopiotahi Milford Sound one of the most unique dive sites in the world. Simone McKirdy

Spiny dog shark.

Forest & Bird Te Reo o te Taiao

Sea dragon.

Crayfish and black coral.

āori were the first visitors to Piopiotahi about 750 years ago. To them, Milford Sound was a sacred place, and tribes would trek there over massive mountain passes to go hunting and collecting precious pounamu and mahinga kai. Piopiotahi means “a single piopio”. When Māui died trying to win immortality for his people, an olive-brown songbird, now extinct, was seen to have flown over the legendary hero in mourning. Today, Milford Sound is one of New Zealand’s most famous destinations, dubbed the eighth wonder of the world. Visitors marvel over its lofty sea cliffs, spectacular waterfalls, densely covered native forest, and the striking Mitre Peak rising straight up from the water’s edge to 1683m. The magic on the surface doesn’t stop under the water. A phenomenon called “deepwater emergence” makes Milford Sound a most unusual and beautiful dive site, offering a unique chance to see black coral, sea dragons, lamp shells, and other wondrous marine creatures. Piopiotahi Milford Sound is one of the wettest places on earth, with about 7m to 9m of rainfall per year. The abundant freshwater that cascades down the mountains absorbs tannins from the forest floor as it moves. This is what stains the water the colour of Darjeeling tea. Once the freshwater reaches the ocean, it sits as a thick layer on top of the saltwater. This creates a browncoloured layer that acts as a light blocker, and animals that normally inhabit deeper, darker waters can live in much shallower depths here at Piopiotahi. One of the world’s largest populations of black coral trees (about 7 million colonies), some of which are 300 years old, live here. Normally, these are found at depths that cannot be accessed by recreational divers – between 200m and 1000m. At Piopiotahi, they can be found at 8m deep and can be safely dived. Despite their name, only the skeleton of black coral is black. The trees are actually white. They are covered by a thin layer of pale living tissue that connects millions of tiny individual white polyps only 1mm in size.

Black coral.

Red coral is another protected species found at Pipiotahi. It is a hydrocoral made up of separate individuals, each with its own feeding and defence system. Usually, hydrocorals grow in the deep ocean, but in Milford Sound they can be observed from depths of 15m. Another special group of creatures found in the fiords are the brachiopods, or lamp shells, clam-like animals that are sometimes called “living fossils”, as they are among the oldest groups of hard-shelled organisms, dating back more than 500 million years.

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ONLINE SHOP Grab a limited edition centennial hoodie ($125+p&p) while stocks last. Our online shop features handpicked gifts for the nature lover in your life, including prints, jewellery, cards, and books. Every sale raises funds for Forest & Bird’s conservation work and supports a New Zealand eco-business. Shop for nature at shop.forestandbird.org.nz.

Red coral.

Spring 2023

MARINE

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Many other animals and organisms call Milford Sound home. There are sea dragons, who normally roam the deep, and the ever-present butterfly perch that love the shelter afforded by the black coral trees. Divers also encounter a variety of fish and other marine species, including spiny dog sharks, carpet sharks, wrasses, blue cod, jock stewarts, tarakihi, octopus, crayfish, eels, seahorses, tubeworms, sponges, and sea squirts, just to name a few. If you look closely, you may spot nudibranchs in vivid colours and various species of seastars, including feather stars, biscuit stars, brittle stars, snake stars, and the eleven-armed starfish! Then there are the Jason’s nudibranch and marine mammals, girdled wrasse. including kekeno New Zealand fur seal, that live at Milford Sound and are often playful and curious to see where the diver’s bubbles come from. Bottlenose dolphins are regular visitors, as are the rare tawaki Fiordland crested penguins, who return annually to the same nesting sites on the water’s edge to raise their young. Simone McKirdy is a diving instructor, skipper, and owner of Descend Diving. Photos courtesy Descend Diving.

Seven-armed starfish.

Forest & Bird Te Reo o te Taiao

PIOPIOTAHI DIVING GUIDE

he Piopiotahi Milford Sound marine reserve, established in 1993, recognises the uniqueness of the underwater habitat. It was one of the first marine reserves in Fiordland and covers an area of 690ha along the northern side of the Milford Sound. The fiord operates in a continuous cycle of rain and sunny days. The freshwater layer is thicker directly after rain, then thins out until the next rainy day. On average, the freshwater layer is about 1–3m thick. Dive sites vary from inner fiord to outer fiord sites. Inner fiord sites generally have a thicker freshwater layer and are home to deepwater species. Outer fiord dive sites and dive sites around the entrance bring both open ocean species and inner fiord deepwater species together in an amazing display of marine vitality. There are many advanced steep wall dive sites, with some walls plummeting to as deep as 200m. A few shallow reefs provide good starting points for less experienced divers to work towards the steep rock walls. Diving is good all year round, with different species visiting at various times of the year. Spring months bring the chance to see tawaki and migrating humpback whales. Summer months boast plenty of fish life, and, with water warming up in December, sightings of pelagic species such as kingfish, eagle, and stingrays increase. Autumn is probably the best time for diving, as the water is warm and most species can be seen in and around the fiords. The later winter months bring calm days and good diving. For more information, contact Descend Diving Milford Sound at www.descend.co.nz.

Mirror Lakes Walk, off the Milford Road. Lizzy Sutcliffe

RETHINKING PIOPIOTAHI TOURISM

The Milford Opportunities Project is exploring ways to do tourism differently at Piopiotahi and along the Milford Road. Lizzy Sutcliffe

n the future, international visitors could be charged to visit Piopiotahi Milford Sound, travelling there on low-carbon hopon, hop-off buses. Insead of rushing to reach the road end, travellers would take time to connect with area’s magical nature and rich cultural heritage. These are some of the 10 key recommendations sugested in a sustainable tourism masterplan for the area, with feedback currently being sought from the public. The aim is to relieve the pressure of tourists on the natural environment and limited infrastructure in this remote World Heritage Area. From 2012 to 2018, the number of visitors undertaking a boat tour at Piopiotahi more than doubled from 437,000 to 883,000. Many of these were day-trippers from Queenstown spending eight hours of their day in a bus or car. In 2017, the Department of Conservation and Southland District Council raised the flag to say new thinking was required to protect the area’s conservation values and deliver a safer, deeper visitor experience. This led to the establishment of the Milford Opportunities

Project, a government-funded initiative to think about how to best to implement a self-funded, sustainable tourism system paid for by visitors. In 2021, the project released a masterplan for better managing the area that seeks to: n protect the place now and into the future n intertwine iwi culture and history n slow the journey down with quality experiences n modernise infrastructure n remove congestion and visitor conflict points n create a better funding model. “It is exciting to have visitors fund long-term conservation projects, building on the area’s natural and cultural heritage” says Programme Director Chris Goddard. “It is important local residents and New Zealand taxpayers see benefits to conservation from visitors to this icon of Aotearoa, with the costs of visitors appropriately covered.” The Milford Opportunities Project is carrying out engagement and research into how New Zealanders want Piopiotahi to be managed and how they and international visitors want to

enjoy the place. “We’re looking at the options and testing with iwi, community, recreation, tourism operators, and many other groups on how we might achieve tangible regenerative tourism outcomes for the community and place,” added Chris. “People tell us they see the need for a long-term vision, but we are also hearing that this change must not come at a cost to the essence of this place – extraordinary remote natural and cultural heritage.” This feasibility testing work is due to be completed by 30 June 2024, with a business case delivered to the Ministerial Oversight Group, which includes Conservation and Tourism Ministers and the Associate Minister of Transport. Cabinet will be the final decision-maker on any recommendations.

GET INVOLVED

If you have feedback or context for the project team or would like to find out more, they would love to hear from you. Go to www.milfordopportunities. nz or get in touch contactus@ milfordopportuniteis.nz.

Spring 2023

STRONG VOICE FOR NATURE

FOREST & BIRD

CENTENNIAL

AWARDS

2023

Distinguished Life Membership is Forest & Bird’s highest award and is given in recognition of exceptional long-term service in advancing conservation and the organisation’s objectives, especially at a national level.

Forest & Bird Te Reo o te Taiao

evin Hague, who was Forest & Bird’s chief executive from 2016 to 2022, made a huge contribution to conservation in Aotearoa through his work as an activist-advocate, thought leader, and MP. Kevin’s interest in nature started as a child in England. After his family moved to New Zealand when he was 13, he became fascinated by our unique animal and plant life. Later, he protested the 1981 Springbok tour, called for gay rights, and engaged in outdoor recreation and conservation issues. His later career choices, including prominent roles in the health sector, all stemmed from a belief that taking care of the environment that sustains us is intertwined with looking after each other. Serving as Green MP from 2008, Kevin was conservation spokesperson from November 2009 to December 2011 and from July 2015 to October 2016, when he resigned to join Forest & Bird. President Mark Hanger says Kevin’s advocacy, and managerial and strategic skills, were invaluable, as were his political connections and access to government decision-makers. These helped Forest & Bird achieve important conservation victories during his five-year leadership. As the Greens’ conservation spokesperson, Kevin highlighted cuts the then government was making to Department of Conservation funding, raising awareness of the impact on endangered species, and track and hut maintenance. “I think this probably created the platform for the major increase in investment that we saw when Eugenie Sage was the Minister. That’s an issue where I feel I did raise public consciousness,” he said. Kevin says he is proud of several Forest & Bird achievements during his leadership, including the successful legal battle to stop the Ruataniwha dam and the Society’s campaign at the start of the Covid pandemic to invest in nature, resulting in the government’s $1.2B Jobs for Nature programme. Kevin is again working in the health sector but remains a proud Forest & Bird member and is gearing up to help campaign against plans to mine ilmenite at Barrytown Flats on the West Coast, where he lives.

Neil Silverwood

50 YEARS AND COUNTING Ann and Basil Graeme, of Tauranga, have been awarded Forest & Bird’s highest honour for their outstanding half-century of work for conservation nationally and locally.

nn and Basil have been relentless voices for nature, serving as Forest & Bird branch volunteers, working in pivotal staff roles, and carrying out other conservation work all over the country. Since the mid-1970s, the couple has played leading roles in saving native forests, protecting marine environments, and controlling animal and plant pests. Their successful campaigns included successfully opposing destructive developments, including the discharge of treated sewerage into Tauranga Harbour in the 1970s, clearance of Kaimai Mamaku native forest for pine plantations, and development of Tauranga’s wetlands. The Graemes have also been prominent pest control and restoration projects in the Bay of Plenty. Now in their 80s, they continue to keep track of developments that threaten nature, make submissions, and maintain bait lines. “I find their energy inspiring. They set incredibly high standards for themselves,” says Forest & Bird President Mark Hanger. “They’ve got guts and are not afraid to stand up in pretty hostile rooms and speak up for conservation.” Basil’s work on native forest clearance helped lead

to the Tasman Accord in 1989 and 1991’s New Zealand Forest Accord, which ended clearance of native forest for plantation forestry. Ann was the coordinator for the Kiwi Children’s Club from 1992, and she edited the KCC magazine Wild Things for more than 20 years until 2013. Working with illustrator Tim Galloway, she engaged the curiosity of children and nurtured a new generation of conservationists. Her deep knowledge of Aotearoa’s natural world captivates adults too in the popular articles she regularly writes for Forest & Bird magazine. Ann and Basil shared Forest & Bird’s Central North Island field officer role from 1988 into the late 1990s. During all of their conservation activism and volunteering, they have been a team. In 2006, they initiated the successful Aongatete Forest Project in the Kaimai Mamaku Forest Park, which carries out pest control and restoration work over 500ha. Basil said he and Ann were tremendously grateful to receive the award but added they stood on the shoulders of many conservation experts and leaders, as well as dedicated Forest & Bird members. Ann added they had always enjoyed what they did, even when it was hard and stressful. “Forest & Bird enabled us to do so many things we couldn’t have done otherwise, and we’ve met a lot of lovely people and been to many special places,“ she said. The Graemes aren’t the types to dwell on past successes, but they do feel pleasure when they drive past an area of native forest they helped save. “The forest is still standing, and we contributed to saving it. That feels great,” Ann said. Another important legacy is their three daughters Kate, Meg, and Claire, who are all involved in conservation and environmental roles. Kate is Forest & Bird’s Deputy President.

Spring 2023

FOREST & BIRD

CENTENNIAL

AWARDS

2023

The Kōtuku Award is presented to an individual or group outside Forest & Bird who has made an outstanding contribution to environmental management or guardianship in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Raukūmara Pae Maunga conservation team celebrate scooping the Kōtuku Award for kaitiakitanga.

Te Raukūmara Pae Maunga was awarded the Kōtuku Award for an ambitious project to restore the health of a huge area of native forest.

n iwi-led conservation initiative has scooped Forest & Bird’s prestigious Kōtuku award for its work to restore the mauri and mana of 150,000ha of native forest in the Raukūmara Range, in the east of the North Island. Raukūmara Pae Maunga is a joint project of Te Whānau-ā-Apanui iwi, of the Eastern Bay of Plenty, and Ngāti Porou iwi, of the East Coast, in collaboration with the Department of Conservation. The ambitious goal is to restore the health of wildlife and forest of Raukūmara, which has been devastated by introduced animals, including deer, goats, possums, stoats, and rats. It is an iwi-led response to the crisis that brought Raukūmara to the brink of ecological collapse. Ora Barlow-Tukaki, of Te Whānau-ā-Apanui, said there was a passion among the people to understand what was happening to the ngahere forest so it could be healed. “When you hear that ultimate truth, you have to act in a courageous way,” she said. “Where we feel right now is really at the beginning of our time to heal the Raukūmara. We’re living in a fairly silent forest, but there is a determination by us to do right by a forest that’s really been failed by the conservation system.” As well as destroying the health of the forest,

Forest & Bird Te Reo o te Taiao

introduced predators and browsers have worsened the effects of floods and damaged the mauri of local rivers. The vision is to restore the land for future generations, says Orla. “To return it to how it was in the days of our tīpuna – the mana and mauri of te Raukūmara restored to again thrive, flourish, and nurture all who are connected to it. A ngahere that is protected for our mokopuna to come.” The Raukūmara Pae Maunga project has been getting into full swing this year with on-the-ground predator control, deer and goat aerial culling, 1080 applications, and monitoring work. One of the project’s key aims is to share skills and knowledge among iwi members and create local jobs. Forest & Bird Deputy President Kate Graeme said Te Raukūmara Pae Maunga had put enormous time and effort into communicating with local hapū and communities and working to secure government funding. “Te Raukūmara Pae Maunga has been exceptional in explaining the implications of introduced pests on the vulnerable native forest, problem solving, and rallying support to control the introduced invasive species. “All the people who fall within the cloak of Te Raukūmara Pae Maunga are environmental warriors, and we recognise and celebrate them for their work to restore the mauri and mana of the ngahere.”

Te Kaiārahi Rangatahi o te Taiao award recognises young people who are developing as outstanding conservation leaders.

niversity student Ella Peoples, of Christchurch, won Te Kaiārahi Rangatahi o te Taiao for her dedication and leadership in Forest & Bird Youth, including practical conservation work and encouraging other young people to join. She served on the national committee, was founding editor of Forest & Bird Youth’s national newsletter, set up the Southern Hub for Otago and Southland, and organised many plantings and other conservation projects. Ella said being involved in Forest & Bird Youth was a powerful way to counter negative news about the environment and climate change. It has also boosted her confidence and made her realise she is capable of more than she thought possible. “Forest & Bird Youth is so good because you can go outside and you can do something to help with the environment rather than just thinking it’s all terrible and there’s nothing I can do. It gives you the opportunity to take action,” she said.

Youth’s national co-director Connor Wallace said Ella led the organising of many successful events, including tree planting on Banks Peninsula and the Christchurch Red Zone, riparian plantings, and litter clean ups. “Ella’s ability to coordinate and inspire others is one of the primary reasons for the continuing success of our Christchurch Hub,” he said. “Over the past five years, she has been one of Forest & Bird Youth’s most active, determined, and capable leaders. Our network would not be the same without her.” Ella, who is fascinated by whales and sea turtles, hopes to start post-graduate work in marine conservation next year. As a child, her surfing father told her stories of the pods of Hector’s dolphins he encountered in waters near their Christchurch home. “Working with endangered marine species is my dream, doing conservation and research,” she says, adding that she hopes to have an influence on policy in the future, providing information to guide decisionmaking.

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Youth award winner Ella Peoples

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Spring 2023

FOREST & BIRD

CENTENNIAL

AWARDS

2023

OLD BLUES

Forest & Bird’s Old Blue conservation award commemorates the last breeding female black robin, which saved her species from extinction in the 1980s.

ACTIVATING OTHERS

nnalily van den Broeke, chair of Waitākere Branch, has been honoured for her exceptional contribution to protecting and enhancing nature in West Auckland and the wider region. She played a leading role in setting up predatorcontrol buffer zones around conservation projects in the Waitākere Ranges. Her enthusiasm and communication skills have also been invaluable in volunteer recruitment. The Old Blue award comes little over a decade after Annalily arrived from the Netherlands and “burst onto” the conservation landscape in West Auckland. “Her standout strengths are enthusiasm, capacity for hard work, and particularly her people skills. She has a real gift for communicating with people both face to face and online,” said founding branch chair John Staniland. After initially volunteering at Ark in the Park, Annalily joined the Waitākere Branch committee and was appointed chair in 2017. Annalily played a leading role in managing and fundraising for the 37ha Matuku Link area of wetland and bush. She is also an active participant in the

Auckland branch chairs’ forum. “I’m particularly proud of Matuku Link because there are so many Forest & Bird members involved. It’s a very active project, and it is next to our branch’s Matuku Reserve,” said Annalily. Past Old Blue winners John Staniland, John Sumich, and Chris Bindon are still active in the Branch, and they, and other dedicated branch members, have been an inspiration to Annalily. “Out here in West Auckland, we still have opportunities to connect more people with the environment, especially now so many tracks have been closed due to kauri dieback and the cyclones. “I think there is a real pent-up demand for people to engage with nature, and we want to turn those people into conservationists.” Annalily paid tribute to prominent branch member Robert Woolf, who died earlier this year. He persuaded her to join the branch committee. “He would have been incredibly proud I had received the Old Blue,” she added.

WORKING TOGETHER

rant Vincent, chair of Gisborne Branch, has made a huge contribution to conservation in Tairāwhiti over nearly five decades. A member of Forest & Bird since the mid-1970s Grant has made numerous submissions and advocated for conservation in district council meetings and local media. He also instigated an important project to protect Gray’s Bush Reserve. “The backing and support of so many people over the years has kept me going because it has been a struggle at times,” Grant said. Gisborne Tairāwhiti Forest & Bird members, the organisation’s professional and legal staff, and neighbouring branches have all provided crucial support. “To know we have the back up of a strong organisation like Forest & Bird is very special. There’s so many people that keep me motivated.” Long-time branch secretary Barry Foster said Grant had been a real champion for Forest & Bird and was well known in the region for his conservation work. “He’s a very easy-going guy who gets on with a wide range of people. He’s got a lot of integrity, a sense of

Forest & Bird Te Reo o te Taiao

humour, and a positive attitude,” he said. Land use, including forestry, has been a recurrent issue that Grant has campaigned on. The impact of insufficient rules and enforcement was starkly evident in the land erosion and slash caused by recent storms and floods. For the past eight years, Grant has been Forest & Bird’s representative on Te Tapuwae o Rongokako Marine Reserve Committee, which provides advice to the Department of Conservation. He has also campaigned for stronger controls on vehicles and dogs disrupting the nesting of New Zealand dotterels on Gisborne beaches. Grant instigated a branch weed and pest control programme at a DOC reserve, Gray’s Bush, near Gisborne in 2010. The project continues to protect 12ha of nationally rare kahikatea and pūriri forest. Grant, who has been branch chair for 12 years, is also well known for writing about conservation issues, especially 1080 and pest control, in The Gisborne Herald.

CLARITY OF FOCUS

athy Gilbert was awarded her Old Blue for exceptional service to conservation on the West Coast, including serving as local branch chair for 15 years. She has been closely involved in many issues of local and national importance, including wetland protection, stopping new mines on public conservation land, and the recent stewardship land review. Kathy said the West Coast was an amazing place and she was proud to have worked with other branch members and Forest & Bird staff to protect its natural treasures. “There is so much at stake here in the West Coast environment that is also important for all of Aotearoa New Zealand,” she said. Kathy first became involved with the Society when she started a group that joined forces with Forest & Bird and the Department of Conservation to protect Shearer Swamp near where she and her partner live. The legal battle took more than nine years but led to stronger protections for West Coast wetlands. Kathy realised she shared the objectives and philosophy of Forest & Bird and became involved in the Branch. “I believe this is a wonderful organisation with great strength and a clarity of focus,” she said.

The West Coast Branch covers more than 500km, and there have been no lack of controversial development issues for Kathy to keep on top of. These include mining on the Denniston Plateau, where Forest & Bird held a bioblitz in 2012, and last year’s review of huge swathes of DOC stewardship land. Nicky Snoyink, Forest & Bird’s regional conservation manager for Canterbury and the West Coast, said Kathy had done an amazing job as branch chair. “I think Kathy’s superpower is bringing people together and keeping them together. She’s got a very good handle on the environmental and political situation on the Coast.” Kathy is standing down as branch chair and looking forward to spending more time watching the sun set through the canopy of kahikatea trees on her property.

30 YEARS OF SERVICE

ocelyn Sanders has been honoured for her outstanding service to conservation and Auckland’s North Shore Branch, including encouraging children to learn to love nature. She served for 30 years as secretary – the longest period served by an office holder in the Branch’s history. Her role extended far beyond taking meeting minutes and dealing with administration. She organised trips, helped organise the children’s Kiwi Conservation Club, and, in her role as a teacher, ran the Enviroschool group at Birkenhead School. Former branch chair Claire Stevens described Jocelyn as “one of those incredibly energetic people who makes you wonder how they find the time for all the wonderful things they do for conservation”. Jocelyn, who stood down as branch secretary

this year, says the three decades have flown by. “When I first became secretary, the then branch chairman called me ‘young Jocelyn’. No-one calls me that now,” she jokes. She and her husband have been actively involved in branch projects, including planting at Motuora Island and Tuff Crater. She is proud to have worked with other branch members to protect and restore nature in Auckland over the last three decades. “To have seen Tuff Crater go from nothing to what it is today is amazing,” she said of the restoration planting, weeding, and pest-control project near the motorway on the northern side of the Harbour Bridge. “What’s kept me going is working with a lot of passionate people.” Jocelyn remains active with the Branch and is also volunteering for Restore Hibiscus & Bays conservation project, which manages an area of swamp maire in Bushglen Reserve, Brown’s Bay. Two decades earlier, Jocelyn was the main submitter for the Forest & Bird branch in advocating for the swamp maire to be protected from development. When Jocelyn finds time, she patrols her local area, removing weeds such as moth plant and wild ginger. Spring 2023

IN THE FIELD

Daddy long-legs Pholcus phalangioides.

WEBS OF INTRIGUE

Spiders play a huge part in keeping our natural world in balance, and their webs can be works of art. Ann Graeme. Bryce McQuillan

like spiders. They are weird and beautiful in themselves, and they play a vital role in the big picture of the natural world. Spiders eat enormous numbers of insects, many of which are pests. But we treat them harshly. We destroy their habitats, assault them with pollutants, and poison them with insecticides. I let spiders be – and the daddy long-legs spiders repay me by leaving poop on the paintwork, dusty webs on the ceiling, and their dinner leftovers on the windowsills.

Daddy long-legs catches its prey in a messy tangleweb.

Forest & Bird Te Reo o te Taiao

Above the computer, there is the big daddy long-legs, resting upside down in her messy web in the corner. She is carrying an egg sac in her mouth. Oh dear, I don’t want all those little spiderlings in the house, but there is no point in taking her outside. She is a house spider. As the fly swat approaches, she senses the threat. She’s frightened. She begins to whirl frantically around and around, hoping to distract me. Then she drops to the ground and runs away on her spindly legs. I’ll never catch her. If I had been a fly, sticking and struggling in the web, the spider would have come closer, fending me off with her long front legs while flinging lengths of silk over me, so I became helpless. Then, when I was immobilised, she would have injected me with digestive juices. Wrapped in a silken mummy, inside the cauldron of my exoskeleton, I’d be dissolved into soup for the spider to suck

up or save for later. Gruesome perhaps, but this is how spiders, which cannot chew, eat their food. All spiders are predators and can deliver venom from their fangs. The daddy long-legs doesn’t need to use it on flies, thanks to its food parcel strategy, but if it did bite me (and it would prefer to run away) I would scarcely notice. A dose of venom that would be lethal to an insect is only a local irritant to a large animal like me. Only two species in Aotearoa – the endangered native katipo and the introduced redback – are seriously dangerous to people, and your chance of meeting them is remote.

Ladder web spider.

piders have a special gift. They can spin silk and use it to make a shelter, to wrap their eggs, to travel from place to place, or as a safety line if they fall. But to us, spider silk is most visible in the webs they build to catch their prey. Every spider has a web-building plan, refined by natural selection and hard-wired into its genes. The daddy long-legs and grey house spider build cobwebs, messy threedimensional structures that often take advantage of the corners of ceilings. In terms of architecture, engineering, and sheer beauty, orbwebs are the clear winners. Strong and stretchy, orbwebs can catch a fast-flying insect without being ripped apart or letting the prey escape.

The orb web spider builds the spokes first, then weaves the spirals, spacing them apart by using the distance between the tips of its back legs and the spinnerets on its abdomen as a ruler. Recent research suggests other spider webs evolved from the ancient orbweb’s design, including the ladderweb, where the spider builds the legs first then fills the gaps with wonky steps. Many of us have seen giant sheetwebs in the bush. Sheet web spiders build a trampoline strung between tree trunks, a net into which flying insects tumble when they bump into the guy ropes above it. Spider silk is built to last. It contains protein, and takes a lot of metabolic energy to produce so some spiders recycle it by eating

their damaged webs. I wish they would eat the webs around my house, but perhaps the abandoned dusty webs are not their fault. A spider’s life is full of hazards, and they may have become prey themselves. Maybe house spiders stretch our tolerance too far, but we can admire native spiders outside in the garden or the wild. They play a major role in our natural world.

Cambridgea foliata sheetweb spider.

Female Badumna sp Grey house spider.

Female Colaranea verutum endemic green orb web spider.

Spring 2023

CENTENNIAL STORIES

DEFINING THE WILDERNESS

Forest & Bird was the largest environmental group in the country by 1975 and carried considerable political clout with a membership that included experts in practically every field of conservation and science. Donations came pouring in, and the Society was able to appoint its first full-time conservation officer, David Collingwood. Over the next four decades, there would be plenty of passionate advocacy as volunteers, donors, and staff responded to the loss of swathes of native habitat. In Part 3 of our history of Forest & Bird (1980 to the present day), we look at the fights for the land oceans, rivers, climate, and the hearts and minds of New Zealanders. Caroline Wood

Logging at Whirinaki Forest.

Forest & Bird Archives

FIGHT FOR THE FORESTS

he haunting call of the South Island kōkako had fallen silent in the 1960s, with the last confirmed sighting in 1967. In 1979, Forest & Bird’s David Collingwood appointed a young post-graduate student called Rod Hay to carry out research into the impact of logging on North Island kōkako in Pureora, central North Island. This led to his groundbreaking discovery that possums were omnivores that predated the chicks of the North Island kōkako. Hay’s research ensured

Forest & Bird Te Reo o te Taiao

the end of logging in Pureora in 1982, closing three of four mills in the district. The fight for the forests was building up steam. Conservationists working through the Native Forests Action Council (NFAC), Federated Mountain Clubs, and Forest & Bird led mass protests to stop indigenous forest being chopped down all over the motu. They saved South Okarito and Waikukupa State Forests from logging in 1982, followed by the remnant podocarp treasures of Pureora and Whirinaki in 1984. The signing of the West Coast Accord in 1986 provided for the protection of a large proportion of the West

Coast’s publicly owned rainforests. With donations flooding in from worried New Zealanders who wanted to see their native forests saved, the Society could afford to employ highly skilled conservation advocates, people such as Kevin Smith and Gerry McSweeney. Over the next two decades, the pair notched up countless protections for the high country and used the power of Forest & Bird’s large support base to negotiate the landmark 1991 New Zealand Forest Accord. The agreement, which was signed by conservation groups, including Forest & Bird, and the forestry industry, led to the end of the practice of native forest clearance on private land in favour of exotic pine plantations.

North Island kōkako. John Parker Maddox

WHAT’S UP DOC!

Native Forest Action protest, Charleston, 1998. Forest & Bird Archives

ATTEMPTED TAKEOVER

here was another fight afoot during this time – one for the heart and soul of the Society. Its leadership came under pressure from a new generation of conservationists who wanted Forest & Bird to be more radical and less cosy with government. An attempted merger between Forest & Bird and the Native Forests Action Council was narrowly avoided in the early 1980s but shook the 60-year-old society to its core. What emerged was a newly invigorated organisation, more professional and ambitious, and backed by 40,000 paid-up members. Encouraging children to become conservationists of the future was seen as a priority by the Society. In 1988, it founded Aotearoa New Zealand’s first national children’s conservation group – the Kiwi Conservation Club. It was very popular and new groups sprang up all over the country run by volunteers, who ensured its activities and nature advocacy were child-centred. The Society also launched Wild Things magazine with content designed to encourage children to become wildlife champions. It is still the only locally published nature periodical for children.

he huge shake up of New Zealand’s environmental legislation in the 1980s and 1990s led to the establishment of the Department of Conservation, Department for the Environment, Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment, the Conservation Act, and crucially the Resource Management Act enshrining the notion of “sustainability” in law. Forest & Bird’s national conservation officer, Gerry McSweeney, spearheaded a group of e-NGOs who worked together over several years to advocate for a national nature agency to protect nature at scale. This led to the establishment of the Department of Conservation in 1987, securing one-third of New Zealand’s land mass Gerry McSweeney into the public conservation estate. In the historic legislation establishing DOC, Val Sanderson’s “Unity of Control” objective had finally been realised. But the Society discovered large chunks of land with high natural values had been misallocated and were at

Conservation Week poster, 2011. DOC

risk of being sold off for farming and timber. The crisis took priority over everything else, and staff, with huge support from members and nearly every branch, worked frantically for six weeks to map all the misallocations (3000 in total) and catalogue them in a 250-page report known as the Crown Land Catalogue. It was presented to Environment Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Geoffrey Palmer on 16 June 1987. He accepted its findings, and 600,000ha was reallocated to the public conservation estate.

WORLD HERITAGE

orest & Bird worked in partnership with the newly established DOC and Ngāi Tahu to achieve New Zealand’s first UNESCO World Heritage Site Te Wāhipounamu in South Westland. The Society sought to win the hearts and minds of New Zealanders by publishing, in 1987, a book called Forests, Fiords & Glaciers: The Case for a South-West New Zealand World Heritage Site Forest & Bird with stunning images supplied by its members, including the legendary landscape photographer Craig Potton. West Coast author and poet Keri Hulme (Kāi Tahu, Kāti Māmoe) added a strong indigenous voice to the campaign by penning a chapter for the book. The Booker Prize-winning writer was a lifelong conservationist and long-time Forest & Bird member. Te Wāhipounamu, the “greenstone waters”, was established in 1990. It encompassed 2.6 million hectares, almost 10% of New Zealand’s total land area, including four national parks: Westland Tai Poutini, Aoraki Mount Cook, Mount Aspiring, and Fiordland. Forest & Bird’s followed Spring 2023

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CENTENNIAL STORIES this huge success by continuing to press for similar recognition for other areas. This advocacy would lead to World Heritage status for the sub-Antarctic islands in 1998. The five island groups (the Snares, Bounty Islands, Antipodes Islands, Auckland Islands, and Campbell Island), in the Southern Ocean south-east of New Zealand, have a high level of bird, plant, and invertebrate endemism. They are particularly notable for the large number and diversity of pelagic seabirds and penguins that nest there. Founder Val Sanderson, who unsuccessfully lobbied for stronger protections for the Auckland Islands in 1924, would have been proud.

electric schemes. In 1988, under the inspired leadership of President Keith Chapple (1996-2001), the Society fought against the renewal of water takes for the already built Tongariro Power Scheme. Chapple managed to persuade a planning tribunal to heed Māori and conservationists’ concerns over the proposed minimum water flows in the Whanganui and Whakapapa Rivers. His 25-year campaign to return water to both rivers included the longest Environment Court case in New Zealand’s history, with Chapple, a boiler attendant, taking on the role of Forest & Bird’s legal advocate during the hearing. He went on to mastermind the establishment of a whio blue duck trust in the early 2000s with the Department of Conservation and Genesis Energy. This led to successful projects to save whio in the Whanganui and Taranaki areas. Later, in 2011, Forest & Bird played a major role in saving the wild Mōkihinui River from being dammed for a new hydro-electricity scheme.

SAVING THE SEAS

I Keith Chapple, Whakapapa Intake, 1990. Credit Forest & Bird Archives

PROTECTING WILD RIVERS

s economic development continued to trump (and trash) nature, huge areas of land were being destroyed in New Zealand and around the world, particularly freshwater habitats. Wetlands were disappearing at a rapid pace to make way for farm pasture and once wild rivers dammed and destroyed for hydro-

Forest & Bird Te Reo o te Taiao

n 1989, Forest & Bird launched its Coastal Campaign on a Wellington beach, calling for an end to marine pollution and overfishing, more marine reserves, and controls to prevent the deaths of seals and sea lions. During the 1990s, Forest & Bird’s staff, branches, and supporters were increasingly drawn into a new and relatively uncharted conservation battleground – the ocean. New technology allowed fishers to go further and fish deeper, creating new environmental problems – the loss of healthy habitat, less fish abundance, and seabirds and marine mammals killed as bycatch. The Society responded to this crisis with a series of ambitious policy asks calling for large networks of marine reserves, strong protection

Coastal Campaign launch, Wellington, 1989. Paul Estcourt/NZ Herald

in law for all ocean life, ecosystembased fisheries management, and an end to destructive deepsea mining and trawling. It was also leading by example with conservation at-place. In 1981, Forest & Bird had used bequest funds to buy land at Te Rere, in the Catlins, to protect a hoiho yelloweyed penguin breeding colony. It was the first of several southern seabird projects managed by the Otago, Southland, and Dunedin branches. Forest & Bird’s advocacy also led to the creation of new marine reserves in Auckland, the Bay of Plenty, North Taranaki, Whangārei Harbour, Wellington, and Nelson. Campaigns to protect Māui and Hector’s dolphins, albatrosses, and penguins followed. Forest Best Fish Guide & Bird’s hugely 2017 popular Best Fish Guide was first published in 2004, with three further versions to 2017. As New Zealand’s only independent consumer guide to ecologically caught seafood, it used a simple traffic-light system to rank more than 85 commercial seafood species but was actually based on hours of painstaking fish catch data analysis.

CLIMATE CALLS

n 1991, Forest & Bird’s membership peaked at 62,000 before beginning to fall away as the great fights for the forests were won. Its leadership turned its focus to climate issues. Ahead of the 1990 general election, the Society launched its Go Easy on the Earth campaign and issued an environmental challenge to all political parties. It published a political manifesto with 10 ways to “fix the planet”. This campaign marked the start of three decades of climate-focused advocacy, and it became increasingly apparent that climate change would change everything and put huge pressure on already vanishing nature. In the 2000s, Forest & Bird took on the mining industry, leading the Schedule 4 protest in 2010 that stopped the government’s plans to open up high-value public conservation land, including national parks, to mining. Two years later, it organised a bioblitz on the Denniston Plateau that led to the discovery of a new species – the Avatar moth. The aim was to show the unique biodiversity that would be lost should mining go ahead. At the start of the Covid-19 economic crisis, in 2020, our advocacy influenced the government’s response to the pandemic, leading directly to the Jobs for Nature programme, a win for the environment and thousands of young New Zealanders who

Avatar moth discovered during a Forest & Bird bioblitz. Brian Patrick

gained employment through the initiative. In January 2021, we sent a 68-page briefing to the government setting out why protecting nature was crucial and should no longer be “balanced” against economic considerations. Putting nature first in all policy settings can create jobs, improve economic resilience, and help make New Zealand carbon neutral by 2040, it said. Forest & Bird continues to push for a naturefirst approach in all government decisions and believes the adoption of nature-based climate solutions is key to restoring all life on Earth.

Recovery for people and planet publication.

LEGISLATION AS ADVOCACY

rom the early 1990s, the Society quietly pioneered a new – and very successful – conservation tactic. It advocated for stronger legislation and then used environmental laws it had helped establish to defend nature. The establishment of the 1992 Resource Management Act was hugely significant for Forest & Bird. It could be used to protect native habitat from development. The Society published an eight-volume guide to the RMA for lawyers and held seminars for branches to help them use the RMA to protect nature in their regions. Then Forest & Bird had to defend the RMA from being watered down by lobbyists

Forest & Bird lawyer Sally Gepp holding a RMA webinar, 2013. Forest & Bird

who sought to redraft aspects of the legislation. From the 1920s, the Society contracted its law work to Wellington law firms, with a long association with Chapman Tripp. In 2000, its Executive decided to employ the first inhouse environmental lawyer, and Kate Mitcalfe was appointed to the position. The team grew over the following two decades and became a strong voice for nature in courts and council chambers all over the country. Forest & Bird’s lawyers have won a string of important environmental legal cases, including the precedent-setting Supreme Court case that stopped the building of the Ruataniwha dam, Hawke’s Bay, in 2017. Three years later, Forest & Bird worked with hapū from Motiti Island who wanted to restore depleted fish species, such as snapper and crayfish, to the Bay of “Empty”. The Court of Appeal upheld a decision in the Mōtītī case establishing for the first time that the RMA could be applied to coastal waters to protect indigenous habitat, a hugely significant win for coastal areas all over the country.

Motiti Rohe Moana Trust.

Caroline Wood

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Spring 2023

CENTENNIAL STORIES

TE REO O TE TAIAO

Kāpiti Branch trapper Errol Hardy, 1996.

ROAD TO PREDATOR FREE

ntroduced possums continued their march northwards, arriving in Northland in the 1960s. Around this time, Forest & Bird’s branch volunteers started organising small-scale planting, weeding, and predator control projects at-place in their local communities. In 1981, Forest & Bird’s South Canterbury branch funded and built what we believe is the first predator-free fence in the country – to protect kakī black stilts in the Mackenzie Basin. The concept of predator-free mainland “island” refuges took off in the 1990s, allowing bird refugees on offshore islands to leap back to their former mainland

South Canterbury Branch volunteers John Talbot and Ian Jefferson build the kakī fence, 1981. Forest & Bird

Forest & Bird Te Reo o te Taiao

Forest & Bird

homes. Species such as pōpokotea whitehead, hihi, toutouwai North Island robin, mātātā fernbird, and kōkako returned to these new mainland island sanctuaries, where they could be seen and appreciated by more New Zealanders. This prompted an outpouring of conservation efforts across the country. In 1990, the Threatened Species Trust was established with Forest & Bird, the Taranaki Branch kiwi Department of project. Castle Conservation, Family and commercial sponsors. In 2000, the government established five “mainland islands” for kiwi protection, another Keith Chapple campaign. In 2012, the Society played a pivotal role in establishing the Predator-Free NZ concept, organising a national hui of experts to discuss whether it was scientifically possible to achieve – and by when – at our Ruapehu Lodge. More recently, we have been campaigning for browsing mammal control as a climate action – to protect and restore the country’s native forest carbon sinks.

ver the past 100 years, Forest & Bird’s identity has changed with the times, but its guiding principles and passionate intention to protect and restore nature has remained constant. Today, Forest & Bird is the oldest national conservation charity in Aotearoa, and the breadth of the Society’s work makes it unique among environmental NGOs. We have 45 branches, 37 reserves, more than 120 national and local frontline conservation projects, a network of Kiwi Conservation Clubs and Youth Hubs, a specialist legal team, and conservation advocacy managers all over the country. Still proudly independent, we seek to educate and excite New Zealanders about nature, engage with mana whenua in conservation at-place, and encourage everyone to take whatever action they can to restore our country’s wildlife and wild places. The Society’s “birds & bush” roots remain a vital part of who we are, but the most important ingredient is our people. Forest & Bird is proud to have helped tens of thousands of dedicated nature lovers – volunteers, donors, and staff – be voices for nature over the past century. Their combined mahi over five generations has left a huge legacy and continues to inspire us.

O U R PA R T N E R S

CENTENNIAL

TŪĪ

Metalbird has created a special artwork to celebrate Forest & Bird’s 100th birthday.

he founder of Metalbird encapsulates the spirit of our land, reckons 100 years of the unique beauty that Forest & protecting the environment Bird have been striving to protect is one heck of an achievement, so for years, with so many profound he wanted to create something successes along the way,” says Phil. extra special to mark our “The Society was founded centennial. by bird lovers, and we love that Inspired by a New Zealand its volunteers helped save Lake Railways poster created for Forest Manapouri, end logging in native & Bird in 1962, the limited edition forests, and establish protection for Centennial Tūī is Phil Walters’ a third of New Zealand’s land mass. most intricate design ever. Today, its staff and supporters are Just a glimpse of that familiar working to restore our birdlife blue-green form with a puff of through national advocacy and 120 white at the throat brings joy to local restoration projects. locals and visitors alike. That’s “We are proud and delighted perhaps the reason the tūī featured to partner with Forest & Bird as on Forest & Bird’s logo for 80 it celebrates 100 years years – from 1923 until the early of conservation mahi, 2000s. bringing art and Metalbird is donating 30% conservation action of the sale of each striking together for a better and evocative Centennial world.” Tūī to support Forest & Bird’s Phil started creating conservation work. native bird silhouettes out Phil Walters “The tūī perfectly of metal in 2009. Today, it

Every purchase includes a free postcard inspired by this Forest & Bird poster of a tūī sitting on a kōwhai branch. Maurice Poulton

has grown to become a global art project, and Metalbird’s designs are sold all over the world. As well as championing Forest & Bird, the company also supports conservation charities in Canada, Australia, the Netherlands, Samoa, and America, and it is working with Birdlife International to raise awareness of five critically endangered bird species. With each new voice, the call to protect the world’s unique birdlife grows louder and stronger. Check out Metalbird’s Aotearoa range at www. metalbird.co.nz.

GIVEAWAY

We have two Centennial Tūī (RRP $84.95 each) to give away to two readers. To enter, email your entry to draw@forestandbird.org.nz, put TŪĪ in the subject line, and include your name and address in the email. Or write your name and address on the back of an envelope and post to TŪĪ draw, Forest & Bird, PO Box 631, Wellington 6140. Entries close 15 October 2023.

Spring 2023

GOING PLACES

Rakiura RAMBLES

A tramp through Rakiura National Park offers kiwi, star-gazing, and some of the best wilderness Aotearoa has to offer. Montana Denton

he Rakiura Track is a threeday Great Walk starting and finishing near the island’s only town, Oban. It offers trampers the chance to experience the history, wildlife, and southern skies of this quirky and friendly subAntarctic island. Trekking out of Half Moon Bay towards the track’s official start at Lee Bay, my load has been lightened by a stroke of good fortune. I’m with a friend who is on a day walk to the first hut at Potirepo Port William. She will be picked up by a relative who conveniently owns a boat. Hence, my hefty overnight pack, laden with camping gear and sandfly repellent for three days in the wilderness, will be delivered to the hut via boat.

Tokoeka Stewart Island Brown Kiwi. Jake Osborne

Forest & Bird Te Reo o te Taiao

Cheating? Maybe. But I’m buoyed by the lightness of the day pack on my back and the perfect summer weather that I’m told is never a given on Rakiura Stewart Island. We set off walking alongside turquoise waters rimmed by strips of golden sand. Tiny offshore islands dot the sea. I could be wandering through uninhabited coastline in Indonesia, but the kelp beds give it away – nurtured in cool coastal environments, the brown fronds are easily visible through the clear water, tethered against the gentle currents by their holdfasts. We pass by early indigenous settlements, including Māori Beach, then remnants of milling operations from the 19th century strewn throughout the forest. We arrive at Potirepo Port William in time for a late lunch. I wave goodbye to my friend and set up my tent to face the water. I spend the rest of the afternoon on the quiet beach, the occasional fishing boat drifting in and out of the bay. I’ve heard that Rakiura is a prime opportunity to encounter

Māori Beach. Montana Denton

Kākāriki, Ulva Island. Jake Osborne

native birdlife, and after dark I grab my freshly charged headlamp and follow the weak red-light beam through the darkened forest. On high alert for the shrill squawk of tokoeka brown kiwi, my disappointment in only hearing the gentle call of a ruru morepork is alleviated when I glance up. It wasn’t a particularly clear evening, but the island easily lived up to its status as the world’s southernmost Dark Sky Sanctuary, the night sky studded with a heavy sprinkling of stars. The Māori name for the island Rakiura is loosely translated to “glowing skies”, and it’s easy to imagine whānau from the 14th century, when the island was first occupied, grouped on the very beach I’m sitting, equally mesmerised by the galaxies above. On day two, I’m quickly mired in mud. As well as its rich native

birdlife, Rakiura is known for its ubiquitous muck. The vintage gaiters I’m borrowing stay relatively unscathed, but each step requires wrestling my boot out of the sludge’s grasp. Even without recent rain, patches of the inland forest are sticky with moisture. It doesn’t sit atop the ground in puddles but leaches deep into the Earth’s surface, creating tar-black squelchy areas that are impossible to avoid. The track itself is quiet, perhaps because the island is only accessible by ferry or plane. I occasionally cross paths with other trampers, but my constant companions are mosquitos and the chirps of tūī, korimako bellbirds, pīwakawaka, and miromiro tomtits, and the rustling of robins, kererū, and kākā. At midday, I stop for a break and hear soft footsteps moving across the underbrush framing both sides of the narrow track. I thought it was the wind, but then I froze, scarcely daring to breathe, as a kiwi stepped onto the trail in front of me. Blinking to make sure this wasn’t some exercise-induced apparition or even a weka in disguise (I’d fooled myself before!), the bird in front of me plodded across the track, unbothered. Rooting through the dirt with its long beak, the kiwi seemed unconcerned by, or perhaps unaware of, my presence. Rakiura is home to one of the most abundant

Montana Denton

RAKIURA STEWART ISLAND

RAKIURA TRACK

Rakiura night sky.

Jake Osborne

populations of kiwi in Aotearoa. While it’s not unheard of to spot these nocturnal shy birds wandering through the national park, it’s rare to encounter one, as I did, in the middle of the afternoon. I march on to North Arm campsite, still reeling from my kiwi encounter. The Rakiura Track has already exceeded my expectations. Sheltered among rimu trees, the second night’s campsite is peaceful, dark, and devoid of kiwi nightime shrieks. Except for a midnight racket at the camp’s cooking shelter – which proved to be ravenous possums feasting on a forgetful tramper’s bag of provisions – my night at North Arm is relatively uneventful. The final day of tramping takes me through more podocarp forest, descending from thickets of mānuka into tunnels of towering ferns, kahikatea, and tōtara. As the track meanders towards the far edge of the island, I traverse the undeveloped coastline, gazing

RAKIURA NATIONAL PARK OBAN

Rakiura sea lion.

Jake Osborne

down on uninhabited beaches and keeping an eye out for pakake New Zealand sea lions. Nearing civilisation, I pass small coves dotted with anchored sailboats and the occasional holiday house nestled into the leafy hills. The track sweeps upwards, offering views of the Paterson Inlet and renowned predator-free sanctuary Te Wharawhara Ulva Island in the distance. As I head into Oban and towards the island’s famous kai kart, searching for sustenance of fishy variety, I savour the experiences I’ve had on Rakiura. Not every New Zealand traveller is lucky enough to experience this tiny sub-Antarctic oasis, but those who make the effort are offered an unforgettable glimpse of some of the very best of Aotearoa’s wilderness. For more information about the Rakiura Track, go to www.doc. govt.nz. Spring 2023

BOOKS

KORIMAKO CALLING The ground-breaking efforts of scientists over half a century restored the dawn chorus on the Mercury Islands, including the largest, Ahuahu.

n innovative conservation allowing native species to be effort eradicated reintroduced. mammalian pests on all Rare lizards and invertebrates seven Mercury Islands off the coast returned , several populations of of the Coromandel Peninsula, tuatara were saved from extinction, providing an offshore haven for and birds such as korimako native plants and animals. bellbird, kākā, kereru, pāteke brown Pioneering conservation teal, and kākāriki rapidly biologist Dr David Towns increased. was there from the start, “Forested areas that first stepping onto the were largely silent now island in 1971. At that time, have constant bird song,” three species of rats and says David. feral cats had reached five New Zealand is renowned islands, and only two were among biologists for its Dr David Towns pest free. world-leading conservation In Ahuahu: A Conservation efforts. We are responsible for nearly Journey in Aotearoa New Zealand, a quarter of the world’s island pest he tells the story of the remarkable eradications according to a recent recovery of these islands, a tale of international study, which found that triumph and setbacks, opportunity 88% of 1227 completed eradication and innovation, and teamwork and attempts were successful. bicultural collaboration. On the Mercury Islands, David offers personal insights into innovative, ground-breaking the world-leading predator-control science was complemented and technologies that were developed by enriched by bicultural partnerships New Zealand scientists and used on and community involvement. the Mercury Islands. Different Mercury Islands The last predators were required different approaches, in eradicated from Ahuahu in 2014, consultation with the Department

of Conservation and local iwi such as Ngāti Hei, as well as the owners of the larger island Ahuahu, which is partly farmed. “Island restoration involves restarting ecosystems, I have always found iwi quickly embrace the concept because of their views of nature and the close ties between people and landscapes, added David. “One could argue that, whereas western technology has helped with providing tools to restore island ecosystems, mātauranga Māori gives us a cultural and ethical context for such activities.” Ultimately Ahuahu contains messages of hope. It shows how environmental problems can be resolved and how people, although historically part of the problem, can also make a difference. Ahuahu by David Towns is published by Canterbury University Press, RRP $79.99.

VALDER AWARDS Grants of $1,000–$10,000 are awarded every year for conservation projects across New Zealand. Lilian Valder was a significant donor to Forest & Bird’s Waikato Branch. In the 1930s, she and her sister converted a farm on the slopes of Mt Pirongia to native bush and in 1963 gifted half of it to Forest & Bird to manage as a reserve. Previous Valder Awards have supported hihi research and pekapeka long-tailed bat monitoring. For an application form, email waikato.branch@forestandbird.org.nz. Applications close on 30 September 2023.

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Ron and Edna

Greenwood Environmental

TRUST

The trust provides financial support for projects advancing the conservation and protection of New Zealand’s natural resources, particularly flora and fauna, marine life, geology, atmosphere, and waters. More information is available from the Trust at PO Box 10-359, Wellington.

TRIBUTE

PASSIONATE ABOUT PLANTS

Graham Petterson clocked up an incredible 84 years of being a voice for nature. Jess Winchester

t’s hard to pinpoint the moment when Graham Petterson became a conservationist. It might have been as a boy while tramping the Takaka hills with his father Hugh or later in the mountains of Nelson, writing the descriptions of flowers and plants in his notebook so he could look up their scientific names. Perhaps we have the legendary ornithologist Pérrine Moncrieff, of Nelson, to thank. In 1923, the year Graham was born, she helped found the Native Bird Protection Society of New Zealand (later Forest & Bird). Two years later, she wrote her seminal field guide New Zealand Birds and How to Identify Them – a book that Graham treasured all of his very long and happy life. As a teenager, he met Pérrine while staying in Nelson with his aunt and uncle. She taught Graham how to spin wool and instilled in the young man a love of practical conservation and a passion to speak up to protect the plants he loved. Graham joined Forest & Bird in 1939 at the age of 16. His father was also a member. He went on to become an expert plantsman and ran a popular native plant nursery on the Kāpiti Coast. He was still getting out into his garden to check on seedlings when I met him in April.

As a young man, he saw indigenous nature was disappearing and decided he was going to make a difference. He was modest about his life’s work as a conservationist, but his local branch made sure he was acknowledged. Graham was awarded Forest & Bird’s prestigious Old Blue in 2001 for his contribution to restoration work on the Kāpiti Coast, most notably the Kaitawa Reserve. “You’d be hard-pressed to find a project in the region that didn’t have a plant that could be tracked back to his Waikanae nursery,” says his son Robbie. “He raised tens of thousands of plants over his lifetime and until a year ago was still growing and distributing native plants, many of which he managed to grow from seed in his own garden.” When I met Graham Graham’s 1942 Forest & Bird earlier this year, he was membership card. Forest & Bird Archives about to write to Kāpiti District Council to ask them to deal with an unwanted exotic weed – the pampas grass growing along the highway and in the gardens of his local Waikanae community. “They say it’s too hard to identify, too difficult to tell the difference between pampas weed and native toetoe,” he said. “But if you try to split a leaf in your hand, pampas grass will easily break. You can’t break native toetoe – it’s full of fibre.” Like toetoe, Graham’s passion for the natural world was also unbreakable. Before he died in May, aged 99, he notched up an incredible 84 years of continuous membership of Forest & Bird, possibly making him the Society’s oldest member in 2023. “He was gentle, humble, caring, and generous,” says Graham’s granddaughter Miriam Petterson. “I loved the way he cared for our world, how he was involved in restoring native forest to our land, and how he also showed kindness to people.”

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Spring 2023

LAST WORD

Danilo Hegg

NIGHT SURPRISE

Forest & Bird’s Northland conservation manager Dean Baigent-Mercer recounts the day he bumped noses with an extremely rare Northland tusk wētā.

p here in the remotest of Forest & Bird’s home offices, next to Ōtangaroa Forest, a significant event happened that I want to tell you about. I think it’s appropriate to trigger the Forest & Bird native sphagnum moss green alert for this encounter. Let me explain. My home and office is 20m from the bush. I sleep with the doors open to hear kiwi (yes, every night). I laid my dreadlocked head down on the pillow one night, and I felt an odd sensation on my head. It moved. I brushed the intruder away (or so I thought). Now I often have invertebrate intrusion (moths usually, but a shocking slug explosion this particularly wet year), so I was not alarmed. Not that slugs usually make it onto my person. Anyway, the sensation changed as I felt something move over my face and then ... leap off. I turned on the light. Everything was a blur. I’m horrendously short-sighted, but in this instance it is a superpower because up-close I can see things magnified and in incredible detail. BEHOLD! A little wētā – with some serious mandibles!. Let’s put it this way, if humans had similarly proportioned metal-strength protuberances, they would fall flat on the ground and impale their tusked faces in the mud. The 3cm creature (antennae excluded) was clearly a boy. Female wētā have a long spike out the back of them for laying eggs. This wētā had nothing spectacular on his back end. My brain juices ticked over. Northland tusk wētā is one of three mysterious

Forest & Bird Te Reo o te Taiao

native tusked wētā in Aotearoa. Surely this is what I was looking at? I’ve been keeping my eye out for one of these critters for 19 years, ever since I bought this whenua. Very slowly, I got my phone out and took photos of my new friend before Dean Baigent-Mercer falling asleep. I sent the pics to a scientist at Te Papa, in Wellington, and received a response from Dr Phil Sirvid, aka “King of Invertebrates”, who gushed about the discovery. Let’s face it, I did not really “discover” this wētā. It wandered across my cheek, which means that, actually, this wētā discovered me. Dr Phil passed me on to Dr Steve Trewick, of Massey University, aka the “wētā professor”, who was keen to hear more. Steve leads the DOC team assessing the threat status team of our wētā, crickets, and grasshoppers. “It is definitely an adult male tusk wētā and great to see. Such odd little chaps. If you have any more encounters or are up for a bit of night searching as that is when they are active, I’m keen to hear from you,” wrote Steve, who has been collating location information for the species. Actually, I did have another encounter. I lifted a mug and the wētā was there looking up at me, annoyed and wanting darkness. I coached my little friend outside lest there be any accidental squashing. My night surprise was the result of rodent control around my house. Native geckoes turn up for the same reason. Just imagine what a predator-free Aotearoa might look like...

Parting shot This quirky shot of a perfectly balanced tūturiwhatu made me laugh. Lying on the ground at Riversdale Beach, in the Wairarapa, watching the group of New Zealand dotterels chilling out, I wanted to stretch my legs too but was worried about scaring them away. I was pleased to see a good population of 14–16 birds on the beach as I’d been worried for their safety after last winter’s storms and Cyclone Hale, which nearly destroyed their main nesting area. Heid Benson

WILD ABOUT NATURE | PHOTO COMPETITION How to enter: Share your images of native birds, trees, flowers, insects, lizards, marine animals, or natural landscapes, and be in to win. Send your high-res digital file and brief details about your photo to Caroline Wood at editor@forestandbird. org.nz. The best entry will be published in the next issue of Forest & Bird magazine.

The prize: The next winner will receive this Hannah Shand limited edition fine art print Expecting (A3, RRP $220). Hannah’s meticulous pen-and-ink artwork features pīwakawaka diligently tending their precious nest. This artwork holds deep personal significance for Hannah, who created it during her first pregnancy. It symbolises the transition to parenthood, the love shared between parents, and the excitement and anticipation of welcoming children into the world. Expecting by Hannah Shand. For more of Hannah’s artworks, see www.hannahshandart.com.

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