Forest & Bird Magazine 339 Feb 2011

ISSUE 339 • FEBRUARY 2011 www.forestandbird.org.nz

Wrybills knocked sideways PLUS Sea lion pups in the cold

Mokihinui: River in red

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Royal Forest and Bird Protection Society of New Zealand Inc. General Manager: Mike Britton Advocacy Manager: Kevin Hackwell Services Manager: Julie Watson North Island Conservation Manager: Mark Bellingham South Island Conservation Manager: Chris Todd Communications Manager: Marina Skinner Central Office: Level 1, 90 Ghuznee St, Wellington.

PO Box 631, Wellington 6140.

Tel: (04) 385-7374, Fax: (04) 385-7373 Email: office@forestandbird.org.nz Web: www.forestandbird.org.nz Auckland Office: 34A Charlotte Street, Eden Terrace, Auckland, PO Box 108 055, Symonds St, Auckland 1150.

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ISSUE 339

www.forestandbird.org.nz

Contents 2 Editorial 5 Soapbox 6 Letters 8 Conservation news

DEPUTY EDITOR: David Brooks

T (04) 801-2763 E d.brooks@forestandbird.org.nz DESIGNER: Rob Dileva, Dileva Design

Cover story:

A curve ball for the curve bill – life is getting tougher for wrybills

20

Mimiwhangata

A new approach to marine conservation

26

Haunting grey ghost

27

Amazing facts about …

28

Backyard conservation

The search for the South Island kokako

31 Defender of the deep Farewell to Kirstie Knowles

32

Last chance for a river

36

Pestbusters

55

One of us

56

In the field

59

Rangatahi

60

Book reviews

61

Community conservation

68

Parting shot

Gene genie

Auckland member Eric Wilson

Pacific voice for climate action

Wild New Zealand from the Road, Best Short Nature Walks in New Zealand, Dreamers of the Day: A History of Auckland’s Regional Parks, Checklist of the Birds of New Zealand, Norfolk and Macquarie Islands, and the Ross Dependency, Antarctica

Old Blue for Don Merton, Kokako chicks, Manawatu student scholarship, Bug boy

Tomtit by Bill Norris

The science of genetics is saving endangered animals

Safe havens for seabirds

Wyatt & Wilson (NZ) Ltd

42

Precious pups

Membership & Circulation T 0800 200 064 F (04) 385 7373 E membership@forestandbird.org.nz

52

Mokihinui supporters raft and kayak

Important bird areas

Vanessa Clegg T 0275 420 337 E vanclegg@xtra.co.nz Karen Condon T 0275 420 338 E mack.cons@xtra.co.nz

Going places

Rangitoto Island

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39

ADVERTISING:

50

The earth beneath our feet

PREPRESS/PRINTING: Kalamazoo

E rob@dileva.co.nz

Nature of tomorrow

Future of marine protected areas

Fairy terns, Rakaia River, Kaki genetics, Mackenzie forum, Kawakawa dieback, Building rivers for birds, Conservation grants, Celebrating our rivers, Forest & Bird conference

Attract birds to your garden

PO Box 631, Wellington.

T (04) 801-2761 F (04) 385-7373 E m.skinner@forestandbird.org.nz

46

Bright ideas for pest control

Barnacles

EDITOR: Marina Skinner

• February 2011

Endangered sea lions in the deep south

WIN

a trip to the subAntarctic islands SEE PAGE 45

COVER SHOT The wrybill is the only bird in the world with a bill curved sideways, adapted to find mayfly and caddisfly larvae under riverbed stones. Photo: Brent Stephenson @ Eco-Vista

Forest & Bird

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editorial

Making a difference W

hat difference are we making to the protection and preservation of New Zealand’s indigenous flora and fauna and natural places? This question can be asked of us as individuals but also collectively, whether as a branch, Forest & Bird as a whole, or perhaps another environmental group we may be involved with.

I’m prompted to ask this question primarily by what I see on my way to work each morning. As the train wends its way from Upper Hutt to Wellington, the extent of the human-induced changes that flashes by forces one to think about the differences we have made to the indigenous natural world. These changes include great corridors of gorse, blackberry and other introduced plants, swathes of discarded rubbish, endless graffiti, total devastation of the great swamps and wetlands of Petone and the highly modified and tamed Hutt River.

But each of us, in our own unique way, is making a difference. Collectively, that means the “voice for nature” is having a major impact on plants, animals and places and we only have to look within our own local communities to see the extent of that difference. In some places we have to look a little bit harder but it’s there. That difference also extends to people – changing hearts and minds is a large and essential part of what we do. We should celebrate this as much as we celebrate the restoration of degraded environments, the control of pests and the reintroduction of bird species to places where they haven’t been seen for years.

Making a difference renews our pride in and commitment to our wilderness and all that lives within it, and recognises it is the basic component of New Zealand culture. US environmental historian Roderick Nash said of the wilderness that “from its raw materials we built a civilisation. With the idea of wilderness we sought to give that civilisation identity and meaning”. We eliminated much of the wilderness and in doing so also changed ourselves. We have put ourselves in a situation where conquest of the wilderness has gone too far for our own good, a conclusion that has motivated Forest & Bird since 1923. In Nash’s words: “Wilderness is an anchor to windward in the seas of increasingly frightening environmental changes.”

We are inextricably linked to wilderness and protecting its remnants defines who we are as a nation. If we take away wilderness and take away the voice of nature, we diminish the opportunity to be New Zealanders.

The pride I feel in being a voice for nature is seen in the differences I think I have contributed to. All around New Zealand in Forest & Bird branches, I meet people who have made a difference and continue to do so in awe-inspiring ways. Simply by being a member or a supporter of this great organisation, we have made a difference. In doing so, we learn gratitude, humility, and understanding in putting aside self-interest to work together for a sustainable relationship with nature.

50 years ago

Taranaki branch At the New Plymouth Horticultural Society’s Spring Show a representative Taranaki forest scene was set up depicting a waterfall surrounded by forest greenery, a kowhai in full blossom, a 10 ft. kauri, and a wealth of native plants … including ferns and other growth of the forest floor.

At intervals bird songs were played from records, and on the screen … slides of forest and field were shown.

A large number of people were attracted by the recordings of bird songs, and many heard for the first time the songs, calls and cries of … native birds.

Forest & Bird, Feb 1961

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

PATRON: His Excellency the Hon.

Sir Anand Satyanand, GovernorGeneral of New Zealand NATIONAL PRESIDENT:

Barry Wards DEPUTY PRESIDENT:

Andrew Cutler NATIONAL TREASURER:

Graham Bellamy EXECUTIVE COUNCILLORS:

Barry Wards Forest & Bird President

Lindsey Britton, Mark Hanger, Alan Hemmings, Peter Maddison, Craig Potton, Ines Stager, Jon Wenham.

DISTINGUISHED LIFE MEMBERS:

Forest & Bird is published quarterly by the Royal Forest & Bird Protection Society. Forest & Bird is a member of the World Conservation Union (IUCN) and is the New Zealand Partner of BirdLife International.

Opinions expressed by contributors in the magazine are not necessarily those of Forest & Bird.

Forest & Bird is printed on chlorine-free paper made from wood fibre sourced from sustainably managed forests.

The magazine is bulk mailed in Reverte oxo-biodegradable plastic made from oil by-products. It is waterproof but will break down into CO2, H20 and biomass, and does not leave petro-polymer fragments in the soil. *Registered at PO Headquarters, Wellington, as a magazine. ISSN 0015-7384. Copyright. All rights reserved.

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soapbox

If the sea were see-through Kirstie Knowles ponders some disturbing questions about how we view the deep blue sea.

T

he most puzzling issue for me during my time as marine conservation advocate at Forest & Bird is why there is such apathy about marine conservation.

New Zealand is guardian to an enormous marine area (about 15 times our land area) with an outstanding array of sea life. We are proud of this, yet we allow more than 99 per cent of it to be plundered, demolished or altered beyond recognition. Why? The only conclusion I can draw is that, for most New Zealanders, what happens in our sea is largely out of sight and out of mind. On land we see the results of logged forests. We see the smog in the air and soot-covered houses in our cities. We see the green circles in our precious high country. And we notice the absence of bird song from our gardens and native forest.

For the few of us who venture beneath the waves, we may see the result of human activity – a plastic bag, a traffic cone, a plastic coffee lid wedged under a rock. But, mostly, our marine world is invisible to us.

NIWA scientists last year published a paper surmising the extent of our marine biodiversity. They note that New Zealand’s marine diversity is expected to equal that of the entire European marine diversity – an area 5.5 times larger than just our Exclusive Economic Zone, which extends to 200 nautical miles (370km) from shore.

Activities in our marine space have to date largely been restricted to fishing. As fishing technology has advanced, our ability to locate and extract resources has expanded.

New Zealand – unlike many coastal states – has a fishing fleet dominated by trawlers. These ships drag giant nets (big enough to fit several jumbo jets in them) through the water column many times every day of every year.

They catch targeted species and they catch unwanted sea life, including some of our most precious creatures.

They have become so efficient at catching fish and other marine life that some traditional fishing grounds are being closed down or avoided because there are simply not enough fish to make it worth the effort. Commercial fishing boats are beginning to move further and further offshore and are targeting species lower and lower in the food chain.

The trawl boats that use sea floor contacting gear (bottom trawls and dredge fisheries) have, in the time they have been operating, wreaked havoc in our marine world.

Ministry of Fisheries data show very little of our marine area has not been trawled, with independent ecologists finding widespread destruction in almost every area surveyed.

Rather than restricting the more destructive fishing practices, we seem to be condoning them. The hoki fishery – responsible for seabed destruction, seabird and fur seal

Photo: P Ryan/DOC

deaths, and the capture of a host of unwanted species – has already been certified as a sustainable fishery under the Marine Stewardship Council. Hot on its heels, four other fisheries using environmentally destructive fishing methods are applying for certification – the hake, ling and southern blue whiting trawl fisheries and the Challenger scallop dredge fishery.

A new coastal race for space has begun in aquaculture as legislation to regulate the industry receives an enormous overhaul that frees up the “barriers” put in place to protect sea life and users of our coasts.

Mining, exploration and marine energy companies are rapidly developing. Mining interests are focusing on our marine resources, with permit applications dotted along much of New Zealand’s coastline. Marine energy technology is being trialled, with experts estimating full operation within the next 10 years.

Pollution occurs along our coasts – from coastal development, industrial discharge, land run-off and contaminated stormwater. Raw sewage regularly flows into our coastal areas. In our capital city, for example, contaminated stormwater is discharged every time there is heavy rain. It is simply the way the pipes were designed 50 years ago. We don’t want it on the streets so we pump it to sea and out of sight.

Our seas are a dumping ground for unwanted machinery (especially ships), chemicals and toxic substances. Pollutants have been dumped in deep sea for many years. Why is this considered acceptable?

If only the sea were transparent.

Kirstie Knowles was, until January, Forest & Bird’s marine conservation advocate for 4½ years.

Forest & Bird

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letters Forest & Bird welcomes readers’ letters on conservation topics. Letters should be no longer than 200 words and must include the writer’s full name, home address and daytime phone number. We don’t always have space to publish all letters or publish them in full.

The best contribution to the Letters page of the May 2011 issue will win a copy of Wild New Zealand from the Road by Gordon Ell. Please send letters to Editor, Forest & Bird magazine, PO Box 631, Wellington 6140 or e-mail m.skinner@forestandbird.org.nz by March 18.

50 years later

Damming the Mokihinui

A couple of months ago I purchased a Forest & Bird membership as a birthday present for one of my sons. His wife emailed me asking that I read the 50 years ago column (November Forest & Bird).

Our family lived on the edge of Houghton Valley landfill in Wellington, and we had a bach on the edge of bush at Reikorangi in Waikanae. I stopped my Forest & Bird membership somewhere round 1964 and only rejoined about four years ago.

I have a theory that as we get older we return to things we did as kids. In the past two years I have planted more than 500 trees on a property on Oneriri Peninsula near Kaiwaka in Northland, and I have supported our Orewa Rotary Club’s Trees for Survival programme.

When I was a child in Houghton Valley, I got into trouble at school for leaning over a fence and picking a handful of kowhai seeds off someone’s plant so I could try germinating them at home. I am sure that today people would be only too pleased to share them around.

I read with interest your Soapbox article by Debs Martin (November Forest & Bird), which presents the argument against the damming of the Mokihinui River. I also read the letter by Roland Stenger advocating caution when making judgement on conservation issues.

Many years ago I was disturbed by the flooding of the valley that formed Lake Karapiro, and sided with the protestors. Today, Lake Karapiro is a gem, the flora and fauna have relocated and, if anything, we are better off with it than without it.

The flooding of the Mokihinui River sounds like a disaster, after reading Soapbox, but is it? The flora and fauna should re-establish at a new level and, with careful handling and relocating, the species that are genuinely at risk, if any, can be saved. The era of the electric vehicle is fast approaching, and New Zealand’s demand for electrical energy will soon become huge and most people will not tolerate the nuclear alternative. With our high rainfall, hydro-electricity generation should be our priority.

During floods, our rivers overflow and race downstream, quite often destroying the flora and fauna that we are trying to protect. On top of this, the surge of water carries valuable sediments through the wetlands and into the sea – lost forever. Is it not more sensible to use dams to control the flow of our rivers, reap the benefit of hydro power, and have large lakes of water at our disposal for the benefit of the people of New Zealand? Remember, that of all the water on this planet, not much more than 1 per cent is fresh water.

Merv Huxford, Orewa This letter is the winner of Out There South by Chris Morton and Tony Bridge.

Neville Rykers, Auckland Debs Martin replies: There are some very complex issues in terms of the tensions between hydro development and ecological protection. Primary dams (as this would be on the Mokihinui) make significant changes to the river – starving the coast of sediment, flooding habitat, preventing fish passage and creating flow fluctuations that result in a “dead” zone within the reservoir and the lower river.

Lake Karapiro and the Waikato River have different requirements to the Mokihinui River, and it’s important to assess these cases individually. Natural flooding of the Mokihinui River provides very real benefits to the ongoing maintenance of the coastal estuary and flood events help maintain important riparian turf vegetations not seen elsewhere.

There are important issues we have to consider with future electricity generation, including making more serious 8

| Forest & Bird

attempts to improve our efficiencies and conservation strategies. Future generation proposals should also take into account our needs for sustainability. If we don’t address these issues, we’ll be flooding and damming rivers like the Mokihinui every year, and still not have resolved the problem.

P. officinalis is an abundant weed in Wellington and further south and I suggested that “where it grows, butterfly lovers might like to tolerate or even encourage it”. I would not suggest shifting it beyond its present distribution.

Cycle trail insensitive

I was very pleased to read the “High in natural fibre” article in your November issue. As the curator of the Foxton Flax Stripper Museum, I felt a few points needed elaborating.

The cutting of flax in Foxton did not stop in 1973 but in 1985, since a by-product firm Bonded Felts operated until then.

The flax was generally stripped in New Zealand mills before export to Australian ropeworks.

The Moutoa flax swamp was not subject to organised planting until the 1940s and its output was for the woolpack and carpet factory in Foxton and not rope making.

Our museum in Foxton is keen to preserve all memories of the once flourishing and important flax industry.

Anything concerned with the industry from planting to marketing is of interest to us. Our aim is to give visitors not only a demonstration of the amazing flax stripper, but access to the best information available. We support the efforts of Ann Graeme in presenting this natural fibre to your readers.

The New Zealand Cycle Trail project is wholesome, in theory. Some routes have sound underpinnings, such as the Alps to Ocean Cycle Trail (Aoraki/Mt Cook to Duntroon), which received $2.75 million of funding. It uses existing tracks and quiet country roads.

However, at least two (and probably more) of these approved trails intrude on sensitive areas of valuable biodiversity. One will cut through important breeding grounds of the Australian bittern along the Nelson province coastline, the other through pristine ridge tops along the south branch of the Mokihinui River.

This Mokihinui trail would cut through wholly indigenous sensitive sub-alpine flora and fauna, where a proper analysis of species has probably never occurred, and through the Mokihinui gorge would require blasting of the precipitous gorge walls. This would destroy parts of a historic pack track, and replace a very important, challenging, recreational area called “suicide” with a long bridge snaking through an area where the gorge wall collapsed in the 1968 Inangahua earthquake.

Such “trivialities” mean little to those involved in this cycleway project. The website says: “… the goals of the Cycle Trail project are to generate lasting economic, social and environmental benefits for our communities through a network of world class cycling experiences”.

Some of the trails assuredly have environmental benefits, taking tourists to obscure places to showcase our beautiful country, but putting disturbances, infrastructure and pestinfiltrating trails into pristine areas and nesting sites of rare birds is a shameful and shallow-thinking exercise.

Frida Inta, Mokihinui

The problem with pellitory I was greatly alarmed to read Ann Graeme’s letter (November Forest & Bird) that she was thinking of transplanting a Parietaria plant to Tauranga to feed yellow admiral butterflies. Parietaria judaica, aka pellitory, asthma plant or sticky weed, grows readily and, if left for a while, will take control, smother plants and is difficult to get rid of. It causes asthma in some folk, also rhinitis and related allergies.

It is categorised as a class 4 noxious weed in Australia and grows well in areas much the same as New Zealand.

I would strongly urge that no one should even consider growing pellitory.

Eleanor Lane Home, Auckland Ann Graeme replies: The butterflies I studied were hatched in Wellington on the pellitory foliage and I did not take pellitory plants or caterpillars to Tauranga.

The plant in Wellington is not Parietaria judaica but P. officinalis. It has a long history of use in herbal remedies.

Finer points of flax

Tony Hunt, Foxton

One bird’s many names I write in response to your recent appeal for financial help for our native birds. I am indeed in full support of your campaign. I wish, however, to register my dismay at the recent trend of naming our beautiful New Zealand pigeon a “wood pigeon”. It is our one and only endemic pigeon, and deserves New Zealand status.

I am not an ornithologist but I understand that the genus of the New Zealand pigeon is Hemiphaga, and the European wood pigeon, which is not represented in New Zealand, belongs to the genus Palumbus.

It is my hope that Forest & Bird might in future assist with correcting the misnaming of the New Zealand pigeon.

Rosalind Rothschild, Auckland We give the kereru – or kukupa or kuku, as it’s known to Maori in the north – or “wood pigeon” or “New Zealand pigeon” or “native wood pigeon” or “native pigeon” many names.

These common names were given by English settlers as they compared native New Zealand birds with the birds of their homeland. Perhaps we should use the Maori names for the beautiful Hemiphaga novaeseelandiae to avoid any confusion. – Editor

conservation

news

Forest & Bird fairy godmother F

orest & Bird is ramping up efforts to find another nesting site for our critically endangered fairy terns after courtroom negotiations temporarily put an end to a developer’s plans to build a 180-house subdivision and golf course near their nesting grounds.

In early November, the High Court ruled against the development at Te Arai Beach, north of Auckland, in what has been a drawn-out and expensive court battle lasting more than six years. However, there’s nothing stopping the developer trying again.

Forest & Bird has begun searching for new sites for fairy terns to live since the land surrounding Te Arai’s white-sand beach is privately owned and will always be coveted by developers.

After dipping to an all-time-low of 15 individuals, the fairy tern population has bounced back to 43, but their nesting sites are becoming over-crowded. Finding a safe, predator-free site is critical. Fairy terns nest at four areas north of Auckland – Waipu, Mangawhai and Pakiri beaches on the east coast and South Kaipara Head on the west coast.

In the past three months, the Northland-Auckland-Great Barrier area has been surveyed by Rangi Zimmerman with Forest & Bird volunteers June Brooks and Gwenda Pulham, and several sites have been ranked after considering factors such as food availability, usage and predator control.

To support this work, a research project by Auckland University PhD student Steffi Ismar is looking into their

nesting and feeding habits to help us gain a better understanding of the birds’ needs.

“Ultimately, we’d like to encourage birds who are not already breeding at the current sites to relocate to nearby sites that are food-filled, predator-free and absent of beach-goers, so finding the right mix of factors is crucial,” Forest & Bird North Island Conservation Manager Mark Bellingham says.

“As well as clearing the site of predators, we may need to employ body doubles and broadcast fairy tern calls to lure them to their new homes,” he says. n Mandy Herrick

Photo: P J Pridham

Global biodiversity goals A

lmost 200 countries – including New Zealand – adopted a new United Nations strategy to halve the loss of natural habitats by 2020 at the Nagoya Biodiversity Summit held in Japan in October.

The two-week summit ended with an agreement to meet the so-called Aichi targets – a 10-year plan named after the area where the summit was held. Other targets include expanding nature reserves to 17 per cent of the world’s land area (up from 10 per cent), and widening marine protected zones to 10 per cent of the world’s seas – up from just one per cent today.

The countries also agreed to restore at least 15 per cent of degraded areas and make special efforts to reduce the pressures faced by coral reefs.

In addition, the conference adopted the Nagoya protocol to manage the world’s genetic resources and share the multimillion-dollar benefits with developing nations and indigenous communities.

The protocol, which will come into effect in 2020, commits governments to look at ways to compensate indigenous communities for genetic material and traditional medical knowledge collected in the past that is now being used, patented and sold.

About 18,000 people representing the 193 parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity attended the summit. It was generally considered to be more successful than the climate talks held in Copenhagen in 2009, which failed to come to an agreement over emissions targets.

Rivers DVD winners Thank you to everyone who entered the draw for a DVD of Craig Potton’s Rivers TV series. The winners are: Todd Edwards, of Auckland, Catherine Dawson, of Queenstown, Mr C T Wood, of Auckland, Terry Kennaway, of Waikanae, and Graeme Paltridge, of Christchurch. Your DVDs will be posted.

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Taking aim at the Rakaia T

he ever-shifting channels of New Zealand’s largest braided river, the Rakaia, are a fitting metaphor for the complexity and competing interests that have characterised water management in Canterbury.

The braided channels crisscrossing a riverbed up to three kilometres wide and stretching towards the eastern horizon are a magnificent sight from a hill overlooking the Rakaia Gorge, where the river surges through a narrow gap to leave the hills behind for the last time.

The Rakaia is a potent symbol of the power of water in Canterbury and is one of the focal points for conflict in managing the region’s water resources. The government has suspended normal democratic processes by sacking the elected members of the regional council, Environment Canterbury, and replacing them with appointed commissioners.

Conservationists fear this unprecedented action will lead to accelerated development of irrigation in Canterbury, leading to damaged rivers, reduced water quality, loss of native fish and birdlife, and the disappearance of the few remnants of native vegetation on the plains.

“From a natural character point of view, this is one of the best examples of a braided river in the world,” Forest & Bird Canterbury/West Coast Field Officer Jen Miller says of the Rakaia.

“What we do know is once you start taking too much water out, you start altering that whole braided river pattern because water quality declines, channels become embedded and wildlife habitat is reduced. Fortunately, the low flows of the Rakaia are protected by a water conservation order, but a recent hydro and irrigation proposal seeks to undermine it.”

The catchment of the Rakaia drains a 65-kilometre section of the Main Divide between the Waimakariri and Rangitata rivers. The main source is fed by the Lyell and Ramsay glaciers in the Southern Alps.

The river is prized as one of the best salmon fisheries in New Zealand, and trout and native fish also live in its braided channels. Among the native birds that congregate around the river are black-fronted terns and wrybills, both with only about 5000 individuals left throughout New Zealand.

The 140-kilometre-long Rakaia has a water conservation order that sets a minimum water flow level and restricts the amount of water that can be taken out of the river, depending on the flow.

High dairy prices, rising demand for electricity and poor returns from sheep farming in recent years are among the factors driving demand for more irrigation. Barrhill Chertsey Irrigation (BCI) has an allocation of 17 cumecs of water from the Rakaia, which it wants to use to provide irrigation to farms on the south bank of the river. It could also provide more water for other areas already under irrigation through the Rangitata Diversion Race (RDR).

TrustPower, which operates the Lake Coleridge power station that opened in 1914, is considering options for

providing additional water for irrigation and power generation from the lake. But Lake Coleridge is fed by tributaries of the Rakaia and the water that flows through the power station feeds back into the river. So any diversion of water from the lake is currently not possible because of the water conservation order.

Not only the health of waterways is threatened by the increasing pressure for irrigation in Canterbury. Pivot irrigators, which water a circle up to two kilometres in diameter, require the removal of vegetation such as hedges and shelter belts which hinder their huge booms.

“Paddocks used to be bordered by hedges, providing corners where native plants could keep a toehold but they are taken out by irrigators,” Jen Miller says.

Travelling around the Canterbury Plains, the native vegetation is difficult to spot in many areas. According to Environment Canterbury, as little as one per cent of the original native vegetation remains in some areas and less than 10 per cent of the once extensive wetlands.

Jen Miller says irrigation is extending beyond the plains.

“Because of the demand for extra grazing from the dairy industry, you can now see cattle on the foothills where sheep once grazed. This is affecting water quality and indigenous vegetation. So it’s not just the plains but the foothills as well.”

Forest & Bird’s South Island Conservation Manager Chris Todd says the government’s decision announced at the end of March last year to sack the Environment Canterbury councillors in favour of handpicked commissioners showed a disturbing disregard for legal and democratic constraints in the pursuit for unfettered irrigation expansion.

“We now have more cows than people and our rivers are suffering for it,” he said. n David Brooks

Photo: David Brooks

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All-black success for kaki N

ew research has eased fears that one of our rarest birds, the kaki or black stilt, may be fast disappearing as a distinct species through interbreeding with the closely related poaka, or pied stilt. Kaki were once common throughout New Zealand but habitat destruction and introduced pests reduced their number to a low of about 23 individuals in 1981 in their last stronghold in the Mackenzie Basin.

The population has recovered to 98 adults with intensive management. But hybrid birds have emerged with varying proportions of black and white plumage. This is due to mating over the last half century between the kaki and the poaka, which was self-introduced to New Zealand from Australia about 150 years ago.

Kaki (Himantopus novaezelandiae) are braided river specialists and – unlike most riverbed birds, including the poaka, that migrate to the coast in winter – kaki generally remain in the Mackenzie Basin year round.

At two or three years, kaki begin to form life-long pair bonds before their migratory relatives return to the basin.

But if they cannot find a kaki mate in time, they may choose a poaka instead. This has raised fears that the kaki may gradually become extinct through hybridisation with the poaka.

University of Canterbury conservation geneticist Dr Tammy Steeves, who led a recent collaboration between university researchers and Department of Conservation scientists, said it was previously unclear whether birds with all black plumage contained kaki DNA only or if they are a mixture of kaki and poaka DNA. The study showed that every bird with black plumage, except one that disappeared in 2009 and is presumed dead, had no poaka DNA. Dr Steeves describes the results as “both surprising and exciting”.

“Because hybrids can breed with either kaki or poaka, we expected to find many more ‘cryptic’ hybrids, or birds that appear to be one species but actually have DNA from both species,” she says.

The lack of cryptic birds is partly due to the female hybrids’ low reproductive success. In the past, most pairings between kaki and hybrids were probably between male kaki and female hybrids because kaki males temporarily outnumbered kaki females.

Another factor is very high past mortality rates, meaning very few birds contributed to the current gene pool, and of these, even fewer were hybrids. The good news is that because the number of male and female kaki in the Mackenzie Basin is now more or less even, kaki are much less likely to choose the second-best option of pairing with poaka or hybrids.

But hybridisation still poses a threat. If a kaki imbalance in favour of females developed, poaka DNA would appear in the kaki gene pool through male hybrids because, unlike their female counterparts, male hybrids do not exhibit low reproductive success. “This is why we’ve recommended monitoring the adult sex ratio to ensure that it remains approximately one to one,” Dr Steeves says.

Since 1999, efforts have also been made to stop kaki breeding with poaka or hybrids, including culling some of the non-kaki partners, and the research team says this should continue. “These relatively straightforward conservation genetic management strategies will maintain the genetic integrity of the kaki. Future strategies will seek to maximise the genetic diversity of this species.”

The kaki captive rearing programme and predator control are also vital tools for the continued recovery and long-term survival of kaki, she says. n David Brooks

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Encounter Kaikoura is a Green Globe certified business

Mackenzie forum finds way forward A

symposium held in late November on the way forward for the Mackenzie Country has paved the way for cooperation to better balance competing interests in one of our most treasured landscapes.

The Future of the Mackenzie Country symposium in Twizel on November 26 and 27 was organised by the Environmental Defence Society with Forest & Bird and the IUCN’s World Commission on Protected Areas.

A total of 220 people attended the symposium, including local farmers and business people, and representatives from local authorities, along with representatives from environmental organisations and the tourism industry.

Although Federated Farmers decided to boycott the symposium, alleging it was designed to allow outside interests to exclusively push their green agenda, about half the participants were local, including a good number of high country farmers.

Environment Minister Nick Smith warned that unless some new way forward was found to manage economic and environmental values in the Mackenzie Country, there would be a decade of litigation that would only benefit lawyers. ”I think the challenge here in the Mackenzie is huge – the landscapes here are iconic,” he told the symposium.

He said both national and local interests would have to be considered in trying to find a new way of managing the Mackenzie and its resources. “The only way forwards is if there is a role for people from outside who have a love for this area but it is critical it is driven by local people,” he said. “If there is a will, if all parties are prepared to be part of this process, I would be prepared to provide some money to start this conversation.”

Others who spoke at the symposium included Richard Peacocke – who has a controversial dairying proposal for keeping cows mostly indoors in cubicles – local mayors, ecologist Susan Walker and local farmers.

Forest & Bird’s South Island Conservation Manager Chris Todd explained the tenure review process, which is leading to large tracts of land in the area being transferred from Crown pastoral leases into freehold, with some land being set aside for conservation. Of 79 leases in the area, 35 are in review, and 21 have been completed. So far 70,000 hectares has been set aside for conservation and 73,000 hectares freeholded.

But the vast majority of this conservation land is in the high country, with only six per cent of the Mackenzie Country Basin floor protected.

The freeholding of land is opening the way for more irrigation in the Mackenzie. Todd said there were already irrigation applications in the basin covering 14,000 hectares of land on outwash plains – areas where fine silt and gravel was deposited by water flowing out of ancient glaciers.

Tenure review offered the last opportunity to protect the Mackenzie Basin floor ecological systems and landscapes, he said. The Mackenzie’s outstanding landscape contains many threatened plants and birds, including the black stilt or kaki, of which there are only 98 adult birds.

“Forest & Bird supports a positive vision and road map for the Mackenzie that ensures protection of all its important values,” Todd said. “However, freeholding of Crown land and irrigation consents need to be put on hold until the road map is in place.”

Other issues discussed during the symposium included dairy conversions, water quality, the spread of wilding pines and other pests and weeds, hydro electricity and problems with the planning regime.

At the end of the symposium, EDS chairman Gary Taylor said there was a general will for collaboration to consider better ways of managing the region. n David Brooks

Become a Mackenzie campaigner. Sign up here: www.forestandbird.org.nz/become-mackenzie-campaigner

Photo: Ines Stager

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conservation

news

Kawakawa dieback puzzle S

cientists investigating the deaths of hundreds of kawakawa trees in Auckland and Northland are asking Forest & Bird members to help them determine how widespread the problem is.

Nick Waipara, who is part of a team from MAF Biosecurity and the Auckland Council investigating kawakawa dieback, says they want to hear about other examples of kawakawa which have suffered from leafyellowing, wilting and dying.

“It is basically sudden death – the affected trees are dying within weeks of the first symptoms appearing,” he says. “We need the eyes of the public to find out whether it has spread to other areas.”

He says Forest & Bird members can help by taking photos of kawakawa they think may be affected, and sending them with information on their location to him or fellow team member Wellcome Ho. “If they don’t have a digital camera with them, they can give us a call and describe the symptoms over the phone.”

Affected trees first began appearing in Auckland in the spring of 2008. Since then there have been reports of kawakawa dieback on Waiheke Island and as far north as Whangarei. Among the affected trees are about 20 on a lifestyle block in the Waitakere Ranges owned by Forest & Bird North Island Conservation Manager Mark Bellingham.

“The leaves just start withering and going black and brown, then they drop off, and the branches start to die one by one, so that pretty soon the whole plant is dead,” he says.

At this stage it’s not clear what is causing the kawakawa to die, though tests on affected trees have found four different species of a microscopic plant pathogen called phytophthora.

Photo: Mark Bellingham

Dr Waipara says any one of the four species may be the culprit, though it is also possible that something else is killing the trees, and that phytophthora is a secondary infection.

“We still need to carry out inoculation tests to see which of the four species of phytophthora, if any, is causing the problem.”

There are hundreds of different species of phytophthora – which means plant destroyer in Greek – including one known as phytophthora taxon Agathis (PTA) which is currently killing kauri trees throughout the upper North Island. However, PTA is specific to kauri and has not been identified in the affected kawakawa.

Dr Waipara says that even if a species of phytophthora does turn out to be the cause of the kawakawa dieback, it may not be as serious as kauri dieback, as kawakawa are much faster growing than kauri.

“But it is still a worry – any disease in our native ecosystem is a cause for concern.” n Ruth Nichol Photo: Dick Veitch/DOC

What to look for Kawakawa is a small tree which grows up to six metres tall, and is found throughout the North Island and in the top half of the South Island. Its heart-shaped leaves were used by Maori to help heal wounds, and to make a tealike infusion. It has tiny, upright flowers, and the male and female flowers grow on separate trees.

Infected kawakawa show a range of symptoms, starting with yellowing leaves which then wilt and fall off, branch by branch. The whole plant then starts to wilt, and it dies within a few weeks.

You can report any suspected cases of kawakawa dieback to: Nick Waipara Biosecurity Section, Auckland Council, 09 366 2000 ext 8775, 021 222 9067 nick.waipara@aucklandcouncil.govt.nz Wellcome Ho Planet Health and Environment Laboratory, MAF Biosecurity 09 090 5730 wellcome.ho@maf.govt.nz

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Building rivers for birds W

airarapa river birds are benefitting from a recent training course run by Forest & Bird Lower North Island Field Officer Aalbert Rebergen with flood engineering staff at the Greater Wellington Regional Council.

Rebergen ran the one-day course in August with 12 staff who oversee flood control work in three Wairarapa rivers – the Ruamahanga, the Waingawa and the Waiohine. The course aimed to help engineering staff become more aware of the needs of local river birds, such as banded dotterels, black-fronted dotterels and pied stilts, so flood control work is done without harming the birds or their habitat.

Rebergen was delighted to learn that, just a few weeks after the course, regional council staff postponed flood control work on a 10km section of the Ruamahanga because of the large number of banded dotterels and pied stilts they found nesting there. “It’s a really hopeful sign that the training is already making a difference in the decision-making process,” he says.

He hopes that ultimately the training – which he would like to become a regular event – will boost bird numbers on all three rivers.

Rebergen showed engineering staff how to identify areas where river birds are likely to breed and feed. “If they can recognise these breeding and feeding habitats they can avoid working on them at crucial times of the year, such as during the nesting season.” He also gave suggestions about ways to carry out flood control work so that it benefits, rather than harms, the birds.

Flood control work involves using heavy machinery such as bulldozers and diggers to protect river banks and realign river beds, so the rivers are less likely to flood after heavy rain. The work has some advantages for river birds, because it clears out introduced weeds such as broom and gorse that clog up the rivers and make it hard for the birds to breed and feed. “Banded dotterels and other river birds need wide-open rivers with safe nesting habitat and suitable feeding areas, especially muddy backwaters.”

But flood control work also changes the natural course of rivers, so that rather than meandering across the riverbed they run in a straight channel in the centre of the river. Flood control work over the past few decades has significantly modified all the rivers in the Ruamahanga catchment, and has had a negative effect on bird and aquatic life, Rebergen says. “Fifty years ago the rivers would have been wider, there would have been more channels, and there would have been a lot more bird life.”

However, he says it is possible to carry out flood control

work in a way that improves the birds’ habitat and even helps boost their numbers. The most important change is to avoid doing work during the nesting season, from September to December. Rebergen has mapped the main nesting areas on all three rivers so staff and contractors know which areas to avoid. The one exception to this rule is when emergency flood-prevention work is needed.

Rebergen says staff should avoid destroying the high, dry, safe areas where the birds like to nest and breed. And they can use their bulldozers to create backwaters as they realign the riverbeds. Backwaters are small muddy ponds on the edges of rivers where birds go to feed.

“The purpose of the work I have been doing with the council is to establish guidelines on how to maintain the bird habitat in this intensively engineered environment. This is an opportunity for the guys on the bulldozers to actually preserve and even create habitat for the birds.”

Rebergen is the Forest & Bird representative on a working group developing a global consent to allow the Greater Wellington Regional Council to carry out flood control work on the three main rivers. The other members of the group include representatives from Fish & Game, the Department of Conservation and the two local iwi – Rangitane and Ngati Kahungunu.

To help the regional council with its decision-making, Rebergen recently carried out a survey of bird life on all three rivers. This followed up a similar survey he carried out 11 years ago when he worked for the Department of Conservation.

He found that the number of banded dotterels and pied stilts on the Waiohine and Waingawa is much the same as in 1999, and the number of black-fronted dotterels has increased. The number of all three birds has doubled on the Ruamahanga. In one 10km section of the river he counted 30 pairs of banded dotterels, about 15 pairs of black-fronted dotterels and more than 100 pied stilts.

It is encouraging that, despite the flood control work, bird numbers have not fallen but Rebergen says there is still plenty of room for improvement in the way the work is done. “By just working in a slightly different way, the council and their contractors can actually create more and betterquality bird habitat.” n Ruth Nichol 1 Heavy machinery at work on the Waingawa River in the Wairarapa.

Photos: Aalbert Rebergen 2 A female banded dotterel at a nesting site beside the Waingawa River.

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conservation

news

Conservation grants Applications are invited for grants from two funds administered by Forest & Bird.

BirdLife community conservation fund The BirdLife International Community Conservation Fund supports projects that conserve or restore globally threatened bird species or important bird areas in New Zealand and the Pacific. Forest & Bird branches, BirdLife International partners, partners designate and affiliates and associated community groups are eligible to apply for assistance from the fund.

Application procedures and forms can be downloaded from our website www.forestandbird.org.nz For further information please email office@forestandbird.org.nz or write to BirdLife Community Fund, Forest & Bird, PO Box 631, Wellington 6011 Preliminary applications must be received by 5pm on 29 July 2011.

JS Watson Trust Applications are invited from individuals or conservation groups for conservation projects for the 2011-2012 year.

Application procedures and forms can be downloaded from our website www.forestandbird.org.nz For further information please email office@forestandbird.org.nz or write to JS Watson Conservation Trust, Forest & Bird, PO Box 631, Wellington 6011 Preliminary applications must be received by 5pm on 3 June 2011.

Forest & Bird Conservation conference Forest & Bird’s annual conference will be at the Mercure Hotel, 355 Willis Street, Wellington on 24-26 June 2011.

The Annual General Meeting will be held at 8:30am on 25 June. More information at office@forestandbird.org.nz or (04) 385 7374 or on our website: www.forestandbird.org.nz

Wear your heart on your sleeve.

Iron a Forest & Bird cloth badge on to your T-shirt or backpack.

Badges are $6 and for sale at www. forestandbird.org.nz or 0800 200 064

Splash out A nationwide community day to celebrate our rivers is back this summer by popular demand. This year, Forest & Bird is organising the event on the weekend of February 26-27, for communities to show how important their river is for fun, for our health and for their wonderful plants and creatures.

Watch out for a Celebrating our River event in your area, with activities and displays from our partners at Whitewater NZ, Fish & Game, the Department of Conservation, councils, tramping clubs, kayaking and rafting groups and nature organisations.

More information at www.forestandbird.org.nz

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| Forest & Bird

Alone we are born And die alone ; Yet see the red-g old cirrus Over snow-mountain shine.

Upon the upland road Ride easy, strang er : Surrender to the sky Your heart of ang er.

'Hig h Countr y Weather' James K . Ba xter

DON’T KILL A KIWI ICON. SAVE THE MACKENZIE COUNTRY

The Mackenzie is under threat from intensive farming and other development.

Take action at www.savethemackenzie.org.nz

Ogilvy/FAB0113

A curve ball for the

curve

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COVER STORY

bill

South Island braided rivers – where wrybills spend summer – are changing.

These unique birds are struggling to keep up. By Aalbert Rebergen.

W

rybills – like most migratory wader birds – have very different homes in summer and winter. In summer, they live in isolated pairs on large South Island braided rivers, where they feed in shallow riffles and pools and along the smaller river braids. In winter, they head north in large flocks for tidal mudflats.

They nest on gravel banks without vegetation, often on islands surrounded by river channels. The grey wrybill blends in with its surroundings and is almost impossible to spot when sitting on its nest. When approached, the incubating wrybill stays on its nest longer than most other New Zealand birds. The two eggs look like grey stones and are even more difficult to spot. In this sea of grey stones the birds even use tiny stones to line the nest.

Wrybills share the braided rivers with banded dotterels, black-fronted terns, black-billed gulls and black stilts.

Numbers of these birds – except banded dotterels – are all falling, and the black stilt has only survived through clever intensive local management in the Mackenzie Basin at the Twizel captive breeding facility.

In autumn, after the breeding season, wrybills migrate north to greater Auckland’s harbours. Here they feed in flocks on the extensive mudflats – a world away from the stony riverbeds in the south. Miranda, on the Firth of Thames, one hour southeast of Auckland, is a good place to see them in winter.

1 A wrybill uses its beak to find mayfly and caddisfly larvae under riverbed stones. Photo: Brent Stephenson @ Eco-Vista 2 The Upper Rangitata River in full flood. Photo: Peter Langlands

MIRANDA

RANGITATA RAKIAIA UPPER WAITAKI

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The wrybill spends its entire life in New Zealand, which makes conservation of this special bird our exclusive responsibility. Wrybill breeding grounds once included Marlborough and many smaller rivers but are now confined to the large eastern South Island catchments, especially the Upper Waitaki (Ahuriri, Tasman, Godley), Rangitata and Rakaia rivers. No more than 5000 wrybills remain, and the species is classified as nationally vulnerable.

The main threats to the long-term survival of wrybills are mammal predators – especially stoats, ferrets and cats – flooding, and the loss and degradation of suitable habitats.

All three threats are closely linked and influence each other and the survival chances of the wrybill.

A study on the Tasman River in the late 1990s by Elaine Murphy and John Dowding found stoats pose a serious problem for wrybills. They discovered wrybill remains in 14 of 128 investigated stoat dens, with remains of at least seven wrybills in one den.

Wrybills are relatively safe from predators when they nest on islands in braided rivers. Open braided riverbeds are unpopular places for mammal predators – they like at least some cover from plants.

Some rivers, especially in the lower reaches, have serious weed issues and have become unsuitable nesting areas for wrybills. They may still be able to feed here, but they can’t find open nesting areas. This problem is getting worse, and tall, invasive weeds such as broom, gorse and Russell and yellow lupins are making rivers unsuitable for breeding for decades to come because of their seeds’ long life.

A river in flood is a natural weeder. When huge amounts of water race through the river channels and across the islands, the torrents of water dislodge plants and clean the riverbeds. However, flooding also germinates the hardshelled lupin, gorse and broom seeds and within a short time a new generation of weeds springs up on the gravel beds. It’s almost impossible to get rid of them.

It has been suggested that climate changes may create more flooding during the wrybill breeding season from September to December. Wrybills are adapted to life in flood-prone areas. They can lay more than one clutch in a season and depend on flooding to maintain their feeding and nesting habitat but they need enough time without flooding to incubate eggs and raise chicks. If flooding 3

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caused large-scale breeding failure over several years, this would have a serious impact on the size and age range of the wrybill population.

If river flows fall, the weed problem will get worse and predators will find it easier to cross braided rivers. Life for wrybills will become even harder.

Our world is becoming more suited for generalists and it’s not surprising that a specialist bird like the wrybill is in danger of becoming another casualty of change.

Predators, weeds, flooding and reduced flows are threats that are here to stay and we need to find ways to at least manage some of the best river habitat for the benefit of wrybills and other threatened birds that inhabit the same braided rivers.

Current and proposed land intensification in parts of the high country such as the Mackenzie Basin will not only reduce water flows but could increase nutrient levels in rivers, which will spur weed growth on riverbeds, making them unsuitable for nesting birds.

Key high-quality and unmodified wrybill habitat needs to be identified, properly managed and monitored.

We must not forget the importance of the wrybills’ winter home in the Auckland and Northland harbours, where they have other threats to deal with, especially water quality and disturbance. An oil or contamination spill could have a disastrous impact on the small wrybill population.

During high tide, wrybills often roost with other wader birds on higher ground where they are susceptible to disturbance.

The wintering grounds offer us the best opportunity to monitor the wrybill population on a national scale. They need some help in a fast-changing world.

Aalbert Rebergen is Forest & Bird’s Lower North Island Field Officer.

3 An adult wrybill on the lower Ahuriri River. Photo: Aalbert Rebergen 4 A wrybill chick finding its feet on the riverbed. Photo: Peter Langlands 5 The tangled braids of the Rakaia River. Photo: Peter Morath/ hedgehoghouse.com 6 A female wrybill after being colour banded for monitoring.

Photo: Aalbert Rebergen

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Braided river specialists Wrybills (Anarhynchus frontalis) are small endemic shorebirds that are highly specialised for breeding on braided rivers. They are the only bird in the world with a bill curved sideways, adapted to find mayfly and caddisfly larvae under riverbed stones.

About 5000 wrybills remain, and the species is classified as nationally vulnerable.

Their breeding grounds along the South Island’s braided rivers are under increasing threat from changes in river water flow, weeds and introduced predators, such as stoats. These changes may seriously harm their long-term survival.

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Mimiwhangata: Aroha for the sea An inspiring initiative led by Mäori and supported by Forest & Bird could create a way forward to protect marine life. By Dean Baigent-Mercer.

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M

imiwhangata is an arm of land between the Bay of Islands and Whängärei that reaches towards the Poor Knights Islands. It’s surrounded by small islands, sandy beaches and rocky reefs. Decades of attempts to protect this special marine area have so far failed and the degradation of sea life has continued.

But the huge potential for recovery has inspired Forest & Bird’s continued support for aspirations of local hapü towards marine protection that could have benefits at Mimiwhangata and around the country.

Kaumätua Puke Haika, 73, remembers the old ways.

“I’ve been brought up in a community of conserving resources. My grandparents and father organised their seafood gathering beginning at Whitikau, right down to Rimariki [roughly 23 kilometres of coastline]. It would probably take them the best part of 20 years to get there and the diving places you’d go back to once every 10 years.

They would never go back until they reached the south end of their gathering place. That’s how they used to do it when I was a young fella.”

The initial wave of depletion and overfishing came from commercial fishing boats in the 1950s and “they got real heavy out here in the 60s and 70s”, recalls Uncle Puke.

“Around the mid-80s we noticed big changes in the stocks.”

In 1984, in an effort to put brakes on the damage, a marine park was declared off Mimiwhangata. Dr Roger Grace has monitored Mimiwhangata and similar sites at Tawharanui, north of Auckland, since 1976. “At Tawharanui nobody has taken crays for 29 years. Mimiwhangata became a marine park in 1984. The rules at that time still allowed commercial fishing for snapper and potting for crayfish, with a 10-year phase-out. So from 1994 there was no commercial fishing for crayfish at Mimiwhangata. In 1984, the rules for the marine park changed – no sinkers allowed, one hook per line and you couldn’t use nets.

Recreational fishers could use one craypot, no more.

“But it’s gone slowly downhill from an area that was fished down already.”

The overfishing that began with commercial fishing was sustained by recreational fishers who came in greater numbers with more sophisticated fishing boats and gear.

Fish size, populations and diversity withered. Because great numbers of snapper and crayfish, which eat kina, had been

taken, kina populations exploded and have grazed seaweed forests down to rock. Vast areas of kina barrens remain.

The evidence is clear. Dr Grace’s 2007 research along the Mimiwhangata coast, between Mökau and Whananaki, revealed 1.74 legal-sized crayfish per hectare, compared with 800 per hectare at the protected area at Tawharanui.

“Today, when people find a place with lots of fish they go back there again tomorrow,” Uncle Puke says. “My Dad always said, ‘Every big snapper you catch is a million little ones that won’t be born.’ I suppose he was right.”

E

ight years ago, Ngätiwai rangatira Houpeke Piripi (son of the last Ngätiwai paramount chief Morore Piripi), responded by declaring that marine protection was to be pursued by hapü in the district. “I myself feel that there should be a ban or a rähui tapu placed for at least 20 to 25 years, to allow the seaweed to regenerate so the rare fish, crayfish etc will return…”

Since that day, the road has been rocky. For five years, hapü members and DOC worked through the unwieldy requirements of the 1971 Marine Reserves Act. Boundaries were outlined and public submissions sought as part of a marine reserve proposal in 2004.

Around the same time, the Labour coalition Government put all marine reserve proposals on hold – including the one for Mimiwhangata – in favour of developing marine protected areas in each region. This process itself has now been suspended in most of New Zealand, including Northland.

As a result, Ngätiwai saw their Treaty partner walk away without explanation. This left all those involved in the process extremely frustrated and disillusioned.

In the meantime, hapü members approached Forest & Bird to get protection for Mimiwhangata moving down a different track that provided for hapü co-governance of the proposed marine reserve area.

1 Kina barrens are areas of very low diversity. Kina have overpopulated the area and eaten all of the kelp. Kelp is like the rainforest of the sea and provides habitat and food for a huge chain of marine life. Kina often overpopulate areas when their main predators, snapper and crayfish, are overfished. Photo: Roger Grace 2 Deep water sponge gardens. Photo: Roger Grace

NGATAURAU ROCK PAPARAHI POINT

RIMARIKI ISLAND

MARINE PARK

MIMIWHANGATA SCENIC RESERVE

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started diving around five years old,“ says Uncle Puke, who has been snorkelling around Mimiwhangata for more than 60 years. “I went to Whängärei to learn scuba diving in 1957. It opened up a whole new world altogether, Mimiwhangata was an awesome place. The first Spanish lobster I saw was out there. You’d always come across a school of huge snapper and kingfish. Now and then you’d run into a school of dolphins and of course the odd orca.

I disappeared quickly when I saw them under the water. I came face to face with hammerheads out there.“ In the late 1960s, Uncle Puke spotted a 50-pound packhorse crayfish. “I was just swimming over a channel and saw these huge horns sticking out of the seaweed.

They were so huge my hands wouldn’t fit around them. I put my jute bag over the top of it and it flapped and swam up to the boat.

“When I first started to fish out there we got red and blue moki. The blue moki is very, very scarce out there now but there’s still muttonbird on the islands, oi [grey-faced petrels] and diving petrels on Rimariki.”

Charles Going of te Whanau Whero from Whananaki has dived at Mimiwhangata all his life. “Literally hundreds of people are diving up there now. There needs to be reserves dotted right up the north saving things for everyone, for the future.”

Uncle Puke says that if we don’t act now, sea life will be “lost and forgotten like the moa. People won’t know what was there before.”

“Since we’ve been discussing the issue of marine reserves it’s made me realise how important it is to manage the resources out there, instead of just thinking about your puku all the time. I like what’s being presented now in that it would help re-establish fish stocks in the area and provide employment for the community. For me that’s really awesome.”

Charles Going points out that a rähui tapu won’t necessarily create a lot of jobs “but the key thing is the educational side. We want to put a research centre out there similar to what is at Goat Island, working with the university.”

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It’s made me realise how important it is to manage the resources out there, instead of just thinking about your puku all the time

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Community leader Carmen Hetaraka says young people are working towards skipper licences and dive qualifications. “We have trained dive instructors for the Tawhiti Rahi /Poor Knights and Motukökako, the Hole in the Rock. We don’t want them out there just taking.

There are other opportunities for people with those skills, and developing their kaitiakitanga as part of ecotourism.

We see the rähui tapu being a foundation for economic, education and employment sustainability.”

When life beneath the waves rebounds at Mimiwhangata, it is likely to be more diverse than around Goat Island near Leigh. The area is licked by subtropical currents that support species rarely found on the mainland coast, including foxfish, combfish and tropical surgeonfish.

Along with the bounceback of crayfish and snapper, it is hoped rare species – such as ivory coral, red-lined bubble shell, callianassid shrimp, spotted black grouper, sharpnosed puffer and sabretooth blenny – will become more common.

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Reefs stretching four kilometres offshore east of Rimariki Island from Mimiwhangata appear rich with gorgonian fan, soft and black corals and many different fish species.

People will be able to see some of New Zealand’s subtropical wonders from the shore with their masks and snorkels. Mimiwhangata is also one of the closest parts of the mainland to the Poor Knights Islands Marine Reserve.

3 A bird’s-eye view of Mimiwhangata Beach. Photo: Roger Grace 4 Black angelfish. Photo: Vince Kerr 5 Red-lined bubble shell. Photo: Roger Grace 6 Crayfish. Photo: Vince Kerr

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What’s a rähui tapu All legal marine protection tools have thorns for tangata whenua/tangata moana. Nationally, a major stumbling block is the current Marine Reserves Act 1971. For many, the Act isn’t acceptable because it means handing over management and governance to the Crown for traditional coastal areas. Ngätiwai contend that they have been cut out of management decisions at the two famous marine reserves at Leigh and the Poor Knights, which are within their rohe (tribal area), and they didn‘t want a repeat with Mimiwhangata.

The anchor stone remains the decree set by Houpeke Piripi. Borne from this is a concept of marine protection called rähui tapu, which can satisfy Mäori and nature conservation criteria with the potential to be used further afield. Forest & Bird supports this as a way of the future and with Ngätiwai leaders seeks to have rähui tapu included as another form of marine protection in the long-delayed deliberations over the Marine Reserves Bill.

A rähui outlines a boundary. The tapu is the restrictions that are to be observed within that boundary. A rähui tapu at Mimiwhangata would be a no-take area for everyone, and weaves together traditional Mäori protective measures with complementary additions to the marine reserves law.

Key differences with the legal definition of a marine reserve is that a rähui tapu would: n give tangata whenua/tangata moana co-governance with hapü and community trustees n have a 25-year generational review, allowing the next generation to decide what to do Some concerns have been raised that after 25 years the rähui tapu could be lifted and it would be open slather with trawlers and a massive influx of recreational fishers that would take the area back to square one. But this is unlikely because locals would be involved in scientific monitoring of the sites and experience the recovery. Local economic advantages, contribution to food security and the possibility that areas protected today will have even greater significance in 25 years mean we need to have faith in future decision makers to honour the intention of the rähui tapu.

The current proposal has taken nearly a decade of formulation and has been thoroughly thought through from a scientific, food security, economic development and mana moana perspective. Forest & Bird endorses this approach and asks everyone to support the concept and Ngätiwai in efforts to amend the Marine Reserves Act to establish rähui tapu.

Ngätiwai rangatira Houpeke Piripi: “There should be a ban or a rähui tapu placed for at least 20 to 25 years, to allow the seaweed to regenerate so the rare fish, crayfish etc will return …” Photo: Vince Kerr

Tiritiri Matangi Island Enjoy a day trip to a magical island called Tiritiri Matangi. From the moment you step onto the island to the moment you leave, you will be entranced by the serenade of gentle birdsong and the lush native bush. Tiritiri Matangi boasts around 300,000 native trees, 12 of New Zealand’s endangered bird species and 3 reptile species. There are numerous walking tracks throughout the island which vary in length and fitness levels. Book your cruise today!

Kokako - image c/o Simon Fordham/Naturepix 26

| Forest & Bird

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Haunting grey ghost Dedicated South Island kokako hunters refuse to believe their bird is gone for good.

By David Brooks.

T

o those who believe in the continued existence of the South Island kokako, conclusive evidence remains tantalisingly out of reach. To others, including the Department of Conservation, which formally declared the bird extinct in 2007, the searchers might as well be looking for a moa.

But the South Island Kokako Investigation Team (SIKIT) refuses to believe the search for the distinctive orangewattled cousin of the endangered North Island kokako is an exercise in futility.

A team of six, including Golden Bay-based Alec Milne and Peter Rudolf of Takaka, went into the Angus Burn area in the Waitutu Forest in Southland for several days in April last year following reported kokako sightings and calls in the area over the previous decade. They were all convinced they heard the calls of the kokako during their time in the wilderness but were unable to obtain conclusive evidence such as a feather or photo.

Amateur ornithologist Milne, who is certain he saw a South Island kokako in the Cobb Valley in Golden Bay in 2005, is far from discouraged after his latest trip in search of the elusive “grey ghost”. He plans to enlist the assistance of rock wrens in the Mt Xenicus area of the Cobb Valley as part of his efforts to locate kokako in the area. “The beauty of the rock wren is they will take feathers from other birds to line their nests and you have a reasonable chance of finding a cross-section of bird feathers in there. I will be doing that, if I can locate the rock wren nest.”

Rudolf says the lack of 2

1 Alec Milne and Karin Ludwig set up recording equipment during the expedition to the Waitutu Forest in Southland to search for the South Island kokako.

2 I G Pretre drew the South Island kokako in 1827.

Alexander Turnbull Library

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1 conclusive evidence is frustrating. “It’s incredibly frustrating that we have not been able to get absolute proof. The disbelief from much of the public and many ecologists and DOC has left us out on a limb,” he says. “It’s a real big challenge for us to convince people the South Island kokako still exists.”

Milne, Rudolf and other believers say the South Island kokako is more timid than its North Island cousin, explaining the lack of confirmed sightings. “It would have to be one of the shiest and most reclusive birds in the world. We can’t usually seem to get within 50 metres of them before they glide away or shift to the top of the trees,” said Rudolf who spent more than three years working with North Island kokako.

For DOC, there is no room left for doubt the bird is extinct, given the last officially accepted sighting of the kokako was in 1967. DOC officially declared the the South Island species extinct in 2007 and Kokako Recovery Group co-leader Oliver Overdyck says nothing has happened to change officials’ minds since then. Even if a bird was found, there would be little hope of saving the species. “Even if one bird was seen, it doesn’t necessarily mean you could have a functional population. It’s possible to find an old bird, but it might be an old male bird that may not be able to reproduce anymore and there may be no other birds there able to form a viable population.”

But DOC intends to ensure the song of the kokako will continue to be heard in the south. North Island kokako have been introduced to Secretary Island in Fiordland over the past two years and there is a goal to move a total of 30 North Island birds there.

Amazing facts about…

Rudolf and his SIKIT team mates believe the haunting calls of the South Island kokako can be heard still in isolated areas such as Angus Burn. “We got there about 5pm one evening and the next morning at about 6.15am, I heard a very loud call about 300 metres away,” he says.

Milne says he heard the same call from another position nearby.

“We heard what I consider to be a South Island kokako, it had very similar tonal qualities. The key thing is the metallic timbre. It is very similar to the North Island kokako, there is no other bird that can make that kind of call,” Rudolf says.

In all, the team heard calls they believed could have been kokako on seven occasions over four days, though they concede on three of those occasions it is possible tui or kaka were responsible. So in the end there was no conclusive evidence. But for the SIKIT team, the search will resume this year at Angus Burn because they feel sure the South Island kokako is still out there.

Milne admits the search has become something of an obsession after originally intending to get involved in SIKIT only for a year from 2008.

“But the reality is it’s easy to get drawn into it, and you keep hearing a bit more. It’s hard to drop it, it captivates you really,” he says.

Post reports of South Island kokako sightings or calls to www.greyghost.org.nz

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BARNACLES

By Ann Graeme

B

arnacles encrust the inter-tidal rocks in pimply profusion. Most people think – if they think of barnacles at all – that they are shellfish. But barnacles are crustaceans, like crayfish and crabs.

It is unscientific to project human personality on to animals but it is tempting to do so with barnacles. The young barnacle larva is like a carefree youth. It swims about in the plankton, feeding and changing into a succession of bizarre forms.

Then the larva settles down to become an adult.

It cements itself firmly to a rock – on its head. Then it builds a house in which it will live for the rest of its life.

The house has hinged walls and a roof of plates that open and close. When the tide goes out and the barnacle is at the mercy of sun and wind, it keeps its roof tightly closed. When the tide comes in, it opens its roof and thrusts out its feathery legs. They beat the water, catching its plankton food.

Imprisoned in their houses, adult barnacles have little chance of dalliance. They are hermaphrodites so they could fertilise themselves, but they don’t. That would be genetically undesirable. So how do barnacles mate?

When safely covered by the tide, a barnacle can extend its penis. It has the longest penis-to-body ratio of any creature. The penis gropes blindly around the rock until it senses a receptive barnacle. Then it sneaks into the open valves to deposit its sperm and fertilise the eggs. The recipient barnacle stores the fertilised eggs until they hatch into tiny free-swimming larvae.

It’s a weird way of living but it works. The humble barnacle is an evolutionary success. There are about 1220 living barnacle species and their fossils go back more than 500 million years. Barnacles have lived through great changes in Earth’s history and probably their descendants will encrust the rocky shore long into the future.

Acorn barnacles. Photo: Ann Graeme

Inspiring natural history tours include: • • • • •

Western Australia’s Dirk Hartog Island & Coral Coast; Western Australia’s Pilbara Reef & Ranges; Lake Eyre Basin & Flinders Ranges; South Australia Outback Expedition; Tanami Road Expedition (discover Newhaven Reserve & Lake Gregory).

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Plicate barnacles. Photo: Paul Creswell and Eunice Warren/DOC

GSA Coates Tours Licence no 9ta1135/36

Forest & Bird

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A garden

nest

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Fay Bolt’s Nelson backyard has become prime real estate for her feathered neighbours.

T

he first rule for making a bird garden is very simple: don’t make a bird garden; make a garden. If you build it with the birds in mind, they will come.

At the start, our garden just happened. We came to this sheltered branch of the Motueka Valley more than 30 years ago and found that we had apparently acquired a huge vegetable garden, sloping “lawns” of rough grass dotted with regimented fruit trees and very little else.

Our summers and autumns are dry and we rely on rainwater so the extensive vegetable areas had to go. I planted perennials and groundcovers, and by trial and error gradually established plants that could survive drought,

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heavy winter frosts and would more or less look after themselves. Lavenders and Mediterranean herbs thrived and in those early busy years were frequently left with their seedheads. I think that’s when the birds really began to adopt our garden.

Mowing the paddock grass was a chore so new herb gardens were established, and I laid old straw down among the new plants and shrubs, mulching heavily with bark.

Fantails and waxeyes came – insect-lovers that darted and dived for the midges hovering over the enriched ground.

A few fruit trees have survived – but only if they managed without spray – and they are now the birds’

BACKYARD conservation

delight. The solitary fig tree is always blighted (for us) with early frosts just before the fruit ripens beyond mouthpuckering cottonwool. Then the tree with its wizening fruits becomes alive with waxeyes, bellbirds and starlings feeding on the glut of fruit. The decaying fruit attracts more insects, so the swallows swoop overhead.

One of our two persimmon trees produces glowing fruit, which the tui, bellbirds and starlings delight in.

Waxeyes often eat their way inside the fruit.

We have planted more trees — and the birds have helped in no small way. Tiny kowhai, pittosporums, manuka and hebes have grown from passing birds' donated seed — with its own fertilising mulch — and the haphazard woodland expands further. Kereru swing in the kowhai and raid the flower shoots so that these days bellbirds and tui find fewer kowhai flowers to probe. But they have the japonica bushes and the flowering prunus. Among the almond trees with their floating petals, the tui chase in and out, sipping here and there.

We established a woodland area under some silver birches. Grey warblers sing for their supper up in the tops as they hoover up insects. In autumn, acrobatic redpolls seek out minute birch seeds. When the trees are completely bare, they visit the herb gardens and cling to the marjoram and lavender heads, finding the seeds that the goldfinches have missed.

There are nesting sites everywhere and in the most unexpected places. The fantails’ nest, for example, in the feijoa bush just outside the studio was so well hidden that I discovered it only when I saw the female gathering moss from the path and I watched to see where she flew. If I had used moss-remover, I wouldn’t have seen the nest.

Often we discover nests only after the birds have flown.

The front hedge is a wonderful hiding place for them.

It’s a stretch of the imagination to call it a hedge and it is one more of my gardening “accidents”. Our predecessor built a front fence from untreated timber. The rot set in so I planted old roses and clematis to hold up the posts.

Unfortunately, the roses struggled to grow any higher than the first rail. In those years possums were a plague in our valley and at night they scampered along the fence rail

nipping off the new buds. I read that raw wool draped around deterred these pests, but it seemed too untidy – even for my gardening methods. I bought a pot of raw lanolin, reasoning that the possums would object to the smell of this wool ingredient, and smeared it on the posts and the thorny stems of the roses. I can’t prove scientifically that it worked but the roses, clematis and honeysuckle now all twine together and somewhere in the midst is a crumbling wooden fence – and countless bird nests.

Winters in our valley are harsh, with heavy frosts, and the birds need a little cosseting. There are always remnants of fruit on the bird table and hanging feeders, and we sprinkle wild birdseed at the gate for finches. But once the birds have eaten to shreds the fruit on the trees, we become more generous. On the coldest and most bleak days I make unsalted porridge, which brings the sparrows, chaffinches and blackbirds. Softened dripping with wild birdseed stirred through it and tucked into the crevices of an opened pinecone delights the waxeyes and finches. The bellbirds and tui sample pieces of apple and often choose the fruit over sugared water.

The turning seasons are coloured by the birds that come and go. Winter is the busiest at the bird feeders, with different species often feeding together. Spring with its blossom brings the nectar seekers, and in summer the insectivores scoop up aphids and sandflies. And then comes autumn with ripening fruit and seeds for all-comers.

Wherever we go in our garden we see birds and hear birds. They always fascinate us and we always welcome them because, in a very real sense, the birds have created our garden.

Fay Bolt wrote The Bird Garden (reviewed in Forest & Bird August 2010).

1 Silvereyes, or tauhou, feast on persimmons in Fay Bolt’s garden.

Photos: Fay Bolt 2 A bellbird, or korimako, tucks into flax nectar.

3 A pine cone filled with dripping and wild bird seed.

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Attract flying visitors 1 2

Grow plants, trees and shrubs of varying height that flower at different times of the year and bear fruit or seeds. Make sure they suit your growing conditions.

Don’t begrudge the birds when they feed in your fruit trees—they are your guests. Make a feature of native flaxes to entice tui and bellbirds. Kowhai, pittosporums, native coprosmas, manuka and hebes with their flowers, seeds or berries all attract birds.

Make friends with your creepy-crawlies. If you don’t spray, the birds will mop them up for you. And the spider webs on the house catch the sandflies in the evening.

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DIY

Mulch — and let leaves lie where they fall. Then listen to the sound dry leaves make as you scuff through them, and watch the fantails flit around you.

Get rid of your weed-eater. Long grasses create a birdfriendly habitat with abundant insect life and a wide variety of seeds.

Be relaxed about an “untidy” garden—after all, nature isn’t all that tidy. Then you won’t fret when a blackbird scatters mulch over your daisy-strewn, mossy lawn.

And you will have so much more time to enjoy your garden and the birds that live there.

Put a birdbath where you can see it from a window but plant shrubs close to it so the birds have some protection. Clean it out often—you like clean bath water and so do the birds.

Get a bird table and hang birdfeeders in trees where you can see them from the house. Put out fruit, seedspiked dripping in pots, and wild birdseed. Don’t be tempted to offer bread that has gone mouldy to the birds —you don’t like it, and it’s not good for them either.

Keep feeders beyond the range of cats. If you must have a cat, put a bell around its neck.

Let your winter garden make a statement, and leave the seed heads for the birds. Don’t cut back perennials until there is new spring growth.

| Forest & Bird

Fay Bolt with a seed feeder, two hanging fruit trays, and the pine cone filled with dripping.

Defender of the deep K

irstie Knowles never succeeded in her goal of getting a nudibranch on the cover of Forest & Bird magazine but she has many other achievements to be proud of in 4½ years as Forest & Bird’s Marine Conservation Advocate.

“Kirstie’s made a huge contribution to New Zealand’s marine conservation during her time here,” Forest & Bird General Manager Mike Britton said.

Knowles left Forest & Bird at the end of January. After years of lobbying, persuading and cajoling in the corridors of power, at meetings and in front of a computer screen, she feels the pull of the sea. “I’d like to get a role that gets me into the field a bit more, interacting with nature, because I miss that,” she said.

Before joining Forest & Bird, British-born Knowles was diving every day as a field researcher and scientist for environment organisation Greenforce in the Bahamas, and she misses the intimate contact with nature.

Her passion for everything to do with the sea shone through in all her work and she was tireless in trying to make New Zealanders more aware of the need to conserve marine life.

One of the most satisfying campaigns came in 2008 with the achievement of a ban on set nets and other fishing restrictions in areas important to endangered Hector’s and Maui’s dolphins. “That was the culmination of years and years of work by my predecessors and Forest & Bird members. It was really rewarding to be part of the team that saw that through,” she said.

The first ever marine BioBlitz in October 2007 on Wellington’s south coast also stands out as “such a positive event about how awesome marine life is”. Over a month, the BioBlitz brought together marine scientists, government agencies, conservationists and the public to identify species and celebrate marine biodiversity.

She believes marine life is still underappreciated and for most of us it is a case of “out of sight, out of mind”, especially for her beloved nudibranchs, a type of sea slug with striking colours and forms.

“Until we get a Kirstie Knowles was a staunch advocate for nudibranchs real passion for marine (pictured) and other sea life during conservation, the amazing her 4½ years as Forest & Bird’s Marine Conservation Advocate. unique species we have, then you are not going to get much public will to stand up to any destruction and no will from politicians. That’s the really big thing – learning to love the sea.”

Britton said Forest & Bird was sad to see Knowles leave.

“She has given our marine campaigns new direction and worked in a very collaborative way with all the parties involved in fisheries and marine protection, despite facing a difficult environment with people with very strong views,” he said.

Knowles hopes to continue to live in Wellington, and remain active in marine conservation group Blue Wellington and as a Forest & Bird member. Being a part of Forest & Bird has been like being part of a large family, something that was underlined one year when she asked the Golden Bay branch for recommendations for holiday accommodation.

“One lady wrote back and said ‘come and stay with us, you are one of the whanau’, which was just lovely. To think of Forest & Bird as a big family hit the nail on the head.” n David Brooks Forest & Bird

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Last chance

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MOKIHINUI • SEDDONVILLE

2

WESTPORT

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for a river

GREYMOUTH

In October, Debs Martin – and 140 others – converged on the West Coast’s Mokihinui River. They were highlighting the need to protect the Mokihinui from a planned massive hydro dam so people – and wildlife – can continue to enjoy this unspoilt river.

T

he sun shone on the Mökihinui during Labour Weekend. Two of us took the pack route, chiselled out of steep granite slabs in the late 1880s, and following an old trail used by Mäori and early gold seekers.

We were immediately enclosed in the giant forests sprouting from the broken granite of the lower gorge.

Rimu, northern rata and matai tower over broadleaf forest dominated by kamahi. These well-drained, gentler slopes provide rich habitat and the forest is draped with epiphytes, orchids and ferns. Kiekie wrap rimu so thickly the trunks can barely be seen.

Our passage was high above the river but we shimmied down to explore the rich riverside vegetation. This open flood zone – where the river can surge six metres above its normal level – supports bryophytes, sedges, herbs and small tree saplings such as kohuhu, which can survive the tremendous force of the river in flood. Toetoe and flax dot the higher extremes, and the threatened daisy bush (Olearia cheesemanii) displays glorious spring flowers on the sunny reaches of these frequently disturbed slopes.

Anderson’s Flat was formed during a massive landslide.

This poorly drained flat crosses extensive sphagnum moss beds, with pole rimu emerging from a more sparsely populated and younger broadleaf forest.

The geology of the river gorge determines its character.

The lower gorge is granite, younger than the sedimentary mud, silt and sandstone that dominate the middle and 1 A glimpse of the Mokihinui River gorge from the pack route.

Photo: Michael North 2 Supplejack berries beside the river feed native birds. Photo: Geoff Walls 3 Kiekie clings to a podocarp beside the river. Photo: Michael North

upper section of the gorge. As it opens out near the top, expansive and much younger limestone dominates.

Splintered faults from the main divide cross the river.

Earthquakes have created extensive slips across the steep gorge walls. The most severe and devastating slid down in 1929 during the 7.8 Murchison earthquake.

Wineberry, kamahi and young rata are patching up the shattered faces. Tumbled boulders lie scattered, and ancient trees washed down in floods gather in backwaters, collecting rocks and sand, and creating more beach habitat for flood specialist plants such as the sprawling mat daisy (Raoulia tenuicaulis).

Further up the river, we turned the corner off an extensive slip face, with granite ribs plunging 20 metres into deep pools, and moved to more gently sloping limestone-dominated forest. Kowhai were still flowering and kereru perched on brown, drooping branches, nipping at the young green shoots. The density of the kowhai forest is unexpected so far inland and is explained by the combination of limestone geology and a relatively mild climate tempered by air flowing along the river gorge.

The Mökihinui’s ecosystems are seasonally important for our forest dwellers, including several lizard species and the elusive long-tailed bat. Wide-ranging birds, such as the kereru, move with the seasons.

Once across Specimen Creek, the broad Mökihinui River reveals a 500-metre-long rapid, littered with boulders from the 1929 earthquake. White water foams before crashing into a cliff. We paused and considered how we would navigate the section in a raft the next day.

Along the route we spotted many shells of the endemic giant land snail Powelliphanta lignaria unicolorata. The Mökihinui gorge is a stronghold for this subspecies, with Forest & Bird

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4 the most abundant populations at the lower and upper ends of the gorge. Powelliphanta have an unusual and dynamic relationship with the Mökihinui River, with the P. l. unicolorata subspecies frequently washed across the river in flood, and hybridising with other subspecies on the river’s true right. Pest numbers through the gorge are relatively low, with natural predation from western weka and other birds resulting in the scattering of shells we saw.

The last section of the track leads past Lake Perrine.

Now nearly filled with sand from decades of floods, Lake Perrine entombs enormous trees, drowned in the slips and floods. At the forks, where the south and north branches meet in a tumultuous rapid known as the Jailhouse, an expansive sandy beach encases more dead standing beech trees. Also in the sand are several Powelliphanta shells – evidence of their demise in a flood.

After staying overnight in the former Forest Service hut at Mökihinui Forks, we shed our tramping kit for wet suits, and joined more than 100 others who had helicoptered in to kayak, raft and celebrate this mighty river. This river has a long rafting heritage – “Mökihinui” means “big raft”.

Plunging through the white water we had witnessed the day before, we capsized at Jailhouse. No one was kept prisoner but our respect for the river grew immediately.

Our travel on the river was more dynamic than on the pack route. The granite slabs that the day before we saw far below us became intimate acquaintances on the riverbed.

On previous trips we’d had very close encounters with the key predator in the river – the longfin eel. Longfin eel numbers are high in the river, and scientists acknowledge the Mökihinui is an important home for this species in decline. With deep pools, clear and high-quality water and 10 other native fish species, the river offers an excellent home for eels. One of the most populous native fish in the river is the koaro, and blue ducks, or whio, also live in the river gorge.

Solemn reminders of the 1929 earthquake were revisited when we slid effortlessly over the twisted remains of the iron bridge – once part of the old trail to Karamea up the Rough & Tumble tributary. It was a reminder that a wild river environment like the Mökihinui may play a generous 36

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host, but in inclement weather and seismic thrusting, the power of nature is fully exposed.

We drifted past towering rimu and cascading waterfalls before the final turn as the gorge opens up on its way to the sea. Setting sunlight glinted on the final steep ridge, which is the site for Meridian Energy’s planned hydroelectricity dam and reservoir that would obliterate all we had seen.

After the enveloping experience of the Mökihinui gorge, such destruction is incomprehensible.

Debs Martin is Forest & Bird’s Top of the South Field Officer.

4 Jailhouse rapid. Photo: Michael North 5 Native birds feed on nectar from rata flowers. Photo: Debs Martin 6 Supporters make a stand for the Mokihinui on Labour Weekend 2010.

Photo: iantraffordphotos.com

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River in red The Mökihinui River gorge is one of the special places in New Zealand with both northern and southern rata.

The northern rata is in the lower gorge, which has milder temperatures because of the maritime influence and tall rimu forest to encourage its epiphytic growth. Here, it reaches its southern inland limits.

The upper gorge’s cooling inland winds and temperatures better suit the southern rata. The showy flowers tint the green forest backdrop a rich red in summer.

Insects and birds thrive on the blooms.

What’s at stake

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What you can do You can help save the Mökihinui River from being destroyed by an 85-metrehigh dam if you: n

Write to Meridian Energy chief executive Tim Lusk and Conservation Minister Kate Wilkinson and ask them to stop the dam going ahead.

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Write to newspapers, MPs and online about the Mökihinui.

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Hold a fundraising or educational film evening showing Craig Potton’s Mökihinui episode from his Rivers TV series and documentary A Tale of Two Rivers. Contact Jolene Molloy at j.molloy@forestandbird.org.nz for details.

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Donate to Forest & Bird’s Mökihinui fund to help pay the $100,000 legal costs of our appeal against the dam by buying a Mökihinui shareholding certificate. See www.forestandbird.org.nz

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Sign up as a Mokihinui activist. See www.forestandbird.org.nz

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Visit the Mökihinui River to experience a truly wild river.

At Flooring Xtra, our local roots mean more.

Each of our stores has developed a business from the ground up, founded on honest to goodness local values, assisting people within each local region with their flooring to create better home or business environments.

Now, together as we grow beyond 50 stores nationally, we have a combined will to help better New Zealand’s greater environment. It’s why we have developed a partnership with New Zealand’s largest national conservation charitable organisation, Royal Forest & Bird Protection Society of New Zealand.

The environmental programme, which we’ve called ‘Restoring New Zealand’s Forest Floor’, commits regular funding from every local Flooring Xtra store to Forest & Bird, so that they may plant in excess of 20,000 native plants and trees around New Zealand every year.

Because, like you, we’re locals who want to see local environments looking beautiful for generations to come.

0800 4 F L O R X

4 3 5 6 7 9

54 Stores Nationwide www.flooringxtra.co.nz

Meridian Energy has consent to build an 85-metre-high hydro-electricity dam and flood more than 330 hectares of the Mökihinui River and surrounding forest.

Forest & Bird is appealing this decision, and our expert witnesses will give evidence when the appeal is heard in 2012.

Meridian also needs Conservation Minister Kate Wilkinson’s approval to build the dam because the river is on public conservation land. Meridian has offered to swap other land for the Mokihinui land it needs but the Department of Conservation has indicated it would decline the offers.

A dam on the Mokihinui River would be used to supply the national grid. Continued energy demand means we need to adopt energy conservation measures and alternative energy generation sources.

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Advances in genetic research are helping to save endangered animals such as tuatara. By Vanessa Lattimore.

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Island tuatara

n Brothers

Island tuatara

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t’s not just humans who are benefiting from advances in the study of genetics. For decades, the science has been a lifesaver for many unique New Zealand animals, such as the tuatara. Conservation genetics uses a range of genetics tools and techniques to solve conservation problems.

Inbreeding, effective population size and taxonomic (or classifying) issues may seem like gobbledygook but each one could be the difference between extinction and survival of a species. Genetics can help identify these problems, and give conservation managers the knowledge and knowhow to solve them.

Tuatara, or more specifically Sphenodon punctatus, is one of our most revered and distinctive species. This lizardlike reptile has been around more than 200 million years, and is the only representative of one of four reptile orders. It is naturally present on 32 offshore islands around New Zealand.

There might be only one species of tuatara to make up this order of reptiles. We don’t know for sure – which is where genetics comes in.

The taxonomy of the tuatara has been an unresolved issue ever since the discovery of what was thought to be a second species, S. guntheri, on North Brother Island in Cook Strait in 1877. Very little research towards solving this debate in the following century had devastating consequences.

Tuatara were considered reasonably common when S. guntheri was downgraded to a sub-species of S. punctatus. Conservation intervention was not given priority, and quarter of all remaining tuatara died out. At least one tuatara species became extinct and several other populations declined severely.

It was not until 1989 that research began to try and resolve the issue. The results indicated that there were indeed two species, plus an extinct sub-species. The lone population of 300 individuals on North Brother Island was confirmed as S. guntheri; a separate species from all other tuatara populations. Conservation efforts were

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quickly focused on preserving this “new” species that was dangerously close to extinction.

Last year, research was published that re-evaluated this conclusion using the more up-to-date and accurate technology of microsatellite markers and mitochondrial DNA. Genetic advances during the past 20 years have highlighted the inadequacies of earlier techniques (protein markers, or allozymes).

Current research indicates that North Brother Island tuatara are closely related to other Cook Strait populations, and they are distinct from tuatara living on islands off the coast of the northern North Island. All tuatara populations are a single species after all, but the three groups indicated each contain distinctive genetic variation. Fortunately, after the initial taxonomic research in 1989, conservation staff were quick to manage the three groups separately and maintain their respective uniqueness.

After much time and effort, scientists came to the same conclusion that conservationists had understood for a century. But they also learnt about genetic variation in the different island populations.

When conserving a small population, such as the one on North Brother Island, it is vital to try to maintain the maximum amount of the current genetic variation. Some individuals are likely to have the genes that enable them to survive a new disease, so they can breed and pass on their good genetics. If a great degree of variation has been maintained within a population over time, it shows that there’s been less inbreeding (related individuals mating).

Inbreeding can harm a species because it allows damaging alleles (points in a DNA sequence) to accumulate within the population. It can lead to negative traits, such as genetic diseases.

Outbreeding depression is another problem.

Introducing new individuals may counter inbreeding but it may also break up gene complexes that helped a population survive, or introduce genes ill adapted for surviving in a new environment. For example, the cooler climate in Cook Strait may be too cold for the northern tuatara. If they did survive to breed

1 An unusually brick-coloured Stephens Island tuatara. Photo: Rod Morris 2 A Brothers Island tuatara on Kirkianella, a rare coastal endemic herb.

Photo: Rod Morris

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with the Cook Strait population, their ill-equipped genes would spread among the rest of the population. This could destroy the local population’s adaptation for surviving in the local conditions and hinder its chances of survival.

So, should North Brother Island tuatara be left alone and risk inbreeding, or should individuals from other populations be introduced and risk outbreeding?

Conservationists used genetics information to decide that the existing population was sufficient to establish two extra populations. This step has helped boost the numbers to about 450 today.

Conservation genetics work on tuatara has assessed the proportion of individuals within any given population able to contribute to the next generation. This work is important for conservation decisions, such as whether individuals should be introduced to a population, or whether it is of a sufficient size to be left to survive on its own.

Conservation genetics research has also lent a hand to grand and Otago skinks, blue duck/whio, North Island kokako and kiwi. Two decades of collecting and understanding genetic data and the evolution of genetics research will help future conservation work – and our endangered wildlife.

Vanessa Lattimore is completing a Bachelor of Science honours degree in conservation and ecology at Lincoln University.

Hanging on to dear life Tuatara were granted legal protection in 1895 but a lack of conservation management allowed the species to decline over the following century. In the mid-1980s, efforts were started to rid tuatara islands of rats. This work continues today, with huge success.

Rats remove eggs and juveniles, and compete with adults for food so they are a major threat to tuatara survival.

Groups of about 50 tuatara have been moved to newly predator-free islands to help boost numbers.

Individuals from North Brother Island have been introduced to Titi (1995), Matiu/Somes (1998) and Long (2007) islands, greatly improving the unique population’s numbers. In 2005, tuatara were released into the first mainland site at Karori Sanctuary. Fully fenced, monitored and predator free, it is a safe environment for tuatara. There are also several breeding programmes at zoos and wildlife centres around New Zealand. These provide tuatara for establishing extra populations, and for safety net captive populations in case any island population becomes extinct through disease or environmental disaster.

In a class of their own Tuatara are lizard-like reptiles that are not lizards. They split off the evolutionary track from snakes and lizards – their closest living relations – about 250 million years ago, before dinosaurs roamed Earth. Tuatara have remained relatively unchanged since then.

Tuatara… n can live more than a century, are sexually mature

at 10 years and fully grown at 35 years. n have the slowest reproduction of any reptile, with 12–15 months between fertilisation and hatching. Females lay 1–19 eggs every two to five years. n don’t have external ears but can hear. n measure less than 80cm long from head to tail. n have two rows of teeth in their upper jaw. n have eyes that focus independently.

A Brothers Island tuatara shares a burrow with a fairy prion chick. Photo: Rod Morris

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n have a third eye on top of their skull, only visible

when they are hatchlings. n adults are nocturnal but the hatchlings are

active during the day to avoid cannibalism by mature tuatara. n can remain active below 7°C. n eat insects, seabird eggs, lizards and chicks. n eggs hatch to be male when they are incubated in warmer temperatures (24°C), and female in cooler temperatures (below 18°C). n males have spines that run along their neck and back.

Safe havens for Forest & Bird is joining an international project to plot and protect New Zealand’s most important areas for birds. By David Brooks.

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orest & Bird has identified eight significant areas on New Zealand’s coasts and in the vast seas that surround us in a project to protect our seabirds. The areas – called Important Bird Areas (IBAs) – are part of an international programme that highlights places for conservation.

Working as a partner of global conservation organisation BirdLife International, Forest & Bird has identified the IBAs in our exclusive economic zone (EEZ), which is the richest EEZ in the world for seabirds and the fourth largest anywhere.

More than a third of the world’s 344 seabird species are found in these waters and 84 of them breed in New Zealand’s EEZ. Half of these 84 species are threatened with extinction and, of the 30 endemic seabirds in New Zealand, 90 per cent are threatened.

Seabird scientist Susan Waugh has been leading work for Forest & Bird to identify the areas that are most important to our coastal birds, such as penguins, terns and shags, as well as the ocean-crossing species such as albatrosses, which spend most of their lives at sea.

Dr Waugh says the identification of the IBAs will help concentrate efforts by the Department of Conservation, marine users and all New Zealanders to protect some of our most vulnerable species. Around the world, IBAs have been a powerful tool for setting the conservation policies of governments, international organisations and local communities, even though they have no legal force and are not formally adopted by governments.

“They’re a way of prioritising where conservation actions can be best targeted,” Dr Waugh says. “They tend to be the top 10-30 per cent of bird habitats and they’re designed to catch both big numbers of birds and threatened species.”

Protecting these habitats also benefits the many other species that live within them. The marine IBAs can be used to define marine reserves or highlight areas where fishing

operators have to take measures to reduce the by-catch of seabirds.

IBAs are a well-established tool worldwide to identify places that are most important to the world’s birdlife. Other countries have focussed on areas important to land birds, and are only now looking at marine IBAs. “We’ve started with an analysis of our seabird fauna because seabirds are such a huge group for us – there are tens of species of land birds in New Zealand, while there are hundreds of seabirds,” Dr Waugh says.

The types of areas identified for marine IBAs worldwide are seaward extensions of breeding colonies, migration hotspots and important ocean areas for pelagic, or oceantravelling, species.

Over the past 20 years, nearly 11,000 sites in some 200 countries and territories have been identified as terrestrial and marine IBAs, and the total is expected to eventually reach 20,000. IBAs are selected using standard, internationally recognised criteria, such as bird numbers, and the proportion of a species contained in a particular area. Taken together, the IBAs form a network considered the minimum needed to ensure the survival of these species across their ranges.

Identifying New Zealand’s eight marine IBAs involved a huge amount of work, collating information on the birds that inhabit our shores and the EEZ extending 200 nautical miles (370 kilometres) from land – an area of more than four million square kilometres.

A total of 84 breeding sites were identified for IBAs. Satellite-tracking, sightings at sea and likely foraging sites around breeding colonies were used to identify coastal and offshore areas of New Zealand that would be included.

They qualified if: n A threatened species regularly uses them n They have more than one per cent of the global population of a species n More than 20,000 individuals are found there

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The eight marine IBA areas identified were NorthlandHauraki, Kermadec, West Auckland coastal, Marlborough, Hawke’s Bay, southern shelf, Chatham marine and BountyAntipodes plateau. Some sites qualified several times over for IBA status.

Despite more than a third of the world’s seabirds frequenting the zone, data were available for only a small proportion to determine the initial set of marine IBAs. These areas are used by many of the 84 species of seabird that breed in New Zealand, and others, such as the wandering albatross, that visit during their non-breeding season.

About a third of the world’s species of penguins and shags breed in New Zealand, along with petrels and other seabirds.

Perhaps the most extraordinary of all are albatrosses.

With a larger wingspan than any other bird, albatrosses spend at least 85 per cent of their lives at sea, returning to land only to breed. Of the 22 albatross species in the world, 12 nest in New Zealand and eight are endemic, ensuring New Zealand is known as the albatross capital of the world.

The IBAs will be a valuable way of helping government agencies, especially the Department of Conservation, to focus on priorities for protecting seabirds. Even more importantly, they can guide community involvement. “The communities are the key part because they are going to be the people on the ground, they are going to be the monitoring people, the people trapping pests around breeding sites,” Dr Waugh says.

Forest & Bird branches will be able to look at whether they can organise branch activities around an IBA, learning about their bird populations, the threats and whether the bird populations are rising or falling.

As more information comes in about seabirds, their habits and the threats to them, the marine IBAs may be amended, Dr Waugh says. The next step will be researching IBAs for our land birds so they can enjoy the same focus as their marine cousins.

NEW ZEALAND MARINE IBAs

KERMADEC •

NORTHLAND-HAURAKI

WEST AUCKLAND

MARLBOROUGH

HAWKE’S BAY

CHATHAM •

BOUNTY-ANTIPODES •

SOUTHERN SHELF

Watch for more details about New Zealand’s marine IBAs on the Forest & Bird website: www.forestandbird.org.nz

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1 Southern royal albatrosses 2 Auckland Island shag 3 Campbell albatross 4 Cape Petrel 5 Southern royal albatross Photos: Craig McKenzie

We’ve started with an analysis of our seabird fauna because seabirds are such a huge group for us – there are tens of species of land birds in New Zealand, while there are hundreds of seabirds.

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AUCKLAND ISLANDS CAMPBELL ISLAND

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The sub-Antarctic islands are, sadly, the only place to see large numbers of New Zealand’s endangered sea lions. By Marina Skinner.

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teenage sea lion rides the waves on to Sandy Bay beach on sub-Antarctic Enderby Island. He ambles over to a big, black bull slumbering in the midafternoon sun. The bull has no time for a cocky teen and sends him on his way with a roar. The youngster has no luck stirring up the other dozing bulls either.

We turn to watch the yellow-eyed penguins crossing the beach, and are surprised when the sea lion teen appears at the top of the steep grassy bank where we’re sitting above the sand. We know he’s all bluster but no one wants to get too close to a bolshie New Zealand sea lion showing off his teeth. Once the teen works out we are no fun, he heads back to the sand to stir up more trouble among the bulls.

It’s early December and female sea lions are starting to come ashore at the Auckland Islands to have their pups and to mate. The main breeding sites for the world’s rarest sea lion are all partway between Stewart Island and Antarctica – on the northern Auckland Islands, Figure of Eight Island and Campbell Island. There’s also a tiny new breeding colony on the Otago coast.

As we walk around Enderby Island’s coastline, we stumble upon sea lions that have travelled a couple of kilometres from Sandy Bay, sometimes sheltering in the low rata forest. Most are small, tan-shaded females escaping

the testosterone-driven males. On one headland, a bull has already gathered together a harem of several females and the first pup of the season has been born.

The soft-faced sea lions remind me of my dog. They share her curiosity at what humans are up to, they glance away when submission is the better part of valour, and they’re all talk when visitors are already heading away from their territory.

If only we didn’t have to sail 500 kilometres into the Southern Ocean to see colonies of New Zealand’s only endemic seal species. Sea lions were once found all along the mainland coastline, until they were butchered for their skins and oil during the 19th century. Today, they number less than 10,000, made up of fewer than 3000 breeding females. They have the Department of Conservation’s highest endangered ranking – “nationally critical” – which puts them in the same endangered category as kakapo.

“They should be in the hundreds of thousands,” says Department of Conservation marine mammal scientist Louise Chilvers, who has been studying sea lions for the past decade. They are struggling to rebuild their numbers, with the main threats coming from fishing activities and disease epidemics, which struck pups hard in 1998, 2002 and 2003.

pups

1 A sea lion pup on the Otago coast has an easy life compared with its cousins on sub-Antarctic islands. Photo: Craig McKenzie 2 A curious young sea lion keeps an eye on visitors to sub-Antarctic Campbell Island. Photo: Marina Skinner

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They may be susceptible to disease because they are in poor shape compared with the few sea lions living in more benign conditions on the Otago coastline, Dr Chilvers says.

“Females at Otago have a cushy life compared with the Auckland Islands,” she says.

Her studies show that sub-Antarctic female sea lions are, on average, 40 kilograms lighter than Otago females.

Chilly sub-Antarctic oceans are naturally poor productive areas, and sea lions there need to work much harder for a feed. The foraging trips of females there average 100 kilometres offshore for almost three days. Otago females average a 25km offshore journey for less than 24 hours.

Forest & Bird Marine Conservation Advocate Kirstie Knowles says the sea lions in the Southern Ocean have to work hard to find food in the harsh environment of the Southern Ocean. On top of this, they have had to compete with industrial trawlers during the past 40 years. “It’s a sad fact that human greed for seafood is putting the survival of New Zealand sea lions at risk,” she says.

Competition for food also leads to direct sea lion deaths, with many caught every year in giant squid trawl nets. In the past decade, more than 700 sea lions are estimated to have been killed in the sub-Antarctic squid trawl fishery. Squid trawlers are working during the sea lion breeding season, and most captured sea lions are females.

They will have left a pup on shore and will be pregnant so three lives are lost.

The nets are fitted with sea lion exclusion devices (SLEDs), designed to allow captured sea lions to get through a hatch but there is doubt about how effective they are at saving sea lions. A report by the University of Adelaide released late last year suggested that the risk of life-threatening brain injury to a female sea lion in a collision with the SLED grid may be higher than 85 per cent.

Another report by veterinary pathologists suggests that there is a possibility that New Zealand sea lions caught in New Zealand trawl nets could be drowning in the net then falling out through the SLED “escape” hatch before the nets are hauled on board.

Each year, the Minister of Fisheries sets a quota for the number of sea lions that the squid fishery can kill before the fishery is closed. For this season, the figure is 68. “Imagine allowing 68 kakapo to be killed by an industry,” Knowles says. “Forest & Bird does not think any sea lions should be harmed by any fishery. We’d also like to see the Auckland Islands marine mammal sanctuary extended to cover the areas where sea lions are forced to travel to for food.”

Dr Chilvers’ DOC team spends summer counting sea lion pups in the sub-Antarctic breeding colonies. Because 3

It’s a sad fact that human greed for seafood is putting the survival of New Zealand sea lions at risk.

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the pups stay on land, it’s the only age group that can be accurately counted. During the 2008-2009 summer, the number of pups born dropped an alarming 31 per cent.

During Dr Chilvers’ decade in the field, the situation has deteriorated. “Pup production has halved in the time I’ve been studying them in the sub-Antarctic islands.

“DOC’s overall aim is to make significant progress in facilitating an increase in sea lion population and distribution. One of our first goals is to manage the adverse effect of human interactions.”

Dr Chilvers says sea lions are not usually aggressive in their interaction with humans. “The only time people are ever bitten it’s the person’s fault. I’ve been bitten only once and it was my fault. I picked up a puppy to weigh and the mum was beside me.”

More New Zealanders should have the chance to meet these curious creatures in the wild – without having to endure the rough waters of the Southern Ocean.

Marina Skinner travelled to the sub-Antarctic islands thanks to Heritage Expeditions.

Lifeline for sea lions Forest & Bird wants to stop the decline in New Zealand sea lions and increase protection. We call on the government to: n Increase the size of the Auckland Island marine mammal sanctuary n Reduce the fishing quota for killed sea lions closer to zero and apply it to all fisheries n Establish a marine mammal sanctuary around Campbell Island n Make moves to switch to alternative fishing methods that do not kill marine mammals, eg jig fishing 3 New Zealand sea lion pups have fun in the water. Photos: Craig McKenzie

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4 Sea lion females and pups relax on the beach at sub-Antarctic Enderby Island.

WIN a cruise to the Albatross Capital of the World on Heritage Expeditions’ ‘The

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Forgotten Islands of the South Pacific’ 4

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Over 45% of the world’s Albatross species breed on the World Heritage listed Subantarctic Islands of New Zealand.

You could win a trip to experience the wonder of viewing these majestic birds for yourself. Simply identify the species pictured above online at: www.heritage-expeditions.com/forest&bird or by post to; Forest & Bird Competition Heritage Expeditions, Antarctic House, PO Box 7218, Christchurch, 8240.

Competition terms & conditions can be found online at www.heritage-expeditions.com/forest&bird

0800 262 8873 / info@heritage-expeditions.com / www.heritage-expeditions.com Forest & Bird

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NATURE OF TOMORROW

A sea change

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In the second part of a series about the future of New Zealand conservation, Murray Hosking looks at the importance of marine protected areas.

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’m a forester by profession but a conservationist by persuasion, after a lifetime of work for New Zealand’s natural and planted places, lands, waters and seas. It is worthwhile to look hard at where we are on land and at sea.

Forest & Bird led many campaigns in the past century to save native forests from logging. Today we have extensive national parks, sanctuaries, reserves and other protected areas, studied and loved by New Zealanders. By contrast, conservation in New Zealand’s territorial sea and Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) has barely started. The surface of the sea is a physical, visual and perhaps mental barrier to

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seeing and understanding what lies beneath. It is only with considerable effort that we are able to break through and gain an understanding of the seascapes, habitats and biota that are special to this country.

Every scientific voyage into the sea discovers new species and life forms, and they pile up in the laboratories, yet to be named and classified. Our knowledge of habitats and species interactions is rudimentary.

New Zealanders use, recreate, enjoy and identify with their beaches and seas. The sea is a major source of food for domestic consumption and export. Yet the coastal seas

are treated as dumps for polluted stormwater, sediment and sewage.

Pursuit of marine protected areas – setting aside marine areas for conservation, and constraining uses and activities within them – dates back to the mid-1960s, when Val Chapman and Bill Ballantine sought to protect the sea then under study at Goat Island. They wanted to set aside a marine reserve so the marine laboratory could work in and study seas otherwise left to nature, free from exploitation.

It took a good deal of lobbying to persuade indifferent officials and governments to establish first the Marine Reserves Act in 1971 and then the Cape Rodney-Okakari Point Marine Reserve (CROP) in 1975. This was the world’s first no-take marine protected area, with no fishing or other removal of plants or animals except for science. Ballantine has inspired marine conservation in New Zealand and overseas.

Since 1975, a further 32 marine reserves have been set up around the New Zealand coastline and remote islands, ranging in size from 93 hectares (Te Awaatu Channel, Doubtful Sound) to 748,000 ha (the entire territorial seas around the Kermadec Islands). Habitats vary from upper Waitemata Harbour tidal mangrove flats (Pollen Island) to sub-Antarctic waters (Auckland Islands).

The Department of Conservation picked up the task of establishing a network of marine reserves in 1987 and has been assisted greatly by campaigns of support and by new marine reserve applications from Forest & Bird and other community groups. Many applications under the Marine Reserves Act came from coalitions of interests, including fishing people, marine science, tourism interests and tangata whenua.

A good number of applications for marine reserves were directly supported by iwi Maori as co-applicants (for example, Te Tapuwae o Rongokako, Whangara), part of a coalition, or as active supporters of reserves. A matter yet to be resolved, however, is that, in setting up some marine reserves, coastal hapu have been aggrieved by a perceived lack of formal consultation or by alienation of customary fishing rights. On the other hand, there has been an appreciation of value in the co-location of marine reserves with mahinga mataitai, a tool available under fisheries regulations to establish and manage customary fishing areas, for instance, Te Wharawhara (Ulva Island), Paterson Inlet. Tangata whenua have made extensive use of mahinga mataitai around the coast to exclude or constrain commercial fishing and manage customary recreational take.

Fisheries legislation also allowed for establishing marine parks. At Mimiwhangata, north of Whangarei, the regulations constrained recreational fishing but proved inadequate to achieve significant marine conservation. A more successful marine park is at Tawharanui, Hauraki Gulf, where a no-take marine protected area has effectively been created. This park has just been approved as a marine reserve.

The Taranaki community pushed for the Sugar Loaf Islands Marine Protected Area (SLIMPA), which was created by special legislation. It provided two small no-take core areas and otherwise excluded commercial fishing. Its effectiveness came under question and the Nga Motu Marine Conservation Society ran a successful campaign to establish recently the Tapuae Marine Reserve, overlying part of the SLIMPA.

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3 1 Taputeranga Marine Reserve, on Wellington’s south coast, was created in 2008 after years of lobbying by Wellingtonians, including Forest & Bird members. Photo: Kirstie Knowles 2 Children explore the rock pools at Taputeranga Marine Reserve, off Wellington’s south coast.

3 Tapuae Marine Reserve, off the Taranaki coast near New Plymouth, was announced in 2008. It is beside Sugar Loaf Island Marine Protected Area (SLIMPA). Photo: Helen Bain

The value of 35 years of study at CROP has been enormous for marine conservation around the world, providing much-needed empirical study and proof of the value not only for species and habitat conservation but also for knowledge and understanding key commercial species such as snapper. The benefit of well-established marine reserves comes from abundant anecdotal evidence from fishers and divers and increasingly from scientific study.

Fishing interests have been slow to acknowledge a commercial value from marine reserves as nurseries for key species, or from spillover of fish. However, rock lobster pots can be seen on the boundaries of many marine reserves, and previously antagonistic recreational fishers have in some cases become staunch allies for Forest & Bird and DOC. The number of visitors to long-established reserves such as CROP and Te Whanganui-a-Hei (Cathedral Cove) attest to the recreational, educational and tourism value of marine reserves.

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A forester’s view Forest & Bird led successful campaigns to halt the logging of state forests 30 years ago. At least foresters of that time could count the trees, measure growth rates and could be relatively selective about which species were harvested for timber. State foresters set aside riparian, ecological and steep land reserves and bird corridors, yet failed to prove to the public that logging could be truly sustainable within a viable and diverse natural forest habitat.

Little of that sort of information is available for fishers, whose only tangible data comes from reported catch in the form of dead target fish and bycatch.

Natural life cycles and growth rates are problematic and the biomass is not known with any certainty. Few areas are set aside to recognise feeding concentrations, migratory choke points or nursery areas, and ecological and migration reserves in the marine environment are fiercely resisted.

Benthic Protection Areas, where bottom trawling is banned, sound like a good start but really only represent the equivalent of abandoning clearfelling entire forests in areas where fishing does not even

threaten to happen. No forester would contemplate calculating sustainability based on a reduction to 20 per cent of the original biomass, nor trust to imputed mathematical models the survival of the industry without a precautionary principle that favours the species exploited and habitats damaged.

The many charismatic species and habitats at risk from logging – kiwi, kereru, kokako and the grand old totara, kauri, rimu and beech – spelled the end of harvesting Crown-owned forests.

Why are we prepared to risk endangering and even making extinct critical species such as New Zealand sea lions, albatrosses, mollymawks, penguins, Hector’s and Maui’s dolphins, and many other fish, corals and sea creatures we have not yet named?

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owever, there is a long way to go. Legislation for marine reserves needs revising. The application process is protracted and effectively gives the last word to the minister of fisheries. This has led to several already small marine reserve proposals being further compromised by adjustments at the final stages of approval. No marine reserves may be established beyond the territorial sea, though a Bill to extend into the EEZ has languished in a select committee for eight years.

Biodiversity Strategy goals of at least 10 per cent in no-take marine protected areas by 2010 have not been met. Much of the 7.5 per cent of the territorial sea already included in marine reserves lies around the remote Kermadecs and the sub-Antarctic Auckland Islands. No full assessment has been made of the habitats that have now been protected but it is clear that protection is regionally and nationally inadequate and unrepresentative.

Attempts have been made to plan for a more representative and holistic network of marine protected areas by local communities. In 2006, the then government approved a Marine Protected Area Policy and Implementation Plan, and regional marine protected area forums were run for the South Island West Coast, and for the sub-Antarctic islands. Marine reserves for the territorial waters of all the sub-Antarctic islands should have been a no brainer since there is no significant fishing but the process was frustrated by constant relitigation by the fishing lobby.

In the end there was no consensus. The recommendations of both forums languish with ministers. Progress with marine reserves has come to a shuddering halt.

In a fairly clear attempt to pre-empt further action, the fishing industry unilaterally declared a suite of Benthic Protection Areas in the EEZ within which bottom trawling is banned. This was seen as a positive move but it was 50

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decried by conservationists as self-serving, unrepresentative and focused on areas unlikely ever to be fished. In agreeing to the Benthic Protection Areas, the then government agreed to freeze any further marine protection initiatives in the EEZ until 2013. When the provision for marine reserves within the wider EEZ is approved in legislation there will need to be a better meeting of minds on marine protected areas for our oceans.

What then for the future of marine protected areas? The coalitions that often proved most successful in establishing the first marine reserves need to be encouraged, with further local initiatives. The foreshore and seabed issues clouded the waters in the early part of the last decade, but may yet be resolved. The initiative by two coastal hapu at Mimiwhangata to propose rahui tapu for the current unworkable marine park deserves a good outcome. It depends on the provision for co-management through delegation of authority to management bodies, possible if the long-shelved Marine Reserves Bill is readdressed by Parliament.

Individual initiative should be backed by completing biogeographic regional marine information databases and inventory of existing protected habitats and ecosystems to determine the gaps to be addressed in further communityled process. A meeting of interests to formulate effective and representative marine reserves for the EEZ is needed.

Initiative by the Pew Environment Group to create a large, deep-ocean sanctuary around the Kermadecs deserves our full support.

I remain an optimist that the need for a core of notake reserves, with buffer reserves where some fishing constraints are managed, will see the 2020 goals of the 2000 Biodiversity Strategy fulfilled. The 10 per cent goal in marine protected areas has been reaffirmed by the

2010 Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biodiversity. In time, users of the marine environment will be persuaded or reconciled by the weight of evidence that a network of marine protected areas is vital to the proper conservation, management and use of our seas and of our marine resources. Work to meet the 2020 goal of a comprehensive network of marine protected areas must start now.

The future can benefit from the hard-fought campaigns of the past 40 years to establish the marine protected areas we now have. They stand as a credit to committed campaigners and marine conservationists who made them possible, and to the other marine users who have been reconciled to them. It is a good start.

In 40 years, we will be appreciating a full and diverse array of marine habitats protected as the national parks of the sea, and benefiting from the spillover and nursery values in the surrounding seas. Above all, we will be securing a future for our children in marine environments and ecosystems for their enjoyment and use. It will need the same commitment that has characterised the past 40 years.

Murray Hosking was a forester with the New Zealand Forest Service for 26 years, then moved to the Department of Conservation in 1987 as a deputy director general. For the past 10 years he has facilitated marine reserves in DOC and is now chair of the Friends of Taputeranga Marine Reserve Trust in Wellington. He was made a Companion of the Queen’s Service Order in 2009 for services to conservation.

YOU CAN’T CUT DOWN A FAMILY TREE Leave a gift in your WiLL that WiLL Last forever A gift in your will can help make sure our native trees will be here for generations. Help us continue the work of protecting and nurturing all our indigenous animals and plants for many years to come.

Bequests can be made to “Royal Forest and Bird Protection Society of New Zealand Incorporated”.

For a copy of our bequest brochure or to discuss leaving a gift in your will, please contact Kerin Welford, Senior Fundraiser.

• • • •

0800 200 064 k.welford@forestandbird.org.nz PO Box 631, Wellington, 6140 www.forestandbird.org.nz

5 4 Murray Hosking 5 The Poor Knights Islands Marine Reserve – New Zealand’s second marine reserve – was created in 1981, and has become an international mecca for divers. Photo: Kirstie Knowles

Help give nature a voice. Help Forest & Bird

going places

Symbol of a city

1

Jolene Molloy spends a day roaming Rangitoto Island.

T

he gently sloping cone of Rangitoto Island is one of Auckland’s most recognisable landmarks, and it’s an easy day trip across Waitemata Harbour to visit.

The island was created about 600 years ago and is the youngest of the city’s many volcanoes. Lava from the eruptions produced the black basaltic rock that makes up much of the island’s landscape. This lava rock is porous, has little or no soil, very little water and it can hold heat, so it seems a hostile environment for plants. But Rangitoto is home to about 250 native plant species and has New Zealand’s largest pohutakawa forest.

Plants behave in unusual ways on Rangitoto. Mangroves grow directly on lava rather than in mud as they do in tidal estuaries, and alpine lichen usually found on mountains grows at sea level.

Rangitoto’s newly developed forests don’t yet carry a lot of food types so it has restricted biodiversity.

However, fantails, grey warblers, silvereyes, tui, tomtits and moreporks live on the island, and two colonies of blackbacked gulls nest on the volcanic rock. Other seabirds such as shags and terns are common.

The restoration project on Rangitoto and Motutapu islands will eventually lead to a nature sanctuary similar to Tiritiri Matangi Island. Remaining mammal pests are being eradicated, after possums and wallabies were removed in the 80s and 90s.

Several tracks around the coast and to points of interest are well made and signposted. These walks range

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from 1–2½ hours. Visitors can also walk to neighbouring Motutapu Island across a causeway.

It’s a one-hour climb to the Rangitoto summit, with benches and information stops along the way. Fullers Ferry runs a tractor-pulled carriage tour of the island, which goes three-quarters of the way to the summit. From this point, it is a 15-minute walk on a wooden board walk to the top and fantastic 360-degree views of Auckland and the Hauraki Gulf.

Near the summit are lava caves, which formed during a volcanic eruption when the outer surface of a lava flow cooled and solidified, enclosing a tongue of still-moving lava. As the inner fluid lava drained away, the outer shell was left as a cave. Seven caves are a 15-minute detour off the summit track. One can be walked through – remember to bring a torch.

The remains of a World War II radar station and lookout are on the summit, and what’s left of the minefield base is on the coast at Islington Bay. Two 45-minute walks near Rangitoto Wharf suit families with small children. Kidney Fern Glen walk passes a grove of the delicate ferns and the remains of the prison barracks, which in the 1920s and 30s housed prisoners building the island’s roads and trails. Kowhai Grove Walk is especially lovely when the kowhai are blooming in spring.

McKenzie Bay is one of the few beaches on the island and at Wreck Bay are some of the remains of the 13 ships that have run aground on Rangitoto. Walking tracks lead to both bays.

• RANGITOTO ISLAND AUCKLAND

Getting there Transport:

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Ferries run daily from Auckland, Devonport and Half Moon Bay to Rangitoto. From $15.60 return for adults. Private boats can anchor off the island and experienced kayakers can paddle there from the mainland.

Accommodation: Rangitoto has nowhere to stay but Motutapu has a basic campground.

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Maori were living on Motutapu when Rangitoto erupted from the sea but the rocky landscape was unsuitable for permanent settlement. There is some evidence of coastal fishing villages and it was used as a lookout over the Hauraki Gulf. The Crown bought Rangitoto from the Maori owners for 15 pounds in 1854 and it rapidly became a popular destination for picnickers and day trippers.

Baches and community buildings went up during the 1920s and 30s but in 1937 building was stopped and restrictions put on leases. Several baches were demolished during the 1970s and 80s. There are still 34 baches at Islington Bay, Beacon End and near Rangitoto wharf, and they have been recognised as having national importance for their architectural and social history. Two baches have been restored to their 1920s glory and are open to the public during the summer. Bach 38 is near Rangitoto wharf and Bach 114 is in the Islington Bay settlement. The rest are under 33-year leases from the Department of Conservation, which manages the island.

Take:

Water and food – there are no shops – and a sunhat.

Pest check:

Make sure your bags don’t have insects, mice, rats or seeds so they don’t reinvade Rangitoto. Check your shoes are free of dirt and seeds before visiting the island.

More information: www.doc.govt.nz

Pest-free project

After the Department of Conservation eradicated possums and wallabies in 1992, it began a project in 2009 to rid Rangitoto and Motutapu islands of other introduced pests.

The project is on track to restore the islands’ 3800 hectares so plants and animals once found there, such as kiwi, kaka, tuatara and mistletoe, can be re-introduced.

During winter in 2009, rats and mice, rabbits, cats, stoats and hedgehogs were eradicated, and the focus is on keeping them and invasive plants off these precious islands.

It is critical that visitors to the islands do not bring pests back in gear and on boats.

The Motutapu Restoration Trust is restoring native forests to Motutapu, replacing the treeless farmland. Since the trust started, native birds have returned, including bellbirds, tomtits and kakariki. The trust has planting days or weekends in winter and weeding days at other times.

See www.motutapu.org.nz 1 Rangitoto Island from the lookout on Mt Victoria in Davenport.

Photos: Jolene Molloy 2 Bach 38, restored by the Rangitoto Island Historic Conservation Trust.

It is open to the public to view.

3 The volcanic rock formations at the end of McKenzie Bay. 4 The summit of Rangitoto from halfway up the summit track.

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1

Pestbusters People doing ground pest control are coming up with bright ideas, from designing new bait stations to concocting eau de possum lures. By Dean Baigent-Mercer.

A

sk anyone who’s involved with pest control how best to target possums, rats, cats and stoats on the ground and it’s clear there’s more than one way to skin a possum. Aerial 1080 drops are hugely successful over large landscapes because poison cereal baits are distributed from treetops to the forest floor and cover inaccessible sites. The poison kills possums, deer, feral cats, pigs, rats and mustelids (stoats, ferrets and weasels). In areas where ground control is more suitable, different ways of making trapping and baits more effective are being tried out.

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The key to pest control is luring what you are targeting to a spot where it can be caught in a trap, killed or poisoned. The senses of sight and smell are a good way to draw in target animals. Attractive smells can generally be split into alluring food odours and animal scents. Each species has specific triggers.

Reuben Lane carries out pest control to protect penguin colonies and native forest near Charleston on the West Coast. After spending time in the United States doing similar work and investigating US websites, he noticed a

gap in Kiwi approaches – the use of animal scent lures.

“Possums have scent glands that are full of pus that stink to high heaven. I make possum lures by adding a fixative and secret ingredients to make the best possum essence. You definitely get much higher catch rates,” Lane says.

Self-confessed old possum hunter Phil Scott says: “When your possum population gets low, they don’t come down to the ground. That makes the job hard because the undergrowth starts growing. This is where if you have goats and possums, do your possums first.”

Possums have excellent night vision and scientific experiments have shown possums are most attracted to the colour blue. Sugar-based, blue-coloured possum lures are now available to put cyanide into. Building on this, another pest control expert, Gary Samuels, has come up with a simple idea and created an easy-to-handle, portable, disposable bait station.

He calls it the GS card – a piece of thick paper that’s stapled to a tree to attract possums visually. The bottom edge is folded up and stapled to a tree to form a pouch for the food bait and cyanide. The top of the cardboard can be bent down to form a roof and keep the poison dry and out of the sun. This allows the cyanide to stay potent longer, depending on rainfall. It can be removed and buried or left to disintegrate.

When possum populations drop, rat numbers rise, so control of both is important. Rats have contributed to the extinction of at least 30 native birds, including the native thrushes (piopio), quail, wrens and snipes by eating both eggs and adult birds. Rats are also important food for feral cats and mustelids.

Rats enjoy a diet of leaves, seeds, seedlings, chicks, eggs and weta. They devour these from tree tops to the ground and are happy to dig 10 centimetres below the forest floor for food. Rats don’t have the ability to vomit so are cautious about what they eat. They won’t touch cyanide with a barge pole, unlike 1080 and brodifacoum baits, which both possums and rats will eat.

Lane has trapped stoats around his West Coast home for 10 years and uses a homemade shellfish or crayfish

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oil bait to draw in stoats. “But the best oil by far is from stoat glands,” he says. He mixes the stoat gland oil with glycerine for a potent lure in his many traps. It’s a recipe for success in protecting native birds.

Lane’s pest potion West Coaster Reuben Lane has perfected his possum control method during a decade of trial and error. He heads into the bush with 50 empty tin cans on his back, a hammer and nails, and a 750ml water bottle full of possum gland lure dangling off a string.

“All my neighbours save their baked bean tins to keep the lure and poison dry and act as a visual attractant.

Depending on possum sign, approximately every 40 metres I will nail a tin can to the side of a tree above head height so it‘s safe for kiwi and weka,” he says.

“Then I fill it with flour and icing sugar at a 5:1 ratio as a pre-feed because I want them to lick it all up. I flavour it with possum gland lure and spray a squirt of gland lure up the tree.

“I also put a bit of flour and icing sugar in my hand and smear a blaze up both sides of the tree trunk. That and the gland lure tell every possum in the neighbourhood it’s an interesting place to check out.

“The key to my system is that I wait after filling the tin cans for six days before I re-feed. Then I will go back every 3-4 days – about two weeks in total – until I’m happy with the amount of possum sign at the bait stations before I add the poison.

“I get around 70 per cent more possums by pre-feeding like this and end up getting the maximum amount of possums for minimum amount of work.

“After two weeks, I scrape the inside edge of the tin cans to clean them. Part way up each side I will put a peasized dollop of cyanide paste. I can get four possums with two pea-sized dollops. The reason I put it up the sides is that if it rains it could get wet and also that the first rat that goes in will kick it out and a weka will eat it.

“It’s important not to leave any old cyanide paste in the tin cans. You don’t want to make the possums poison-shy.

I don’t use encapsulated cyanide because of weka. If a feratox capsule is eaten by a weka, it will walk off and grind it in their gizzard.”

Feratox is good in a bait station if you want it active for months, but Lane is going for skins. “Where I hunt, I try and get up in the rata forests. For 50 tin cans, I can reasonably expect to get 100 possums worth skinning. I have trialled pre-feeding for less time but I’ll end up with 20-30 possums.”

1 Reuben Lane shows his method of pre-feeding for best possum knockdown results. A streak of flour and icing sugar mixed with possum scent lure up the tree trunk leads to a tin of the pre-feed mix. A bottle of possum scent lure hangs from a string to be squirted on the trunk and hunter‘s boots. Photo: Karen Roberts 2 Phil Scott has been seriously hunting possums since 1962. Photo: Dean Baigent-Mercer

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The price of possums

What you can do

We have C Basstian to thank for the first successful release of Australian possums behind Riverton in Southland in 1858, according to The Handbook of New Zealand Mammals. A previous release by Captain J Howell some 20 years earlier had failed.

Most introductions for a fur trade were between 1890 and 1900 when 200-300 possums were released by regional acclimatisation societies. Brushtail possums came from eastern Australia and Tasmania for different fur length and colour. In 1889, possums were granted legal protection, which continued until their impacts on native forests were taken seriously and all restrictions were removed from taking possums in 1946/47.

In response to the need to control the spread of the pests, a bounty was paid for possums, but this did little to halt the spread and numbers of the animals.

In the late 1940s, the first official survey of possum distribution showed they were occupying about half of the country, according to Landcare Research. By 1961–63 they had spread to 84 per cent of the country and this has since grown to include Northland and the Coromandel Peninsula, leaving few areas other than Fiordland yet to be fully occupied.

Contact Gary Samuels at garyrs@xtra.co.nz to order GS card bait stations.

Reuben Lane’s possum lure can be found at www.LanesAceLures.co.nz For more tips on pest control and to contribute your own, go to the Green Room chatroom at www.forestandbird.org.nz To get your Controlled Substances Licence to use cyanide and 1080, go to www.erma.govt.nz. It costs $495 for approved applicants but there are plans to increase this to $700 this year. It currently costs $250 to renew a current licence.

A possum eating eggs from a kereru nest. Photo: Nga Manu Images

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one of us

Candid camera man I

n two years, Auckland Forest & Bird volunteer Eric Wilson has snapped more than 35,000 pictures of birds. A few fancy electronic and infrared sensor tools have helped.

The photographer and inventor has not taken the photos to capture the birds’ beauty or character – he’s what you’d call a population profiler. He’s used his skills to save countless volunteer hours monitoring birds.

His electrician father, who was a radar engineer in World War II, taught him about the intricacies of neutrons, currents, amps and volts. And three years ago he started crafting some of his own backyard shed inventions for the benefit of our birds.

His piece de resistance is a bird-monitoring station with infrared sensors and a camera that snaps the unsuspecting bird as it sips at the sugar water.

It was used to monitor hihi, or stitchbirds, transferred to the 2300-hectare Ark in the Park, near Auckland. The $400 monitoring boxes played an important role in tracking the whereabouts of the newly released hihi.

However, soon after being installed, the bird-monitoring stations were stolen – not once but three times. Initial

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1

Smile for the birdie

attempts to make these devices burglar-resistant were unsuccessful, so now Wilson is revamping some of his classic electronic eavesdroppers – sound recorders.

The devices are attached to trees at around two metres and they record forest sounds up to 400 metres away, from a branch breaking to a chick squawking.

Hours of sound recordings are transferred to Wilson’s computer as a graphic display that Eric reads. He is looking at up to 100 hours a week of recordings to see whether they contain the mournful call of the Ark’s most recent feathered immigrant, the kokako.

His nemesis is our pitch-perfect imitator and multichord songster – the tui. “Not a lot of birds sound like kokako but the tui has a part of its song that’s similar to the kokako – every so often I see this kokako pattern and then I listen to it only to find that it’s a tui, not a kokako.”

Over the next few months, Eric will spend hours poring over these graphs – without pay. “I am just one of many volunteers working in the Ark. And although we’re unpaid, the rewards are plentiful,” he says. n Mandy Herrick

Eric Wilson’s bird-monitoring station works best with sugar-water feeders because this allows him to lure them into the box. The camera strapped to the outside of the box is alerted to a bird’s presence by an infrared beam, or a microphone attached at the bottom of the box. Once this is activated, the camera will fire off four shots. On a busy day the camera will shoot several hundred shots. Wilson says that one particular bird would try to outsmart the system by ducking under the infrared beams but more often than not he would get snapped.

1 A hihi photographed at a bird-monitoring station.

2 At Ark in the Park, hihi feeding on sugar water cross an infrared sensor, which triggers the camera to take a photo of the bird.

3 Eric Wilson has invented a bird-monitoring station that photographs feeding hihi.

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in the field

Digging the dirt on dirt Yellow, red, grey or chocolate brown – the earth beneath our feet is often taken for granted. By Ann Graeme.

D

irt has a bad image. It conjures up images of muddy feet, smelly people, disease and poverty. But dirt is the stuff of life, as important to us as the water we drink and the air we breathe.

Dirt is the grainy material that covers a great part of the planet. It is the stuff in which forests grow, and the grass and vegetables that feed us and our livestock. We would not be living here on Earth without dirt.

So what is dirt? It is the product of erosion, tiny particles worn from the rocks by rain, wind, water, heat and cold – the ravages of time. When the particles are big, it’s called sand, when they are small, it’s called clay. When its parent rock is iron-rich basalt, the dirt is fertile and red or chocolate brown. When it comes from quartz-rich granite, it is less fertile and grey or yellow.

Your dirt will be different from my dirt. Mine is the light, friable dirt of the Bay of Plenty, a young soil derived from volcanic ash, easy to garden but quick to dry out. Yours may be older, more weathered and heavier and rich in waterretaining clay. Or it may be the pale silt derived from the mudstone of an uplifted seafloor. That is sticky and prone to slipping but it grows great grass, thanks to its limey content.

But there is much more to dirt than this mineral matrix.

There is the living community and the dead. Nowhere is death more important than here, for it is the dead stuff – the leaves, twigs, bones, flesh and faeces – that become humus, that dark, crumbly compost that colours and enriches the rock particles and adds fertility to the soil.

Everyone knows that dead stuff rots. But how it rots is the wonderful thing. Bacteria are the principal agents, organisms far too small for us to see and too numerous for us to imagine. The work is also done by fungi and together they feed on the dead matter, rendering it into humus.

Illustration: Pamela Robinson

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Then the nitrogen-fixing bacteria get to work and as they feed they combine nitrogen from the air with products of the humus to make the nitrates that are essential for plants to grow.

Should the bacteria and fungi cease their work, life on Earth would come to an end. To quote Edward Hyams, “An earth without these bacteria is no more a soil than a corpse is a man.”

Together, dead organisms and living bacteria and fungi provide food for the countless inhabitants of the dirt – the worms, beetles, millipedes, hoppers, springtails, slaters and the roots of the growing plants.

Earthworms make a special contribution. They eat their way through the soil, their burrows creating drains and letting in air. They eat and process all the soil, not just the tasty organic bits. The earthworm’s gut grinds down the particles of rock, digests some of the organic matter and passes out the bulk as worm casts, pre-packaged for the bacteria and fungi to work on. While worms alone cannot create compost, their activity speeds up the cycle of decay and enhances the health and fertility of the soil.

Take all these ingredients, add time to the mix and a stable and enduring soil community is created.

Our civilisations have been founded on the exploitation of soil communities.

Often the richest soils are floodplains because they are constantly nourished with soil eroded from the mountains and watered by annual floods.

That’s where early civilisations were founded, in Mesopotamia, now Iraq, and in the valleys of the Nile and the Indus.

But even the richest soil cannot survive too much exploitation. Look at the desert of northern Iraq, which

may once have been the Garden of Eden and the saline soils of southern Iraq, which once supported the civilisation of Sumer. Those soils are exhausted, and the Nile valley may follow, now the life-giving floods are held back by the Aswan dam.

Floodplains are scarce. Other soils are much more fragile and less tolerant of human exploitation. In 1889 there was a land-rush in Oklahoma as thousands of settlers raced to stake claims to the virgin prairie. With too little rain and too much ploughing, it took less than a generation to kill both their hopes and the tall grassland, turning it into the legendary dustbowl.

We have done better elsewhere. The rich soils of Western Europe and the United Kingdom have supported communities for thousands of years, due to careful husbandry that has created and sustained productive soils.

Much of New Zealand’s land is steep and the soils are young and thin. People are late arrivals but already we have destroyed four-fifths of the forest cover to create pasture.

The steep land is naturally prone to erosion but the loss of forest cover and over-grazing has made it a great deal worse.

Elsewhere in the world, long-term irrigation of dryland soils has slowly but surely led to disaster. Irrigation is a new practice in New Zealand, and it is growing and spreading to our dryland soils.

Our dirt is precious. We must sustain it, not sacrifice it for a quick buck, leaving a bitter legacy to our grandchildren. The young farmers of Oklahoma didn’t know any better – but we do.

Partners in the soil Roots penetrate the soil to obtain water and minerals for the plant.

Their reach is hugely extended if they become infected with mycorrhizal fungi whose threads, like the finest fur, absorb and deliver nutrients to the host plant. In return, the plant provides the fungus with carbon in the form of sugar made in the leaves. Many plants have these fungal partners and will not thrive without them.

Nitrogen is an element of proteins and so is essential for all living things, but few can capture the nitrogen in the air. But nitrogen-fixing bacteria can and, while some live freely in the soil, others live only in the nodules on plant roots. There they “fix” atmospheric nitrogen into soluble nitrates, which they share with their host roots in return for lodging. The plants then become a source of nitrates, both to the animals that eat them and to the plants around them by leaching and decay.

Most of the nitrogen-fixing plants are in the legume family which is why clover is so important in our pasture.

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Discover your own backyard

Join the Kiwi Conservation Club Kiwi kids learning about and exploring New Zealand’s wild life and wild places.

Get five issues of our magazine Wild Things from just $19 a year.

Join us at www.kcc.org.nz

Kiwi: Dick Veich, Ruru: Ian Gill/DOC

Rangatahi

Pacific voice for climate action R

achelle Robati never used to think much about the environment or what she could do to protect it, but that all changed after she attended a workshop on climate change for Pacific youth in Fiji last June.

Now the Porirua teenager has become a vegetarian, she recycles, does regular beach clean-ups, uses public transport whenever she can, and has recently started working in a local community garden.

Rachelle, whose family comes from the Cook Islands, is so concerned about the dangers posed by climate change she has decided to delay going to university for a year so she can devote herself to raising awareness about the issue among other young Pacific Island New Zealanders.

“Going to the workshop in Fiji was really shocking,” she says. “People from small islands were talking about their islands sinking. Climate change is so real for them – it’s not in the future, it’s now.

“I think a lot of second-generation Pacific Islanders in New Zealand become very Westernised and they think that their islands are always going to be there. It’s important that they realise that climate change is happening, that the things we do will affect the future of their culture and heritage.”

Rachelle, 18, who has just finished year 13, started to become interested in environmental issues about a year ago. “I’ve always liked nature and that sort of thing but until last year I didn’t really care very much about the environment,” she admits. “But I started to become curious about why people were so into this stuff – I realised it must be important.”

When the opportunity came up to apply for a scholarship to attend the Pacifica Climate Change Leadership Workshop in Suva, she decided to give it a go.

She was one of five young New Zealanders selected to attend the workshop, which also had representatives from Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tonga, Samoa, Nauru, Fiji and the Cook Islands.

It turned out to be an eye-opening experience. Pacific Islands are responsible for a tiny fraction of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions but many are already feeling the effects of climate change, particularly low-lying islands such as Kiribati and Tuvalu.

“The main message I took away from it is that I need to do something because if I don’t, then my cultural future will die, my people will die.”

Since she returned from Fiji, Rachelle has become increasingly involved in environmental issues. She runs regular beach clean-ups at nearby Pauatahanui Inlet, and she has started using public transport whenever possible.

She is more conscious about the importance of recycling, and she recently became involved in the community garden in Cannons Creek.

She has also stopped eating meat, though she continues to eat fish. “Giving up meat was a big thing for me, but it was a way of making a statement – I wanted people to take me seriously.”

Rather than going to university this year, she plans to use her time to do things such as organise a conference about climate change for young Pacific Islanders from around New Zealand. She has also offered to help the environment group at her old school, Bishop Viard College, run a conference in Porirua.

“Not going to university is a bit of a sacrifice but I want to have time to do these other things because I think they are really important.” n Ruth Nichol

1 Attending the Pacific climate change workshop last year was a life-changing experience for Rachelle Robati. ‘The main message I took away from it is that I need to do something because if I don’t then my cultural future will die, my people will die.’

2 Rachelle Robati’s Cook Island heritage has made her more aware of Pacific Islands’ vulnerability to climate change.

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book Wild New Zealand from the Road

By Gordon Ell Random House NZ, $49.99

Best Short Nature Walks in New Zealand

By Peter Janssen New Holland, $34.99 Reviewed by Marina Skinner Not everyone has the time, desire or fitness to roam New Zealand’s back country with a multi-day pack. By road or on short walks, readers can explore our natural heritage with assistance from these two authors.

Gordon Ell has delivered a guide to a wild Kiwi road trip.

Following Ell’s directions, you’ll see magnificent native birds and trees and spectacular landscapes from your front seat and on short walks once you park the car. The former president of Forest & Bird knows wild New Zealand well, and has visited and photographed virtually every square centimetre during a long career. He shares interesting snippets about conservation, creatures, plants and places as he drives through our most scenic areas.

Peter Janssen expects a little more exertion. Many of his walks are easy enough for families with children to enjoy, but some are graded harder to challenge the more energetic. He gives plenty of options for people living in our main cities and towns.

All the walks are briefly described, and many are enhanced by nature notes on the wonderful plants and creatures that can be found along the way. Janssen also displays a great conservation ethos, encouraging walkers to take care of wildlife wherever they venture.

Dreamers of the Day: A History of Auckland’s Regional Parks

By Graeme Murdoch Random House NZ, $60 Reviewed by Mark Bellingham

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Auckland's regional parks network has been running almost in parallel to our national parks network – forced on the government by public pressure, plagued by underfunding, but always driven by visionaries and strong public support for protecting New Zealand's special places. As I read this history, I felt let down. Murdoch describes it as a “corporate history …. of particular interest to those directly involved in the story”.

His story does little to embrace the public of Auckland who pressured councils to set up the “jewels in the crown”, funded them better than our national parks and defended them from governments who tried (unsuccessfully) to take them away.

The original vision of Auckland's regional parks was to protect natural areas and natural features of Auckland that were rapidly disappearing – in the 1890s! Today Aucklanders have 40,000 hectares protected in 26 parks across the region.

Dreamers of the Day describes in detail the planning, purchasing, management and staff involved in most of the major parks, and their evolution over time. It also recounts how Forest & Bird part-funded some park purchases, battled viewing platforms threatening the Muriwai gannet colony, and our world-leading ecological restoration project Ark in the Park (with Auckland Parks and Kawerau a Maki).

An underlying theme throughout the book is the meanness of some conservative regional councillors who starved regional parks of sufficient funds to look after their basic track network and natural heritage, scuttled the purchase of many splendid additions to the network and often prevented staff from meeting the park planning (and public) objectives. In spite of that, regional parks have developed a professional and robust staff that are, without doubt, the best in New Zealand.

It was pleasing that the last chair of Regional Parks and Heritage (before the super-city amalgamation), Sandra Coney, pushed through a new Regional Parks Management Plan that embraced the 115-year vision for these parks. Finally the park management plan emphasised that regional parks were established primarily to protect their intrinsic, natural, cultural and landscape values. This presents a challenge for the future of this regional park network in getting park management reoriented to focus on protecting the natural assets first and allowing for recreation where nature can accommodate it.

community

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Big on bugs O

Snow-brushed Tongariro and Ngauruhoe mountains. Photo: Gordon Ell

Checklist of the Birds of New Zealand, Norfolk and Macquarie Islands, and the Ross Dependency, Antarctica By the Ornithological Society of NZ Checklist Committee 2001-10 (Dr B J Gill and seven other authors), fourth edition Te Papa Press, $99.99 Reviewed by Aalbert Rebergen

This guide might look “more boring than a shopping list” (as one colleague described it) because it is not a field guide and has no pictures. But for keen bird watchers this latest Checklist of the Birds of New Zealand, Norfolk and Macquarie Islands, and the Ross Dependency, Antarctica provides an essential and completely updated overview of “nomenclature, taxonomy, classification, distribution (current, historical and fossil) and status of the birds of the New Zealand region”.

In a handy, small format are all the scientific names of our birds past and present. Scientific names and relationships among bird species, genus and families are constantly being reviewed as more information becomes available. Strangely, it seems we gain more new information about our extinct birds than the ones we have still around us today.

For the twitchers among us, the checklist also lists all sightings of birds that only show up here once or twice in a blue moon, such as the pink-eared duck in 1990 (from Australia) or the stilt sandpiper in 1998 (from Alaska).

A bonus is Appendix 2, which lists all failed introductions of foreign birds to New Zealand, such as the tree sparrow (which did get established in South Australia). Amazingly, early Europeans also introduced their own robin to New Zealand as well as the nightingale.

ne of the first words Guy McDonald said was “spider” so it’s not surprising that the 12-year-old Kiwi Conservation Club (KCC) member is now a keen entomologist who recently took part in two katipo spider monitoring exercises.

He found 11 katipo spiders during the first monitoring exercise organised by the South Canterbury KCC on the coast near Timaru, but just two during the second. He passed his findings on to local Department of Conservation biodiversity ranger Dave Anderson.

Katipo, an endangered species that was given absolute protection status in June last year, are among Guy’s favourite insects. He also likes seashore earwigs. “They are really big earwigs that live under logs on the seashore,” he explains. And he is particularly fond of praying mantises. He collects their egg cases, and keeps them in his room until they hatch.

“I leave them inside for a day or so until they go hard, then I let them go in the garden,” he says. “I am interested in praying mantises because of how unique they are, and because of the method they use to catch flies.”

On one memorable occasion he hatched about 50 baby praying mantises from several egg cases at the same time.

Guy is also a keen ornithologist – his hero is Don Merton, who helped save the Chatham Islands black robin – and he was one of about 4000 people who took part in Forest & Bird’s 2010 Garden Bird Survey. He counted 30 birds during the hour he spent observing birds in his family’s Timaru garden – though unfortunately the bellbird that often visits did not make an appearance during that time. “I didn’t see any native birds while I was doing the survey.”

However, he has plenty of native birds inside his house – small clay models of his favourite birds that he makes and paints himself. So far he has made more than 20 of them.

Guy joined KCC two years ago after his family read about the club in the local newspaper. “He went along to one of the outings and loved it,” says his mother, Julie McDonald. “He subscribes to the magazine and he also goes on the outings.”

As well as taking part in KCC outings, Guy attends the occasional adult Forest & Bird event. “Some of them are very relevant to boys like Guy, who are very interested in learning more about the natural world,” she says.

Guy has always been fascinated by insects, according to Julie.

“One of the first words he ever said was ‘spider’. For years he has wanted to work for DOC and help save endangered species. It’s almost as if it’s in his genes – he is going to be a bug boy.” n Ruth Nichol

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Ark celebrates kokako chicks T

wo North Island kokako chicks born in the Ark in the Park open sanctuary in early December were the first in the Waitakere Ranges for 80 years. The hatching was discovered on December 6 and was celebrated by the band of staff and volunteers involved in pest control and other work at the 2300-hectare sanctuary in the west of Auckland.

“This is great news for the kokako and great news for Auckland,” Forest & Bird North Island Conservation Manager Mark Bellingham said. “This is a tremendous reward for the staff and all the volunteers who have put in so much work since the kokako were reintroduced to the Ark last year.”

The chicks’ parents, named Maurice and Kowhai by volunteers and staff, built a nest discovered on November 23 in the Ark, where Forest & Bird, the Auckland Council and West Auckland iwi Te Kawerau a Maki have been working to restore the kokako population.

Maurice and Kowhai had been seen moving around as a close couple for about nine weeks before the nest was discovered. The two adults were transferred from Pureora Forest in the King Country in September last year.

Efforts to keep pests away from the nest by regularly checking traps and bait stations were stepped up after the hatching, due to the vulnerability of the chicks before they fledge.

Intensive management of the Ark has allowed 22 kokako, mainly from the King Country, to be introduced since 2009.

There are hopes there will be many more breeding seasons for Maurice and Kowhai and other kokako in the park. Bellingham said it was hoped the population in the Ark would start growing in a self-sustaining way in the next three or four years.

The Ark in the Park sanctuary was set up to restore some of the past splendour of the forest and wildlife in the Waitakere Ranges. Forest vegetation has recovered following possum eradication work and the restoration of bird life began with intensive control of rats, stoats and wild cats.

Whiteheads, North Island robins and hihi (stitchbird) are among the other birds reintroduced to the Ark in the Park.

This has been achieved because Forest & Bird volunteers put in more than 8000 hours work annually in the park. n David Brooks

Photo: Eric Wilson

For more information on the Ark in the Park project, visit: www.arkinthepark.org.nz

Old Blue for Old Blue hero D

on Merton’s devotion to conservation and rescue of some of our most endangered species from the brink of extinction was recognised in November when he was presented with Forest & Bird’s prestigious Old Blue award.

The Old Blue award, named after the Chatham Island black robin on which the future of the species rested, is a fitting award for Merton. He led the team from the New Zealand Wildlife Service – later to become the Department of Conservation – that used ground-breaking techniques to save the black robin after numbers had declined to just five by 1980.

Merton was presented with the special award at a function in Putaruru organised by the South Waikato branch to honour some of the region’s longest-serving members.

“While Don’s conservation work is well recognised, what is 64

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also appreciated is the huge personal contribution he has made in supporting and promoting conservation around the country,” the award citation said.

“He has always been willing to give his time to support conservation organisations, education groups and their projects and to promote the importance of protecting New Zealand’s indigenous flora and fauna.”

By 1980 only five black robins remained, leaving it the world’s rarest bird, and attempts to save the species rested with Old Blue and innovative techniques developed by Merton and his team.

The birds had been transferred from Little Mangere Island to nearby Mangere Island in the Chathams. A crossfostering programme devised by Merton using Chatham Island warblers and tits encouraged the robins to produce

Student sings our praises A

new scholarship set up by the Manawatu branch to help raise the profile of Forest & Bird at Massey University has been even more successful than the branch had hoped.

Committee member Dennis Dickinson says the first recipient of the $1500 scholarship, Maddie Jardine, has been doing a great job promoting Forest & Bird to students – including signing up 75 new people to receive the branch’s monthly email newsletter in just one day.

“We are more than pleased with Maddie – she has set a very high standard for the next scholarship winner,” Dickinson says. “At the university Club Day in July, for example, Maddie set up a stall with another Forest & Bird member. She dressed up as a kakariki, and the two of them managed to add 75 names to our email list.”

Jardine, who is studying veterinary science at Massey, writes a monthly column about Forest & Bird in the Massey University student magazine, Chaff. She has also revitalised a Forest & Bird noticeboard on the Turitea campus, which she now uses to provide up-to-date information about branch events, and she is a regular speaker at the Massey University Wildlife Club.

Jardine is as enthusiastic about the work she is doing for Forest & Bird as Dennis is. “I love it,” she says. “If I had known about the Manawatu branch, I would have joined much sooner. I love the planting programmes and the tramping, and I try to take part in as many activities as I can.”

She was one of about 80 high-calibre applicants for the scholarship, which is intended to help promote Forest & Bird to students at Massey University. The Manawatu

branch decided to set up the scholarship because it felt it had too little contact with students at the university. “There are a lot of people at Massey, and most of them didn’t even know there was a Forest & Bird branch in Palmerston North,” Dickinson says.

Jardine is a one-time Kiwi Conservation Club member who spent her childhood tramping and exploring the South Island with her Christchurch-based family. “About the only place we haven’t tackled is Fiordland. Looking at wild things was always a big theme in my childhood – I’ve always been a diehard animal lover, and I was a greenie at school.”

Jardine, who was studying for a BSc in ecology and zoology before she was accepted into vet school, hopes she will get a chance to do some work with kakapo as part of her studies. In the meantime, she’s thinking about what she will do during the second half of her Forest & Bird scholarship, which finishes on June 30. She plans to focus on ways of encouraging more students to make submissions on Forest & Bird petitions.

“That is one of the requirements of the scholarship I haven’t really touched on yet. Over the summer break I will be brainstorming how I can do that, so I can make it my project in 2011.”

more than one clutch of eggs each season.

By 1985 the number of robins had increased to 38 and an additional population had been established on nearby South East Island. Today there are about 200 birds.

Merton also played a key role in saving the saddleback, and was a member of the Kakapo Recovery Group, which moved the last of the world’s only flightless parrot to predator-free offshore islands.

He was also in demand overseas in the 1980s to 1990s to work on recovery programmes for endangered species including the noisy scrub-bird of Western Australia, the echo parakeet of Mauritius and the magpie robin of the Seychelles Islands.

More than 70 people attended the event, including Forest & Bird President Barry Wards and Distinguished Life Members Stewart Gray, Gordon Stephenson, Philip Hart and Peter Maddison. n David Brooks Don Merton with a Chatham Island black robin in 1988. Photo: DOC

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Walk the West of Ireland Experience the best of natural New Zealand

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And talk to us about helping to protect New Zealand’s most precious nature reserve.

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Small Groups + Independent travellers CALL NOW FOR FREE 2011 BROCHURE Latin Link Adventure The South American Specialists 0800 528 465 / info@latinlink.co.nz

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Apply for an environment grant Each year ASB Community Trust makes hundreds of grants to conservation organisations working in Auckland and Northland. The grants can be for things like operating costs, minor building repairs, sustainability projects and funding to allow bigger organisations to support the work of smaller groups. Any incorporated or charitable trust in Auckland and Northland can apply, provided they are a not-for-profit organisation.

Closing dates: June 1 and December 1 each year. www.asbcommunitytrust.org.nz/funding/ what-we-fund/environment Contact ASB Community Trust: Phone (09) 3600291 Free-phone 0800 272 878 Email info@ASBCommunityTrust.org.nz

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Come with us, RAINFOREST, NATURE and JETBOATING TOURS, all year round. Viewing of nesting colony from September to March. Ph. 0800 52 34 56

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Borneo Orangutan Volunteer Experience: Join this unique, once in a lifetime chance to work behind the scenes at the Samboja Lestari Centre in Kalimantan Indonesian Borneo.

Samboja Lestari strives to rehabilitate and prepare Orangutans for future release into the wild.

By contributing your time and money you will not only enrich the lives of the animals at the centre, but also help re-populate and conserve these magnificent creatures.

You will also help reforest the logged lands that surround the centre, contributing directly to the conservation effort.

Volunteer group trip departing May 2011. Minimum age requirement 18 yrs Cost NZ$3750.00 for 18 days.

For more information contact: Back of Beyond Volunteers Donna Barlow – Van der Heyden p 06 358-0043 • m 0272 246791 e back_of_beyond.volunteers @xtra.co.nz

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p: 64-3-5402214 • m: 021 721730 email: elspeth@matahuacottages.co.nz

Environmental Impact Studies Surveys of Marine, Freshwater & Terrestrial Habitats Pollution Investigations Resource Consent procedures Archaeological; Historic Places Appraisal

bioresearches@bioresearches.co.nz www.bioresearches.co.nz P.O Box 2828 Auckland PH: AUCKLAND 379 9417 Fax (09) 307 6409

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Ph: 06 356 7043 E: ann@trekking4women.co.nz W: www.trekking4women.co.nz

Vanessa Clegg Or PHONE 0275 420 337 EMAIL vanclegg@xtra.co.nz

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If you love nature Join Us. Your support will make a difference Be part of 100,000 voices for New Zealand’s natural environment.

In addition to receiving this world class quarterly conservation magazine and access to our 9 lodges, your support will help Forest & Bird continue to advocate for increased protection of our wild places and treasured native plants and animals. It will help our nationwide branch network to continue to protect and restore important areas close to you, providing ecosystems for native species and wonderful places for you to explore. As an independent, not-for-profit organisation, we need your support to continue to give nature a voice.

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Parting shot Bill Norris of Cobden, Greymouth, photographed this tomtit on Bealey Spur, in Arthur’s Pass, in spring.

“It was taken in the morning, at the edge of a clearing in mountain beech forest at about 1220 metres near Top Hut on Bealey Spur. I was there in

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spring with my six-year-old son, who was playing in the snow nearby. The bird circled me twice from about a metre away, and I was lucky to have my camera at the ready. On this tramp we also saw brown creepers, riflemen and a New Zealand falcon.”

branch directory

Upper North Island Central Auckland Branch: Chairperson, Anne Fenn; Secretary, Isabel Still, Tel: (09) 528-3986.

CentralAuckland.Branch@forestandbird.org.nz Far North Branch: Chairperson, Vacant; Secretary, Michael Winch, Tel: (09) 401-7401. FarNorth.Branch@forestandbird.org.nz Franklin Branch: Chairperson, Keith Gardner, Secretary, Vacant, Tel: (09) 238-9928. Franklin.Branch@forestandbird.org.nz Hauraki Islands Branch: Chairperson, Brian Griffiths; Secretary, Sue Fitchett, Tel: (09) 372-7600. HaurakiIslands.Branch@forestandbird.org.nz Hibiscus Coast Branch: Chairperson, Pauline Smith; Secretary, Katie Lucas, Tel: (09) 427-5186. HibiscusCoast.Branch@forestandbird.org.nz Kaipara Branch: Chairperson, Vacant; Secretary, Vacant; Deputy Chairperson, Dave Allen, Tel: (09) 411-8314. Kaipara.Branch@forestandbird.org.nz Mercury Bay Branch: Chairperson, Eve McCarthy; Secretary, Vanessa Ford, Tel: (07) 866-4355. MercuryBay.Branch@forestandbird.org.nz Mid North Branch: Chairperson, Warwick Massey; Secretary, Raewyn Morrison, Tel: (09) 422-9123. MidNorth.Branch@forestandbird.org.nz North Shore Branch: Chairperson, Alan Emmerson; Secretary, Jocelyn Sanders, Tel: (09) 479-2107. NorthShore.Branch@forestandbird.org.nz Northern Branch: Chairperson, Vacant; Secretary, Beverly Woods, Tel: (09) 432-7122. Northern.Branch@forestandbird.org.nz South Auckland Branch: Chairperson, Dene Andre; Secretary, Brian Gidley, Tel: (09) 278-0185. SouthAuckland.Branch@forestandbird.org.nz Thames-Hauraki Branch: Chairperson, Marcia Sowman; Secretary, Hazel Genner, Tel: (07) 868-9057. ThamesHauraki.Branch@forestandbird.org.nz Upper Coromandel Branch: Chairperson, Tina Morgan; Secretary, Vacant, Tel. (07) 866-6720. UpperCoromandel.Branch@forestandbird.org.nz Waitakere Branch: Chairperson, John Staniland; Secretary, Janie Vaughan, Tel: (09) 817-9262. Waitakere.Branch@forestandbird.org.nz

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

Hastings-Havelock North Branch: Chairperson, Ian Noble; Secretary, Lorna Templeton, Tel: (06) 845-4155.

HastingsHavelockNorth.Branch@forestandbird.org.nz Horowhenua Branch: Chairperson, Debbie Waldin; Secretary, Belinda McLean, Tel: (06) 364-5573. Horowhenua.Branch@forestandbird.org.nz Kapiti-Mana Branch: Chairperson, Tony Ward; Secretary, John McLachlan, Tel: (04) 904-0027. KapitiMana.Branch@forestandbird.org.nz Lower Hutt Branch: Chairperson, Russell Bell; Secretary, Stan Butcher, Tel: (04) 567-7271. LowerHutt.Branch@forestandbird.org.nz Manawatu Branch: Chairperson, Vacant; Secretary, Nina Mercer, Tel: (06) 355-0496. Manawatu.Branch@forestandbird.org.nz Napier Branch: Chairperson, Neil Eagles; Secretary, Barbara McPherson, Tel: (06) 843-3625. Napier.Branch@forestandbird.org.nz North Taranaki Branch: Chairperson, Carolyn Brough; Secretary, Murray Duke, Tel: (06) 751-2759. NorthTaranaki.Branch@forestandbird.org.nz Rangitikei Branch: Chairperson, Diana Stewart; Secretary, Dot Mattocks, Tel: (06) 327-8790. Rangitikei.Branch@forestandbird.org.nz South Taranaki Branch: Chairperson, Dave Digby; Secretary, Carol Digby, Tel: (06) 765 7482. SouthTaranaki.Branch@forestandbird.org.nz Upper Hutt Branch: Chairperson, Barry Wards; Secretary, Fred Fowler, Tel: (04) 569-7187. UpperHutt.Branch@forestandbird.org.nz Wairarapa Branch: Chairperson, Geoff Doring; Secretary, Roger Greenslade, Tel: (06) 377-5255. Wairarapa.Branch@forestandbird.org.nz Wanganui Branch: Chairperson, Esther Williams; Secretary, Ray Hutchison, Tel: (06) 345-2651. Wanganui.Branch@forestandbird.org.nz Wellington Branch: Chairperson, Peter Hunt; Secretary, David Ellison, Tel (04) 386-3226. Wellington.Branch@forestandbird.org.nz

South Island Ashburton Branch: Chairperson, Edith Smith; Secretary, Val Clemens, Tel: (03) 308-5620. Ashburton.Branch@forestandbird.org.nz Central Otago-Lakes Branch: Chairperson, Mark Ayre; Secretary, Denise Bruns, Tel: (03) 443-5462. CentralOtagoLakes.Branch@forestandbird.org.nz Dunedin Branch: Chairperson, Janet Ledingham; Secretary, Mark Hanger, Tel: (03) 489-3233. Dunedin.Branch@forestandbird.org.nz Golden Bay Branch: Chairperson, Jenny Treloar; Secretary, Jo-Anne Vaughan, Tel: (03) 525-6031. GoldenBay.Branch@forestandbird.org.nz Kaikoura Branch: Chairperson, Ailsa Howard; Secretary, Barry Dunnett, Tel: (03) 319-5086. Kaikoura.Branch@forestandbird.org.nz

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

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

Taupo Branch: Chairperson, Vacant; Secretary, Vacant, PO Box 1105, Taupo 3351.

Nelson-Tasman Branch: Chairperson, Helen Campbell; Secretary, Jocelyn Bieleski, Tel: (03) 548-6803. NelsonTasman.Branch@forestandbird.org.nz

Tauranga Branch: Chairperson, David Dowrick; Secretary, Vacant, Tel (07) 571-0974. Tauranga.Branch@forestandbird.org.nz

North Canterbury Branch: Chairperson, Bruce Coleman; Secretary, Paul Mosley, Tel: (03) 329-6242. NorthCanterbury.Branch@forestandbird.org.nz

Te Puke Branch: Chairperson Cathy Reid; Secretary, Bev Nairn, Tel: (07) 533-4247. TePuke.Branch@forestandbird.org.nz

South Canterbury Branch: Chairperson, Vacant; Secretary, Margaret McPherson, Tel: (03) 686-1494. SouthCanterbury.Branch@forestandbird.org.nz

Waihi Section: Chairperson, Ian Bradshaw; Secretary, Krishna Buckman, Tel: (07) 863-8455. Waihi.Branch@forestandbird.org.nz

South Otago Branch: Chairperson, Roy Johnstone; Secretary, Jane Young, Tel: (03) 415-8532. SouthOtago.Branch@forestandbird.org.nz

Waikato Branch: Chairperson, Philip Hart; Secretary, Jim Macdiarmid, Tel: (07) 849-3438. Waikato.Branch@forestandbird.org.nz

Southland Branch: Chairperson, Craig Carson; Secretary, Jenny Campbell, Tel: (03) 248-6398. Southland.Branch@forestandbird.org.nz

Lower North Island

West Coast Branch: Chairperson, Kathy Gilbert; Secretary, Jane Marshall, WestCoast.Branch@forestandbird.org.nz

Central Hawkes Bay Branch: Chairperson, Dan Elderkamp; Secretary, Barrie & Judith Bayliss, Tel: (06) 858-8765.

CentralHawkesBay.Branch@forestandbird.org.nz

lodge accommodation

Arethusa Cottage An ideal place from which to explore the Far North. Near Pukenui in wetland reserve. 6 bunks, fully equipped kitchen, separate bathroom outside. For information and bookings, contact: John Dawn, Doves Bay Road, RD1, Kerikeri.

Tel: (09) 407-8658. Email: johnfd@xnet.co.nz.

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

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

For branch postal addresses, please see www.forestandbird.org.nz

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

Email: hayhouse@clear.net.nz.

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

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

from the centre of Wellington or 10 mins from Days Bay. Ideal place to relax in beautiful surroundings, with accommodation for 8.

Bring your own food and bedding and a torch.

Smoking is banned everywhere on the island, including the house. Forest & Bird members get a 25% discount. For more information, visit www. doc.govt.nz and for bookings, contact the DOC Wellington Visitors Centre at wellingtonvc@doc. govt.nz, ph (04) 384-7770 or mail to PO Box 10420, The Terrace, Wellington 6143.

Mangarakau Swamp Field Centre, North West Nelson Borders Kahurangi National Park and Te Tai Tapu Marine Reserve. New, 10 bed lodge with two bathrooms, fully equipped kitchen. Sleeping bags, towels and food required. Contact Jo-Anne Vaughan – Golden Bay Branch Secretary for details: javn@xtra.co.nz or phone (03) 5248072.

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

Email: diana.keith@ruralinzone.net

Bivouac Outdoor is a 100% New Zealand owned company with a business model that gives the flexibility and scale to provide you with the best outdoor clothing and equipment available in the world today.

“Committed to adventure” is not a throw away line, it’s a mission statement that we will bring you the best of the best.

With each of our stores stocking over 7500 products from 150 different suppliers, we are able to offer the best performers in each category.

We present cutting edge technology from leading international manufacturers such as Arc’teryx, Berghaus, Black Diamond, Exped, Osprey, Outdoor Research and The North Face. Every item has undergone a selection process during which the product has proven itself to be a top contender in its category.

Exped DownMat 7 Pump Features; 700 loft goose down filling dramatically reduces heat loss; foam baffles prevent down escaping through the valves and shifting from one chamber to the next.

Laminated, polyester fabric is UV and abrasion resistant, slip proof and air tight.

High frequency welded construction.

Baffled chambers eliminate cold spots.

Over twice the insulation of most self inflating mats.

Unique integrated pump for rapid intuitive inflation.

The new Exped DownMat 7 is 178cm long, 52cm wide, and a luxurious 7cm thick, yet it compacts down to a roll only 23cm long and 16cm in diameter and weighing in at 880gm. A massive R-value* of 5.9 is produced by its 170gm fill weight of 700 loft goose down. $219 RRP. *R-value = Relative Warmth.

The higher the r-value, the more insulating the sleeping mat will be.

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