Forest & Bird Magazine 330 November 2008

FOREST&BIRD Number 330 • NOVEMBER 2008

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Kokako • Native Broom • Geckos Albatrosses • Nightlife • City Slickers

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Morepork with supper – see Nightlife p30 Rod Morris

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

PO Box 631, Wellington 6140.

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

Tel: (09) 302 0203, Fax: (09) 303 4548 Email: n.beveridge@forestandbird.org.nz Christchurch Office: 190-192 Hereford Street, Christchurch PO Box 2516, Christchurch 8140.

Tel: (03) 366 4190 Fax: (03) 365 0788 Email: c.todd@forestandbird.org.nz KCC Coordinator: Ann Graeme 53 Princess Rd, Tauranga 3110.

Tel: (07) 576-5593 Fax: (07) 576-5109 Email: a.graeme@forestandbird.org.nz Forest & Bird is a registered charitable entity under the Charities Act 2005.

Registration No. CC26943.

Number 330 • NOVEMBER 2008 www.forestandbird.org.nz

Features

Regulars

17 • Rare treasures

2 • Comment

Alison Ballance and Rod Morris show us some of our most rare and precious wildlife

Should the Society support 1080?

By Peter Maddison

20 • Vanishing geckos Tony Jewell warns that our native Naultinus geckos may be disappearing fast

24 • Keeping the kokako’s song alive

Advertising: Vanessa Clegg, Tel: 0275 420 337 Email: vanclegg@xtra.co.nz Karen Condon Tel 0275-420 338 Email: mack.cons@xtra.co.nz w w w. f o re s t a n d b i rd . o r g . n z

5 • Letters to the Editor Mt Richmond, Totorore, Mana Island, tui, competition winner

6 • Soapbox

27 • Voyage for the seabirds

7 • Conservation Briefs

Susan Waugh sails the high seas to help stop by-catch of seabirds in fisheries

Kiwi, St James Station, Yellow-eyed Penguin Trust, Envirovote, Antarctica, Shark finning, Hector’s dolphins, spiny sea dragons

30 • Nightlife

Brent Barrett explains why 350 is the most important number on Earth

Marina Skinner ventures out after dark to explore the night-time world of our wildlife

40 • Going Places

34 • City Slickers

44 • In the Field

Ralph Powlesland, Colin Miskelly and John Innes find kereru and tui are doing surprisingly well in the big smoke

Ann Graeme meets the dotterels

Geoff Walls writes about efforts to save our rare native weeping tree broom

Designer: Dave Kent/Idiom Studio dave@idiom.co.nz Prepress/Printing: Astra Print

Should the Society support 1080?

Helen Bain reports on the remarkable successes achieved in bringing the kokako back from the brink

37 • Broom in Peril

Editor: Helen Bain PO Box 631, Wellington.

Tel: (04) 801-2763 Fax: (04) 385-7373 h.bain@forestandbird.org.nz Deputy editor: Marina Skinner Tel: (04) 801-2761 Fax: (04) 385-7373 m.skinner@forestandbird.org.nz

2 • 50 Years Ago in Forest & Bird

COVER: Photographer Rod Morris captured this young Otago jewelled gecko sun basking on its parent’s head. The baby geckos are born fully formed (rather than hatched from eggs) and often bask and roost near the female in the weeks following their birth, but Rod was lucky

Heather Anderson takes on the Tongariro Crossing

46 • Itinerant Ecologist Geoff Park explores Matiu/Somes Island

48 • Branching Out Kokako at Ark in the Park, desperately seeking binoculars, penguin stars at Conservation Week, wetland make-over, Obituary – Gottlieb Braun-Elwert, new staff.

51 • One of Us Meet KCC artist Tim Galloway

52 • Book Reviews Kauri, Who Owns the High Country, Fiordland, Roads Less Travelled

54 • 2008 Index

to find a mother and baby gecko that were this close. The shot was taken with a Nikon F100 camera and electronic flash on a 60mm macro lens, and shot on Velvia 50 film. To see more of Rod’s stunning wildlife photography, go to www.rodmorris.co.nz FOREST & BIRD • NOVEMBER 2008

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Comment

50 Years Ago in

Forest&Bird

Should the Society support 1080?

S

OMETIMES working in conservation can feel like you are having the same debates over and over again.

In particular, the use of 1080 to control the introduced pests which threaten our native wildlife is an issue which comes up again and again.

You only have to read our “50 years ago” column on this page to see that the same issues around 1080 have been debated for the last half century.

The fact is that pests such as possums, stoats, rats, deer and other introduced mammals are the biggest threat to our native plants and animals – meaning that their control is essential to the protection of our unique native species.

The feature articles in this issue of Forest & Bird deal with efforts to protect a variety of fascinating and wonderful native species that have come close to the brink of extinction, from the kokako to the native weeping tree broom.

The common thread to all these stories is the threat posed to indigenous plants and animals by introduced pests. Whether it is the goats, deer and pigs wiping out the last few remnants of weeping tree broom in alpine areas of the South Island, or the possums and rats that have taken such a heavy toll on kokako populations throughout our North Island forests by preying on their nests, the major factor in decline of these endangered species is the damage wrought by introduced pests.

The use of 1080 is crucial if we are to win the fight against these pests and save our native plants and animals. Last year the Environmental Risk Management Authority found that 1080 was the most effective and safe means of pest control we have.

Yet the controversy – most stirred up by false information and scare tactics and with no scientific evidence to support claims – continues.

However, we know for certain that if we do not use the most effective means we have of eradicating introduced pests we will lose the fight to keep our kokako, our kiwi, our kaka, and so many others alive.

Whether or not we use 1080 comes down to choosing whether or not we allow alien pest species to wreak havoc on our most special plants and animals, found nowhere else in the world.

The answer, it seems to me, is obvious.

Peter Maddison Forest & Bird President

Should the Society support 1080?

A

T a meeting of the Dominion council of the Forest & Bird Protection Society held in Wellington on September 13, the Executive was directed to support the Forestry Department’s policy of complete extermination of noxious animals, and the continuation of further experiments with 1080 poison for that purpose.

During the past three months many newspaper correspondents . . . have written a great deal of pure nonsense about the deer situation and the use of 1080.

Disregarding all the misleading propaganda which has confused many earnest people and worried many bird lovers, the real questions are perfectly simple, and the answers clear beyond possibility of doubt.

Do we want to keep our great farming and timberproducing lands fertile, our people prosperous, and our lovely native flora and birds preserved as far as possible, or are we prepared to sacrifice them in the name of sport, for those who would maintain herds of unfortunate animals ravaging the countryside to satisfy the hunters’ desire for something to shoot?

The evidence against the deer and other noxious animals is so overwhelming that there can be no doubt about the answer, all possible must be done to secure their extermination.

The welfare of every man, woman and child in New Zealand is at stake in the economic issue, the future of our magnificent national parks demands that we do everything possible to preserve in them the forests and birds which make them truly New Zealand in character. There can be no justification for converting these lovely national reserves into deer parks for shooters.

It is apparent that shooting has not been successful; poison offers the only practical alternative.

The department is entitled to the support of the people in the effort it is making to reduce and, if possible, to end the grave damage being inflicted on our country as a result of the unfortunate mistake made by the introduction of wild animals into a land with animal predators to keep them in check, to browse on vegetation so lovely and useful but alas so vulnerable to the unaccustomed browsing of animals.

Editorial, Forest & Bird, November 1958

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. Anand Satyanand, Governor-General of New Zealand NATIONAL PRESIDENT: Peter Maddison DEPUTY PRESIDENT: Barry Wards NATIONAL TREASURER: Graham Bellamy EXECUTIVE COUNCILLORS: Anne Fenn, Mark Fort, Alan Hemmings, Joan Leckie, Donald Kerr, Janet Ledingham, Suzi Phillips, Craig Potton, Gerry McSweeney, Jon Wenham.

DISTINGUISHED LIFE MEMBERS: Bill Ballantine, Stan Butcher, Ken Catt, Audrey Eagle, Alan Edmonds, Gordon Ell, Philip Hart, Hon. Sandra Lee-Vercoe, Stewart Gray, Joan Leckie, Alan Mark, Gerry McSweeney, Geoff Moon, John Morton, Margaret Peace, Guy Salmon, Lesley Shand, Gordon Stephenson, David Underwood.

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 Novatech, a chlorine-free paper made from wood fibre sourced from sustainably managed forests. The magazine is bulk mailed in NatureFlex film, which is made from wood pulp sourced from managed plantations and is fully biodegradable and compostable. *Registered at PO Headquarters, Wellington, as a magazine. ISSN 0015-7384. Copyright. All rights reserved.

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Kokako with chicks. ©Department of Conservation Te Papa Atawhai/Dick Veitch

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letters to the editor

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orest & Bird welcomes readers’ letters and photographs on conservation topics. Letters must be no longer than 200 words and must include the writer’s full name, residential address and daytime contact number (not for publication). Due to space limitations we are not able to publish all contributions. Letters may be edited and abridged.

The best contribution will win a copy of Lost in New Zealand (Craig Potton Publishing, $39.99). Please send letters to: Editor, Forest & Bird, PO Box 631, Wellington, or email to: h.bain@forestandbird.org.nz.

Mt Richmond

S

haun Barnett’s article (Forest & Bird, August) on the Mt Richmond Forest Park was very informative from a tramper’s perspective; however it failed to mention one important conservation issue. Photographs

by Alan Mark (Forest & Bird, August 2007) showing deer damage in beech forest could have been taken in Mt Richmond today.

Our photo was taken in the Mt Starvell area and shows a totally browsed out understorey. This was not an isolated area.

Mana Island Totorore

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our readers may be interested to know that in October we will be celebrating in Chile the launch of the Spanish edition of The Totorore Voyage by the late Gerry Clark.

Gerry’s book, originally published in New Zealand in 1988, recounts his adventures sailing his home-built yacht Totorore from New Zealand to Chile and a subsequent three-year expedition in Chile’s remote southern regions, then through the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. Gerry Clark died in 1999 when Totorore was wrecked on Antipodes Island.

Gerry tells an extraordinary tale of adventure and scientific enquiry. When in the embassy we read the book last year it immediately occurred to us that it was a story that should be known to a Chilean audience as well.

With the help of Chilean sponsors and the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade the book launch will be celebrated in Santiago, attended by Chilean members of Gerry’s crew. Prime Minister Helen Clark kindly agreed to write an introduction for the Chilean edition and at least 500 copies will be donated to Chilean schools and universities.

I understand that copies in English are available from Forest & Bird in Wellington.

Nigel Fyfe, Ambassador, Chile

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I

really enjoyed your excellent article on Mana Island (Forest & Bird, August).

Obviously I agree that Mana is a miraculous place and I would like to thank Forest & Bird for its pivotal role in transforming it from farmland to ecological jewel.

For more than a decade the former Mana branch organised the volunteers’ plantings while the Wellington branch was, and still is, involved in a host of other restoration projects. These included initiating and resourcing the mouse eradication (the

Some other areas are carpeted with crown fern, testimony to years of browsing. With three local national parks to look after, DOC Nelson’s limited resources sadly don’t stretch far enough. Little has changed from the timely re-run of the Forest & Bird editorial of 1958, when at this moment, there is a debate nationwide on whether or not we should be managing hunting areas for deer, thar, chamois and pigs! A good dose of 1080 wouldn’t go astray in this beautiful but often neglected area.

Bill Rooke and Maryann Ewers, Motueka

largest rodent eradication at the time and still one of the largest involving mice) as part of a Conservation Corps project, the concrete gannet project and funding a successful search for the gold stripe gecko (found in flax bushes about 10 metres from the accommodation area).

Even today, Forest & Bird members are still actively involved with many of the projects organised by the Friends of Mana and making important contributions.

Colin Ryder Chair, Friends of Mana Island, Wellington

Tui time

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ick Pharazyn of Eastbourne sent us this photograph of a tui enjoying the nectar of the kowhai in his garden. Nick says the tree has been very popular with tui this spring – the most his family saw at one time was 15. Nick’s photo wins him a copy of Ghosts of Gondwana

by George Gibbs (Craig Potton Publishing, $49.99)

Winning entry The winner of the draw for the Electrolux Ultra Silencer Green environmentally friendly vacuum cleaner is C. Watson of Wellington – congratulations, your cleaner is on its way.

Photograph

Waitutu

A photograph with the article “The real price of milk” (Forest & Bird, August 2008) inadvertently pictured cattle which were not dairy cattle.

A map on p35 of the August issue showed Waitutu forest outside Fiordland National Park – Waitutu became part of the national park in 1999.

FOREST & BIRD • NOVEMBER 2008

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soapbox

Playing by the numbers Brent Barrett explains why 350 is the most important number on Earth.

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UMBERS we save for important things. The score. The payout. Coordinates.

NZX50. Rainfall. Wages.

Cholesterol. Chapter and verse.

Age. Votes. The bottom line.

The odds.

Conveniently universal, numbers are our clearest communication.

So here’s one: 350. It’s the most important number on the planet. It’s a boundary number, one we’re wise to stay well below. 350 is the long term upper limit of carbon concentration our home planet can tolerate without jeopardising all other numbers.

There has always been an exact match between climate and carbon. Like an unshakeable shadow, the one perfectly follows the other. And humanity has always flourished and adapted in a climate around the 300 mark, well

below the 350 boundary.

Using precise climate records from the past 60 million years, 350 has been identified as the maximum long term level we must stay below to keep Earth’s only climate at a point suitable for human life, for wildlife, and anything resembling nature and society as we know and love it today.

All the amazing plants and animals and places we collectively call nature. Whale, snail, wren, rata, falcon, nikau, eel, kauri, albatross, paua, penguin. Every species on Earth is tailored and adapted to below 350.

Including us. In the time below 350 we’ve literally become human, discovered music, fire, money, poems, podcasts, flight, society, memory, light bulbs, farming and motorcycles. Absolutely everything.

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The entire compass of human experience and culture circles well below the 350 boundary.

Do words exist for stating the enormity of such a boundary, and what permanently crossing it represents?

350. This one number, more than any other, will define the future of our environment and the society and economy that depend on it.

November 2008. We are at 387 and climbing rapidly.

That’s right, 387. This should disturb you. This should motivate you. 387 means urgent major change is needed. It means our time for digging and burning of fossils is already long borrowed and terribly overdue. It means a decisive and massive redirect toward ecological sensibility in business and government must be our singular top priority.

With alpine glaciers in retreat

and ice shelves melting like ice creams on a hot day, now is the time to act. And many are, both in their own lives and at the highest political levels. For instance, in June this year a cross-party coalition in Canada passed the Federal Sustainable Development Act; landmark, forward-thinking legislation requiring deliberate protection and enhancement of the ecological integrity of the environment.

For a little brave country that now prides itself on being “fast followers” when it comes to eco, New Zealand will want to rapidly catch up to the Canadian precedent. 350. Let’s make it priority one.

For more information about 350 visit www.350.org Brent Barrett is the chair of Forest & Bird Manawatu w w w. f o re s t a n d b i rd . o r g . n z

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NZ Save the Kiwi Trust has announced funding of more than $1 million for kiwi conservation projects.

BNZ Save the Kiwi Trust Executive Director Michelle Impey says the funding would support 54 projects that increase the survival rate of kiwi. Projects include: • Whangarei Heads Landcare Forum – assisting North Island brown kiwi.

• Coromandel Peninsula – predator control by the Department of Conservation, community groups and iwi to form the largest continuous tract of land for kiwi protection in New Zealand.

• Lake Waikaremoana Hapu Restoration Trust – predator control and habitat restoration to assist North Island brown kiwi.

• Cape Kidnappers and Ocean Beach Wildlife Preserve – partnership to assist North Island brown kiwi. Kiwi will be re-established on the Cape Kidnappers Peninsula for the first time in a century.

• West Coast – technology to assist tokoeka kiwi.

Development of a “chick timer” transmitter that can accurately determine when a kiwi has hatched without having to visit the nest, reducing disturbance of nesting kiwi.

• Arthurs Pass – community protection project for great spotted kiwi. Funding for community-initiated stoat control.

Several BNZ Operation Nest Egg projects throughout New Zealand will also receive funding.

Operation Nest Egg has successfully incubated, raised and returned more than 1000 kiwi back to the wild where they stand a 65 per cent chance of reaching adulthood. Without the programme, only five per cent of kiwi reach adulthood.

A century ago kiwi in the wild numbered in the millions. Now there are fewer than 100,000 and some kiwi species are critically endangered.

The main reason for declining numbers of kiwi in the wild is the loss of chicks to predators such as stoats, ferrets, weasels, cats and dogs.

Hupai, the 1000th kiwi hatched under Operation Nest Egg.

BNZ Save the Kiwi Trust

$1 million for kiwi

A kiwi killed by a dog. Predation is the single biggest threat to kiwi populations.

BNZ Save the Kiwi Trust

conservationbriefs

Waterproof/breathable GORE-TEX lining.

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FOREST & BIRD • NOVEMBER 2008

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conservationbriefs South Island coast-tocoast corridor completed

Reflected glory – Lake Thompson, St James Station.

Sue Maturin sys the last decade has seen dramatic progress towards a network of high country parks in the South Island.

“We began with one park and now we have eight, with two more pending. Significant areas of tussock grasslands, shrublands and alpine areas have become conservation land and been opened up for public recreation.

“This means that some of our most iconic and vulnerable landscapes, ecosystems and threatened alpine plants and animals are better protected and can be enjoyed by this and future

generations.”

St James is especially important because it best protects the transition from dry east coast grasslands and shrublands to the wetter beech forests of the main divide. Except for the valley floors, most of St James is wild natural landscape, with few weeds and many threatened species, including New Zealand falcons, rock wrens and longtoed skinks.

Since Forest & Bird’s Six Pack of Parks campaign started, seven new high country parks have been opened or approved: Eyre Mountains/Taka Ra Haka,

BirdLife honours Yellow-eyed Penguin Trust

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UNEDIN-based Yellow-eyed Penguin Trust has won an international award for innovative conservation work.

The BirdLife International Conservation Achievement Award was one of 10 presented at BirdLife’s conference in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in late September. Forest & Bird General Manager Mike Britton accepted the award on behalf of the trust from BirdLife International Honorary President Princess Takamado of Japan.

The Yellow-eyed Penguin Trust has been working for 20 years to protect the endangered penguin, which is found along the South Island coast from Banks Peninsula to Southland and on some sub-Antarctic islands.

About 496 pairs breed on South Island coasts.

The trust has bought land where the yellow-eyed penguins (hoiho) live, and has fenced and planted the area and worked on predator control. Its patron is former All Black Anton Oliver.

Numbers of the penguins, which have distinctive yellow eyes and eyebands, have declined with the arrival of predators such as stoats, dogs and wild cats, and their habitat has been destroyed for development of farmland. Other threats are fishing set nets, disease and food shortages caused by human over-fishing of squid.

“For the foreseeable future, we will need to continue our

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Ahuriri, Ruataniwha, Hakatere, Ka Whata Tu O Rakihouia, (Kaikoura) and Hawea, plus Molesworth Station has become a conservation and recreation park.

Sue Maturin says the public and conservation are also getting a better deal out of tenure review, but there is still work to be done to protect the high country. “We can celebrate the huge changes, but we need to remain vigilant as former leaseholders are still getting more land freehold, and lowland native shrublands and grasslands are still being subdivided, irrigated, and developed.”

Fergus Sutherland

HE announcement of the purchase of St James Station to create a high country conservation park will complete a corridor of protection from coast to coast.

Forest & Bird high country spokesperson Sue Maturin says adding the 78,000-hectare Canterbury station to public conservation land is an outstanding achievement that all New Zealanders will be able to enjoy.

St James Station includes part of the well-known St James Walkway, and completes a protected corridor between the Seaward Kaikoura Range on Canterbury’s east coast to the Pancake Rocks in Paparoa National Park on the West Coast.

“Forest & Bird’s vision to create a coast-to-coast protected corridor is now a reality,” Sue Maturin says. “St James was the missing link – it was virtually surrounded by public conservation land, but now will be a welcome part of it.”

St James was one of the top priorities highlighted in Forest & Bird’s “Six Pack of Parks” proposal, which called for key areas to become high country conservation and recreation parks.

Shaun Barnett

T

Yellow-eyed penguin

conservation activity so that these iconic penguins have safe, high-quality habitats in which to breed and prosper again,”

Yellow-eyed Penguin Trust Field Officer David McFarlane says.

For more information go to www.yellow-eyedpenguin.org.nz w w w. f o re s t a n d b i rd . o r g . n z

conservationbriefs

Politicians in environmental spotlight

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OMMUNITY conservation was a recurring theme for six politicians who took part in a Forest & Bird pre-election forum in Wellington in September.

The panel of Labour Conservation Minister Steve Chadwick, National Conservation Spokesman Nick Smith, Green Party Co-leader Russel Norman, United Future Leader Peter Dunne, Progressives Leader and Fisheries Minister Jim Anderton and ACT candidate Mike Collins each spoke on four conservation topics and answered questions from the audience.

The politicians promised a greater role for community conservation organisations such as Forest & Bird if elected. Steve Chadwick advocated a “more collaborative, community-driven approach” to conservation, with community groups continuing to work with the Department of Conservation. “I find it insulting when the National Party talks about DOC as a barrier to community conservation,” she said.

Nick Smith said the next big challenge was community conservation. “Community groups need more funding.” He advocated improved accountability from the Department of Conservation.

Russel Norman pointed to the Greens’ $4 million community conservation fund. The Greens would also give DOC an extra

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$100 million a year.

Mike Collins said his party would consider diverting funds from DOC to non-government conservation organisations.

Jim Anderton highlighted his decision as Fisheries Minister to protect Hector’s and Maui’s dolphins. “My decision was the right one. I didn’t want to be responsible for losing an iconic species.” He also said he supported Forest & Bird’s proposals for high-country parks in the South Island.

Peter Dunne called for a balanced approach in conservation management, so every New Zealander could continue to enjoy the great outdoors.

Water pollution by dairy farms

came under attack from several politicians. Steve Chadwick said some dairy farmers were still letting the side down, and Russel Norman criticised the wave of conversions to industrial-scale dairy farming. Mike Collins agreed with Russel Norman that penalties should be higher for dairy polluters. “Three strikes and you’re out,” was Peter Dunne’s response to an audience question about how farmers should be made more accountable.

Climate change was one of the most important global issues, according to Steve Chadwick.

She said she was proud of the Government’s Emissions Trading Scheme and that better pest control would lead to greater carbon

sinks. Nick Smith lamented New Zealand’s increasing greenhouse gas emissions under a Labour Government, and Mike Collins felt there was no point in New Zealand being carbon neutral.

Forest & Bird Communications Manager Helen Bain says the forum, and others held around the country by Forest & Bird branches, were a great success in informing voters about conservation and environmental issues.

“We hope that Envirovote will help voters make a truly informed vote this election on issues which really matter. We hope that voters will be thinking about what is best for the environment when they cast their vote in November.”

FOREST & BIRD • NOVEMBER 2008

9

conservationbriefs

in Antarctica is widely respected, particularly on issues such as protection of the Southern Ocean fisheries, and restrictions on mining and other exploitation and inappropriate tourism in Antarctica.

New Zealand is establishing a renewable energy project in Antarctica, moving away from almost total dependence on fossil fuels to using renewable energy sources such as wind.

“We are trying to make Scott Base an example of sustainable management. We take all our rubbish and sewage back to New Zealand and we are trying to show some leadership in this area.”

Fenwick says the impact of climate change can be seen in Antarctica with accelerated ice melt in West Antarctica and the Antarctic Peninsula.

“There’s no doubt in my mind what is happening. But I am by nature an optimist. I believe there must be increased global co-operation, but we are leaving it awfully late. programme and territory, “Efforts of wealthy countries including managing Scott Base.

His connection with Antarctica must accelerate and show more vigour, and New Zealand has an goes back a decade: Fenwick launched a project to protect the important role to play in that. We can slow the effects of climate huts of Antarctic explorers Scott change by reducing greenhouse and Shackleton, which are now gases but it will be a long and being restored. hard road.”

Fenwick has also had an Fenwick has been a Forest & Antarctic glacier named after him.

He says New Zealand’s work Bird member for decades – in

Antarctica NZ

Antarctica NZ chairman Rob Fenwick – on ice.

Great Southern Man You’re never quite the same once you have visited Antarctica, Rob Fenwick reckons.

“

YOU feel about a centimetre tall when you get off that plane. It is a vast, unforgiving and beautiful continent. It’s huge, it’s wild and it is very volatile – a place of extremes.”

Fenwick will be able to further his passion for Antarctica through his new role as Chairman of Antarctica NZ, the Government agency responsible for New Zealand’s Antarctic

Antarctica NZ

Adelie penguins amid the Antarctic ice.

10 FOREST & BIRD • NOVEMBER 2008

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conservationbriefs Emperor penguins, Cape Bird, Antarctica

Antarctica NZ

fact he can trace his connection back several generations: his great-grandfather Sir George Fenwick was a founding member of the society.

He has been involved with a number of Forest & Bird projects, including the establishment of Te Matuku Bay Marine Reserve off Waiheke Island, and the restoration of Motutapu Island in the Hauraki Gulf.

He has also been active in conservation on his own 360-hectare coastal block on Waiheke. Following five years of extensive rat control the area is now relatively pest-free and releases of bellbirds, North Island robins and perhaps even kiwi are under consideration.

Even Fenwick’s business has a conservation focus – he was one of the founders of biowaste processing and compost company Living Earth. The company diverts more than 70,000 tonnes of waste from landfills and produces more

than 100,000 cubic metres of compost a year – that’s the equivalent of a rugby field buried 20 metres deep in compost.

His contribution to

conservation in Antarctica and in New Zealand was recognised as a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit in the Queen’s Birthday Honours.

“I was really chuffed – I didn’t expect it,” Fenwick says.

“Many people have done much more than me, and it was very humbling.”

NATURE’S TREASURES NEED YOUR HELP New Zealand’s breathtaking natural landscapes and beautiful native animal and plant life are precious treasures to us all. They are part of our identity as New Zealanders.

But with so many of our natural treasures threatened with extinction, it is vital that we continue to protect them for future generations to experience and enjoy.

The Royal Forest and Bird Protection Society of New Zealand Incorporated is the leading independent voice for conservation. Our vital conservation work couldn’t continue without the generous gifts we receive from supporters.

By leaving a gift in your Will to Forest & Bird you will help ensure our vital conservation work continues to make a difference. w w w. f o re s t a n d b i rd . o r g . n z

Photos: Steve Dawson, DOC, Don Geddes, Henk Haazen, Peter Morris, Rod Morris, Brent Stephenson, Kim Westerskov

Forest & Bird is not funded by the government. We rely on the generosity of Kiwis through donations, subscriptions and bequests.

Bequests can be made to the “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 to Forest & Bird please contact Kerin Welford on Freephone 0800 200 064.

Kerin Welford, Senior Fundraiser Royal Forest and Bird Protection Society of New Zealand Incorporated, PO Box 631, Wellington 6140.

Email: k.welford@forestandbird.org.nz www.forestandbird.org.nz FOREST & BIRD • NOVEMBER 2008

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S

OME of our best-known foodies, fishers and thousands of New Zealanders have signed Forest & Bird’s pledge to help stop shark finning.

Shark finning – cutting off the high-priced fins of sharks and dumping the rest of the body at sea – is contributing to the decline of shark species worldwide. While the practice is illegal in many countries, it is still permitted in New Zealand waters. It is largely motivated by increasing demand for shark fin soup.

Forest & Bird is encouraging people to sign an on-line pledge that they won’t eat shark fin soup or catch sharks just for their fins, and will support a law change to ban finning.

The pledge has been signed by more than 3000 people, including high profile food writers and chefs Simon Holst, Peter Calder, Peta Mathias, Julie Le Clerc, Richard Till and Annabel Langbein, as well as the NZ Recreational Fishing Council.

The plight of sharks was also raised through Forest & Bird’s screening of the documentary

film Sharkwater in Wellington in September.

Forest & Bird Marine Advocate Kirstie Knowles says shark fins are highly valued due to increasing demand for their use in shark fin soup and traditional medicines.

About 112 species of sharks have been recorded in New Zealand waters. Of these, 28 are listed on the World Conservation Union (IUCN) Red List of species threatened with extinction. Only one threatened species – the great white shark – is protected in New Zealand.

Several countries, including Australia, the EU, USA, South Africa, Brazil, Canada, Ecuador, Mexico, Colombia, Nicaragua, Palau, Spain and Oman have banned the practice of finning – New Zealand hasn’t.

While it is illegal under New Zealand’s animal welfare laws to fin sharks while the sharks are still alive (though there is evidence that this still occurs), it is legal to fin them once they are dead and dump the rest of the carcass.

“Shark finning is a wasteful practice which contributes to the decline of shark

Shark being finned

populations. Forest & Bird is asking for a law change to require sharks to be landed whole before processing, which would discourage wholesale exploitation of sharks and relieve

pressure from over-fishing on shark populations,” Kirstie Knowles says.

You can sign the shark fin pledge at www.forestandbird. org.nz.

New measures to protect dolphins

Steve Dawson/NZ Whale and Dolphin Trust

N

Hector’s dolphin – new measures will protect the dolphins from threats such as set nets.

12 FOREST & BIRD • NOVEMBER 2008

EW fishing rules to protect New Zealand’s threatened Hector’s and Maui’s dolphins came into force in October.

The new rules announced by Fisheries Minister Jim Anderton are a variety of regional bans and other restrictions on set netting, trawling and drift netting in coastal waters.

However a High Court injunction obtained by the fishing industry meant that some of the new measures did not come into force on 1 October as scheduled in some areas on the North Island west coast, the east coast of Marlborough and around Te Waewae Bay in Southland.

It is estimated that there are fewer than 8000 Hector’s dolphins left, and the North Island Maui’s dolphin sub-species is estimated to number only 111 dolphins, and is listed as critically endangered on the World Conservation Union (IUCN) Red List of species at risk of extinction.

Forest & Bird Marine Conservation Advocate Kirstie Knowles says the legal challenge to the new measures by commercial fishers was disappointing, but the Minister’s strong stance in supporting the measures was encouraging.

“No one welcomes impacts on jobs and livelihoods but industry opposition to measures which will protect the dolphins will just lead to a lose-lose situation – loss of dolphins, loss of tourism revenue and loss of New Zealand’s reputation.”

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Ministry of Fisheries

Sign up to save sharks

A

S their name suggests, spiny sea dragons look just like their fearsome namesake – only in miniature.

These fascinating sea creatures are just 49 centimetres long at most. They are similar in appearance to their close relatives, the sea horses. Rather than breathing fire, their long dragon snout is used to suck in crustaceans, which form the bulk of their food.

Spiny sea dragons – Solegnathus spinosissimus – are a member of the pipefish family and come in a spectacular array of colours, making them a rare but exciting sight for scuba divers. Unfortunately they are also increasingly popular among fish shop customers in New Zealand – while they are not eaten, they are in demand for traditional Chinese medicine, ornaments or souvenirs.

Reaching prices of up to $110 a kilogram, spiny sea dragons are under threat from overfishing, particularly as there is no limit on catches of this species as they are not included in New Zealand’s quota management system.

Found only in New Zealand and Australia, the spiny sea dragon is listed as a

vulnerable species on the World Conservation Union (IUCN) Red List of threatened species. This means they are recognised as facing a high risk of extinction in the wild in the medium-term future.

The sea dragon is most often caught opportunistically as trawl by-catch around New Zealand, but where the sea dragons are found in large numbers there have been reports of them being caught in the hundreds.

Recently divers with Tawaki Adventures in Milford Sound, Fiordland have come into contact with these delicate denizens of the deep, in water as shallow as 20 metres In most places the sea dragon is out of the depth range of divers. In Fiordland the waters of the fiords are stained dark with the tannins that leach from the rotting vegetation from the forests on land. This dark layer of water screens out sunlight, allowing creatures that normally inhabit much deeper waters to live here in relatively shallow waters.

With increasing financial pressures on inshore commercial fisheries there are concerns that species such as spiny sea dragons, wrasse and an assort-

Dirty Streams Accord?

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ATERWAYS in many areas are more polluted than they were five years ago when the Clean Streams Accord was set up to clean them up, a review by Forest & Bird and Fish & Game concludes.

Forest & Bird Advocacy Manager Kevin Hackwell says the Dairying and Clean Streams Accord has failed to improve water quality and in some areas has allowed rivers and streams to deteriorate further due to the impact of dairy effluent and nutrient run-off.

“The results of this study show that the dairy industry is still not meeting its environmental responsibilities.”

Fish & Game spokesman Neil Deans says the accord partners – Fonterra, the Minister of Agriculture, Minister for the Environment, and Local Government NZ – have failed to reduce the impact of dairying on waterways.

The review found that many of the accord targets to clean up waterways were not being met and monitoring and reporting on water quality was inconsistent and sometimes incorrect.

Forest & Bird and Fish & Game want improvements to the accord, including: • Input from environmental organisations • Stricter targets in improving water quality • Stricter enforcement and effective penalities • Consistent, nationwide monitoring of water quality.

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Peter Langlands

Dragons of the deep

conservationbriefs

Spiny sea dragons may be at risk because of the increasing trade in these marine creatures as decorations and for use in traditional Chinese medicine.

ment of other reef fish, will be targeted.

Many reef fish have small and sedentary populations, and commercial fishing could have a serious impact on them. At the moment there is little, if any, scientific information on the stocks and population dynamics of reef fish and species such as

the spiny sea dragon.

By purchasing spiny sea dragons we run the risk of turning an opportunistic by-catch fishery into a fishery that is specifically targeted to meet consumer demand – if you see spiny sea dragons on sale, please don’t buy them.

Peter Langlands

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conservationbriefs

Anton and BirdLife Global Seabird Scientist Susan Waugh join forces with local communities to help save seabirds.

Rugby hero makes mark in island conservation WRESTLING with snakes, tussling with giant coconut crabs and clambering up sheer rock faces to study endangered Pacific seabirds is all in a day’s work for former All Black Anton Oliver.

I

T’S hardly been a quiet life since retiring from professional rugby last year and starting study for a Masters degree in biodiversity, conservation and management at Britain’s Oxford University.

In July I spent four weeks in Fiji working alongside locals on a BirdLife International project to rid seven small islands of rats. My thesis investigates the interaction between poverty and conservation, and I spent two weeks living with a subsistence community, helping BirdLife’s preparation for a helicopter bait drop and interviewing the locals and observing their needs and wants.

Ringgolds Island was so badly overrun with rats that seabird numbers were rapidly declining as the rodents ate eggs and chicks, and crops could not be harvested before rats devoured them.

I studied other conservation projects in Fiji with BirdLife Global Seabird Scientist Susan Waugh, who is based at Forest & Bird in New Zealand, and BirdLife staff based in Fiji.

wouldn’t get noticed but it wasn’t so in Fiji.

I’m still waiting to get my questionnaires translated into English so I can’t yet say what the rat eradication means to the locals. However, it is clear that

the reasons BirdLife would like the rats off the islands and the locals’ motives have nothing in common – and that lies at the heart of my thesis.

Anton Oliver

The Ringgolds rat-eradication project, which cost more than $US200,000, will dramatically improve habitat for seabirds, including brown and red-footed boobies and black noddies.

People from the island are overjoyed that they will be able to harvest crops for the first time in years now that rats are gone.

On another island, Vatu-i-ra, which had its rats eradicated in 2006, we looked at how bird colonies are recovering from the earlier rat infestation. We checked bait monitoring stations, which showed no new rat arrivals on the three-hectare island.

Without rats eating their young, the number of ground-nesting birds, including brown boobies and bridled and black-naped terns, is growing. Crested terns have been spotted for the first time.

Fijians were welcoming – and not just because of my conservation efforts. I held media conferences and appeared on three TV shows in the rugbymad country. I thought now that I’ve hung up my rugby boots I

14 FOREST & BIRD • NOVEMBER 2008

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FOREST & BIRD • NOVEMBER 2008

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The Writer

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Walter Lawry Buller

Johannes Gerardus Keulemans

Born at the Wesleyan Mission, Newark, Pakanae near Opononi, 9 October 1838. His early years were spent at the Tangiteroria Mission Station (near Dargaville).

He developed a keen interest in natural history and ornithology. He applied for and was granted three hundred pounds to guarantee him against losses and presenting bird skins to the Colonial Museum. These skins became a basis of his later bird publications.

Born at Rotterdam in the Netherlands he was apprenticed to Professor Hermann Schlegel recognised artist and lithographer, working in the State Museum of Natural History, Leiden. Keulemans illustrated Bullers a History of the Birds of New Zealand, 1873 and 1880.

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Each calend ar sold will pro vide a $30 do nation to Forest & Bird Society

w w w. f o re s t a n d b i rd . o r g . n z

Rod Morris

A new book by natural history photographer Rod

Rare treasures

Morris and wildlife writer Alison Ballance, Rare Wildlife of New Zealand, celebrates the diversity of our wildlife in New Zealand – and warns of the serious threats to that diversity.

R

Rare Wildlife celebrates the extraordinary diversity of life on and around New Zealand, and draws attention to the sad fact that much of this irreplaceable natural treasure trove is disappearing before our eyes.

It features 100 New Zealand threatened native species of all kinds – plants, birds, insects, reptiles, amphibians, fish and mammals.

Organised by habitat — forests, islands, wetlands and rivers, high country, and sea and shore — it is an important snapshot of the critical state of our wildlife.

Beautifully photographed, with accessible and informative text, Rare Wildlife contains many surprises — among our most endangered species are New Zealand icons such as kiwi, tuatara, hebes and dolphins — while also paying tribute to many less well-known but equally remarkable species such as mudfish, geckos, bat-winged flies and fairy lanterns.

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(Phocarctos hookeri) Range restricted

New Zealand sea lions are the second-biggest species of sea lion, with males measuring up to 3.5m long. The males’ size and their dark blackish-brown fur and thick “mane” easily distinguishes them from the much smaller females, which are a silvery-gold colour, like bleached driftwood. New Zealand sea lions spend nearly half of their time at sea submerged, diving to depths of 500m for up to 11 minutes at a time before surfacing to breathe.

Rod Morris & Alison Ballance

Alison Ballance is a wildlife film-maker and writer. Rod Morris is a natural history photographer. They are the authors of Beautiful Birds of New Zealand, the companion title to this book.

New Zealand sea lion

RARE WILDLIFE OF NEW ZEALAND

ARE Wildlife of New Zealand is both a celebration and a call to arms. It celebrates the extraordinary diversity of life on and around the small, isolated islands of New Zealand and draws attention to the sad fact that much of this irreplaceable natural treasure trove is disappearing before our eyes.

The book focuses on 100 species, ranging in size from giant trees to tiny invertebrates and beautiful birds, and from great whales to small freshwater fish. Although these species are only a small – and somewhat eclectic – sample of New Zealand’s flora and fauna, the stories of the unique lifestyle and behaviour of each one, and the threats they face, represent universal themes.

They encapsulate the inherent values of the range of risks faced by the rest, and serve to highlight how little we know about many of our native plants and animals.

New Zealand is home to around 70,000 native land-based species, of which less than half have been formally described.

Marine scientists estimate that as much as 80 per cent of New Zealand’s native biodiversity is found in the sea, and although only 8000 marine species have been described, more than 180 new marine species are described each year. Many species are endemic, found nowhere else in the world.

New Zealand’s biota is experiencing a catastrophic wave of extinction that began first with Maori and then later European settlement, and has continued to the present day. We have already lost 32 per cent of our endemic land and freshwater birds, three reptile species and possibly 11 vascular plants, and the number of threatened or at-risk species continues to increase.

In the last 60 years New Zealand has won some mighty conservation battles, but we have not yet won the war. The book is a reminder that we must continue to fight, as what is at stake is too precious to lose.

RARE WILDLIFE OF NEW ZEALAND Rod Morris & Alison Ballance

Forest & Bird has three copies of Rare Wildlife of New Zealand (Random House, $49.99) to give away to our readers. To go in the draw to win a copy send your address and a daytime contact number on the back of an envelope to Rare Wildlife Draw, Forest & Bird, PO Box 631 Wellington.

FOREST & BIRD • NOVEMBER 2008

17

Black stilt/kaki (Himantopus novaezelandiae) Nationally critical The black stilt is the rarest wading bird in the world; while they were once widespread throughout much of New Zealand they are now restricted to the Upper Waitaki River system in the Mackenzie Basin, and number fewer than 90 birds in the wild. Their decline has occurred largely due to their high susceptibility to predation by introduced mammals and destruction of braided riverbed habitat.

Gray’s gecko

(Naultinus grayii) Gradual decline Gray’s geckos are large and colourful – males sometimes have bright blue flanks. They are very vocal and often exhibit “gaping behaviour,” showing off the deep blue inside of their mouth and their red tongue. They are pugnacious creatures: when threatened, males gape widely and lunge aggressively at intruders, often making barking sounds.

Maud Island frog (Leiopelma pakeha) Nationally endangered Although Maud Island frogs have been known since the 1940s, their habit of living deep within rock piles makes them difficult to study. Despite more than 40 years of searching, no wild breeding site has ever been found – it is thought they may lay their eggs many metres underground.

When disturbed they press themselves against the ground to conceal their throat movements – the only thing that might give them away to a predator.

Lesser short-tailed bat (Mystacina tuberculata)

Nationally endangered to range restricted Lesser short-tailed bats spend much of the night on the ground, burrowing deeply into leaf litter, and occupy an ecological niche that elsewhere is usually taken by small insectivorous mammals such as rats or shrews. Their short, velvety fur, similar to that of a mole, doesn’t trap dirt as they fossick in soil and leaf litter in search of food.

Uniquely among the world’s bats, lesser shorttailed bats protect their delicate wing membranes when they are not flying by rolling them tightly against their body like little umbrellas.

18 FOREST & BIRD • NOVEMBER 2008

Lamprey

(Geotria australis) Sparse Lampreys are survivors of an ancient group of aquatic animals which date back 300 million years. Their life cycle begins in fresh water, where the larvae live for about three years, before metamorphosing and migrating out to sea, where they live as a parasite on fish and sometimes whales, and sport dark green-blue backs, silver bellies and electric blue stripes on their sides. After several years at sea they return to freshwater to prepare for spawning, and for the next 14-18 months they do not feed at all – during this time they live off their own body tissue, shrinking by 6mm a month.

Giant mole weta (Deinacrida talpa) Range restricted Known only in three alpine locations in the Paparoa Range, the giant mole weta is named for its unusual burrowing habits. It digs long underground tunnels 2-3cm across and up to 30cm long. Male and female giant mole weta have been found together in burrows, with the male defending the entrance. Their hind legs are covered in long spines – when they enter the tunnels head-first the spines form a barrier like an armoured gate.

Castle Hill buttercup (Ranunculus paucifolius) Nationally critical The Castle Hill buttercup is the first New Zealand plant to have a nature reserve specially created for its conservation.

A small colony of the buttercup was first discovered by naturalist John Enys, who farmed Castle Hill Station, in the 1860s. The colony comprised just 32 plants when botanist Lance McCaskill began work to protect them in the 1930s. In 1940 a nature reserve, now named in honour of McCaskill, was gazetted to protect the buttercup and numbers of the plant increased to 400 by 1980. However, decreased management in the last few years means plant numbers have since declined to about 75.

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19

Rosemarie Müller

Vanishing geckos

Mt Cook jewelled gecko

Facing threats that range from wasps to poachers, our Naultinus geckos are in serious trouble.

Tony Jewell reports on efforts to better understand – and thus protect – these fascinating reptiles.

T

HE first Naultinus geckos I saw in the wild were on Otago Peninsula in 1994. Department of Conservation officer and Forest & Bird member Graeme Loh showed me the site one sunny morning and we saw a number of vivid-green geckos, decorated with rows of brilliant white diamond markings or yellow stripes, lazing about, soaking up the solar warmth.

Most of the world’s 2000-odd species of gecko are grey or brown, strictly nocturnal, live just a few years, and reproduce by laying pairs of small white eggs which must incubate and hatch in tropical or subtropical warmth.

In stark contrast, New Zealand’s Naultinus geckos are often bright green, are active by day, can live 30 years or more, and give birth directly to fully formed babies.

With large eyes, grasping toes and a prehensile tail from which they can hang, Naultinus scramble through sun-lit shrubs like miniature monkeys, licking their lips as they eat fruit, lap nectar and snap up passing insects.

20 FOREST & BIRD • NOVEMBER 2008

Back in 1994 I was too inexperienced to appreciate just what a privileged experience I was given that morning on Otago Peninsula. But returning repeatedly to the same site in recent years, I find the same shrubs devoid of any reptilian life. Here, as in many places, our Naultinus geckos are vanishing.

Most Naultinus are bright leaf-green, often with gem-like patches of white, yellow or pink, but variation is tremendous.

Background colours can also be white, grey, brown, blue, yellow or olive. Markings can be absent, simple rows of spots or stripes, or intricate patterns resembling a Persian rug.

The inside of the mouth, which may be revealed in a vigorous threat display, is deep blue, orange, pink or red. The broad, fleshy tongue, used to lick the lidless eyes clean, adds further colour: red, yellow, orange, pink or black.

Historically, Naultinus lived throughout the length of New Zealand, and from the coast to at least 1400 metres above sea level.

Defining what constitutes a species among Naultinus has always been problematic – and remains contentious.

Genetic evidence suggests that the nine “species” share a very recent common ancestry and that hybridization is commonplace. None are distinctive enough to be able to co-exist without interbreeding in the wild, leading some experts to

conclude that they are simply local “races” of a single widespread species.

Yet where populations of these different races meet up there is an abrupt and clear switchover. Neighbouring races often have different mating seasons and habits, which explain how they maintain their differences despite strong reproductive compatibility – leading many herpetologists to feel that each race is best classified as a distinct species.

Historically there has been an overwhelming lack of attention paid to wild Naultinus populations – until the 1990s, the only real exception were studies by Rod Hitchmough of Gray’s geckos (Naultinus grayi) near Kaitaia, and manuka gecko (Naultinus manukanus) on Stephens Island.

Part of the problem is that Naultinus can be difficult to find. Whole populations can appear to vanish and no amount of searching will turn them up – until the weather becomes more favourable and they reappear. Such disappearing acts have meant the permanent disappearance of whole populations has often been overlooked – dismissed as temporary “lying low.”

One gecko you would think should be easy to find is a gecko that barks. The barking gecko (Naultinus punctatus) is a large and pugnacious species that ranges along the south-eastern North Island from East Cape to Wellington. Its name derives from its habit of startling predators by gaping its mouth to display the bright blue interior w w w. f o re s t a n d b i rd . o r g . n z

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Rod Morris

Elegant gecko (Naultinus elegans) in flowering manuka

in the Ida Range, and in the Hunter Valley north of Lake Hawea.

Regular observations are made only on the Otago Peninsula and the persistence of viable populations at the five other sites is for now uncertain. Given the terrible status of Naultinus in Southland and most of the rest of Otago, the few surviving jewelled gecko populations may also face the same fate.

There are a handful of seemingly good populations on Otago Peninsula, yet even here there are problems. Peninsula resident Rod Morris has witnessed three populations crash in the last decade.

In two cases intense collecting by poachers is the likely cause; in the other

suburban encroachment is destroying habitat and boosting local cat and rodent numbers. Whatever the cause, we can’t afford to continue losing them at this rate.

The jewelled gecko is not much better off in Canterbury, where a few well-known populations persist, but most historical sites go unchecked or succumb one by one to development and other unknown factors.

A population near Hakataramea Pass east of Twizel, which displayed unusual colouration and genetic profile, was destroyed when its habitat went under the blade of a bulldozer.

Even on Banks Peninsula, a reputed stronghold for the species, residents report that their local jewelled geckos are slowly

Starred gecko (Naultinus stellatus) St Arnaud, Nelson Lakes

Rod Morris

and issuing a surprisingly loud barking noise.

Barking geckos were common in shrublands all around the Wellington region as recently as the 1960s and 70s, but local herpetologists such as Mike Meads have since witnessed numbers fall dramatically.

Attempts by the Department of Conservation to establish a population of barking geckos on Mana Island off Kapiti Coast have been hindered by a lack of suitable populations from which to source them. They have instead had to rely on barking geckos salvaged by Wellington residents from the jaws of their pet cats, and captive-bred stock. The first batch of 12 was liberated on Mana in 1998-99 but none were ever seen again. A natural population on nearby Kapiti Island has failed to thrive even following the removal of rats in 1996.

Exactly why barking geckos have declined so dramatically and have seemingly failed to rebound even in rodent-free habitats is not clear. Meads suggests the introduced vespid wasps could be responsible, as he has seen the wasps preying on baby geckos and even killing adults, as well as competing for food resources of nectar and invertebrates.

Barking geckos are the nearest thing we have to a documented decline in Naultinus, but something is amiss among Naultinus in general. Throughout New Zealand observers say they are much harder to find and have noticeably declined at many sites.

No herpetologist has ever been able to find a Naultinus on the Southland mainland, nor have any been collected or photographed. We know that they were here thanks to reports by members of the public of uniformly vivid green geckos (like no other New Zealand lizard). Rare sightings suggest Naultinus do linger on the Southland mainland, but they are very few.

I have spent hundreds of hours searching Southland sites, most supporting classic Naultinus habitat, and some where the geckos have previously been reported. I have never seen any evidence of Naultinus here, not even the usual sloughed skins that are left when a population lies low, nor heard the rustling of an alarmed specimen retreating before it can be sighted.

In contrast my searches in Otago and Canterbury found them within minutes.

Far from being just hard to find, I believe the Naultinus of Southland have suffered a catastrophic decline and may be critically endangered, if not already functionally extinct.

In neighbouring Otago the jewelled gecko is only slightly better off. Reports from the 1960s and 70s record populations that are no longer detectable. Populations are known to survive in just six areas of Otago: Nugget Point, the Lammerlaw Range, Otago Peninsula, Kakanui Mountains, Mt Buster

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Rosemarie Müller

Elegant gecko

More recently Orokonui Sanctuary Trust has initiated moves to transfer geckos from the peninsula to its 307-hectare mammalfree sanctuary north of Dunedin. If approval is granted, a carefully controlled release plan will introduce a founder population which it is hoped will expand into the extensive surrounding kanuka forest.

The Southland Naultinus may also benefit from the 1998 removal of kiore from Codfish Island, but it not yet determined whether a recovery is actually taking place, or if other factors are still keeping numbers down.

Naultinus are in dire need of research, particularly into the factors that are causing their apparent decline.

While much attention has been given to the impact of larger mammals, such as rats, cats and stoats, on New Zealand lizards, the smaller mice and weasels could have an even worse effect. After mice were removed from Mana Island, lizard numbers skyrocketed, demonstrating that these tiny rodents do cause serious harm.

Mice can squeeze into much tinier hiding places and thus take a greater range of lizards than larger predators. They are also better adapted to cold and don’t hibernate, so they forage year-round, however cold it gets. In temperatures below about 5°C lizards become torpid and can’t defend themselves against attack. A Naultinus

Otago jewelled gecko and young

Rod Morris

Jewelled gecko (Naultinus gemmeus) eating a blowfly.

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Rod Morris

dropping in numbers. Marieke Lettink, a local student studying the geckos, is convinced that poaching is a problem on the peninsula, and she has been approached several times by people of dubious intent seeking precise locality data. Poaching is likely to be an ongoing problem, as jewelled geckos fetch as much as US$9000 each on the overseas black market.

Lettink is beginning a two-year project looking at distribution of jewelled geckos on the peninsula, and providing advice to landowners who wish to protect geckos on their properties. The study is seeking information about any recent or historic sightings of geckos in Canterbury (Marieke can be contacted at marieke_kakariki@clear. net.nz.)

Given how poorly we understand what is happening to the jewelled gecko, it is not surprising that efforts to directly address their decline have been limited.

One of the first serious attempts to protect a population was Forest & Bird’s Every Reserve on Otago Peninsula, where an experimental predator-proof fence was built in 1994. This pioneering initiative backfired tragically when poachers targeted the site following the publicity it received, taking most of the geckos. The population has yet to recover, and the fence now stands derelict.

sheltering in low, dense vegetation on a cold winter day is an easy snack for a hungry mouse.

Exotic birds are also potentially significant Naultinus predators. In his 1970s study of Gray’s gecko near Kaitaia, Rod Hitchmough repeatedly observed mynas plucking geckos from the vegetation canopy. On Otago Peninsula Rod Morris has watched magpies searching through the canopy of shrubs at jewelled gecko sites.

Other introduced birds such as starlings and blackbirds also prey on lizards. An experiment on Banks Peninsula, in which green Plasticine geckos were placed in shrubs, was aborted when the models were slashed apart by an unknown bird before monitoring cameras were activated to identify the culprit – which did not return, having quickly wised up to the hoax.

Searches for Naultinus are often inconclusive because they sometimes simply avoid detection. Search methods and monitoring could also be greatly refined through further research, allowing us to count population numbers in a robust statistical manner and provide convincing evidence of genuine declines.

Some new ideas mooted to improve detection include pheromone lures, recording ultrasonic calls, and small clear plastic “roofs” to provide enticing basking sites – the latter technique being trialled by student Rosie Müller who, with funding assistance from Forest & Bird, is studying jewelled geckos on Otago Peninsula.

Despite the determined efforts of a few dedicated people, Naultinus may pose a much bigger conservation challenge than previously thought. The range of very different possible threats, and our lack of knowledge, may create a highly complex long-term problem.

We need to make a fundamental shift in the way we approach the conservation of Naultinus geckos. We can’t just sit around waiting for every population to go the way of the Southland and Wellington geckos, before we decide that they weren’t just hiding – they were disappearing, forever.

P_4338/1008

LIFESAVER

www.greencareers.unitec.ac.nz

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Rod Morris

Helen Bain reports on the success of efforts to restore kokako populations to our forests.

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And, yes, those pairs are genuine malefemale pairs – the population has a fairly even male/female split now.

The recovery group is now considering an update to its plan setting a higher target number of kokako, and probably increasing the number of sites where kokako are protected from predators.

Flux says the goal has been achieved (or over-achieved) by a strategy of focusing on key sites where kokako populations can be protected by intensive pest control.

The kokako had been an icon of campaigns by conservationists (including Forest & Bird) in the 1970s and 80s to stop logging of native forests. But even once the kokako habitat in those forests was protected from the logging threat, kokako populations were still plummeting as introduced pests continued to take their toll. Without help it faced almost certain extinction.

The recovery group established 24 key sites around the North Island where intense management would allow kokako populations to recover, safe from the ravages of pests.

“There were kokako in ones or twos scattered all over the place but if we chased them all we’d get nowhere, so we had to focus our efforts. Initially the total population went downhill, but it quickly swung around as the populations in the managed sites recovered,” Flux says.

The recovery group also decided to concentrate its efforts mainly on mainland sites, rather than move all the birds to offshore islands. It was decided that while the birds could be protected more easily on island havens, it was important to maintain kokako populations on the mainland, where people could more readily see and hear them.

A few of the key sites are protected by predator-proof fences, but most are “open sanctuaries” where pest numbers are kept low by use of poison baits. The recovery plan probably would not have succeeded without the poison 1080, Flux says.

“It has been absolutely essential – we would have lost a lot of the kokako populations if it wasn’t for 1080. It has been key to restoring this species.”

The results at individual sites have been dramatic. At Mapara in the central North Island there were just three breeding pairs of kokako left. Following three aerial applications of 1080 followed by its use in

bait stations, there are now 75 pairs there.

As well as protecting the birds from the key threat of predators, the recovery group has also undertaken genetic research and transferred kokako between different sites to ensure that their populations have a diverse genetic base.

Flux says pest control aimed at protecting kokako has also had benefits for other forest species, with other birds including kiwi, whitehead, kereru, shining cuckoo and kaka, as well as threatened native plants such as kaka beak and Dactylanthus thriving in the pest-managed sites.

Flux says that while the kokako’s future is looking much brighter thanks to the work that has been done, it is not out of the woods yet.

He would like to see large kokako populations established in more pestprotected sites throughout its former range.

There are plans to reintroduce kokako in areas such as the Waitakere Ranges, Hunua Ranges and Maungatautari Mainland Island – places where people will be able to hear the kokako’s haunting song and appreciate what a treasure we have, and nearly lost.

Rod Morris

K

OKAKO had the researchers stumped for a while. Kokako couples observed in the wild seemed to be doing all the right things: defending their territories, showing courtship behaviour, forming pair bonds, building and occupying nests – and yet few kokako chicks arrived.

Finally they twigged: many of the kokako couples were male-male pairs. Naturally these civil unions weren’t going to produce any offspring.

Male and female kokako are so alike that you have to DNA test them to determine which is which. And kokako are highly unusual among birds in forming male-male pairs. They are also long-lived – about 20 years – so you would still see kokako around for years even if they weren’t producing any young.

So it took a while for those trying to help restore kokako numbers that many wild populations comprised mostly – if not totally – male kokako. The females, which are highly vulnerable to predation while nesting, had been all but wiped out by introduced pests.

The remaining male-dominated populations, not replacing themselves with offspring, were gradually dwindling away to nothing.

These days, this mystery and many others surrounding this fascinating forest bird have been cleared up due to years of dedicated research, and those working to boost kokako numbers have a pretty good idea of what the problem facing kokako is: predation of chicks, eggs and even adult birds on the nest by rats and possums.

They also know what the solution is: intensive pest control, particularly around the breeding season. Keep possum and rat numbers low in key sites and kokako numbers will grow.

And grow they have. The Kokako Recovery Group’s 20-year goal, set in its 1999 Kokako Recovery Plan, was to restore numbers to 1000 pairs by 2020.

At the time the plan was drawn up there were about 350 pairs left, most in small, isolated populations confined to the upper half of the North Island.

Now, according to Ian Flux of the recovery group, they are well ahead of meeting their recovery target. There are currently 750 pairs of kokako and the group expects to meet the goal of 1000 pairs by 2013 – seven years earlier than expected.

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Rod Morris

North Island kokako (Callaeas cinerea wilsoni)

T

HE kokako belongs to the ancient family of wattlebirds, which also includes the saddleback and the extinct huia.

It is a fairly large bird, weighing about 230 grams, with powerful legs that it uses to leap about the canopy. The kokako has blue-grey plumage and a black “Lone Ranger” mask and bright blue wattles.

It was called the blue-wattled crow by early European settlers but is not actually a member of the crow family. Kokako are believed to live for 20 years or more.

Kokako eat a variety of food, including fern fronds, leaves, flowers, nectar and fruit of native plants, as well as insects.

The kokako is renowned for its loud and haunting song, most often heard at dawn, and each population has its own distinct “dialect.”

Kokako defend large forest territories (from 4-20 hectares) and form pair bonds which can last for years.

The breeding season is mainly from October to March, when females do most of the construction of nests built from twigs and other plant material, and lay 1-3 pinkish-grey eggs, which take 18 days to hatch. The chicks then take another 30-35 days to fledge.

Ian Flux of the Kokako Recovery Group says the movement of the kokako in the

26 FOREST & BIRD • NOVEMBER 2008

canopy is as much like a squirrel as a bird, bouncing from tree to tree using its powerful legs and using its wings in short downward glides, rather than sustained flight.

Legend has it that the kokako assisted Maui as he battled the sun by carrying drinking water to him in its wattles. Maui is said to have rewarded the kokako by giving the bird its long, strong legs.

Kokako were once widespread throughout forested areas of the North Island, but habitat destruction and predation by rats and possums wiped out most of them.

The South Island kokako is believed to be extinct. Flux says he doesn’t share the hopes of those who believe the South Island kokako is still alive in Fiordland – he says the kokako’s song and appearance is so conspicuous that if they were present, they would have been found.

It is widely thought that North Island kokako had blue wattles and their South Island cousins had orange wattles, but the split may not be so clear-cut. Flux says orange-wattled kokako have been observed in the North Island as recently as a few years ago. The base of the South Island kokako’s wattles were blue, with orange only at the ends, but collectors in past centuries often painted the wattles of their museum specimens a brighter orange all over

The Kokako Recovery Group

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HE Kokako Recovery Group comprises Department of Conservation staff and other scientists and conservationists (including Forest & Bird) who undertake research, pest control, translocations and other work to ensure the species can recover. The group works closely with communities and tangata whenua to involve them in the kokako’s recovery.

The group’s 1999-2009 Kokako Recovery Plan sets long-term goals and strategies for the recovery of the species.

Our Appeal

F

orest & Bird’s annual Dawn Chorus Appeal aims to help protect kokako and other native dawn chorus birds from the threat of introduced pests.

Look out for the appeal envelope in your letterbox in November or you can donate online at www.forestandbird.org. nz.

Your support can help keep the kokako’s song alive.

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Voyage for the seabirds Susan Waugh

Seabird scientist Susan Waugh set sail at Easter on board French vessels fishing for Patagonian toothfish in the Southern Ocean. She found fishing crews as keen as conservationists to do their bit to reduce by-catch of seabirds.

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Craig McKenzie

Light-mantled sooty albatross

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’M in the bowels of a fishing vessel, pitching up and down with the three-metre waves of the vast Southern Indian Ocean – latitude 47, longitude somewhere east of Madagascar!

I’m here as part of my work helping reduce deaths of albatrosses and petrels accidentally killed in the fishery: I was offered the opportunity to work with the French Government and fishing industry to examine their seabird mitigation methods in the Patagonian toothfish fishery in the French sub-Antarctic territories – the Terres Australes et Antarctiques Françaises.

They comprise four groups of islands lost in the middle of the Indian Ocean – somewhere around the latitude of New Zealand’s own sub-Antarctic territories. The island groups of Kerguelen, Crozet, Amsterdam and Saint Paul are almost as distant and inaccessible as they were in the times of the explorers who discovered them in the 1900s.

Today, they at least have a regular supply ship, internet and satellite communications, and are home to about 100 people – French administrators, military and scientists.

Alongside the biggest island of the group, Kerguelen, is one of

Susan Waugh

Patagonian toothfish

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the world’s most remote fisheries, the French fishery for Antarctic Toothfish – a glossy fish up to 1.5m long, whose white Susan Waugh counting birds. flesh is highly sought-after in French supermarkets and restaurants.

The method used to catch the toothfish is bottom long-lining – automatic line setters set about 18,000 hooks per line, at an impressively fast rate of three hooks per second.

My job was to identify risk factors for incidental capture of seabirds. I had to come up with some changes in fishing practice or “mitigation gear,” that would reduce the numbers of birds killed, but I needed to suggest measures that would likely be taken up – rather than resisted – by the fishermen and the industry.

That task was made a lot easier by the French fishermen’s eagerness to learn what is done elsewhere, and their openness in discussing what would – or wouldn’t – work.

We deployed miniature time-depth recorders on the fishing lines, to test the rate at which the lines sink out of the reach of diving birds. The fishermen “nursed” these delicate instruments through the line setting process, feeding our precious electronic equipment ($1000 a pop!) through the whirling, clunking, spitting, hissing automatic baiting apparatus. To my relief, all went well.

Unfortunately I could not say the same of my stomach. But as we set sail from the tropical island of La Reunion for the sevenday trip to the fishing grounds, even seasickness could not spoil my appreciation of the vast, empty tropical sea, sparkling sky and flying fish everywhere, skipping and skimming across the water.

After a brief detour to Mauritius to fuel up we headed south, starting off in shorts and gradually adding layers of clothes as

Susan Waugh

Haul curtain deters giant petrels from getting too close to hooks being hauled.

temperatures decreased the further we got into southern latitudes.

The French vessels are largely crewed by fishermen descended from generations of fishing stock – Ukrainian, Madagascan, South African and La Reunion were the most common nationalities on the three vessels I visited – while almost all of the officers were French (Breton, to be precise.)

The Ukrainians treated me like a princess, but I was glad when they stopped kissing me on the hand, Elizabethan style.

They didn’t stop trying to ply me with cognac and vodka, though. I was only the second woman to venture on to their boats – the first was a hardy fisheries observer who has recently breached their all-male ranks.

As we got further south the sea became rougher, and my cabin furniture began to come to life, despite everything being tied down

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with bungy cords. Fortunately, I discovered that a positive attitude seemed to help overcome seasickness.

I spent many of my spare moments singing my favourite waiata, Purea nei, which worked wonders, perhaps because it drove the evil spirits away, perhaps it was merely the physical effect of forcing myself to breathe deeply and sing.

Whatever, it worked. It also brought the gorgeous, long-winged, fast-flying albatrosses and petrels in, like a karanga. Whales arrived not long after – both sperm and pilot whales cruising by to check us out.

As the days stretched out, we set to work, alongside the bosun, a large teddy-bear of a guy affectionately called Jean-Me (short for Jean-Michel). He rebuilt the ship’s streamer lines, which work to deter seabirds from coming too close to the hook line during line

FOREST & BIRD • NOVEMBER 2008

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setting, while we steamed south, and tested them over and over again with adjustments each time, with the fervent hope that they would be more successful at stopping the seemingly suicidal whitechinned petrels from throwing themselves onto the hook lines and drowning.

These birds lack the wisdom of their larger cousins, the albatrosses, and squabble and dive for baits and lost fish – and pay the price. Each year the French fishery incidentally kills about 2000 white-chinned petrels. No one likes it and they’re all trying to find a solution.

Craig McKenzie

Cape Petrell

As the Administrator for the French Southern Territories told me, the industry has reached the “noyaud dure” or the “hard core” of the problem. France has reduced the number of seabirds killed from about 16,000 at the start of this decade, and is now trying to work out how to deal with the level of deaths still occurring.

A lot of the problem hinges around the food source provided by the on-board fish processing, which attracts masses of birds to follow the fishing boats. Each vessel has its own noisy community of giant petrels, white-chins, black-browed and wandering albatrosses.

Albatross by-catch no longer occurs in this fishery thanks to improved mitigation measures and practices, but the remaining problem of the deep-diving white-chins and grey petrels, which can still reach the fast-sinking lines, remains difficult to solve.

Improvements in bird-scaring techniques will be possible, with the uptake of best-practice models developed in other parts of the Patagonian toothfish fishery. But France is not far off with most of these techniques, and they do have a tougher problem than fisheries in other areas, as they are fishing throughout the year, including the summer “high-season” for bird mortalities.

After 10 days on one ship, I got ready to transfer mid-ocean to the next ship, and at 3am came a knock on my cabin door – time to go. I donned layers of warm, waterproof gear, and went up to the bridge to await the second vessel. When the ship appeared on the radar I went down to the fish hauling bay and climbed down the rope ladder into the inflatable waiting below. It was terrifying. Sasha the Ukrainian crewman got a fonder hug from me than his mother would have given him when he went to sea for the first time. The other guys whistled; I went red.

As the dinghy bumped against the side of the awaiting vessel, I was wondering how long it takes before your breathing reflex cuts out when you fall into the freezing sub-Antarctic waters. Three huge South Africans made three attempts to seize hold of me – on the third try they picked me up by the scruff of my neck and hefted me on board.

I had a smarter cabin on this ship, but remained annoyingly well acquainted with my bathroom sink. I was treated very well as I

Susan Waugh

Tori lines stop seabirds from getting too close to hooked fishing lines

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conservationbriefs

Popular Plants in Biosecur

N

Susan Waugh

Susan Waugh

research confirms what was ew research into three already suspected in terms of popular garden plants agapanthus and ivy, but that the has raised serious invasive capabilities of phoenix concerns about their potential to palm comes as an unwelcome invade and take over natural wake-up call. ecosystems.

‘When we started looking, we The three species researched by found phoenix palms Auckland Regional Council were everywhere: half-grown palms agapanthus, phoenix palm and that had self-sown into English ivy. The study looked at mangrove wetlands, young the distances plants could spread plants growing in thick kikuyu unassisted, the range of habitats grass on the edges of farm they were capable of invading, paddocks, even seedlings and what impacts they were growing alongside native nikau having on parkland and other palm seedlings in dense bush,’ natural areas.

Jack Craw says.

All three species were found to ‘These plants are being spread be invasive in a range of Wandering albatrosses tussle with giant petrels for food scraps near the fishing boat. into some of our most remote ecosystems, spreading into and vulnerable habitats by birds, remote and inaccessible areas. and have become huge, with tiny ears. carried out my work, and greatly enjoyed chatting with the captain wind and water. All three species They have significant We boarded the third vessel of my journey for a couple more about his exploits during more than a decade in the fishery, but are becoming significant weeds environmental impacts on the days of fishing before starting the long trek back to La Reunion.

I missed the camaraderie of the first boat, as things were more in natural areas.’ natural areas they invade.

Back on land, all my gear stinks of fish, I’m glad my lunch stays business-like here – despite the fact that everyone spoke different Jack Craw is urging developers Jack Craw, biosecurity where it should, and the ground is reassuringly solid and still beneath languages. The Chilean bosun’s conversation with the French and gardeners to consider manager for the Auckland captain traversed at least four languages in a single sentence: Creole, my feet. I’d go to sea again tomorrow, though, given the chance. replacing agapanthus, phoenix Regional Council, says the French, English and Spanish.

After three days it was time to again switch vessels. This time, thankfully, there was no mid-ocean transfer: both vessels made the 12-hour trek from the fishing grounds to the French scientific base at Port-aux-Françaises at Kerguelen Island, where I was to change ships.

The islands’ administrator took me up to his residence, made me tea, and chatted as I looked out on the bleak, barren landscape during my two-hour wait for the next ship. The elephant seals and penguins had left for the year, and the only visible wildlife was a multitude of rabbits hopping around the close-cropped grass. Cats are also rife on the island, along with reindeer, rats, and two species of sheep. The cats have become adapted to the dismal weather,

Susan Waugh

The crew – supportive of measures to prevent seabird by-catch.

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FOREST & BIRD • FEB R RUEASRT Y& 2B0I 0R 5D • N O V E M B E R 2 0 0 8 FO

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palm an invasive Undes includes types. T invade a includin scrub, re margins beachfro dunes, c cliffs, ex pastoral where th both pla They are dense m all other infestati cover an square m The A looking alternati try clivia foliage t range of colourfu rengaren with fol agapant white flo coastal g spinifex coastal d conserve pingao) and gah control sandy in many va

Wild nightlife A morepork clutches supper – a short-tailed bat – in its claws.

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Rod Morris

Marina Skinner ventures out after dark to find out what nature gets up to from dusk to dawn.

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Inky depths

hen humans turn in for the night, many of our wild creatures are just waking up. We hardly ever see some of our native animals because they keep very different hours from us. But break your routine and venture into the bush or explore the coast at night, and you’ll find a whole lot of nightlife going on.

It seems odd to us humans, poorly adapted to coping in the dark, that our wilderness areas can be just as busy at night as they are in the day, but the night’s cooler temperatures, dampness and cover from sharp-eyed predators provides ideal conditions for many native species.

As most fishermen know, many sea creatures are more active at night than during the day. Sea creatures that feed at night include sandfish, sea urchins, crayfish, sea worms, spider crabs, seahorses, tube anemones and feather stars and brittle stars – relatives of starfish.

Some fish “slip on their pyjamas” before they turn in for the night. Pink maomao are a bright “Barbie” shade of pink during the day, but when the sun sets they rest on the seabed in paler, mottled nightwear to blend in with their surroundings.

Squid sink to the bottom of the ocean during the day, swimming nearer the surface as night falls to feed on crustaceans and small fish.

Many fish sleep resting on the seabed at night; whales are also night-time sleepers but they rest on the surface. In the 1840s European settlers complained about being kept awake at night by southern right whales blowing in Port Nicholson.

Under the cover of darkness there is a mass migration of microscopic zooplankton, as billions of them rise from the ocean depths to feed on phytoplankton. Sometimes the night-time sea surface sparkles from the “fairy lights” of billions of bioluminescent plankton.

A North Island brown kiwi hunts for freshwater crayfish.

The late bird catches the worm The kiwi is New Zealand’s best-known nocturnal bird, navigating in the dark with its excellent senses of smell and touch. You’d expect it to have large eyes – like owls – but instead it relies on its nostrils at the end of its bill and well-developed smell centre in the brain.

The kakapo also forages on the ground at night for fruit and seeds and has a good sense of smell. It is the only nocturnal parrot in the world – and the only flightless one. It’s also critically endangered, with just 91 known to exist.

The large eyes of the morepork (ruru) point to their terrific eyesight. They have large ear holes, too, giving them superb hearing. They are highly effective night-time predators, flying silently and sneaking up on wetas and other insects.

Some native birds are most active at dawn and dusk, including weka, kaka and blue ducks, or whio.

Many seabirds are nocturnal, and some come ashore after dark during nesting and build burrows for their chicks. Little blue penguins also return to land after dark when fewer land predators are around.

New Zealand has two different types of bat – the long-tailed and shorttailed bat. They both use echo-location to find their way around in the dark.

Long-tailed bats are active between dusk and dawn and venture outside the forest canopy. The shorttails wait until it is properly dark and stick to the forest canopy, feeding on insects, fruit and nectar.

Short-tailed bats feed on the ground.

Rod Morris

Rod Morris

Holy flying bats

In the undergrowth

Young female kakapo on Codfish Island.

Glow worms are the glitterati of the bush, though the less-thanglamorous reality is that they’re simply the larvae of flies. Their bioluminescent glow attracts small insects, which fly into the larvae’s sticky threads hanging from cave roofs or underneath damp banks.

The larva pulls in its supper on the line. Female adults keep up their natural glow to attract a mate.

The mosquito’s whine is not a good omen for a restful night, and New Zealand has 16 mosquito species, including four that are introduced. Only the females bite humans and other mammals – the males stick to plant juices.

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Rod Morris

Rod Morris

Glow worms’ sticky threads dangle from a bank.

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Creeping about Many skinks and geckos are nocturnal or active at dusk and dawn.

They were easy meals for night-feeding kiore and, later, Europeanintroduced rats and mice, and many skinks and geckos have become extinct or are in serious decline.

Tuatara are in a reptile class of their own. They feed on insects, lizards and frogs at night but sometimes come out of their burrows during the day to bask in the sun.

Rod Morris

In the shallows

A Hochstetter’s giant land snail sucks up an earthworm.

Out for the evening Many native plants put on their best show at night to attract the moths and other insects that pollinate them. New Zealand has relatively few native day-flying butterflies, moths and bees, so many New Zealand plants have evolved strong scents to attract nightflying moths. Mahoe, the Easter orchid and some pittosporums have small flowers that are strongly perfumed at night.

Night prowlers Like any master criminal, the most devastating introduced pests – possums, rats, stoats, weasels, ferrets and cats – operate under cover of darkness. They have wiped out entire species during their colonisation of New Zealand, and still endanger many native birds and invertebrates. Even the once-popular night-time garden visitor, the hedgehog, is no longer considered endearing and harmless, with studies showing they eat lizards and native bird eggs on their nocturnal jaunts.

Rod Morris

Powelliphanta snails are not easy to find in the bush, despite their massive dimensions – their shells are about nine centimetres in diameter and they weigh up to 90 grams, the same as a female tui. The carnivorous snails live under leaf litter or logs and are on the move at night looking for earthworms and slugs to snack on.

Many spiders are active at night, with the orb-web spider spinning and repairing its necklace-like web in the dark, and water spiders catching night-flying insects.

Most cockroaches sprung indoors when a light is turned on at night are introduced species, but New Zealand also has about 25 native cockroaches, which are also nocturnal and are even found in alpine areas.

Crickets, our large puriri moths and huhu beetles and of course our weta species are also all native creatures with a busy nightlife.

Many native freshwater fish are nocturnal, probably to avoid birds such as shags and herons. Long-finned and short-finned eels usually hide under rocks or riverbanks during the day and come out at night to hunt small fish, snails and insect larvae using their good sense of smell. Freshwater crayfish, or koura, which live in our lakes and streams, also come out at night to feed.

On the hop

A puriri moth in Pureora forest.

All four of New Zealand’s native frog species are nocturnal and hide under rocks, logs and plants during the day. They’re not so fond of water as introduced frogs, and three of the species stick to the forests. Critically endangered Archey’s frogs can climb several metres into trees at night to forage.

Rod Morris

Rod Morris

A male Archey’s frog carries froglets on its back.

34 FOREST & BIRD • NOVEMBER 2008

w w w. f o re s t a n d b i rd . o r g . n z

Night wonderland

Nocturnal wanderings

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E

Sanctuary By Night tours are held at Karori Wildlife Sanctuary every night except Christmas Day; tours start 30 minutes before sunset, $55 adults, $30 children, www.sanctuary.org.nz

Peter Maddison’s Auckland night walks are $5 adults and children. To book, contact Kay Lindley, 09 837 8820 or kay@healthwest.co.nz

Royal Forest and Bird Protection Society

CONSERVATION CALENDAR 2009

NTOMOLOGIST and Forest & Bird President Peter Maddison gathers his fellow night walkers about an hour before dusk to inspect the insect life. Before dark they will usually see a few ants crawling on tree trunks or the odd beetle under leaf litter.

But once dusk falls, the scene changes, as spiders, slugs, tiny snails and cockroaches stretch their legs after a hard day’s rest.

As it gets darker, tree wetas rise from their daytime beds in tree holes and climb to the young leaves and flowers for a midnight feast.

Looper caterpillars emerge from leaf litter and scale the kawakawa bushes to leave their signature holes in the leaves.

Crane flies – which look like winged daddy longlegs – and other insects love humid nights, and they’re even happier if it rains.

Flat worms – some brilliant blue or wild yellow and up to 12 centimetres long – seek out tiny insects to eat. Slaters, or woodlice, ferret in leaf debris.

Rod Morris

T’S happy hour at Wellington’s Karori Wildlife Sanctuary.

As dusk falls, dozens of kaka are toasting each other with sugar water at the bird feeder. They’ll be back at dawn for another shot of the syrup that’s an acceptable alternative to the nectar they would slurp in the wild.

Squawking kaka are the rowdiest creatures visitors hear on a night tour. The dusk songs of hihi, tui and grey warblers are followed by hooting moreporks. We’re not lucky enough to see a kiwi but the shrill call of a male tells us they’re out on this rainy night.

A large female tuatara sits outside her burrow for as long as we care to admire her, but it is too wet for us to venture into the old gold mine where cave wetas hang out.

The highlight of the night tour is venturing through a glow worm wonderland.

Their fairy lights twinkle deep into the bush beside the track. There’s something slightly spooky but completely magical about venturing into the forest at night.

Royal Forest and Bird Protection Society

NEW ZEALAND CONSERVATION DIARY 2009

New Zealand

Conservation Calendar

R O YA L F O R E S T A N D B I R D P R O T E C T I O N S O C I E T Y | 2 0 0 9

SEPTEMBER 2009

By purchasing this calendar you are contributing to conservation work in New Zealand

SEPTEMBER 2009

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MONDAY

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THURSDAY

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Gentianella sp., Kahurangi National Park (Kay Jackson)

Stunning photos of New Zealand’s native flora and fauna taken by some our leading nature photographers. Envelope supplied; weight less than 200 gms for economical posting.

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Email: info@cpp.co.nz. To order by credit card, refer to the Forest and Bird website: www.forestandbird.org.nz

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FOREST & BIRD • NOVEMBER 2008

35

Tui crowd around a sugar water feeder. Sources of food such as sugar water and exotic garden species can be an important supplement to tui’s diet at times of year when native plant food sources are scarce.

Warren Agnew

City slickers Ralph Powlesland, Colin Miskelly and John Innes find that two of our most popular native birds have adapted rather well to urban lifestyles.

Kereru drinking

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Alwyn Parry

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OU might think that tui and kereru would be happiest in some remote forest, far away from human disturbance, peacefully nesting and feeding among ancient native trees.

However, research shows that both kereru and tui can be just as well off in our towns and cities.

Several traits have allowed both species to adapt with alacrity to the new challenges of modern, urban life – to the point where you may see more of them downtown than you might in some distant forest parks.

One of the most important features that make kereru and tui such adaptable urban dwellers is their ability to fly long distances to find suitable food sources, and the fact that they aren’t too fussy about what they eat when they get there – in scientific terms, they are known as generalists.

Even before the changes wrought by humans, some foods of kereru (young leaves, flower buds, flowers and fruit) w w w. f o re s t a n d b i rd . o r g . n z

w w w. f o re s t a n d b i rd . o r g . n z

Waikato Times

John Innes releases a banded tui.

feeding their young on exotic foods. Kereru and tui have established populations in urban and farmland areas, especially where native vegetation (in reserves and along waterways) remains near private gardens and parks. Access to a wide variety of native and exotic food sources within a kilometre or so has enabled kereru and tui to remain year-round and breed in such environments.

Another positive outcome for tui and kereru of residing in suburbia is that there are often fewer introduced mammalian competitors and predators for them to contend with.

Surprisingly, ship rats, possums and stoats seem to be less abundant in urban parks than in large remote native forests, and their numbers can be driven even lower by pest control.

In Wellington effective pest control has been possible thanks to the efforts of a number of groups: Greater Wellington Regional Council, Wellington City Council, the Department of Conservation, restoration groups such as MIRO, and private individuals.

It is easier to get volunteers involved in pest control programmes in urban areas because of the greater number of people available to take part, and the relatively short distances that have to be travelled to restoration sites.

Rats and possums reduce food abundance for tui and kereru, especially flowers and fruit, and (along with cats and mustelids) prey on the birds’ eggs, chicks and even adult tui and kereru. The poor nesting success in some back-country forests can be so severe that tui and kereru populations are in decline there.

Forest sanctuaries surrounded by predator-proof fences, such as the Karori Wildlife Sanctuary in Wellington, and pestfree islands that are close to coastlines with large urban populations, such as Kapiti Island, also help to increase bird populations in urban regions, as birds venture beyond these sanctuaries into their urban surrounds.

The combination of local predator-proofed and island sanctuaries and pest control outside these havens has led to a marked increase in numbers and distribution of tui

Tui can live just as happily downtown as in the backblocks as they are well adapted to dining on exotic plants in urban parks and gardens.

Barry Harcourt

and tui (nectar and fruit) were irregularly available at separate locations, requiring the birds to fly some distance between feeding sites, whether this be from day to day or seasonally.

This ability to make long-distance flights has enabled both species to cope reasonably well with the changed environment brought about by the conversion of much of New Zealand’s lowland forests to pasture and exotic forest, enabling them to reach isolated food sources as native vegetation became increasingly fragmented.

Tui and kereru can “commute” considerable distances, studies have revealed. For example, a satellite-tagged kereru in Southland crossed 32 kilometrewide Foveaux Strait five times during a 14-week period in 2005, and travelled at least 500km in total.

Some radio-tagged kereru in Taranaki travelled up to 60km in autumn 2006 to reach fruit sources. Tui in Waikato flew up to 20km from urban winter feeding sites to summer nesting territories. Similar tui movements have been recorded in Auckland and Hawkes Bay. However, radio-tagged tui were relatively sedentary in Invercargill and New Plymouth during 2003-06, rarely flying more than a few kilometres to reach seasonal foods.

As long-distance commuters, tui and kereru are able to visit and feed in a variety of habitat types. They are found in extensive native forest areas, including podocarphardwood and beech forests, small native forest patches surrounded by farmland or suburbia, exotic plantation forests, well-treed urban parks, and private gardens in rural or suburban areas.

Both species have broadened their diet to include many foods available as a result of the introduction of exotic plant species.

Kereru’s diet includes the spring buds and developing leaves of several deciduous species, particularly elms, poplars and willows, and autumn and winter fruit of a variety of species, such as plums and holly (Ilex aquifolium).

Tui also eat a variety of exotic fruits, such as strawberry dogwood (Dendrobenthamia capitata) and ivy (Hedera helix), and large numbers congregate at exotic nectar sources in winter when native sources are scarce, such as yellow gum (Eucalyptus leucoxylon ‘Rosea’), heart-leaved silver gum (E. cordata), coastal banksia (Banksia integrifolia), some camellia cultivars, and sugar-water.

So important are exotic foods during winter and early spring in some regions that without them kereru and tui populations would probably be less abundant.

This adaptability has been most evident in urban areas, with kereru and tui occasionally nesting in exotic trees, and

37

Double whammy – a possum and a rat caught on camera raiding a nest of chicks.

often hit by vehicles when flying to and from roadside plants which are food sources.

The best way to overcome this problem is to avoid planting sought-after food plants next to busy roads.

While kereru and tui living in suburbia do encounter some problems, with careful management, populations of both species can be maintained or even increased in

towns and cities.

Perhaps it is their frequency and visibility in urban centres that makes the tui and kereru so popular – both species are perennial favourites in Forest & Bird’s Bird of the Year polls. It’s good to know that as long as we look after them, we can continue to enjoy the presence of these beautiful visitors to our parks and gardens.

Advertisement

Driving Creek Wildlife Sanctuary Trust The Sanctuary fence, gate and locking systems were finally completed in June 08 by Xcluder Pest Proof Fence Co. Total pest eradication is now underway. Donations are still sought to help cover the cost of the fence and an interpretarion centre building.

Please help us by donating $100 or more for a named plaque on a post or become a Friend of the DCWST and receive newsletters.

Chairman, Secretary & Treasurer at the gate entrance.

38 FOREST & BIRD • NOVEMBER 2008

Enquiries to: DCWST, P O Box 87, Coromandel or email: sanctuary@drivingcreek.co.nz Phone: 07 866 8703

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Nga Manu Images / David Mudge

in Wellington, and there are signs that the same is happening for kereru.

Studies in Invercargill and New Plymouth have shown that while the occasional pair of tui and kereru nest in gardens and hedgerows, most move to “nesting hotspots” in native forest patches and parks to breed.

It is these nesting hotspots where management, such as predator control, to improve their chances of successfully hatching and raising chicks, will be of most benefit to tui and kereru.

In a project called Operation Halo Waikato Regional Council has begun targeting ship rats and possums in central Waikato forests identified by radio-tracking as the most important nesting areas for birds that visit Hamilton, Cambridge and Te Awamutu.

As well as pest control, planting food species at these sites can improve the food supply for the birds year-round.

However, city life does have some added risks: cats are much more abundant in urban gardens and parks than remote forests, although whether their increased presence limits tui and kereru numbers is unclear.

Another problem for urbanite tui and kereru is access to water for drinking and bathing, especially in summer. Many urban streams have been piped and puddles last only a few days so water can be difficult to find. Drinking from sources such as puddles and swimming pools can make them vulnerable to cat predation or being hit by vehicles.

Another problem for both species in suburbia, but particularly kereru, is flying into windows, wires and vehicles, often being killed or seriously injured.

Unfortunately there doesn’t seem to be an easy way of discouraging birds from flying into windows. Hanging bird deflectors (a piece of string that hangs two-thirds the way down the window with a small weight – a pine cone works well – at the bottom, and strips of tin foil tied at 20cm intervals along it) on the outside of windows may help to reduce the incidence of window strike.

Kereru, and to lesser extent tui, are most

Geoff Walls

Broom in peril Feral goats destroy broom and prevent its regeneration.

Mention broom and most people think of the yellow-flowered exotic variety invading many of our hillsides, but New Zealand has its own family of unique native brooms. Ecologist Geoff Walls reports that one of the family, the weeping tree broom, is in serious trouble.

Two expeditions into the Clarence (northern) end of the Seaward Kaikoura Range drew a total blank. The land was infested with feral goats, doing huge damage to vegetation, and it looked as though they could have wiped out all weeping tree broom there.

This prompted an approach to Department of Conservation botanists Cathy Jones, Jan Clayton-Greene and Shannel Courtney, who commissioned a wider survey.

In summer 2006-07 Jan, Ian Buunk and I visited every known weeping tree broom site. What we found both fascinated and appalled us.

The first thing that struck us was how restricted the weeping tree broom’s range now is – confined to a handful of South Marlborough sites: the Avon Valley, the head of the Jordan River, the northern Seaward Kaikoura Range, and Mt Alexander, to the south of the

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Two large adult weeping tree brooms growing above 1000 metres above sea level – the trunks are about 30cm in diameter. Their robust nature and weeping form suggests they are adapted to withstand dumps of snow, gales, intense cold and summer heat. w w w. f o re s t a n d b i rd . o r g . n z

Geoff Walls

HE mountains of the Kaikoura Ranges are harsh country. Thrust jaggedly skywards by the world’s fastest mountain-building pressures and exposed to wild extremes of climate, they are the home of Hutton’s shearwater, black-eyed gecko and an array of special plants. Among them is the spectacular weeping tree broom, Carmichaelia stevensonii.

Weeping tree broom is the largest of the New Zealand brooms, growing into a robust tree up to 10 metres tall, and individual plants can live for at least a century. They are distinctive by their silvery trunk and a cascade of leafless cord-like branchlets and pale pink summer flowers that transform into small seed pods.

It was only discovered by our recent survey that weeping tree broom is a sub-alpine wet-site plant adapted to surviving snowfalls, a key discovery which may be vital to ensuring its successful protection and cultivation.

The species was named and first described – as Chordospartium stevensonii – by Thomas Cheeseman in 1911, and in the 1930s only about 60 adult plants were thought to exist in the wild.

In the early 1980s populations of hundreds of adults were discovered in rugged parts of the Seaward Kaikoura Range and documented by Andrew Purdie of the DSIR and Mike Clare of the Department of Lands & Survey.

Three tiny reserves have been established to protect wild weeping tree broom plants, and while some studies have been done, before 2006 no-one had done a full evaluation of its distribution and ecological status in the wild.

Moves to change this started with a gut feeling that its national threat classification – gradual decline – assigned by an expert botanical panel, was wrong.

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Geoff Walls

Geoff Walls

Geoff Walls

Weeping tree broom seedling, showing the leaves that are soon lost as the plants develop.

Feral goat browse damage to weeping tree broom.

40 FOREST & BIRD • NOVEMBER 2008

Geoff Walls

This is the same classification as some of our most unique animal species, such as the kokako, Hector’s dolphin and native bats. The new threat status is a wake-up call – and a serious call to action.

Some action is already underway. Since the survey, feral animal control has been directed at the key sites on conservation land.

Seedlings are being raised to establish weeping tree broom within a protected area on Glen Orkney, a hill-country station near the Jordan River site.

Land-owners, Simon and Lynda Harvey – like Chris Bowron of the Avon and the owner of the Jordan site – are right behind programmes to protect the broom on their properties. If matched by action in the remaining wild sites, the future of weeping tree broom will be much brighter.

Blenheim

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Seaward Kaikouras. It may never have been much more widespread, but the yawning gaps that now exist between sites are new.

An estimated 3470-4620 weeping tree broom plants now exist in the wild in just three sub-populations. More than 95% of the plants occur in one sub-population (northern Seaward Kaikoura Range) and only about 10% are young.

Only in the small Jordan River site have the plant numbers held their own in recent decades, as a result of protective management (stock exclusion and feral animal control).

Elsewhere, adult plants are in decline and the recruitment of young plants is totally inadequate to replace the losses of adult plants. In the Avon Valley, the only survivors in the Wairau catchment are a few struggling saplings raised and planted by the former Department of Lands and Survey.

The main cause of their decline is browsing by mobs of feral goats, and to a lesser extent by deer. Pigs, possums and hares don’t help. The issue is serious enough that population collapse of the brooms is imminent.

Urgent and sustained animal pest control is needed to give the weeping tree brooms a fighting chance. Responsibility falls primarily to the Department of Conservation, but DOC’s resources for pest control are already stretched terribly thin.

The problem was no more graphically illustrated than when we flew in to the Mt Alexander site, a small DOC reserve close to Kaikoura, fenced to protect the weeping tree brooms there. The whole place erupted in a frenzy of feral animals – pigs, goats and deer.

Re-evaluation of weeping tree broom’s threat of extinction has elevated it from the relatively benign “chronically threatened – gradual decline” to “acutely threatened – nationally endangered”.

The stronghold of weeping tree broom in the wild, northern Seaward Kaikoura Range. The weeping tree broom survey has prompted improved management there.

Jordan River

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Weeping tree broom seedlings being “hardened off” prior to planting out in the wild. They bent with the snow but it did them no harm.

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This weeping tree broom had flowered and set seed in February 2007, but there are too many feral animals for seedlings to become established.

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Geoff Walls

Geoff Wallis

Abundance of mountain flax on this site suggests past fires and grazing – the broom here may have grown up in a period free of grazing and feral animals.

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Northern Seaward Kaikoura

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Mt Alexander

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Distribution of weeping tree broom in the wild, 2007 w w w. f o re s t a n d b i rd . o r g . n z

Young Forest&Bird

RANGATAHI

Kiwi: Dick Veich, Ruru: Ian Gill/DOC

Midnight on Mauao

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Marcus Richards

ENTION “Mount Maunganui” and “teenagers” in the same sentence and most people would imagine boy racers and beach parties.

Instead brothers Marcus and Ben Richards have been spending their time at Mount Maunganui helping monitor the area’s grey-faced petrels.

After seven years with their family in Burkina Faso, West Africa, where they had hawks, falcons and parrots among their pets, the brothers, now aged 16 and 12, returned to Tauranga and joined Forest & Bird’s Kiwi Conservation Club.

During a KCC night walk on Mount Maunganui (also known by its original name of Mauao), led by Paul Cuming from the Ornithological Society, Marcus and Ben learned about the nocturnal birds that live in the area, including little blue penguins and grey-faced petrels.

Paul described the work being done by the OSNZ research group to capture and band the petrels to gather data about the species, predation and breeding success.

Marcus and Ben jumped at the chance to help Paul with the research, and under his expert eye they have become accomplished at monitoring petrels.

The monitoring is undertaken three times a year: in April, when adult birds return to establish pairs; in August, when the eggs begin to hatch; and in December when the chicks begin to fledge.

On a typical night Marcus and Ben will

Mauao/Mt Maunganui

He came up with the idea of placing toothpicks across entrances to the nesting burrows and checking if they had been displaced – his results indicated that natural burrows were preferred by the petrels.

Both Marcus and Ben have enjoyed the opportunity to get involved with hands-on conservation experience and encourage other young people to get involved.

Ben setting up his experiment using toothpicks to see how often the artificial burrows are used.

Marcus weighing a petrel. The birds are placed in light bags to protect them and keep them calm.

Paul Cuming

join Paul on Mauao just after sunset, while the birds are circling overhead. The boys imitate a petrel call, similar to an Indian war cry from a Western film, which attracts the birds and they come crashing through the canopy of trees where they can easily be caught.

They are placed in a cloth bag and weighed, and their identifying leg bands are checked. Marcus found a bird – identified by its red leg band – that had been handraised in an artificial burrow as a chick, and it hadn’t been seen for five years. He was thrilled to find the bird just 200 metres from its artificial burrow – proving that its homing instincts were not at all hindered by its unconventional upbringing.

Ben has also undertaken his own research on the petrels that won him a place as a finalist in the regional schools science fair. Called Petrel Real Estate, his project investigated whether petrels preferred artificial or natural nesting burrows, both of which are present on Mount Maunganui.

Grey-faced petrel chick in an artificial burrow. w w w. f o re s t a n d b i rd . o r g . n z

Paul Cuming

Marcus Richards

Marcus Richards

Marcus holding one of the original birds transferred to the artificial burrows in 2000 which had returned to nest in the burrows.

F O RF O E SRTE S&T B&I RBDI R•D N•O A VU EM GU B ES R T 2008

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goingplaces

Blue Lake and Mt Ngauruhoe

Shaun Barnett

Tongariro: crossing of contrasts Heather Anderson takes the Tongariro Alpine Crossing in Tongariro National Park.

Emerald Lakes

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Shaun Barnett

Nearly at the top

Heather Anderson

Heather Anderson

Tongariro Crossing – the level surface of the track makes the walk relatively easy.

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ONGARIRO National Park is a place of extremes and contrasts. The landscape changes from tussock fields to lava flows, from tranquil lakes, active volcanoes, plateaus and craters to sulphuric rivers and hot springs.

The park was established in 1887, and was New Zealand’s first national park. Te Heuheu Tukino, then the paramount chief of Ngati Tuwharetoa, gifted to the nation the 2630 hectares which make up the national park, including the sacred peaks of Tongariro, Ngauruhoe and Ruapehu.

Tongariro National Park is also designated a dual World Heritage Area, a status which recognises its important cultural and spiritual associations as well as its outstanding volcanic features. The three volcanoes at the heart of the park form the southern limits of the Taupo volcanic zone and began their activity two million years ago – and are still going: Ruapehu and Ngauruhoe are two of the most active composite volcanoes in the world.

There are many enjoyable tramps in Tongariro National Park, but the traverse of the stark and spectacular volcanic terrain of Mt Tongariro is one of the most fascinating in New Zealand. It is a tramp which I have done many times in varying seasons and weather – while the peaks and craters have become familiar, I have enjoyed each experience as much as the last.

The crossing spans the length of Mt Tongariro, covering nearly 20km and taking 6-8 hours to complete. The track begins at the bottom of the Mangatepopo Valley, which was carved out by glaciers during the last Ice Age and later partially filled in by lava flows from Ngauruhoe. From the valley base the track follows a gentle gradient through the most exquisite lava fields I have ever experienced. The scale, colours and shapes of the flows and “bombs” are a feast for the imagination: red, orange, black, ochre for as far as the eye can see.

I walked up the track through a gap between the flows and the lowering winter mist for the best part of an hour. With no view of the surrounding landscape, I was forced to look down to the porous rocks and gained a respect for the simple but hardy colonising plants and their role in re-establishing native vegetation in these inhospitable lands.

The dark colour of the younger lava absorbs much of the sun’s heat, which creates a harsh environment for plants, so the youngest flows only have a few lichens and moss. The older flows have progressively more species and large plants, which take advantage of the slow build-up of soil. w w w. f o re s t a n d b i rd . o r g . n z

The end of the flows mark the head of the Mangatepopo Valley, from which I took a short side track leading to Soda Springs: an oasis for the moisture-loving yellow buttercups Ranunculus carse.

From the top of the valley the climb to the south crater begins.

I remember from previous crossings seeing stunning views of Ngauruhoe and her stony carpets throughout this climb. On this grey May day the mist thickened, the wind whispered its presence and I huddled deeper inside my goose down gear.

The climb to the crater is steep, but the well-built track makes for good walking and once the plateau is reached a side trip can be taken to the challenging summit of Mt Ngauruhoe. On a clear day the effort is well-rewarded with views as far as Mount Taranaki.

FOREST & BIRD • NOVEMBER 2008

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goingplaces

Heather Anderson

Mangatepopo Hutt

The walk across the south crater was on this occasion a little surreal. I walked from marking pole to pole in low visibility with feet sinking into orange mud of the crater. The south crater, created about 14,000 years ago, is a glacially carved basin that has since filled with sediment from the surrounding ridges.

The steep, exposed ridge which leads to the red crater is my favourite part of this walk. The views of the park and surrounds are stunning and the full flavour of the colours and folds of simmering volcanoes come into view. The heat from the belly of the earth can be felt in places in patches of earth or air and the smell of sulphur rises from the active sites, a pungent reminder that their dormancy is but momentary.

Reaching the red crater I paused to savour the increasing visibility that was unfolding from the mist. In the heart of the volcano the red of the oxidised rocks reminds me of the intense heat that forged this landscape. The emerald lakes below are in stark contrast to the earthy ochre colours of the landscape. These three waterfilled explosion craters are brilliantly coloured by the minerals which leach from the adjacent thermal area. The Maori name for them is

Ngarotopounamu, which means greenstone-hued lakes. Despite being surrounded by steam vents or fumaroles, these lakes can be very cold and on this occasion I was surprised to see them frozen.

The track then led around the edge of the central crater and up to the Blue Lake, formed in an old volcanic lava vent. This lake is tapu (sacred) and its waters cold and acidic. Its Maori name is Te Wai-whakaata-o-te-Rangihiroa, which translates to Te Rangihiroa’s mirror. Te Rangihiroa was the son of the local chief Pakaurangi, and is said to have explored the Tongariro volcanoes about AD 1750.

The rest of the walk was gentle and pleasant, the weather cleared as I crossed to the other side of the mountain and the landscape changed to one of tussock slopes and gentle, flowing greenery. The track led around the mountain and down into a cool podocarp hardwood forest which provided the final contrast in this most satisfying day tramp. One important thing I learned on this walk was the speed at which weather conditions can change in the national park and how severe these changes can be. I was glad I was prepared for all conditions as I think I had at least three seasons in one day.

Heather Anderson

Red crater and Mt Ngauruhoe

44 FOREST & BIRD • NOVEMBER 2008

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Getting there: Tongariro Alpine Crossing

Shaun Barnett

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Emerald Lake

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Ketetahi Road

Ketetahi Track 1hr

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Private Land Keep to track

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po Str

atepo

HE Tongariro Alpine Crossing covers nearly 20km of varied and spectacular volcanic terrain, from Mangatepopo through to Ketetahi, and takes 6-8 hours to complete. Making the crossing in the opposite direction involves more climbing, so allow an extra hour.

The walk is considered medium-difficult and requires a reasonable level of fitness and some tramping experience.

As the crossing is not a round trip walkers need to arrange transport to Mangatepopo road-end, 6km off SH47, and back from Ketetahi road-end. Several local commercial operators provide this service from Whakapapa Village, National Park township, Turangi, Taupo and Ohakune.

Take food and drink and warm, weatherproof clothing, first aid kit and sunscreen. Wear sturdy boots (running shoes are not adequate). Ice axes and crampons are advisable in winter, and map and compass can be crucial when visibility is limited.

Conditions can change rapidly so be prepared and check weather and track conditions before you leave. As the area is an active geothermal region, be aware of potential geothermal hazards. You can check latest volcanic alert levels at www. geonet.org.nz.

Taking any plants, animals or other material from the national park is banned, and visitors are asked to carry out all rubbish, and not bring animals into the park. Mountain biking is not allowed.

The crossing is generally considered to be a one-day tramp but walkers can stay in the 26-bunk Ketetahi Hut (2-3 hours from the road-end) and the 23-bunk Mangetepopo Hut (20 minutes from the road-end). Rates for both huts are $25 per person, $15 off-peak and children free.

A Great Walks pass is required in peak season. Both huts have heating, drinking water, cooking facilities and mattresses.

There are toilets at both huts, at Mangetepopo and Ketetahi car parks and at Soda Springs. There is no source of drinking water between huts. As water at the huts is dependent on rainwater, visitors are asked to be careful to limit how much they use.

Ketetahi Te Maari 2hr 30min Blue Lake

Mt Tongariro

1967 m 2 hr return to Red Crater Mangatepopo Valley TrackSoda Springs 2hr 30min 1hr

47

P

i

Pukeonake

30min

South Crater

Mangatepopo

Central Crater Emerald lakes Red Crater 1hr 30min

Mt Ngauruhoe

2291 m 3 hr return to South Crater

Oturere

3h (up to 5hr in bad weather) 3hr Upper Tama Lake

Taranaki Falls

Tama Lakes Track 45min Lower Tama Lake

2hr 2hr

Waihohonu 2hr 30min

For more information and updates on track conditions contact the Department of Conservation’s Tongariro Visitor Centre – 07 892 3729, Whakapapa Village, Mt Ruapehu, email tongarirovc@doc.govt.nz, or website www.doc.govt.nz.

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Old Waihohonu Hut (historic, no accomodation)

30min 1hr 30min

Ohinepango Springs

Round the Mountain Track

Ohi

nep

ang

oS tre

FOREST & BIRD • NOVEMBER 2008

am

45

in the field

The plight of the dotterels

by Ann Graeme Illustration by Pamela Robinson.

People love beach front properties. They pay big money for a bach right on the beach. If New Zealand dotterels had dollars, they would too. But beachfront property is not a luxury for a dotterel, it’s an essential.

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ULLS and terns can nest cheek by jowl in colonies which are not unlike our city apartments, because these birds fly out to sea to catch fish for their chicks. Dotterels don’t do that. They eat the local produce: the worms and sand hoppers on the beach. They need the bird’s equivalent of a lifestyle block to feed their families.

The very best dotterel real estate is found where a creek or estuary flows out to sea. The beach on one side and the brackish, worm-rich banks of the stream or estuary on the other provide two supermarkets for busy parents and they nest on the sand just above the high tide.

This sort of real estate was always limited, even before the arrival of humans, and so too was the population of New Zealand dotterels.

But then people came and stepped up the competition. We built our baches beside the dotterels’ territories and we brought our children and dogs and vehicles to roam the sand.

Dotterels are shy and inconspicuous and their nests are mere scrapes in the sand. Oblivious to the little birds, beach buggies and motorbikes ran over unseen nests, beach goers disturbed the sitting birds and dogs chased and killed the chicks. Without meaning to, we drove dotterels away from many beaches.

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Faced with people and introduced predators, New Zealand dotterels, which once were found on coasts all around New Zealand, dwindled in number and became restricted in range. There is a small population on Stewart Island and a larger North Island population on beaches north from East Cape to Cape Reinga and south to Raglan.

As holiday homes sprang up on these northern beaches, there were fewer and fewer safe places for dotterels to rear their chicks.

A survey in 1990 counted only 1312 dotterels in their entire North Island range Waikato Forest & Bird were among the first to recognise the plight of the dotterels and to help them. In 1989 at the Oputere sandspit near Whangamata, the branch put up a display board telling people about the birds and they put a fence around the dotterels’ nest sites and asked beach-goers to avoid disturbing the birds.

It was not an easy job. People were accustomed to using the beach as their own. Some people were angry and even abusive but in time anger gave way to interest and acceptance and eventually to care. Locals discovered “their” dotterels and became volunteer bird minders, delighting when their birds succeeded in rearing chicks, regretting when storms destroyed their nests. Forest & Bird members are prominent amongst these minders who put up notices and fences every spring where the dotterels nest.

The Department of Conservation now carries out pest control and employs minders at major nesting sites like Oputere and Panepane Point on Matakana Island. Their efforts, together with the work of volunteers at dozens of beaches, have succeeded in turning the tide for the North Island dotterels.

The population of this endangered sub-species has gone up – in

2003, the national count recorded more than 1700 birds. That’s not a huge number but if it can be maintained it is perhaps approaching the number the beaches can support.

This is a triumph for public education and a lesson for conservation.

Dotterels cannot survive without the goodwill of people and neither can many of our vulnerable species and fragile places. They depend on community understanding, empathy and support. Public education is at the heart of conservation.

But even the most caring community cannot protect the dotterels from the fury of the storms. Some years the storms are particularly destructive. They batter the coasts, destroying nests and chicks and even the landscape on which the birds depend. People can try to protect nests with sandbags or even shift nests to higher ground, but few dotterel chicks will survive. With the increasing severity of storms predicted for the future, the dotterels will need all the help we can give them.

Dotty about dotterels

E

VEN as a boy, Bruce Mackereth was keen on birds. On holiday at Whitianga in the 1940s he would watch the pair of New Zealand dotterels which nested near the creek that flows onto Buffalo Beach.

Nearly 40 years later, Bruce and his wife Catherine returned to live at Whitianga. Times had changed. Houses had spread along the length of Buffalo Beach and the dotterels no longer nested at Taputaputea Stream. However, birds still came to the old breeding site and when Bruce fenced it with sheep netting in 1986, a pair nested again.

He learned that the dotterel fence need not be substantial – a token barrier of stakes and old electric fence tape was sufficient to warn people away and allow the birds to nest in peace.

Every spring since 1986 the dotterels and variable oystercatchers at Taputaputea have been protected with a fence, which is now put up by the ranger appointed by DOC with finance from Newmont Waihi Gold.

“It is gratifying that this modest conservation effort and the ready co-operation of the public has resulted in breeding success where initially there was none,” Bruce says. “It may well be that the future of these species depends on local beach communities adopting their birds in this way.”

Bruce Mackereth: protector of dotterels.

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Itinerant Ecologist – Geoff Park

To the Island

T

O my childhood eyes, seeing its sheep across the water from the city, the island in the middle of Wellington Harbour always seemed like just another farm.

Yet today, from my bay, Matiu/Somes Island looks as though it has never been anything but forest, as though the great colonial project to transform New Zealand bush into English farm – to assemble the Britain of the South – left it forgotten in the centre of the harbour on whose shores the endeavour began.

I vividly remember wanting to go out there. But growing up through New Zealand’s last years as a British agricultural colony, with its rules and restrictions, I learned that the mesmerising island of pasture and sheep corralled by surrounding sea was more than just another farm – and why I couldn’t go there.

A primary precept of New Zealand’s agricultural colonisation was the importation and acclimatisation of foreign animals and plants. James Cook, the great navigator, began by turning fat pigs loose in shoreline scrub and sowing what he called “better plants”.

The acclimatisation urge led to the predatory weasels and pasture weeds that flooded New Zealand in the colonising rush of the late 19th Century. With the flood came the possibility of diseases arriving in the tissues of imported sheep and cows. In the early 1900s Somes Island was declared a government animal quarantine station, where newly imported stock were held until they were considered free of the diseases that could devastate New Zealand’s economy, were they ever allowed ashore.

Then suddenly, after 80 years, in as profound a contradiction of history as the New Zealand landscape can offer, white-coated

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men vigilantly watching for foot and mouth and scrapie were being replaced by woolly-hatted folk vigilantly watching for new growth of the plants with which they were re-building the primeval forestthat-had-been, and for the native birds they hoped would come.

It was birds, in fact, that broke the quarantine bubble. In the late 1960s, when greater public access to the island became an issue of parliamentary debate, there were claims from scientists and surgeons that a quarantine station like Somes, surrounded by a city, carried the risk of birds – starlings and gulls especially – carrying the diseases such as foot and mouth that New Zealand’s agricultural sector so feared.

Ministers and officials rubbished the risk. But pressure to open the island as a public reserve was growing, and within a decade, the island’s quarantine facilities had virtually closed down.

As they did, the idea of making the island a place for vigilance of the indigenous rather than the introduced was growing. In 1979, the Ministry of Agriculture asked Forest & Bird’s Lower Hutt Branch if they would consider undertaking revegetation on the island, and Forest & Bird’s first plantings went in during the winter of 1981.

By 1995, when the Department of Conservation took over administrative responsibility for Matiu/Somes, as the island had been renamed, ship rats had been eradicated and the old quarantine station’s garden had become a native plant nursery.

By 2000, some 63,000 native trees had been planted and the long-term aim to almost entirely cover the island in native forest was in sight. DOC proposed Forest & Bird as its restoration partner

in the conservation management plan published that year, which declared the main focus for restoration work on Matiu/Somes to be “to restore a coastal forest biotic community to Wellington Harbour that is typical of those that once made up the landscape patterns of the harbour”.

Quite a call, if you know anything about the ecology of Wellington Harbour’s coastal forests. Matiu/Somes would have been largely forest-covered, but it had been rendered virtually treeless by the time the first Europeans saw it in 1839. Elsewhere around the harbour any forest of the kind that could provide a model for the island’s restoration has been replaced by human settlement.

To create – from bare pasture – a coastal forest ecosystem, of a kind you only suspect was once there, and of which virtually no trace survives from which to source seed and to replicate ecological patterns, is a huge task. “Ecological rejuvenation”, the management plan for Matiu/Somes Island called it. The key figure in getting it underway was Forest & Bird’s Stan Butcher.

A “caretaker” has always been a vital part of an island sanctuary. A friend’s appointment to the Matiu/Somes Island job made it possible to do what I’d wanted to do as a kid. Over a succession of wonderful trips to visit him, I watched the plantings develop.

On my last trip before Richard left the island, we were saying our farewells in his mad garden when a flight of kakariki barrelrolled over our heads and hurtled down into the new plantings.

“A fly-past”, said Richard, who had been attendant at their

release a few days before. They thrilled him and, having watched parakeet behaviour on offshore islands, he was expecting they’d thrive on Matiu/Somes, and the new forest with them.

When Stan Butcher and I walked around the island last month, the brilliant green of kakariki energised by spring sun, zapping through the new ngaio thickets, was, we agreed on the ferry home, among the day’s most common land bird sightings.

Stan is gazing up at the ngaio forest as we come into the wharf.

“I’m just realising how quickly this island has turned into forest,” he says.

We take Matt the ranger’s offer of a ride up the hill to the old caretaker’s house, where Stan whips out the official Forest & Bird photo album he has brought over to show me the transformation.

Then we head off for New Kakarikiville.

Stan’s retirement from teaching in 1981 coincided beautifully with the first talk of Forest & Bird’s involvement in returning Matiu/ Somes to forest. His botanical searching and researching, plantlisting as well as planting, from those early days is evident in our constantly stopping for me to be shown the plants that matter: the native seed-source ones and the human-planted ones like the kowhai arcing yellow over the nursery that Stan’s grandson set in the ground. And, almost wherever we peer under the sudden forest, are the new plants grown from bird-strewn seed.

It’s not long before we’re sitting under the huge, sprawling ngaio grown from Stan’s team’s first planting, agape at a feeding flock of kakariki who have interrupted our lunch. Stan just flicks his wry smile when I say I can only imagine how it must thrill him.

Sara McIntyre

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branchingout

Award winners Preservation work at Forest & Bird’s Conway’s Bush, a 2.5-hectare native forest reserve, has won the annual Canterbury/Aoraki Conservation Board Award.

Forest & Bird’s South Canterbury branch was given the reserve by the late Stan Conway in 1988 and now maintains the reserve.

Pest plants including sycamore, ash and broom have been removed and the reserve fenced to keep stock out. The reserve is part of the largest totara forest remaining in Canterbury.

Mountain guide reached great heights

M

OUNTAIN guide Gottlieb Braun-Elwert had a great love of New Zealand’s alpine regions, and worked hard to protect them. He died on August 14, aged 59, while guiding Prime Minister Helen Clark and others in the Two Thumb Range.

He believed high country areas were so beautiful that everyone should be able to cross them, and he campaigned for better access during his six years on the Canterbury/Aoraki Conservation Board. The natural quietness of the mountains was important to him, and he disliked the growing numbers of aircraft filling the skies around the Southern Alps. Even though he could have enriched his guiding business by flying clients to remote huts, he stuck to the longer – and quieter – on-foot route.

Braun-Elwert left his native

Germany 30 years ago for the home of his New Zealand-born wife, Anne. He was a physics graduate but his mountain guiding hobby turned into a business, Alpine Recreation. He was a stickler for safety on the mountains, which was probably why Helen Clark trusted him as a guide on her mountaineering trips in New Zealand and overseas. He was just as strict on keeping his alpine huts clean and tidy.

Anne and daughters Elke and Carla were very important to Braun-Elwert. He guided both daughters to the top of Aoraki-Mt Cook when they were aged 14, and Carla still holds the record for youngest female ascent of the mountain.

Many young people benefitted from Braun-Elwert’s generosity.

He and Anne fostered a love of the mountains and the outdoors

among youngsters without the money to climb mountains by sponsoring their visits.

Braun-Elwert had a great knowledge of the natural world, and he was a member of Forest & Bird for 18 years. South Canterbury committee member Ines Stager was a fellow member of the Canterbury/Aoraki Conservation Board and paid tribute at his funeral.

He was frank, well-informed and passionate about the conservation issues dear to him. “In European tradition, he was not afraid to speak out, even though at times his views were far from popular,” Ines Stager said in her tribute. “He could foresee that treasured landscapes and ecosystems were at risk and, through lack of protection, future generations would not be able to enjoy what we take for granted right now.”

• New Zealand Seabird Colony Database $20,000

restoration of yellow-eyed penguin habitat in Southland, and a New Zealand seabird colony database.

In the Pacific the funding will support the conservation of the Fatu Hiva monarch (a large flycatcher) in the Marquesas, and community-based monitoring of globally threatened birds in New Caledonia.

BirdLife funding

B

irdLife International Community Conservation Fund has distributed $116,000 for conservation organisations in New Zealand and the Pacific.

Funding has been approved for: • Friends of Mana Island $11,500 • Kaipara Forest & Bird $9000 • Te Rere Yellow-eyed penguin restoration project $12,600

• Société d’Ornithologie de Polynésie $40,000 • Société Calédonienne d’Ornithologie $22,960 In New Zealand the funding will support translocation of shore plovers to Mana Island, pest control in Kaipara Forest & Bird’s Atanui Restoration Project,

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Feilding Forest & Bird member Chris Thomasen has won a 2008 Conservation Award for outstanding commitment to conservation in the community.

Chris has contributed to conservation for many years, but is best known for her skill in propagating native trees, in particular rata – and her ambition for the Manawatu Gorge to again be ablaze with the red blooms of the rata. She has led the Project Crimson team for Forest & Bird in the region, collecting, germinating, growing-on and planting rata back into the Manawatu Gorge.

Forest & Bird member Jim Holdaway has received the top award at the North Shore City Civic Awards.

Jim received the 2008 citywide award for his outstanding contribution to groups including Forest & Bird’s North Shore branch, the Auckland Tree Council, Motutapu Restoration Trust, Hauraki Gulf Maritime Park Board and Auckland Conservation Board. He was closely involved in creating regional parks around Auckland as a founding member of the Auckland Regional Authority, as well as the open sanctuary on Tiritiri Matangi Island, and remains active in conservation projects at age 90.

If you know of any Forest & Bird members who have been awarded for their contribution to conservation let us know – contact Helen Bain on 04 801 2763 or email h.bain@ forestandbird.org.nz. w wwww. w f o. fr eo sr et as n t adnbdi rbdi .r o d r. o g r. n g z. n z

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branchingout

Karin Wiley of Wellington Native Bird Rescue Trust with a little blue penguin.

Penguin stars

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OREST & Bird’s Places for Penguins project was popular with the public during Conservation Week.

Two little blue penguins found washed up and injured on Wellington beaches, including one “adopted” by Forest & Bird and named Koro, were star attractions at Conservation Week activities in Wellington.

Both penguins are being cared for by Wellington Native Bird Rescue Trust until they have recovered enough to be released back into the wild.

Forest & Bird’s Wellington branch chairperson Donna Sherlock explained how the Places for Penguins project is restoring little blue penguin habitat around Wellington’s coast and educating the public about threats to the penguins.

Children help build penguin nest boxes at the open day.

Families at the open day at Otari-Wilton’s Bush during Conservation Week helped build more than a dozen penguin nest boxes and about 100 pest tracking tunnels that are a fun way of monitoring pest mammals in gardens, guided by Kiwi Conservation Club Officer Jenny Lynch. The children decorated the nest boxes with colourful artwork – who knows whether this will make them more

attractive to their prospective residents?

A guided walk along Wellington’s south coast at Wellington’s new Taputeranga Marine Reserve, which Forest & Bird campaigned for 17 years to establish, was also a popular Conservation Week event.

The theme of Conservation Week, which is co-ordinated by the Department of Conservation, was “meet the locals.”

wetland, including farmer Darryl Shield. “It was a boggy hole. It looks a lot better planted out.”

From left, Carterton South End school pupils Natalie Chesterfield, Malorie Cadwallader and Laura Armstrong planting beside Fensham Reserve.

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BOGGY Wairarapa farm paddock has had a wetland makeover with help from Forest & Bird.

Water running from the farm bog beside Wairarapa branch’s Fensham Reserve had been causing problems in the reserve’s wetlands, increasing growth of exotic weeds, which were choking native plants.

The solution was to transform the boggy paddock into a wetland to filter the stream water before it entered the reserve.

In August Greater Wellington Regional Council organised Southey Honda staff, students from Carterton’s South End School and Forest & Bird members to plant 1000 native grasses and trees around the new wetland.

The planting of native rushes, sedges, shrubs and trees around

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the farm pond will improve the quality of water flowing into Fensham Reserve by soaking up farm nutrients, trapping silt and cooling the water.

Fensham’s wetlands have rare native brown mudfish, and it is hoped the improved water quality will help boost their numbers.

Wairarapa branch secretary David Aldersley monitors the mudfish and has seen numbers increase steadily since 2001.

Fensham co-ordinator Chris Surman says Wairarapa branch has spent the past five years weeding and planting the wetlands and creating small islands.

The planting was part of Honda’s TreeFund programme, under which more than 75,000 native trees will be planted this year. For every new Honda car sold, 10 native trees are planted.

Everyone is happy with the new

Marina Skinner

Farm bog gets wetland makeover

FOREST & BIRD • NOVEMBER 2008

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branchingout

Kokako to join the Ark

New staff

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Brian Lloyd joins Forest & Bird as Field Officer to undertake surveys of native bats in the top of the South Island. He is based in the Nelson office.

Brian has a PhD in the ecology of the short-tailed bat and a Masters degree in Zoology. He has most recently been employed as a scientific officer for the Department of Conservation researching the impact of aquaculture on seabirds and marine mammals.

WENTY kokako will join hihi, robins and whitehead at Ark in the Park this winter.

The kokako will be transferred to Ark in the Park, a joint project between Forest & Bird and Auckland Regional Council in the Waitakere Ranges, from Waikato with the support of the Kokako Recovery Group.

The ASB Trust has given $35,000 and BirdLife International Community Trust another $30,000 to fund the kokako transfer.

Their reintroduction follows successful transfers of North Island robins, whiteheads and hihi (stitchbirds) to Ark in the Park and will hopefully establish another mainland breeding population of kokako.

The main threat to kokako is predation on their nests by possums and rats, but with intensive pest control in the Ark in the Park area, they should be able to breed safe from the threat of these introduced pests.

Pest control is carried out at Ark in the Park by contractors and volunteers. Eighty-four

stoats were caught between July 2007 and June 2008 and monitoring indicates rodent numbers are very low.

A “buffer zone” of pest control around Ark in the Park continues to grow as the project team works with private landowners interested in carrying out pest control on their own neighbouring properties.

Forest & Bird is also working with the ARC towards making the project area in Cascade Kauri Park dog-free – dogs are currently allowed in the park but are required to be kept on leads.

The bird species already transferred to Ark in the Park are doing well. The whiteheads transferred to the park in 2004 are being seen along with offspring in large groups, and North Island robins are breeding successfully.

Hihi released in 2007 have also been breeding, with three breeding pairs detected in the 2007/08 season, when two nests fledged three or more chicks. A further 51 hihi were released in May 2008.

Want to get involved?

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RK in the Park welcomes volunteers to undertake pest control, monitoring of birds and other native species, weeding, track maintenance and planting. If you would like to volunteer phone 09 837 0443 or go to www.arkinthepark.org.nz for more information.

Night walks are held at Ark in the Park in January and February each year.

Aalbert Rebergen joins Forest & Bird as its Lower North Island Conservation Officer, based in the national office. Aalbert has extensive experience in biodiversity protection, most recently working with the QEII National Trust, where he was Field Operations Manager, and before that Otago Regional Council and the Department of Conservation.

Ruchika Jayatilaka has been appointed as Fundraiser, based in Forest & Bird’s national office.

Ruchika has a Masters degree in Business Administration and has previously been employed as Regional Fundraiser for Arthritis New Zealand and National Fundraising Coordinator for Women’s Refuge.

Alan Fleming is the new Central North Island Conservation Officer.

Alan has a long background in marine conservation, after working for the Department of Conservation in Northland as a marine protection and marine mammals ranger and marine community relations officer. He has also worked on riparian restoration and weed control projects and freshwater macroinvertebrate studies. Alan will be based at the Forest & Bird office in Tauranga.

Wanted: your binos

D

O you have old binoculars that are gathering dust? Bird conservation projects in the Pacific could put them to good use.

Community-based projects in the Pacific, led by the Oceania Programme of BirdLife International, based in Fiji, need binoculars for studying and monitoring birds.

Your gift of your old binoculars would significantly improve the chances of these important conservation projects succeeding. If you can donate your old binoculars please contact Greg Sherley (gsherley@doc.govt.nz) or phone 04 4713251 (leave a message) to arrange collection.

Give the gift of nature this Christmas A Forest & Bird or Kiwi Conservation Club membership makes the perfect Christmas gift.

Your gift will not only bring all the benefits of membership to your family and friends – it will also help support our crucial conservation work.

You can find the membership form to give a gift membership in the back of this magazine, or online at www. forestandbird.org.nz.

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Tim Galloway – an artful conservationist In 1988 the first issue of the Kiwi Conservation Club magazine was printed. Two years later, Forest & Bird member and artist Tim Galloway took over the job of drawing the pictures for the magazine. Eighteen years and 85 issues later, he’s still drawing the pictures and his style is now synonymous with the KCC magazine.

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ITH his grounding in science and background in illustration and layout, Tim’s drawings of plants and

animals are as accurate as they are beautiful.

Fifteen years ago, stories featuring Kiri Kiwi and Willie Weka first crept into the magazine. The characters help to create empathy and understanding with the living world and have become much-loved friends of KCC members.

Tim has illustrated many scientific papers and popular books about plants and animals. He has long been involved in conservation, having worked for many years at Hinewai Reserve on Banks Peninsula. He now lives on the slopes of Mount Taranaki, planting trees and controlling pests in his QE2 covenanted forest.

Forest & Bird members contribute to conservation in many ways but Tim’s contribution is unique. KCC magazine writer and KCC National Coordinator Ann Graeme says his talent has helped make KCC the success it is today.

At the November North Island council meeting, Tim was presented with a Kiri Kiwi Award in recognition of his outstanding contribution to KCC.

Willie and Kiri

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FOREST & BIRD • NOVEMBER 2008

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bookreviews Fiordland

Kauri

By Dave Hallett and Yvonne Martin, Penguin, $60

By Keith Stewart, Penguin, $60

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IORDLAND is a beautifully presented hard copy coffee table book, a pleasure to look at and touch. It will whet your appetite and entice you to Fiordland. Almost every page has large photographs. Collectively they portray Fiordland as a glamorous place, where the sun regularly shines and the wind hardly ever blows.

There are few photographs that show the other side of Fiordland: its storms, the green gloomy drenched forests on a wet day, or the powerful and intimidating seas that chill and thrill.

The text presents a lively account of Fordland’s geology, flowers, birds and marine life and describes the authors’ experiences of visiting the Southern Fiords, walking the Milford, Kepler and Hollyford tracks and four notable short walks. These tales are infused with historical and natural history information.

The anthropomorphic writing style is at times irritating and amusing. Fiordland is once described as a “wilful wanton teenager – mild and mellow one minute, reckless and raging the next” and dolphins “dance”.

For the authors Fiordland is pristine and is New Zealand’s “untouched wilderness,” and conservation issues are only obliquely alluded to.

Sue Maturin

Who Owns the High Country?

The controversial story of tenure review in New Zealand

By Ann Brower, Craig Potton Publishing, $29.99

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NN Brower is a former Fulbright scholar and currently lecturer in public policy at Lincoln University, but don’t expect a dry, academic or dispassionate assessment of the issues here.

Brower says her book is “an attempt to shine the light of truth” on the land “reform” process of tenure review and its impact on New Zealand’s high country.

Certainly Brower’s research did much to open up a process that was going on well below the radar of the New Zealand public consciousness. Her crusading style comes through in the book (it begins with the sentence “When truth confronts power only one will survive,” and continues in similar tone.) This approach at least makes the more technical bits like Cabinet minutes, Lockean treatises and bundle of rights equations a little easier to get through.

Brower may be stroppy but she has the stats to back up the strop, and does well to make a complicated issue understandable and relevant to the general reader.

Her book is an important part of a debate that would have been much narrower (and would perhaps have ended with a very different outcome) without Brower’s contribution.

Helen Bain

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HE kauri is one of the largest and longest-lived trees in the world, so it is only fitting that a book on this magnificent tree is of substantial breadth and depth itself.

Keith Stewart delves into the kauri’s place in legend, as well as its evolutionary and geological origins, and explores its role in the history and culture of both Maori and European settlement, from its use in building waka, sailing ships, houses and furniture, to the gum fields, to the conservationists’ efforts to save the few kauri that remained after years of exploitation.

The full-page colour photographs show off to spectacular effect both the majesty of the kauri’s immense size, and the beauty of the mosaic texture of its bark.

Though the photographs of mighty standing kauri juxtaposed with pictures of their giant trunks lying felled is a sad sight, even a conservationist would have to admit that the books’ other full-page photographs of the interiors of historic churches, finely crafted from kauri timber, are also impressive.

Kauri is an attractive and informative book that tells the story of a tree that has perhaps contributed more to New Zealand than any other.

Helen Bain

Roads Less Travelled: 20 years of Exploration with NZ Geographic

By Kennedy Warne, Penguin, $49.95 ENNEDY Warne has been venturing off the beaten track since 1988 when he became founding editor of New Zealand Geographic magazine.

It’s hard to imagine a wilderness where he would feel ill at ease. He’s in his element diving off the Poor Knights Islands, rafting down river rapids, exploring a cave for moa remains, interviewing Tuvaluans about life on a Pacific speck or tracking albatrosses on sub-Antarctic islands.

This collection of New Zealand Geographic stories and photos is professional memoir as much as natural history, with Warne sometimes putting himself and his magazine assignment too sharply in focus while his subjects become a little blurred. But his enthusiasm for the great outdoors is genuine and engaging, and his glorious pictures of animals, plants, people and places make you feel just a smidgeon envious of what must be the perfect job.

Marina Skinner

K

A great family Xmas gift w w w . fwww.depict.co.nz orestandbird.org.nz

Bush & Beyond Guided Walks

The Original Kahurangi Guides From Comfortable Lodge stay to Off track wilderness backpacking.

Including: Heaphy and Cobb Valley and much more!

Conservation values PO Box 376, Motueka 7143 T/F: 03 528 9054 E: info@bushandbeyond.co.nz

Pohatu Penguins & Marine Reserve Banks Peninsula Scenic nature tours with local volunteers conserving Banks Peninsula’s biodiversity.

• Coastal Retreat • Sea Kayaking www.pohatu.co.nz email: tours@pohatu.co.nz phone: 03 304 8600

25 days Wildlife and Game Parks Johannesburg to Johannesburg via Victoria Falls and Botswana Cost NZ$4500 Leaving Johannesburg 3rd August 2009 info@masihambeafrika.co.nz or www.masihambeafrika.co.nz Cell 02102781762

Small Groups + Independent travellers CALL NOW FOR FREE 2009 BROCHURE Latin Link Adventure The South American Specialists 0800 528 465 / info@latinlink.co.nz

CATLINS GETAWAY Waikava Harbour View 4 bedroom luxury lodge Central heating Peaceful native setting Curio Bay fossil forest Hector’s dolphins, yellow-eyed penguins, seals 14 Larne Street, Waikawa, South Catlins Tel: 03 246 8866 Email: waikawa@southcatlins.co.nz Website: www.southcatlins.co.nz

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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

White Heron Sanctuary Tours Come with us, RAINFOREST, NATURE and JETBOATING TOURS, all year round.

Viewing of nesting colony from October to March.

Ph. 0800 52 34 56

www.whiteherontours.co.nz

GREAT BARRIER ISLAND The Tui Cottage at Medland’s Beach A cosy two bedroomed self-contained cottage available for holiday rental.

ESTABLISHED 1972

South America

Antique maps of NZ and the rest of the World Bird and botanical prints Hand coloured antique prints

A naturalist and photographer’s dream holiday Make it a trip of a lifetime

CONSULTING BIOLOGISTS AND ARCHAEOLOGISTS

www.bushandbeyond.co.nz

IDEAL CHRISTMAS GIFTS

Centrally located for exploring this pearl of the Hauraki Gulf: beaches, unique flora and fauna, hot springs, and no possums!

Visit www.thetuicottage.co.nz Unique Small Group Tours Freephone 0800 874 748 www.southernexposuretours.co.nz

for information.

Go on....

TAKE A WALK Special Forest&Bird reader price $10 plus $2 p&p from www. accessiblewalks.co.nz or anna-j@ihug.co.nz

RON GREENWOOD ENVIRONMENTAL TRUST The trust provides financial support for projects advancing the conservation and protection of New Zealand's natural resources, particularly flora and fauna, marine life, geology, atmosphere & waters.

More information is available from the Trust, at: PO Box 10-359, Wellington

www.bankstrack.co.nz

OKARITO COTTAGE Well appointed cottage. Sleeps 3 but room for more in the attic. Close to West Coast beach, bush walks and lagoon.

Southern Alps form a backdrop and Franz Josef approx.

30 kilometres on tarsealed road.

Cost $70 PER FAMILY Extra Adults $10 per night Further enquiries contact Elspeth Scott, 19 Ngamotu Rd, Taupo 07-378-9390 email: ElspethScott@xtra.co.nz

Fiordland Fiordland Ecology Holidays Ecology Holidays

65ft Motor Motor Yacht Yacht Breaksea Girl 65ft Concerned about your carbon footprint when traveling?

So are we!

Details on our website together with our trip schedule schedule for 2008/2009. for 2008.

5% discount for F&B members.

Money Money back back guarantee. guarantee.

Ph/Fax: 03 249 6600 Freephone 0800 249 660 PO Box 40, MANAPOURI Email: info@fiordland.gen.nz www.fiordland.gen.nz

To advertise in Forest & Bird please contact Vanessa Clegg: 0275 420 337 or Karen Condon: 0275 420 338.

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N.Z. Kea Art Pottery Bowl

PHILPROOF PEST CONTROL PRODUCTS WIPEOUT: Possums, Rodents, Mustelids, Rabbits Standard & Mini Philproof Bait Stations & Timms Traps Rodent Bait Stations and Block Baits. Rodent Snap Traps Fenn Traps (MK4 & 6), Trap Covers – Double or Single Also available: Monitoring Tunnels & Bird Nesting Chambers Phone/Fax 07 859 2943 Mobile 021 270 5896 PO Box 4385, Hamilton 2032 Website: www.philproof.co.nz Email: philproof.feeders@clear.net.nz

290mm x 50mm $2160 Designed by Sally Tuffin and created by Dennis Pottery UK. A limited, numbered edition of 20.

Commissioned by and exclusive to Chinaworld N.Z. Ltd. Phone 09 360 0065 PO Box 78 201, Grey Lynn, Auckland

FOREST & BIRD • NOVEMBER 2008

55

2008index

A AGM – Aug p51 Albatrosses – Feb p39, Aug p10, Nov p27 Annual Report – May p50 Antarctica – Feb p7, Nov p10 Ark in the Park – Feb p7, May p11, Nov p50 Awarua Wetlands – May p17

H Haast’s eagle – May p34 Hakatere Conservation Park – Feb p30 Hauturu – Feb p35 Hector’s dolphins – Feb p38, p 42, Aug p3, Nov p12 High country – Feb p4, p30, p42, May p 9, p24, Aug p28, Nov p8 Hihi – Feb p7 Hurunui River – May p16 Hybrid cars – May p49 Hydro power – Feb p40, p41, May p14, p35, Aug p26

J JS Watson Trust – Feb p45

D Dawn chorus – Nov p24 Dotterels – Feb p28, Nov p44

E Envirovote – May p2, p23, Aug p27, Nov p9

F Farming – Aug p31 Fensham Reserve, Nov p49 Fiji – Feb p9, May p9, Aug p5 Fisheries management – Feb p6, p39, Nov p27 Forest & Bird Executive – Aug p51 Freshwater conservation – Feb p2, p40, p41, May p10, p16, p24, p35, Aug p28, p31 Frogs – May p6, Nov p18, p32

G Geckos – Feb p16, Nov p18, p20, p32 Godwits – Aug p24 Gowan River – Feb p40 Green Schools Awards – Feb p42 Greenways – May p31

Natural Lower Hutt – Feb p44

O

P

Bats – May p10, Aug p49, Nov p18, p31 Best Fish Guide – Feb p39 Be The Change – Feb p39 BirdLife International – May p9, p11, Aug p5, p15, Nov p8, p27, p48 Bittern – Feb p25 Black-billed gulls – Feb p11 Black stilt – Nov p18 Blue Duck – Feb p8 Broom – Nov p37 Castle Hill buttercup – Nov p18 Climate change – Feb p39, May p42, Aug p44, Nov p6 Conservation Week, Nov p49

N Old Blue Awards – Aug p52 Operation Ark – Feb p10 Oteake Conservation Park – May p9

B

C

Matapouri Sandspit – Feb p8 Matiu/Somes Island – Feb p10, May p47 Nov p46 Maui’s dolphins – Feb p38, p42, May p5, Aug p3, Nov p12 Mimiwhangata Marine Park – Aug p22 Mining – May p16 Mokihinui River – May p16, p35 Morepork – May p6, Nov p30 Mount Maunganui/Mauao – Nov p39 Mount Richmond Forest Park – Aug p38

K Kaikoura – May p41 Kaipupu Point – May p49 Kaka – Aug p24 Kakapo – Feb p3, May p5, p44 Kapiti – Feb p43 Karori Wildlife Sanctuary – Aug p6 Kea – May p9 Kereru – Nov p34 Kiribati – Feb p22 Kiwi – May p3, Feb p4, Nov p7 Kiwi Conservation Club – Feb p42, May p47, p48, Aug p42, Nov p51 Kokako – Aug p6, Nov p24, p50 Korea – Aug p24 Krill – Feb p6

L Lamprey – Nov p18 Loder Cup – Aug p6

M Mana Island – Aug p46 Manapouri – May p14 Manawatu River – May p10 Mangroves – May p43 Maori use of native plants – Aug p10 Marine protection – Feb p6, p10, p19, p41, May p24, Aug p29

5 6 F5 O6 RFEOS RT E&S TB & IRD BIR • DN O • VNEOMVBEEMR B 2E 0R 0 26 0 0 8

Pateke – May p8 Penguins – Feb p7, May p4, Aug p50, Nov p8, p49 Pest control – May p9, p22, p23, p49, Aug p2, p27, p34, p48, Nov p2, p24, p32, p34 Petrels – May p38, Aug p9, Nov p27, p39 Poor Knights Islands – Aug p19 Powelliphanta snails – Nov p32 Power generation – May p16, p24, Aug p26, p30 Project Hayes – May p16

Q QSMs – Feb p44

R Race for our River – May p10 Reader survey – May p27 Recycling – Aug p37 Resolution Island – May p44 Resource Management Act – May p24, Aug p30 Robins (SI) – May p6, p21 Rock wrens – May p42

S Saddlebacks – May p21 Seabirds – Feb p9, p22, p39, Aug p5, Nov p27 Sea lions – Feb p41, Nov p17 Seaweek – May p7, p48 Secretary Island – May p6 Sharks – Nov p12 Snails – Nov p32 Spiny sea dragons – Nov p13 State of the Environment report – May p25 Stewart Island – Feb p28, May p22 Stitchbirds – Feb p7 St James Station – Nov p8

T Tawharanui Marine Park – Feb p19 Te Ara Kakariki – May p31 Tonga Island Marine Reserve – Feb p6 Tongariro National Park, Nov p40 Totara – May p8 Tuatara – Feb p10, May p42 Tui – Nov p34

U Uakari monkey – May p8 Ulva Island – May p20 Urban areas (conservation of) – Nov p34

V Vaathe – May p4 Vanuatu – May p4

W Waihou River – Feb p44 Waimangaroa Valley – May p16 Wairarapa, Nov p49 Wairau River – Feb p41, May p16 Waitutu – Aug p34 Weeds – May p42, Aug p47 Weta – Nov p18 Wetlands – Feb p4, p25, p37, May p17, Aug p50, Nov p49 Whio – Feb p8 Willowherb – Feb p10 Wind farms – May p16

Y Yellow-eyed Penguin Trust – Nov p8 w wwww. w f o. fr eo sr et as n t adnbdi rbdi .r o d r. o g r. n g z. n z

FOREST&BIRD number 329 • AUGUST 2008

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Forest & Bird Membership Join Forest & Bird and you will receive our quarterly Forest & Bird magazine, e-News and e-Alerts. You will have free entry to Forest & Bird reserves around the country and discounted entry to the Society’s lodges at Ruapehu, Piha and other scenic locations. You will also have the chance to take part in a variety of branch activities from hands-on conservation projects to talks and field trips.

Kiwi Conservation Club (KCC) Membership Become a junior member and you will receive the Kiwi Conservation Club magazine five times a year, a personalized membership certificate, stickers, and invitations to participate in a range of activities designed especially for children and organised by our KCC volunteer coordinators.

Inside: your lift-out election guide

Join now at: www.forestandbird.org.nz Phone: 0800 200 064 for more information or internet banking details

Join online: www.forestandbird.org.nz • Freephone 0800 200 064

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Membership Category All prices are in NZ dollars and include GST Forest & Bird Annual Rate Adult......................................... $57 Adult Overseas ......................... $95 Senior (over 65) ........................ $45 Student...................................... $45 Kiwi Conservation Club Junior (1 mag per issue)............ $19 Junior (2 mags per issue).......... $24 Junior (3 mags per issue).......... $29 Junior Overseas......................... $40

For schools, groups or businesses within NZ Forest & Bird Annual Rate Group e.g. Library / School............................... $57 Corporate Silver.............................................. $500 Corporate Gold ............................................ $1000 Kiwi Conservation Club Junior Group (class set of 30 magazines) ......... $74 For less than 30 magazines schools may select the Junior option and complete the section below to order additional magazines.

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Additional magazine subscriptions for NZ members only. Memberships include one annual magazine subscription, unless specified above. Additional magazine subscriptions to the same address may be added at the rates shown below. For example, a family with 5 children may require a Junior 3 magazine membership ($29) plus 2 additional magazine subscriptions (2 x $5.00) so each child has their own copy. Total $39 per year for a Junior membership receiving 5 copies of KCC magazine per issue.

No. of additional magazine $24 Forest & Bird

subscriptions (if required) $5 Kiwi Conservation Club (for Junior members only) = $

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Forest & Bird is New Zealand's leading independent conservation organisation Forest & Bird PO Box 631 Wellington 6140

Giving a membership as a gift

Join a friend by filling in their details on the previous page and your details below

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From • If you wish to continue paying for this membership each year please complete the direct debit form opposite.

Join online: www.forestandbird.org.nz • Freephone 0800 200 064

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Join, renew or make a regular monthly donation by Direct Debit Please fill out this form and the one opposite. Once completed please detach this form, fold it and post it to PO Box 631 Wellington 6140.

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If you are an existing member this authority will operate from the next day your membership becomes due for renewal. If you join part way through the year a partial payment by direct debit may be required.

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NAME: (of Bank Account) Bank account from which payments are to be made:

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Bank:______________________________ Branch:__________________________ Town/City:____________________________ Full name (block capitals) Address Daytime telephone number I/We authorise you, until further notice, to debit my/our account with all amounts which ROYAL FOREST AND BIRD PROTECTION SOCIETY OF NEW ZEALAND INC. (hereinafter refered to as the Initiator) the registered Initiator of the above Authorisation Code, may initiate by Direct Debit.

I/We acknowledge and accept that the bank accepts this authority only upon the conditions listed below.

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02 1999 Conditions of this authority The Initiator: (a) Has agreed to give written advance notice of the net amount of each direct debit and the due date of debiting at least four business days before the date when the direct debit will be initiated. The advance notice will include the following message:- “The amount of $...... will be direct debited to your bank account on (initiating date)”. (b) May, upon the relationship which gave rise to this Authority being terminated, give notice to the bank that no further Direct Debits are to be initiated under the Authority. Upon receipt of such notice the Bank may terminate this Authority as to future payments by notice in writing to me/us.

(b) In any event this Authority is subject to any arrangement now or hereafter existing between me/ us and the Bank in relation to my/our account. (c) Any dispute as to the correctness or validity of an amount debited to my/our account shall not be the concern of the Bank except in so far as the direct debit has not been paid in accordance with this Authority. Any other disputes lie between me/us and the Initiator. (d) Where the Bank has used reasonable care and skill in acting in accordance with this authority, the Bank accepts no responsibility or liability in respect of:

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The Customer may: (a) At any time, terminate this Authority as to future payments by giving written notice of termination to the Bank and to the Initiator.

(e) The Bank is not responsible for, or under any liability in respect of the Initiator’s failure to give written notice correctly nor for the non-receipt or late receipt of notice by me/us for any reason whatsoever. In any such situation the dispute lies between me/us and the Initiator.

(b) Stop payment of any direct debit to be initiated under this authority by the Initiator by giving written notice to the Bank prior to the direct debit being paid by the Bank.

The Bank may: (a) In its absolute discretion conclusively determine the order of priority of payment by it of any monies pursuant to this or any other authority, cheque or draft properly executed by me/us and given to or drawn on the Bank.

The Customer acknowledges that: (a) This Authority will remain in full force and effect in respect of all direct debits made from my/ our account in good faith notwithstanding my/our death, bankruptcy or other revocation of this Authority until actual notice of such event is received by the bank.

(b) At any time terminate this authority as to future payments by notice in writing to me/us. (c) Charge its current fees for this service in force from time-to-time.

Run Wild!

Join the Kiwi Conservation Club Kiwi kids learning about and exploring New Zealand’s environment

Explore our wild places with your local Kiwi Conservation Club.

Learn about New Zealand’s plants, animals and environment with the Kiwi Conservation Club magazine.

Join us at www.kcc.org.nz

60 FOREST & BIRD • NOVEMBER 2008

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branchdirectory

Upper North Island Central Auckland Branch: Chairperson, Anne Fenn; Secretary, Isabel Still, PO Box 1118, Shortland Street, Auckland 1140. Tel: (09) 528-3986.

Far North Branch: Chairperson, Vacant; Secretary, Michael Winch, 74 Campbell Road, Totara North, RD 2, Kaeo 0479. Tel: (09) 405-1746.

Franklin Branch: Chairperson, Keith Gardner; Secretary, Jan Butcher, PO Box 187, Tuakau 2342.

Tel: (09) 236-9722.

Hauraki Islands Branch: Chairperson, Brian Griffiths; Secretary, Sue Fitchett, 125 The Strand, Onetangi, Waiheke Island 1081. Tel: (09) 372-7600.

Hibiscus Coast Branch: Chairperson, Philip Wrigley; Secretary, Jane Bone, PO Box 310, Orewa 0946.

Tel: (09) 424-7171.

Kaipara Branch: Chairperson, Suzi Phillips; Secretary, Suzi Phillips, Private Bag 1, Helensville 0840.

Tel: 021 271 2527.

Mercury Bay Branch: Chairperson, Eve McCarthy; Secretary, Sharon Barnes, PO Box 205, Whitianga 3542.

Tel: (07) 866-5583.

Mid North Branch: Chairperson, Warwick Massey; Secretary, Raewyn Morrison, PO Box 552, Warkworth 0941. Tel: (09) 422-9123.

North Shore Branch: Chairperson, Alan Emmerson; Secretary, Jocelyn Sanders, PO Box 33873, Takapuna, North Shore City 0740. Tel: (09) 479-2107.

Northern Branch: Chairperson, Vacant; Secretary, Beverley Woods, PO Box 1375, Whangarei 0140.

Tel: (09) 432-7122.

South Auckland Branch: Chairperson, Dene Andre; Secretary, Brian Gidley, PO Box 23602, Hunters Corner, Manukau 2155. Tel: (09) 278-0185.

Thames-Hauraki Branch: Chairperson, Marcia Sowman; Secretary, Hazel Genner, PO Box 312, Thames 3540. Tel: (07) 868-9057.

Upper Coromandel Branch: Chairperson, Tina Morgan; Secretary, Jeanette McIntosh, PO Box 108, Coromandel 3543. Tel: (07) 866-7248.

Waitakere Branch: Chairperson, John Staniland; Secretary, Janie Vaughan, PO Box 60655, Titirangi, Waitakere 0642. Tel: (09) 817-9262.

Central North Island Eastern Bay of Plenty Branch: Chairperson, Mark Fort; Secretary, Vacant, C/- Ezebiz Tax, PO Box 582, Whakatane 3158. Tel: (07) 322-8245.

Gisborne Branch: Chairperson, Grant Vincent; Secretary, Vacant, 1 Dominey Street, Inner Kaiti, Gisborne 4010. Tel: (06) 868-8236.

Rotorua Branch: Chairperson, Vacant; Secretary, Margaret Dick, PO Box 1489, Rotorua 3040.

Tel: (07) 357-2024. Secretary, Ted Keeffe, PO Box 1489, Rotorua 3040. Tel: (07) 345-7807.

South Waikato Branch: Chairperson, Anne Groos; Secretary, Jack Groos, 37 Waianawa Place, Tokoroa 3420.

Tel: (07) 886-7456.

Taupo Branch: Chairperson, Ann Gallagher; Secretary, Trevor Hunt, PO Box 1105, Taupo 3351.

Tel: (07) 378-5975.

Tauranga Branch: Chairperson, Basil Graeme; Secretary, Liz Cole, PO Box 487, Seventh Avenue, Tauranga 3140. Tel: (07) 577-6412.

Te Puke Branch: Chairperson, Carole Long; Secretary, Colin Horn, PO Box 237, Te Puke 3153.

Tel: (07) 573-7345.

Waihi Section: Chairperson, Ian Bradshaw; Secretary, Krishna Buckman, 17 Reservoir Road, Waihi 3610.

Tel: (07) 863-8455.

Waikato Branch: Chairperson, Philip Hart; Secretary, Jim Macdiarmid, PO Box 11092, Hillcrest, Hamilton 3251. Tel: (07) 849-3438.

South Island Ashburton Branch: Chairperson, Edith Smith; Secretary, Val Clemens, PO Box 460, Ashburton 7740.

Tel: (03) 308-5620.

Dunedin Branch: Chairperson, Janet Ledingham; Secretary, Mark Hanger, PO Box 5793, Moray Place, Dunedin 9058. Tel: (03) 489-3233.

Golden Bay Branch: Chairperson, Jenny Treloar; Lower North Island Secretary, Jo-Anne Vaughan, Puponga Road, RD 1, Central Hawkes Bay Branch: Chairperson, Max Collingwood 7073. Tel: (03) 524-8072.

Chatfield; Secretary, Barrie & Judith Bayliss, Kaikoura Branch: Chairperson, Ailsa Howard; PO Box 189, Waipukurau 4242. Tel: (06) 858-8765.

Secretary, Barry Dunnett, Pooles Road, RD 1, Kaikoura Hastings-Havelock North Branch: Chairperson, Ian 7371. Tel: (03) 319-5086.

Noble; Secretary, Doreen Hall, 1/805 Kennedy Road, Marlborough Branch: Chairperson, Andrew John; Raureka, Hastings 4120. Tel: (06) 876-5978.

Secretary, David Brinn, PO Box 896, Blenheim 7240.

Horowhenua Branch: Chairperson, Robert Hirschberg; Tel: (03) 577-8761.

Secretary, Belinda McLean, 47 Te Manuao Road, Otaki Nelson-Tasman Branch: Chairperson, Helen Campbell; 5512. Tel: (06) 364-5573.

Secretary, Jocelyn Bieleski, PO Box 7126, Nelson Mail Kapiti-Mana Branch: Chairperson, Tony Ward; Centre, Nelson 7042. Tel: (03) 548-6803.

Secretary, John McLachlan, 78 Langdale Avenue, North Canterbury Branch: Chairperson, Lois Paraparaumu 5032. Tel: (04) 904-0027.

Griffiths; Secretary, David Ellison-Smith, PO Box 2389, Lower Hutt Branch: Chairperson, Kevin Bateman; Christchurch Mail Centre, Christchurch 8140.

Secretary, Vacant, PO Box 31194, Lower Hutt 5040.

Tel: 021 0245 7340.

Tel: (04) 970-6457.

South Canterbury Branch: Chairperson, Marijke Manawatu Branch: Chairperson, Brent Barrett; Secretary, Bakker-Gelsing; Secretary, Margaret McPherson, 29 Anthea McClelland, PO Box 961, Palmerston North Mountain View Road, Glenwood, Timaru 7910.

Central, Palmerston North 4440. Tel: (06) 353-6758.

Tel: (03) 686-1494.

Napier Branch: Chairperson, Neil Eagles; Secretary, South Otago Branch: Chairperson, Carol Botting; Margaret Gwynn, 23 Clyde Road, Bluff Hill, Napier Secretary, Suzanne Schofield, 64 Frances Street, 4110. Tel: (06) 835-2122.

Balclutha 9230. Tel: (03) 418-4415.

North Taranaki Branch: Chairperson, Carolyn Brough; Southland Branch: Chairperson, Craig Carson; Secretary, Murray Duke, PO Box 1029, Taranaki Mail Secretary, Jenny Campbell, PO Box 1155, Invercargill Centre, New Plymouth 4340. Tel: (06) 751-2759.

9840. Tel: (03) 248-6398.

Rangitikei Branch: Chairperson, Hugh & Diana Upper Clutha Branch: Chairperson, John Turnbull; Stewart; Secretary, Betty Graham, 41 Tutaenui Road, Secretary, Denise Bruns, 4 Stonebrook Drive, Wanaka Marton 4710. Tel: (06) 327-7008.

9305. Tel: (03) 443-5462.

South Taranaki Branch: Chairperson, Dave Digby; West Coast Branch: Chairperson, Vacant; Secretary, Secretary, Lynda Sutherland, 39 High Street, Eltham Carolyn Cox, 168 Romilly Street, Westport 7825.

4322. Tel: (06) 764-7479.

Tel: (03) 789-5334.

lodgeaccommodation Arethusa Cottage An ideal place from which to explore the Far North.

Near Pukenui in wet-land 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, Fax: (09) 407-1401.

Email: johnfd@xnet.co.nz.

minutes from Auckland. Enquiries with stamped addressed envelope to: Robin Griffiths, 125 The Strand, Onetangi, Waiheke Island.

Tel: (09) 372-7662.

William Hartree Memorial Lodge, Hawkes 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 Tai Haruru Lodge, Piha, West Auckland lodge accommodates up to 15 people. It has a fully A seaside haven set in a large sheltered garden on the rugged West Coast, 38km on sealed roads from equipped kitchen including stove, refrigerator and microwave plus tile fire, hot showers. Supply your central Auckland. Close to store, bush reserves and own linen, sleeping bags etc. For information and tracks in the beautiful Waitakere Ranges. Double bedroom and 3 singles, plus large lounge with wood bookings please send a stamped addressed envelope burner, dining area and kitchen. Self-contained unit to Mike and Linda Hay, 172 Guppy Road, Taradale, has 4 single beds. Bring food, linen and fuel for fire Napier 4112. Tel: (06) 8444651.

Email: hayhouse@clear.net.nz. and BBQ. Off peak rates apply.

Booking: Jean and Peter King, 10 La Trobe Track, Matiu/Somes Island, Wellington Harbour Karekare, Waitakere City. Tel: (09) 812 8064.

Joint venture accommodation by Lower Hutt Email: hop0018@slingshot.co.nz Forest and Bird with DOC. A modern family 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 w w w. f o re s t a n d b i rd . o r g . n z

Upper Hutt Branch: Chairperson, Barry Wards; Secretary, Vacant, PO Box 40875, Upper Hutt 5140.

Tel: (04) 97-4266.

Wairarapa Branch: Chairperson, Geoff Doring; Secretary, David Aldersley, 75 Kent Street, Carterton 5713. Tel: (06) 379-7446.

Wanganui Branch: Chairperson, Esther Williams; Secretary, Ray Hutchison, PO Box 4229, Wanganui 4541.

Tel: (06) 345-2651.

Wellington Branch: Chairperson, Donna Sherlock; Secretary, Janet Coburn, PO Box 4183, Wellington 6140.

Tel: (04) 971-8200.

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. For information sheet, send stamped addressed envelope to: Accomodation Officer, PO Box 31-194, Lower Hutt.

Tel: (04) 934-0559 or (04) 569 2542.

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 lodge, the Coutts 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.n@clear.net.nz

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