Forest & Bird Magazine 332 May 2009

FOREST&BIRD N u m b e r 3 3 2 • M AY 2 0 0 9

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The hunter becomes the hunted Native falcons under threat

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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.

FOREST&BIRD Number 332 • MAY 2009 www.forestandbird.org.nz

Features

Regulars

20 • Cover story: On a wing and a prayer

2 • Comment

Sandy Crichton gets uncomfortably close to the karearea – our native falcon

5 • Letters to the Editor

Winemakers and karearea have formed a mutually beneficial partnership

Big leaf busting, native bees, sea lions, Waitutu, thinking positive

6 • Soapbox

26 • Crossing the tribal divide

Gerry McSweeney calls for a cooperative approach in the high country

Marina Skinner looks at the relationship between Maori and Pakeha conservationists

7 • Conservation briefs

Helen Bain looks at efforts to save the kagu

Motuihe kiwi, appeal update, hihi and whiteheads to Maungatautari, sea lions, BridLife International Community Conservation Fund, Mokihinui, Chatham Island tui, Forest & Bird Endowment Fund, kakapo hit 100, sustainable vineyards, rifleman on Tiritiri Matangi, NZ Garden Birdwatch.

36 • A journey round our backyard

52 • Rangatahi

28 • A forest health check Alan Fleming takes the pulse of the Kaimai Mamaku forests

32 • New Caledonia’s forest ghost

Erin Anson and Rod Morris discover a world of wildlife in their own garden

Jenny Lynch talks to students who are getting out of the science lab to experience nature first-hand

Forest & Bird talks to Conservation Minister Tim Groser

53 • Going Places

40 • Marine protection – the Western front

56 • In the field

Eugenie Sage reports on progress to protect the marine environment off the West Coast.

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

43 • Places for our ocean wanderers

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

48 • A river in danger

Advertising: Vanessa Clegg, Tel: 0275 420 337 Email: vanclegg@xtra.co.nz Karen Condon Tel 0275-420 338 Email: mack.cons@xtra.co.nz

50 • Gorse wars

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50 years ago in Forest & Bird

25 • Vintage falcons

39 • Meet the minister

Membership & Circulation Tel: 0800 200 064 Fax: (04) 385 7373 membership@forestandbird.org.nz

Peter Maddison wonders whether kauri dieback could be linked to climate change

Helen Bain reports on proposals for protection of New Zealand’s seabirds

46 • VIPs – Very Important Places Helen Bain looks at Important Bird Areas in Fiji Sophie Huber takes a trip up the Hurunui Marina Skinner visits Hinewai Reserve on Banks Peninsula

Mandy Herrick visits Matiu/Somes Island Ann Graeme delights in the “common” birds in her garden

58 • Branching Out Obituaries – Geoff Moon and Geoff Park, KCC website, KCC gathering, Te Rere Yellow-eyed Penguin Reserve, Environment Bay of Plenty award-winners, Seaweek, Forest & Bird AGM.

61 • One of Us Allan Anderson

62 • Book Reviews Attracting Birds and Other Wildlife to Your Garden, NZ Wetland Birds, A Driving Guide to Scenic NZ, Touring the Natural Wonders of NZ, Which Native Forest Plant? Which Native Tree?

COVER: Dunedin-based wildlife photographer Rod Morris took this shot of a native falcon (or karearea) near Borland Saddle in Fiordland. The falcon’s dark skin colour around the eyes and beak reveals that it is fairly young – colouring on older falcons is bright yellow. The falcon’s youthfulness may also have helped Rod capture the shot more easily than if it had been an older, wiser bird. “It was naive and very easy to approach,” he remembers. To see more of Rod’s wildlife images, go to www.rodmorris.co.nz.

F O R E S T & B I R D • M AY 2 0 0 9

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Comment Climate change killer?

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EARNING that 40 kauri trees on a property in Titirangi have died from disease has jolted me into thinking about the sudden “decline” in New Zealand plants.

Several large areas of kauri have now succumbed to kauri decline. The culprit is suspected to be a fungus, Phytophthora taxon agathis or PTA. Phytophthora are a group of fungi, different strains of which attack a wide range of plants. Most notorious of these soil-borne moulds is Phytophthora infestans, or potato blight, the cause of the Irish potato famine that saw more than a million people starve in the mid 1800s.

In New Zealand other Phytophthora have caused damage here to avocados, conifers and cherimoyas. And now PTA is taking out whole bundles of kauri.

A few years ago, cabbage tree decline was in the headlines, the decline linked to an organism spread by the passionvine hopper. The disease subsided but sporadic bursts of cabbage tree decline still occur.

There are also recent accounts of decline of mamaku (black tree fern) and species of karamu and rewarewa.

Forty years ago – before scientists knew much about these pathogens – there was serious die-off of huge numbers of mountain beech trees – this decline was put down to “cohort senescence”. In plain English that means that because the trees were all of similar age they all reached the end of their natural lifespan simultaneously.

The most pertinent question we should be asking now is “Are there any stress factors connected with these declines?”

Overseas there is evidence that increased ultra-violet radiation and drought is stressing plants, with widespread and catastrophic effects. As the impact of climate change becomes better understood,

perhaps it may be revealed as the underlying cause of these declines of our native species.

While we may not yet be sure about the exact effects which climate change will have on our native plants and animals, that is no reason to take a “wait and see” attitude. Whatever the precise effects may be, they are likely to be disastrous and irreversible.

Forest & Bird’s members can be valuable as the “eyes and ears” of the organisation: if you have observed any sudden die-back of species in your area, let us know.

As New Zealand grapples with climate change, and determines what our response, amid a global economic crisis, will be, Forest & Bird must be at the forefront of urging the public and our Government to ensure that we get it right.

If we don’t, we could be seeing many more mass die-offs of our native plants and animals. Imagine a New Zealand with

no kauri, no cabbage trees, no tuatara – or many more of our unique native species.

The impact on our agricultural sector, our economy and even our own survival could also be at stake. This may be the most important conservation challenge of our lifetimes. We must act now, before it is too late.

Peter Maddison Forest & Bird President A new website (www.kauridieback.co.nz) and free-phone number (0800 NZ KAURI) have been set up by the joint agency response team working to protect kauri to provide more information about kauri dieback.

50 Years Ago in

Forest&Bird

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HEN my friend and I were taking a walk along Hill St we saw a pair of native pigeons feeding on tree lucerne. When they heard us coming

they stiffened while we stood mouths agape at their wonderful colour. We moved on down the road and later rested under a clump of pines. Suddenly my friend pointed towards the sky. I heard a whistling of wings and also looked up. There was a flock of at least seven pigeons. One of them settled in a nearby tree lucerne. I crept through undergrowth and got within nine feet of one and observed its movements.

Bruce Mercer, Nelson, 11 years – writing to Forest & Bird’s “Junior Along the Track” page.

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, 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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Rod Morris

Bellbird feeding on yellow rata flowers

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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

by Craig Potton.

Please send contributions to: Editor, Forest & Bird, PO Box 631, Wellington, or email to h.bain@forestandbird.org.nz.

Deadline for contributions is 1 July 2009.

Big leaf busting

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OOD luck to the volunteer efforts to deal to Vanuatu’s pest, Merremia peltata (The battle against Vanuatu’s “big leaf ”, Forest & Bird, February 2009)! The accompanying image of native forest carpeted by “big leaf ” depressingly echoes growing parts of New Zealand.

Some communities have made impressive efforts against our own, unquestionably imported carpet vines. A huge removal of old man’s beard (Clematis vitalba) has recently gone in around Taumarunui. Greater Wellington Council Regional Council is committed to its removal in the Wellington area. But a brief walk or drive through the centre of Wellington reveals significant numbers flowering right now – a pretty but ultimately oppressive picture.

Some of us are taking our own steps to deal to that and other local pest plants (sycamores, wattles, holly, wild cherry, agapanthus).

Like the Vanuatu effort, and consistent with the theme of Peter Maddison’s editorial in the same issue, these efforts require allies.

It does mean door-knocking to obtain community support. Our experience of council and local responsiveness has been a very positive one. In the meantime, if the Vanuatu volunteers need any cutting and poisoning practice please contact me!

Denis Asher, Convenor, Aro Valley Project, Wellington This letter is winner of Day Walks in New Zealand.

Varroa and native bees

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INCE the varroa mite invaded the beehives of our region, the number of honey bees has

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declined. Our small dark native bees always appear in summer.

Native bees do not live in communal hives but are solitary, so presumably they are not affected by the varroa mite. We wonder if the reduction in competition from honey bees may have benefited the native bees because this year we have seen really large numbers on pohutukawa, nikau, kanuka and lancewood flowers. We haven’t seen them on any introduced garden flowers.

This raises a further question: do native bees actually prefer native flowers? We would welcome any observations about which flowers you see native bees visiting.

Please reply to basilann@nettel. net.nz.

Basil Graeme, Tauranga

Sea lions

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T was very upsetting to see those cute sea lion pups starving to death (Forest & Bird, February 2009). Are we going to sit back and watch another endemic species go extinct when we have lost half our species?

A few females live on the mainland but they are all descendents of one female. Why not capture orphaned pups and try breeding them at Napier’s Marineland, Auckland Zoo or one of the Australian zoos that breed seals?

Marineland’s Gary McDonald said that the Department of Conservation has a rule banning certain declining species like the sea lions and rare penguins from captivity, and some of what they’re doing seems to be not very helpful to wildlife – such as if a dog attack occurs the owner can only be punished if DOC staff see the attack.

And it gets worse. The fisheries minister has increased the sea lion kill in the southern squid fishery even though they are in decline,

having mass mortalities that have resulted in a 30% decrease in pup production in the past decade.

There has also been a record low of females coming ashore to breed.

Taronga Zoo has said that in many cases zoo breeding programmes are the only thing that stands between a species’ survival and extinction.

Brigid Field, Dunedin

Alternatives needed

DOC’s mandate surely is to care for the forest and wildlife, as well as developing and maintaining the track and huts in good condition.

Are we deploying a Department of Recreation, DOR not DOC, in our unique native forests while they are left to degrade and die from browsing and predatory pests?

Marlene Ware, Tauranga

Mainland sea lions

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HE article, “Licence to kill” (Forest &Bird, February 2009) makes for gloomy reading, especially when Department of Conservation researchers report a 31% decline in New Zealand sea lion pups born in the Auckland Islands this summer, and a 50% decline in the last 10 years.

In Otago, the gloom is lightened with a spark of hope. In 1993, after an absence of over a century, sea lions have returned to breed on the Otago Peninsula. Since then 41 pups have been born and breeding RECENTLY walked the Hump has also begun on the Catlins coast.

Ridge Track. I’d long wanted to While this small number of pups visit the area since, in the 1980s, I does not compensate for hundreds wrote to save the Waitutu Forest fewer in the sub-Antarctic islands, from being destroyed by loggers. one should never underestimate The towering podocarp/beech the importance of a satellite microforest, the marine terraces, the colony of a species, for example the sub-alpine flora, the historic royal albatross on Taiaroa Head, wooden viaducts and the frolicking Otago Peninsula. Easy access has Hector’s dolphins in Te Waewae facilitated more detailed research Bay more than compensated for on these endangered seabirds than two days of rain, mist and wind. possible at their more remote sites, The kilometres of boardwalks while also bringing their plight at – one section alone of 2.6 kilothe hands of long liners to wider metres – put a spring in my step, public attention. obviating the bog and protecting Research on sea lions in Otago the vegetation. The Department of has been under way for some Conservation and the landowners years and has the same potential are to be congratulated for their to enhance the protection of this efforts. native treasure. The NZ Sea Lion But some elements of the forest Trust is actively involved in supwere troubling. The canopy trees porting research and raising public towered overhead, crown fern awareness about these charismatic grew up to my forehead and there marine mammals. You can find out was more stinkwood than I’ve more at www.sealiontrust.org.nz. seen anywhere else. But where Colin Emslie, NZ Sea Lion Trust was the understorey of fuchsia, of podocarp and beech saplings and a variety of other soft shrubs?

Due to a printer’s error a Mostly the forest was silent, small number of copies of so much so that the infrequent the February issue of Forest glimpses of tomtits, a visit from & Bird had pages in the a robin, the song of the tui and wrong order. We apologise bellbird and a solitary kea brought great excitement. Instead, there for any inconvenience this was an abundance of possum may have caused to those droppings, pig rooting and the readers who were affected. footprints of deer.

Where was the pest control?

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E enjoy being a part of Forest & Bird but are disappointed from time to time by the very negative approach taken when works of national importance are considered.

When one is objecting to proposals, as an act of credibility there should always be an alternative suggested to solve the problems.

David Hildreth, Hastings

Hump Ridge Track

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F O R E S T & B I R D • M AY 2 0 0 9

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soapbox

For the love of the high country Production and protection must go hand in hand in the high country, Gerry McSweeney argues.

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N November 1984, Dr Les Molloy and I wrote an article for Forest & Bird titled “New Zealand’s Tussockland Heritage”.

In it we sought protection for the special wildlife, plants and wild landscapes of the South Island high country. Twenty-five years later there has been great progress but these hard-won gains are now under threat.

In 1986, Government departments managing land were restructured into State corporations and the Department of Conservation. The resulting carveup of land protected some special high country lands such as the Eyre Creek and Cainard Landcorp blocks in Southland.

Public protests also stopped ownership of Molesworth Station passing to Landcorp.

Further nature conservation gains in the high country were slow. The 1996 Crown Pastoral Lands Act recognised natural as well as farming values.

Pressure by Federated Farmers instigated tenure review, allowing pastoral lease land to become freehold farmland, with some natural lands being transferred to DOC management.

This new DOC land was largely higher mountain unsuited to farming.

It was not under any immediate threat of development and was already overrepresented in the existing network of protected areas. Tenure review has only recently achieved significant protection of native vegetation at lower altitude.

In November 2001, then Conservation Minister Sandra Lee opened the 22,000-hectare Korowai-Torlesse Tussockland Park. This heralded a change in high country conservation. It includes

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beech forest, lower altitude shrublands and tall tussock. DOC weed control efforts on the block were immediate and successful.

DOC also developed walking tracks and bike trails and it is a popular place for visitors to tramp, mountain bike and hunt.

Without cattle and sheep browsing, the native plants are now regenerating.

Further high country parks and reserves followed: Te Papanui in Otago and Te Haka Ra in the Eyre Mountains.

Hakatere Conservation Park, established with strong support from surrounding farmers, protects the Ashburton Basin and Lake Heron wetlands. The Seaward Kaikoura Range became a Conservation Park in 2008 and Te Kahui Kaupeka Park on Canterbury’s Two Thumb Range Park opened in April 2009.

The Ahuriri Conservation Park in the Mackenzie country sweeps from Tarnbrae’s red tussock wetlands to the upper Ahuriri valley. Walkers, mountain bikers and fishermen now rub shoulders here, while beyond Tarnbrae, the iconic Mackenzie landscape is being transformed into dairy farms.

The Government should embrace what has been an extraordinarily successful programme. Tens of thousands of visitors now enjoy magnificent places formerly the preserve of sheep, cattle and just a few people. These visitors have expanded the high country economy and transformed towns such as Hanmer, Lake Tekapo, Wanaka and Middlemarch.

High country farming is also changing.

Farmers are guardians of their lands but even for those of us supplying our finest merino wool to Icebreaker and the Italian

fashion industry, the wool price has not kept pace with the soaring costs of farming and of high country land.

Many high country farmers have diversified into lamb production, dairying and deer – and into tourism and recreation. New DOC trails and reserves encourage visitors to stay longer in the high country.

Instead of embracing this rich and diverse high country, the new Government is under pressure to turn back the clock. Some high country farmers are lobbying for grazing of new high country conservation land and for reduction of conservation initiatives.

To stifle easier public access and the creation of more conservation land, some have argued that visitors cause fires and that new conservation land is a tinderbox – though statistics show that most high country fires are caused by land managers and occur on land that is already being grazed.

In 1985 I wrote another article championing a partnership for both high country economic production and for nature protection. That partnership has been successful. It must continue to be fostered through close co-operation, not confrontation, among all groups and individuals who own, visit, manage, share and love the high country.

Gerry McSweeney is a member of the Forest & Bird Executive, a high country pastoral lease-holder and nature tourism operator. w w w. f o re s t a n d b i rd . o r g . n z

Scott Mitchell

conservationbriefs

Kiwi become Aucklanders

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INE little spotted kiwi set up home in March as the closest wild kiwi population to the big smoke of Auckland.

The kiwi were transferred from Kapiti Island to Motuihe Island in the Hauraki Gulf – just a 30-minute boat trip from downtown Auckland.

The transfer was managed by the Department of Conservation, Motuihe Trust, tangata whenua and BNZ Save the Kiwi Trust, and their “house warming” was

attended by VIP guests including Conservation Minister Tim Groser and Auckland Regional Council Chairman Mike Lee. Eventually 40 little spotted will be released on the predator-free island as part of a nationwide effort to save the species.

Motuihe Trust has worked with DOC over the last five years to eradicate animal pests, battle invasive weeds, replant the island with native species, build tracks and reintroduce native species.

Motuihe Trust Chairman John Laurence says the introduction of little spotted kiwi to the island is significant because of its close proximity to Auckland. People can visit the island by ferry and there are opportunities to stay overnight on the island and hear kiwi calling.

“Motuihe Island can be visited by anyone. This is a huge opportunity for people to experience their national icon up-close, but it also calls on us to be ever more vigilant to the reintroduction of threats to this endangered species.”

He says visitors to the island must be careful not to bring predators such as dogs back on to Motuihe where they could wipe out the new kiwi population.

BNZ Save the Kiwi Trust has supported DOC and many community-based groups to develop new populations of kiwi, including on pest-free offshore and fenced mainland islands.

For more information go to www. savethekiwi.org.nz.

Forest & Bird

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OREST & Bird magazine has just got bigger and better. We have increased the size of the magazine by 12 pages so we can bring you more stories and photographs of New Zealand’s unique natural heritage, “captured” by leading wildlife photographers and writers. Better quality paper (sustainably produced, of course) will also help create a Forest & Bird magazine which you can keep and enjoy – or share with your friends. Your responses to our reader survey last year told us which topics you most like to read about. Not surprisingly, Forest & Bird readers want to see more of our fascinating plants, animals and wild places – and learn about the vital conservation work being done to protect them.

We hope our story selection reflects your wishes.

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 F O R E S T & B I R D • M AY 2 0 0 9

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Rod Morris

brink of extinction,” Kerin says.

Kokako were once widely found in both North and South Island forests; now only about 1650 North Island kokako remain, and its South Island cousin is thought to be extinct.

In the 1970s and 80s conservationists stopped the logging of the forests which were the last remaining kokako habitat. But it was soon discovered that predation by rats and possums – which prey on kokako eggs and

Appeal helps keep the dawn chorus singing

Laurence Bechet

OREST & Bird would like to thank everyone who donated to its annual Dawn Chorus Appeal, which raised nearly $70,000.

The appeal went out in late 2008 and focused on the plight of New Zealand’s kokako, one of many species threatened mainly by introduced pests such as possums and rats in our forests.

Donations to the appeal will help Forest & Bird take action by: • Campaigning for better protection and restoration of our forests and other native habitats.

Forest & Bird Senior Fundraiser Kerin Welford says the appeal donations will go towards Forest & Bird’s work seeking better protection of the kokako and other native species through increased pest control.

“We’re delighted at the generosity of our supporters to help bring this beautiful and rare bird and others back from the

Hihi

• Protecting threatened species in havens such as Ark in the Park in the Waitakere Ranges (where a transfer of kokako is planned and other species such as hihi have already been successfully established).

• Working with DOC, regional councils and community groups to ensure effective pest control protects kokako and other threatened dawn chorus birds from introduced predators.

• Working as a partner in groups such as the Kokako Recovery Group to help restore populations of threatened bird species.

Phil Brown

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chicks – were responsible for the continued decline of these beautiful birds.

Concerted pest control is giving hope for recovery of kokako in their few remaining habitats. But unfortunately most of our forests get little or no pest control. Forest & Bird aims to achieve better protection for the kokako and other birds through our advocacy for the pest control our forests and their wildlife desperately need.

Whitehead

Hihi and whiteheads return to Maungatautari

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WO locally extinct native bird species were returned to Waikato in March.

80 hihi (or stitchbirds) and 60 whiteheads (popokatea) were released into a pest-free enclosure at Maungatautari.

The whiteheads came from offshore havens of Little Barrier Island and the hihi from Tiritiri Matangi and Little Barrier.

It has been about 20 years since whiteheads were last seen on Maungatautari, and it is hoped that their reintroduction will rebuild a thriving population safe from introduced predators,

8 F O R E S T & B I R D • M AY 2 0 0 9

Maungatautari Trust ecologist Chris Smuts-Kennedy says.

“Whiteheads are likely to become the most commonly seen and heard bird on the mountain – without them our restoration would be very incomplete ecologically, visually, acoustically, and aesthetically. “ Whiteheads often form mixed feeding flocks with other insectivorous birds like saddlebacks, fantails and silvereyes. Smaller species like whiteheads appear to take advantage of the vigorous foraging of the larger birds like saddlebacks, which disturb small

insects for them to catch.

It is hoped that hihi will also form a sustainable breeding population in Maungatautari’s 3400 hectares of pest-free native forest – the transfer was the first time hihi have been relocated to the Waikato.

Hihi were once found throughout the North Island but declined due to loss of forest habitat, introduction of predators and arrival of new diseases, and had not been seen in the wild on the mainland for more than a century.

The hihi is classified as nationally endangered – the total

population is estimated to be in the low thousands. Other populations survive on the mainland in havens with intensive pest control or predator-proof enclosures at Forest & Bird/Auckland Regional Council’s Ark in the Park in the Waitakere Ranges and Karori Sanctuary in Wellington.

Genetic research has revealed hihi belongs to a new family of birds found only in New Zealand and is not a member of the honeyeater family along with tui and bellbird as previously thought.

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

Marina Skinner

conservationbriefs

Sea lions invade Parliament grounds

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OREST & Bird and 95 sea lions gathered at Parliament during Seaweek to ask the Government to reduce sea lion by-catch deaths in the southern squid fishery.

The life-size cardboard sea lions formed a temporary colony on Parliament’s lawn, where they were met by Fisheries Minister Phil Heatley and other MPs, including Labour Conservation Spokesperson Steve Chadwick and Green Party Conservation and Fisheries Spokesperson Metiria Turei.

Forest & Bird marine advocate Kirstie Knowles says the Parliament event raised awareness among politicians and the public about the large number of the endemic sea lions which are killed when they become entangled in the squid fishery’s trawl nets and drown.

The New Zealand sea lion is a protected species and its population is in decline, but the fishery is permitted by the Fisheries Minister to kill 95 sea lions as by-catch this season. Forest & Bird is calling for the sea lion kill quota to be reduced to near zero to help the sea lion population to recover.

The Minister told Forest & Bird he would not reduce the kill quota this season, but would take Forest & Bird’s viewpoint into consideration when he determined the quota for next season.

Steve Chadwick described the kill quota as appalling, while Metiria Turei questioned why a protected species should be slaughtered. A private members

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bill proposed by the Greens would make it illegal to kill protected marine mammals, she said.

Department of Conservation researchers on New Zealand’s sub-Antarctic islands where the sea lions breed recorded a 31% fall in the number of sea lion pups last summer, heightening fears about the impact of bycatch deaths. In response the fishing industry agreed to cut the kill quota from the 113 set by the minister to 95.

However Kirstie Knowles says 95 sea lion deaths are still far too many and pose a serious threat to the sea lion population’s ability to recover.

“There is no reason why a commercial fishery should be allowed to kill significant numbers of a protected, endemic marine mammal. A kill quota close to zero is the only level that will provide realistic protection – this is economically achievable if the industry agrees to incremental reductions in the kill quota of 20% each year towards that target.”

Once found right around the mainland New Zealand coastline, NZ sea lions now breed in just a few colonies in the sub-Antarctic islands, where they are highly vulnerable to disease epidemics and genetic “bottle-necks”.

NZ sea lions are found only in New Zealand waters and have been classified as a threatened species since 1997. Last year the World Conservation Union (IUCN) elevated their threat status by listing them as being in decline.

Marina Skinner

Sea lions go to Parliament

Forest & Bird marine advocate Kirstie Knowles talks to Fisheries Minister Phil Heatley.

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Inspiring NATURAL HISTORY destinations include: WA’s Kimberley, Canning Stock Route

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F O R E S T & B I R D • M AY 2 0 0 9

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petrel colony, with involvement of the local community on Gau Island.

BirdLife Affiliate in the Cook Islands – $20,000 For the BirdLife Affiliate in the Cook Islands, Taporoporo’anga Ipukarea Society, to conduct community-based pest control to protect the Rarotonga monarch (kakerori).

Southland Forest & Bird – $12,600 For Te Rere yellow-eyed penguin restoration project to manage and revegetate the yellow-eyed penguin reserve restoration project in the Catlins.

Rod Morris

Kerry Jane Wilson – $20,000 For development of a New Zealand Seabird Colony Database as part of the establishment of Marine Important Bird Areas for New Zealand seabird colonies.

BirdLife International Community Conservation Fund

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HE following conservation projects have received funding from the BirdLife International Community Conservation Fund. Support from the fund has enabled valuable conservation work to be carried out in communities around New Zealand and the Pacific.

Kaharoa Kokako Trust – $4000 For the Kokako Nest-egg Fund to conduct predator control at private and Department of Conservation forest at Kaharoa, near Rotorua. This area is now producing surplus birds for transfer to other sites, including Ark in the Park.

Funded in 2007 Ark in the Park – $35,000 Funding to transfer kokako from Bay of Plenty and Pureora Forest to the Waitakere Ranges, where kokako have been locally extinct since 1900. Ark in the Park (a joint project between Forest & Bird and Auckland Regional Council) has predator control over more than 1000 hectares, and plans to extend this by another 2000ha in 2008-09.

Chatham Island Taiko Trust – $35,510 To transfer Chatham pigeon to Pitt Island and Chatham tui to Chatham Island in a project involving the trust and the Chatham Island and Pitt Island communities. Recovery of forest areas has provided habitat for new populations of these critically endangered species.

1 0 F O R E S T & B I R D • M AY 2 0 0 9

Otanewainuku Kiwi Trust – $10,000 For predator control to protect North Island brown kiwi in the Bay of Plenty. The trust’s work has been vital in allowing kiwi numbers to increase at Otanewainuku, following many decades of decline.

BirdLife Affiliate in Fiji – $20,000 For the BirdLife Affiliate in Fiji to launch a community conservation project to protect Fiji petrels through training and protection of a new collared

Funded in 2008 Friends of Mana Island – $11,500 For translocation of New Zealand shore plover to Mana Island Scientific Reserve to establish of a breeding population on the island. Birds will be transferred over five years from the captive flock at Pukaha/Mt Bruce and the Isaac Wildlife Trust.

Kaipara Forest & Bird – $9000 For Atuanui Restoration Project to establish a mainland restoration project at the Atuanui Scenic Reserve. The fund will enable control of goats, rats and mice on top of existing possum and stoat control to allow recovery of forest health.

Société Calédonienne D’ornithologie (SCO) – $22,960 For community-based monitoring of globally threatened birds in two Important Bird Areas in the mountains of New Caledonia, and to develop a pilot monitoring scheme that will provide information on declines of endangered species to support conservation action.

Société d’Ornithologie de Polynésie – Manu – $40,000 For conservation of the critically endangered Fatu Hiva monarch in Marquesas Island, French Polynesia, with predator control in six valleys and improved monitoring, and establishing a rat-free island to ensure population survival.

BirdLife Community Fund

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PPLICATIONS are invited from Forest & Bird Branches, and from BirdLife International Partners, Partners Designate and Affiliates in the Pacific Islands Region for assistance for community conservation projects for the 2009 – 2010 year.

The purpose of the fund is to provide assistance for community projects which conserve or restore globally threatened bird species and/or important bird areas in New Zealand and the Pacific Islands region.

The fund is administered by Forest & Bird.

Application procedures, forms and further information can be obtained by contacting Samantha Partridge at s.partridge@ forestandbird.org.nz or phone 04 801 2762.

Applications close 31 July 2009

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conservationbriefs

Paddle power

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OREST & Bird has started an unusual “petition” to save our wild rivers – collecting signatures on a kayak, which got off to a great start at the BullerFest in March.

BullerFest is New Zealand’s premier whitewater kayaking and rafting festival, held on the rivers flowing into the Buller near Murchison, and attracts top competitors from around New Zealand and the world.

Forest & Bird was at BullerFest to raise the profile of the threats to wild rivers by hydro electricity generation schemes. These include Buller tributaries the Gowan, Matiri and Matakitaki, and the nearby Mokihinui.

Forest & Bird Top of the South Field Officer Debs Martin says of all these rivers, only the Gowan has been saved from the threat of destructive hydro development – and even that has only a partial reprieve.

The rivers have incredibly high biodiversity values, with intact ecosystems, excellent riparian

Top international kayakers Sam Sutton and Zak Shaw sign the kayak to protect New Zealand rivers.

vegetation, and high water quality. They all flow out of, into, or around national parks and conservation land, are home to blue duck, longfin eel, and provide

feeding corridors for native birds like kereru.

The kayak was signed by more than 100 competitors and many more spectators at

BullerFest, indicating that recreational users share conservationists’ concerns about the damage caused by hydro development to our wild rivers.

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FOREST & RY F OBRIERSDT •& FBEI RB DR U• AM A Y2 20 00 05 9

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Back by popular demand

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HATHAM Island tui made history last month when they returned to the main island for the first time in decades.

Mandy Herrick was there to welcome them back.

Taking a slight detour from the evolutionary paths followed by their mainland cousins, Chatham Island species have plenty of their own quirks.

There are fist-sized spiders that eat weta, spike-free lancewood and supersized kereru that make their New Zealand counterparts looked like bantams.

So I played spot-the-difference with the Chatham Island tui being held in an aviary before their release on the main island in March. White neckpiece?

Check. Iridescent dark green plumage? Check. Playful manner? Check.

The difference lies in their size

– they are a third bigger than mainland tui – and their song.

The 14 youngsters in the aviary performed a staccato three-part harmony that culminated in what is best described as a whooping sneeze.

“These birds have the flu. Bird flu!” joked one of the translocation managers, Mike Bell.

The disappearance of Chatham Island tui (Prosthemadera novaeseelandiae chathamensis) about 25 years ago from the Chathams is largely due to the disappearance of the forest, a process which began 150 years ago, when farmers began clearing large swathes of land and stripping the island of its historical artifacts (nearly a thousand Moriori tree carvings) and natural heritage.

The Chatham Islands archipelago holds almost 20 per cent

Ben Cooper

Chatham tui awaiting release from the holding aviary.

1 2 F O R E S T & B I R D • M AY 2 0 0 9

of New Zealand’s threatened bird species and 160 endemic species of insects, but most exist only on the three small, inaccessible islands off the main Chatham Island.

Today most of the island comprises large stretches of farmland and patches of bracken, punctuated by the odd tree set at a 45 degree angle against the Chathams’ notorious winds, and few surviving forest remnants.

But on the southern part of the island are large patches of native forest filled with fruit-bearing trees such as Chatham Island lancewood, karamu, mahoe, nikau, tarihina (honeydew), puteretere, kopi (Chatham Island karaka) and flax.

Fuelled by a desire to create a refuge for the Chatham Islands’ threatened birds, Chatham Islanders Liz and Bruce Tuanui began planting patches of their farmland and undertaking pest control 16 years ago at a time when “possums used to peer into our house at night.”

Now, with pests largely eradicted and native vegetation recovered, their property provides a refuge for some of the Chathams’ most endangered species.

The transfer of Chatham Island tui from Rangatira Island south-east of Chatham Island – funded by BirdLife International Community Conservation Fund – is the first species to be re-introduced here, but there are plans for many more, including sooty shearwaters and Chatham Island tomtits.

Their return is a momentous

occasion for Liz and Bruce and the crowd of locals who gather around the holding cage to catch a glimpse of the birds that were last seen here 25 years ago.

Some are young enough that they have never heard the tui’s song; others ask about the tui’s favourite food so they can provide sustenance in their own backyards for the new migrants.

It is hoped that tui will reproduce and rebuild a main island population, if planting and pest control is carried out by the locals, so getting the community on board is crucial to their success.

After being blessed and sung to in three languages – English, Maori and Moriori – the tui spill out onto the 70-hectare reserve, then fly high into the air to survey their new territory, before ducking into the valley below to snack on the larder provided by the native vegetation.

Two weeks later, and they’re still there, much to the relief of Liz and Bruce. The birds are all colour-banded and 10 are carrying transmitters, so their whereabouts can be traced. The real measure of the transfer’s success will come in December, the tui breeding season.

To boost the chances of tui breeding, Bruce and Liz have filled the reserve with a bounteous supply of flax – the tui breed following years in which flax flowering is abundant. Already the young tui are toiling away pollinating the flax – at the end of the year, the flax may just return the favour.

The tui fill up on snacks before being released.

Ben Cooper

Don Merton

conservationbriefs

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conservationbriefs

A nest egg for the future

How you can support Forest & Bird’s Endowment Fund

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A Rod Morris

ONSERVATION is all about thinking of the future.

That’s why Forest & Bird is establishing its Endowment Fund to ensure that financial support for its conservation work is secure well into the future.

The Endowment Fund will be launched at Forest & Bird’s AGM on June 27, with Forest & Bird delegates and special guests invited to a dinner and some light entertainment to celebrate its launch.

Forest & Bird General Manager Mike Britton says conservation work focuses on the long-term, seeking to protect native species and their habitats for decades – sometimes even centuries – into the future.

“As conservationists we know the importance of looking ahead, and ensuring that the protection of our most endangered species will continue, not just in the next few years, but beyond most of our lifetimes – and even the lifetimes of our children and grandchildren,” he says.

“To do that we need to know that funding for conservation work is also secure well into the future. An Endowment Fund is the best way of making sure we have long-term financial security for our work.”

As New Zealand’s longeststanding conservation organisa-

Tui feeding chicks

tion, founded more than 80 years ago, Forest & Bird has proven its long-term commitment to conservation. An Endowment Fund providing financial security for another 80 years – and more – into the future, is particularly apt, Mike Britton says.

“Our organisation is all about sustainability – if we want to contribute to environmental sustainability, we also need to ensure we have financial sustainability.”

Forest & Bird Senior Fundraiser Kerin Welford says the Endowment Fund has been established in conjunction with Guardian Trust, who are trustees and managers of the fund.

Guardian Trust is a leader in managing charitable trusts and estates for the past 126 years and works with hundreds of charities distributing millions of dollars in funding each year.

Establishment of the fund was made possible by a significant

LL gifts of donations and bequests given by our supporters to the Forest & Bird Endowment Fund will be invested as capital in perpetuity to accrue interest. A portion of the interest earned each year will be used fund conservation projects.

Gifts can be made to the Forest & Bird Endowment Fund for general or specific purposes and it is important that you contact us to ensure your intentions are carried out.

If you would like to make a donation or leave a gift in your will to the Forest & Bird Endowment Fund please contact Senior Fundraiser Kerin Welford or Business Services Manager Julie Watson on free phone 0800 200 064 or email office@forestandbird.org.nz

donation, given with much foresight by committed benefactors who were keen to help secure the future financial needs of Forest & Bird.

Long-term planning is vital for any not-for-profit organisation to support ongoing financial sustainability and development, Kerin Welford says.

“This is especially important in an uncertain global economic climate – the Endowment Fund will provide a buffer against fluctuations in other forms of income which our organisation may have from year to year, ensuring that our vital conservation work can continue.”

An endowment fund provides a source of invested capital held in perpetuity, which is grown, and only a portion of the interest generated each year will be used by Forest & Bird to fund its work. The remainder of the interest is left to accrue as part of the capital.

This means that Forest & Bird will have a stable yearly source of regular income it can budget for, and allocate to conservation outcomes, and a continually growing capital investment fund which remains untouched.

predator-free island, artificial insemination, supplementary feeding and minding nests around the clock during the breeding season.

Forest & Bird, DOC and Rio Tinto are partners in the Kakapo Recovery Programme,

which aims to restore kakapo populations and bring this unique species back from the brink of extinction. As the winner of Forest & Bird’s 2008 Bird of the Year poll the kakapo is officially New Zealand’s favourite bird.

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HE recovery of the critically endangered kakapo hit an important milestone in March, with its population reaching more than 100 birds for the first time in decades.

A bumper breeding season – thought to be triggered by heavy fruiting of rimu on Whenua Hou/ Codfish Island – produced a record number of kakapo chicks on the island, lifting the kakapo population over the magic 100 mark in March.

The high number of chicks born lifted kakapo numbers from 90 in 2008, and means the kakapo population is now more than double the total number of kakapo alive a little over a

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decade ago.

Conservation Minister Tim Groser welcomed the kakapo reaching the 100 mark.

“This is great news – we’ve still got a long, long road ahead before the kakapo’s future is secure but it’s a huge milestone for one of the country’s favourite birds.”

Mr Groser said the milestone was a fantastic reward for all the Department of Conservation staff and volunteers who had worked so hard to build up kakapo numbers.

Population gains have been achieved with the help of numerous measures, including protecting the birds on the

Don Merton

Kakapo population hits the 100 mark

F O R E S T & B I R D • M AY 2 0 0 9

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conservationbriefs

Green wine and guinea pigs

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UNNING a sustainable vineyard requires ingenuity – something Peter Yealands possesses in abundance.

Take the dilemma of keeping

down grass and weeds between rows of grapes without resorting to chemical sprays, for example.

First Yealands tried grazing sheep between the vines in his

A white heron visits wetlands established by Yealands Estate.

1 4 F O R E S T & B I R D • M AY 2 0 0 9

“Born-again” greenie – Peter Yealands.

Yealands Estate vineyards in Marlborough, but they munched on the vines as well as the grass.

Even spraying vines with viletasting substances to deter nibbling sheep was unsuccessful.

So the resourceful Yealands brought in a herd of a couple of hundred guinea pigs and grazed them in a fenced-off trial area of the vineyard. Unfortunately the guinea pig experiment was also a failure: Yealands worked out he would need 11 million guinea pigs to adequately control grass and weeds over the whole vineyard – a target made even more unfeasible due to predation by local hawks.

“It was doomed to failure. You would see the hawks fly past carrying guinea pigs,” he says, regretfully.

Not easily deterred, Yealands had his next eco-brainwave: miniature sheep. He figured the 45-centimetre-tall sheep would be too short to reach the buds and leaves on the grape vines, but would take care of the grass and weeds.

As yet, the imported flock of vertically challenged sheep is still in quarantine, so Yealands is yet to test his latest solution to the weed problem, but he’s confident that this time he will succeed.

Yealands hasn’t always had such dogged commitment to doing things the “green” way. As

a property developer (not a tribe widely known for its environmental values) he has at times been on the opposite side of the negotiating table from Forest & Bird and the Department of Conservation in the resource consent process for his various ventures.

It has been something of an environmental journey for Yealands and somewhere along the way he saw the green light.

These days he is a confessed conservationist – and now a Forest & Bird member.

“When I was young there wasn’t much consideration put on the environment. Before the Resource Management Act came along you could pretty much do what you wanted without recriminations. But these days I’m certainly trying to do my best – making up for lost ground perhaps.”

Yealands’ born-again passion for the environment is most evident at Yealands Estate, founded in 2002, where he is pursuing the ambitious goal of creating “the world’s most environmentally friendly winery.”

Yealands Estate is the first winery in New Zealand to be developed in compliance with the draft “Green Star” industrial rating – Yealands is aiming for a 6 Green Star rating, which will signify “world leader” w w w. f o re s t a n d b i rd . o r g . n z

conservationbriefs

Yealands Estate vineyards, where sustainable practices are used to reduce its environmental footprint as much as possible.

status in building design and operation. The vineyard is also accredited under the Sustainable Winegrowing NZ programme, which monitors environmental stewardship.

Yealands has developed 20 wetlands and planted thousands of natives around the vineyard to support native wildlife.

Yealands describes himself as “a tree nutter” and he delights in seeing native birds, such as tui, bellbirds, native falcons, moreporks and even a white heron take up residence at the vineyard.

All wastewater from the winery is treated and re-used to irrigate the vineyard – rainwater is also collected from the roof and used for irrigation. Yealands Estate uses recycled material in its bottles and packaging, and by-products from the winery are re-used as mulch in the vineyard.

As well as employing the latest technology in insulation and energy conservation throughout the winery’s processes, the winery generates its own electricity through solar and wind power. Everyday practices in the vineyard, such as use of organic materials wherever possible, minimising use of chemical sprays and driving low-emission tractors, all help reduce the winery’s environmental footprint.

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

businessman – he still doesn’t own a business suit – Yealands doesn’t spent a lot of time worrying about what other people think about his transformation

into a born-again greenie.

“I suppose being environmentally friendly does give us a bit of a commercial niche, but it is mostly about what I personally

want to do. Some people might say ‘Oh, Yealands has gone soft’ but people who know me well wouldn’t be surprised. It is all about striking a balance.”

Guinea pigs graze between the vines at Yealands Estate.

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Simon Fordham

conservationbriefs

A new home for our littlest bird

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EW Zealand’s smallest bird has a new home on Tiritiri Matangi Island.

Thirty-one riflemen were caught by a team of volunteers and flown across the Hauraki Gulf from Hauturu/Little Barrier Island by helicopter in February.

This project is a joint initiative between the Supporters of Tiritiri Matangi and the University of Auckland, supported by the Department of Conservation.

Supporters group spokesman Simon Fordham says the transfer will give visitors to Tiritiri Matangi the opportunity to see New Zealand’s smallest bird in the Auckland region.

Just eight centimetres long, the rifleman is considered New Zealand’s smallest bird (it is rivalled by grey warbler, which is about the same weight, but has a longer tail). The male is a vivid green, while the slightly larger female is brown.

Its call is a sharp, repetitive squeak, at frequencies around the upper limit of human hearing and its diet consists mostly of insects.

Riflemen are not endangered but they are threatened due to fragmentation of forests. They are not able to cross large distances

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over water and open habitats so once they are lost from a block of bush they are often unable to re-colonise areas without human assistance. Their small size means they are vulnerable to cold weather – populations may crash after very cold winters.

Because riflemen nest in holes in trees, their nests may be more prone to predation from introduced pests like rats and mice. However, they may also be less vulnerable to predation in other ways as they spend very little time on the ground and their nesting holes are often too small for larger predators to enter.

As there is a lack of suitable nesting cavities for the riflemen on Tiritiri Matangi, nesting boxes have been placed near the release site in anticipation of the breeding season later this year.

Once a working farm, Tiritiri Matangi Island has been transformed over the last 25 years into a ecological restoration project. About 300,000 trees have been planted and predators have been removed and wildlife is now abundant.

The rifleman is the 12th species of native bird

re-introduced to Tiritiri Matangi, which is now home to a number of endangered species,

including takahe, kokako, saddleback, hihi and tuatara – and now rifleman.

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Spot that bird F

OREST & Bird members are being asked for their help in spotting birds in their own backyards around New Zealand.

The New Zealand Garden Birdwatch was started in 2006 by Eric Spurr of Landcare Research, surveying

birds all over New Zealand, from native favourites such as the tui and silvereye, to introduced species.

Taking part is easy – spend just one hour anytime from 27 June – 5 July looking at the birds in your garden, local park or schoolyard, and make a note of which species visit and how many you see at any one time. The photos here will help you identify most birds you are likely to spot.

Then fill and return the survey form overleaf or enter your results online at: www.landcareresearch.co.nz/research/biocons/gardenbird/ The survey results will provide valuable information about bird populations, giving scientists a clear indication of which species may be in decline, helping to guide conservation efforts.

Updates from the survey will be posted on Landcare Research’s website, and we’ll also report back on results in future issues of Forest & Bird.

New Zealand Zealand Aotearoa Aotearoa New aland Aotearoa

GARDEN BIRD DEN BIRD

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Some birds can lookspecies very similar, similar, several species have male and female femalewith withvery verydiffere differe birds look very several species have aa male and Some birds can look very Some similar, andcan several have and aand male and female with very different colours.

You can also use our online guide at www.landcareresearch.co.nz/research/biocons/ga You can also use our online guide at www.landcareresearch.co.nz/research/biocons/gar You can also use our online guide at www.landcareresearch.co.nz/research/biocons/gardenbird/

Some species to Yellowhammer look out for...?

Yellowhammer Yellowhammer

House Sparrow Sparrow House (male) (male)

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Black-Backed (Wood Gull pigeon)

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Magpie

Red Billed Magpie Gull

Bellbird Bellbird

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Welcome swallow

Song Thrush

Silvereye Silvereye

Fantail Fantail

Fantail Welcome Blackbird (male) Blackbird (male) Rock Pigeon Silvereye swallow

Goldfinch

Blackbird (male) Rock Pigeon Rock Pigeon

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Red Billed Gull Red

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Red Billed F O R E S T & B I R D • M AY 2 0 0 9 1 7 Gull

Bl Bla

Time

Rock Pigeon

Silvereye

Song Thrush

Starling

Tui

Welcome Swallow

Yellowhammer

Chaffinch

Dunnock

Fantail

Goldfinch

Greenfinch

Grey warbler

House sparrow

Fruit

Seeds

Bread

No

Photographs by: Andrew Walmsley (www.awimages.net), Tom Marshall, Brian Massa (www.brianmassa.org).

Further images courtesy of A. Howe (www.istock.com)

Landcare Research Ministry for the Environment The Royal Forest & Bird Protection Society Ornithological Society of New Zealand NZ Science, Mathematics and Technology Teacher Fellowship

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ICE81063/21 LAPS 5648

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For the love of the land

On a wing and a prayer THE life of a wildlife film-maker can be a dangerous one when your subject, the karearea or native falcon, is not at all keen on a Hollywood career, Sandy Crichton discovers.

20

George Chance

A

PIERCING screech, a rush of air from a wing beat, a momentary lapse in concentration.

Panic, surprise, shock, fear … a thud, a cloud of dust and then the pain!

My knee had already started to swell as I lay on the rocky ledge surrounded by camera kit looking at the distant rear end of my extremely vocal assailant.

Three metres above I could see where I had lost my footing during the attack.

I looked back up at the now-empty blue sky before quickly grabbing a sturdy branch and holding it above my head in preparation for the next aerial assault.

“What on earth am I doing here, is it all worth it?”

I had held a fascination with the New Zealand falcon ever since my first encounter with them while holidaying in the South Island in the late 1990s.

That first encounter had been at close quarters on the edge of a recently felled commercial pine forest near Lake Mahinerangi in Otago.

The falcon perched on a tree stump, occasionally turning its head to watch me as I ate lunch at the side of the road. I was in awe, captivated by its striking appearance and astounded by its indifference towards me.

The experience contradicted the many stories I’d heard of falcons’ aggression during the breeding season – based in no small part on their penchant for attacking unwary trampers and high country musterers who venture too close to their nests.

Despite its fearsome reputation it is still one of New Zealand’s most highly regarded animals, respected by forestry workers, farmers and conservationists alike. It appears on the twenty-dollar bill, commemorative coins, stamps, street names, wine labels and is the name behind one of the country’s bestselling cars – the Ford Falcon.

George Chance

N the one hand the falcon was a national icon, celebrated in Maori legend, while on the other it was a troublemaker – a nuisance that could make forestry workers down tools, trampers change routes and high country farmers shoot at it. It was this somewhat ambiguous relationship with everyday New Zealanders that I was keen to explore.

I returned to the South Island as a wildlife filmmaker in the winter of 2003 and when I spoke to people about the falcon, one name was mentioned with recurring regularity: George Chance. Eighty-seven-year-old George was a politely-spoken, unassuming man who had spent most of his spare time during the 1970s photographing the New Zealand falcon. His stunning images, many in black-and-white, captured the falcons with an intimacy not seen before as they hunted, fed, courted, nested and raised their chicks.

George was an optometrist by trade, having followed in his father into this career on returning from the Second World War. His father, George Chance senior, was an English-born optician who settled in Dunedin and was one of New Zealand’s pioneering landscape photographers.

When I first met George he recounted so many incredible stories of his falcon encounters over the years that I just sat listening and wondering what it must be like to have such a close connection to a species. w w w. f o re s t a n d b i rd . o r g . n z

Throughout his life George had photographed many of New Zealand’s most iconic birds, but the bird that remained closest to his heart was the New Zealand falcon.

His eyes would light up and a smile would spread across his face whenever he recalled a favourite falcon anecdote, and there were many to choose from. He talked of knowing the birds so well that he could understand their language; on one occasion he claimed that he had translated an adult male telling the female he was off to catch a gull. Even more surprising was the fact that the male actually returned some time later clutching a small gull!

George told me how he had been seduced by the feeling of danger and excitement that the falcon offered – he reckoned being attacked by a New Zealand falcon was not unlike being dive-bombed by enemy aircraft in North Africa during the war.

He described the many injuries he had sustained and the items that the falcons had stolen from him: a cap with a military badge of sentimental value and a handkerchief that had been plucked with surgical precision straight from his trouser pocket.

He explained how he had wanted to progress from stills photography to the moving image but that he had been prevented by the expense. Later he would also tell me that his heart was failing and he was going blind.

I reflected on those early meetings with George as I repelled another attack, like a madman waving a branch in the air at an often-invisible adversary. There were now two birds, a breeding pair, dive-bombing me.

The pain from my knee was unbearable; I collected my scattered camera gear together as best I could with one hand while brandishing the branch with the other.

I made a deal with George to try to “add movement” through my film work to his classic falcon stills from past decades in return for his help. Since then I had been following a remarkable population of Otago falcons that had adapted to take advantage of commercial pine plantations (much of their native habitat is long gone).

Wildlife photographer George Chance during filming of “Karearea: the pine falcon,” Berwick Forest, Otago .

Sandy Crichton

O

One of George Chance’s stunning black-and-white shots of a falcon mid-flight which inspired film-maker Sandy Crichton.

F O R E S T & B I R D • M AY 2 0 0 9

21

I had been filming them for two breeding seasons, and was about to embark on a third and final season.

Most of my time had been spent in Berwick forest near Milton, and Akatore near Lake Waihola. These were areas that George had known since childhood and although the face of the landscape had changed dramatically, his beloved falcons were still present.

In conjunction with my role as filmmaker I had also taken on the voluntary role of “falcon consultant” to Wenita Forest Products, the owners of pine plantations throughout Otago, and I was often called upon to survey areas where falcons had nested perilously close to felling operations.

As a direct result of increasing awareness through the making of the film, more nest sites were reported and consequently protected from the logging threat.

George would often say that time spent in reconnaissance was seldom wasted, and our reconnaissance agents were the forestry workers of Otago – our eyes and

ears on the ground. Gnarly, straight-talking, weather-beaten men who, contrary to popular belief, were great admirers of the falcon, and often went out of their way to protect the birds.

One forestry worker, Darren Kealey, described how he came across a nest containing chicks as he was clearing debris from a recent felling operation – a falcon nest being no more than a scraped hollow on the ground usually sheltered by an upturned root ball or an overhanging rock. On spotting the little balls of grey down he quickly jumped out of his digger, removed the chicks from the nest and carefully placed them into his lunchbox for safekeeping. He then proceeded to clear the area at a safe distance around the nest to his satisfaction. Job done, he returned the chicks to their unharmed nest.

With George’s support and guidance, I had got pretty close to the pine plantation falcons during my first two seasons – but nowhere near as close as I needed to be.

The falcons had a knack of nesting in the

most inaccessible places for filming, and so far I hadn’t had the good fortune of finding an easily accessible nest.

The closest I had managed was at least 100 metres away on the opposite bank of a steep-sided gully. George had got around this particular problem decades earlier with the aid of crampons, ropes and sheer determination. I – much to George’s disapproval – was holding out for a more accessible nest site! I felt as though I hadn’t managed to get close enough to the birds to fully gain their trust and as a consequence many of the behavioural images remained elusive – I just wasn’t doing justice to George’s photographs.

So there it was, my final season was to be all about getting even closer to the falcons, pushing the boundaries and taking a few risks. I had finally found a nest I could walk right up to but as I limped back up the dusty slope, still under the watchful eye of my assailants, I wondered if I would ever be able to capture the footage I so desperately needed.

New Zealand falcon/karearea (Falco novaeseelandia)

22

female takes over nest duties for the first two weeks while the male catches food for the family. Falcons aggressively defend their nest with loud “kek-kek-kek” cries and divebombing of intruders.

The native falcons can be distinguished from the more common harrier hawk by their much smaller size – they are only about half the size of the hawk, with females measuring about 47cm and weighing about half a kilogram. The smaller (and faster) males measure about 43cm .

Falcons also fly faster and have a more rapid wing beat than the hawk, which tends to soar more and favours more open countryside than the falcon.

Unlike hawks, falcons rarely scavenge carrion, and the hawk has a much quieter “kee-ya” cry. than the falcon’s more piercing cry.

Rod Morris

T

HE New Zealand falcon, also known as the sparrow hawk and the bush hawk, is (along with the Australiasian harrier hawk/kahu and the morepork/ruru) one of just three native birds of prey still alive.

Sadly, several New Zealand birds of prey have become extinct since human arrival – such as the Haast’s eagle, the largest eagle that ever existed, which preyed on moa; the laughing owl, named for its shrieking, “barking” cries; and the small, almost flightless New Zealand owlet-nightjar.

While the native falcon remains, it too is at risk from predation by introduced pests, habitat destruction and deliberate killing by humans, and its population is in decline.

The karearea is found only in New Zealand, in both the North and South Islands, and numbers only about 5000.

There are three forms of New Zealand falcon: the bush, eastern and southern forms, which vary in size, plumage and habitat. All are generally black or dark brown above, and buff barred and streaked below.

The karearea is among the world’s fastest birds, reaching speeds of more than 200 kilometres per hour, possesses formidable eyesight and can bring down prey six times its own weight. The falcon feeds mainly on small birds, insects and rodents.

The female lays 1-4 eggs, with the nest often a “scrape” in the ground, or in epiphytes growing on trees. These vulnerable nests mean that falcon eggs and chicks are an easy meal for introduced predators, such as stoats, possums and rats, which are the main threat to the karearea’s survival.

The male and female falcon share incubation of eggs till the downy white chicks hatch, when the

Sandy Crichton

Falcon chicks – film-maker Sandy Crichton endured countless aerial attacks to film nesting falcons.

The falcons themselves face even greater risks from introduced predators.

George Chance’s hide, used in the filming

Karearea: the pine falcon

S

ANDY Crichton did survive repeated attempts on his life by the ferocious subjects of his filming – the result is his natural history documentary Karearea: The Pine Falcon .

With the aid of a protective umbrella, and a birdwatching hide inherited from George, Sandy somehow manages to dodge aggressive, dive-bombing falcons while also trying to persuade the loggers to stop felling trees where the falcons are nesting. The result is a visually spectacular and touching film which has been shown at 29 film festivals worldwide and has won 11 awards.

You can see Karearea during the Reel Earth environmental film festival, which was co-founded by Forest & Bird, and opens in Palmerston North this month before touring the country.

Forest & Bird has a copy of Karearea: The Pine Falcon to give away. To go in the draw to win a copy of the film on DVD, answer the question: which is bigger, the male or female karearea? Send your answer, with your name, postal address and a daytime contact number or email to Karearea Draw, Forest & Bird, PO Box 631, Wellington.

Sandy Crichton

Sandy Crichton and assailant

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

23

Nature, red in tooth and claw

U

NFORTUNATELY our native wildlife doesn’t distinguish

We fed the survivor on honey-sweetened boiled rice that night,

between the common and the critically endangered

(it was the nearest ‘brew’ we could create from hut supplies

when it comes to choosing from the dinner menu.

to resemble the sugar-rich tussock bases the parents would

Photographer Rod Morris tells the story behind his photograph

have fed their chick). It must have been OK, as the chick

of a falcon and a rather unfortunate young takahe:

ate all the rice we placed in its bill with great gusto.

“In 1975 while Hans Rook and I were young wildlife trainees

In the morning, four of us trainees searched for several hours

working on a takahe field study in the Murchison Mountains we

before finally locating the takahe parents in dense hebe scrub.

came across a young takahe freshly killed by a New Zealand

We reunited them with their lost chick and quietly left.

falcon in a side basin off Miller Peak. We observed the falcon’s

Hans and I were surprised at the size of

two fledged young feeding on the carcass as well.

While takahe chicks this size are nearly as large as adults,

the chick the falcon had killed and we put this down to the inexperience of

they are still vulnerable and dependant upon their parents

the takahe chick – I would think

for food and defence. We found the dead chick’s

size alone is no defence against

sibling nearby being harassed by a group of kea.

Not wanting to see this takahe chick go the way of the first, we intervened.

It was just before dusk and as there were no adult takahe responding to the calls of the distressed chick, we took it back to

Prehistoric prey assemblages of the falcon show birds were taken up to the size of kereru and kokako, though typically even in the past, they preferred smaller birds like native parakeets.”

Rod Morris

our hut.

a falcon attack.

24

Vintage falcons

N

ATIVE falcons and fine wines have formed a mutually beneficial partnership in Marlborough.

A programme to allow falcon populations to recover while also protecting grapes from damage by smaller birds is now in its fourth year and is proving successful – for both falcons and winemakers.

The programme began life as Falcon for Grapes, and was re-launched as the Marlborough Falcon Conservation Trust at the Marlborough Wine Festival in February.

Spokesman Nick Fox says there are now about 30 falcons in the programme on the Wairau Plains, both relocated from the wild and those that have bred around the vineyards.

He says the presence of falcons is proving a strong deterrent to small birds which otherwise cause millions of dollars worth of damage to grapes – monitoring has found no grape damage within 300 metres of each site where falcons are present, and very little damage within 600m.

The falcons are also benefiting from predator control. While they were breeding in the hills around Marlborough, their w w w. f o re s t a n d b i rd . o r g . n z

Falcons, with radio transmitter attached, soar above Marlborough vineyards.

numbers were being reduced by predation by feral cats, possums and hedgehogs; they were also being shot and electrocuted on power lines. Fox has monitored falcons in Marlborough for 35 years and says their natural population has declined in that time – as many as three-quarters of chicks born in the wild do not survive.

In the programme their eggs are protected in artificial nest barrels that

predators can’t reach – unlike their vulnerable “scrapes” of nests in the wild.

The project team also tracks the falcons with radio transmitters and provides supplementary feed.

Fox says the survival rate of chicks raised in the artificial nests is 100%, raising hopes that their numbers will help boost wild populations – and help produce a nice drop of wine at the same time.

F O R E S T & B I R D • M AY 2 0 0 9

25

Crossing the tribal divide Pakeha conservationists want to preserve all our plants and wildlife, and Maori want to harvest them all. Right? Marina Skinner looks at what Pakeha and Maori conservationists really want.

I

N my ideal Aotearoa I envisage luxuriant forests consisting of the full range of native species, dripping with fruit, providing year-round food for the teeming bird life.

Undergrowth is so dense that a machete is needed to make

headway through the forest floor. The cacophony of the dawn chorus is such that ACC would recommend wearing earmuffs when we walk into forests; the screech of the kiwi and hoots of the morepork keeping overnight campers awake until the early hours of the morning.

Our creeks, streams and rivers flowing with clear, unadulterated and pure fresh water, abounding with tuna, kokopu, kewai, karawaka, inanga, papane and the many macroinvertebrates that keep our streams in pristine condition.

Kevin Prime, Ngati Hïne, farmer, conservationist

M

ÄORI and Pakeha sometimes appear divided on conservation but there’s growing agreement that the common views far outweigh the differences – and many think we should be working more closely towards a shared goal to protect our indigenous biodiversity.

Conflict centres on customary gathering of native wildlife – many Mäori think it’s fine so long as populations are sustainable but many Pakeha feel native species need permanent protection because there will never be enough to harvest.

Green Party conservation spokesperson Metiria Turei wants everyone to put aside the differences and damage from the past. “I don’t think Mäori and Pakeha conservationists have sat down together to agree on what 21st Century conservation is about.”

Environment commissioner Kevin Prime, of Ngati Hïne, has worked on conservation for years, including a campaign to restore kereru numbers. He is also deputy chair of Ngä Whenua Rähui, a $4 million-ayear government fund administered by the Department of Conservation to protect indigenous ecosystems on Mäori land, mainly through covenants.

Prime believes there are far more similarities than differences between Mäori and Pakeha on conservation. “At the front end we want the same things: to get rid of pests and weeds and to look after biodiversity.”

Ngä Whenua Rähui has been extremely popular with Mäori landowners who don’t 2 6 F O R E S T & B I R D • M AY 2 0 0 9

want to lose ownership of wilderness areas but need help in protecting them. These conservation projects are some of the hundreds that Mäori are working on around New Zealand.

Ngä Whenua Rähui covenants last 25 years, where QEII National Trust covenants are forever. “It gives every generation that option to pull out or carry on,” Prime says.

He thinks it’s unlikely a new generation would change anything.

He says many Mäori have changed their minds about the use of 1080 when they’ve seen how successful it is in controlling pests.

Prime has debated with Forest & Bird members their desire to protect biodiversity forever, compared with the Mäori desire to protect an indigenous area for sustainable use. He has heard the argument that Forest & Bird would want kereru protected even if large flocks were widespread again. Mäori would like to see kereru at a sustainable level for harvest.

Mutual respect and dialogue are critical, he believes. “I can see why many iwi get hung up about sometimes things [being] imposed on them without much consultation and understanding.”

Forest & Bird seabird scientist Susan Waugh is of Te Atiawa descent and has worked with Mäori on customary fishery research. “There is a massive opportunity for rapprochement,” she says. “And things have improved over the last 20 years because iwi have to be consulted now.”

Forest & Bird’s links with Mäori have not always been strong, Waugh says. “We now need to recognise that between Mäori

customary managers of land and natural resources and the conservation movement there is probably 95 per cent of the sentiment in common, and we all stand to gain so much from working closely together.

“As someone with a foot in both camps, I don’t have a personality split. I believe that the best outcomes for nature come from a combined approach of long-term perspective, holistic approach, and strong reliance on science and rational management decisionmaking.”

Forest & Bird Top of the South Field Officer Debs Martin sees Mäori and Pakeha approaching New Zealand’s wilderness from different perspectives. Pakeha conservationists want to protect landscapes, “so we try and re-create Eden, with no human influence on them. The Mäori perspective takes the view that people are part of the natural environment”.

“Mäori arrived with their food basket and they learned to use the resources here,” she says. “[Pakeha] arrived and put our food basket in place. If we were looking at being sustainable we would say it’s a joy and a privilege to feed ourselves from the land. But it’s all about capacity. If you can restore populations of kereru to abundance then maybe the notion of harvesting is sustainable.”

Waugh thinks it should be acceptable to harvest bountiful species, such as kereru.

“It’s a way for an iwi to become engaged with why you want to build up a population. It’s an added stimulus to save the birds and it’s a way of maintaining traditions of harvest.”

Forest & Bird Executive member Craig Potton has observed a drop in the number of birds even during his lifetime, and he believes there will never be enough kereru to harvest.

“Debate about sustainable use is irrelevant because almost every bush bird is in decline.”

Bay of Plenty Ngä Whenua Rähui team member and rongoa Mäori practitioner Rob McGowan believes customary harvesting of species such as kereru should be open for debate among conservationists. Just as limits are adjusted for hunters to shoot water fowl [including some native species like pukeko], the same could be done for kereru and even küaka (godwits).

McGowan has seen a rise in Mäori interest in conservation. “There are hundreds of Mäori up and down the country involved in working to protect Papatuanuku.” w w w. f o re s t a n d b i rd . o r g . n z

Forest & Bird Central North Island Field Officer Al Fleming has worked closely with Mäori as a resource planner with Ngatiwai Trust Board in Northland and with the Department of Conservation on marine protection.

He sees more Mäori supporting permanent, no-take marine reserves. A hui of Te Tiaki Mahinga Kai – a national group of Mäori environmental guardians – in February discussed marine reserves and mataitai, or permanent customary food-gathering areas, sitting side by side.

He gives the example of Te Tapuwae o Rongokako Marine Reserve off Whangara on the East Coast, which was proposed by Ngäti Konohi. The iwi has recently applied for a mataitai near the marine reserve.

Marine reserves are fine by Kevin Prime.

“I don’t have a problem with absolute no-take areas that allow species to build up.”

Improving the state of waterways is a common objective for Mäori and Pakeha.

Ngäti Kahungunu spokesperson Ra Smith earlier this year criticised a planned sewage treatment plant that will pump discharge into the Wairarapa’s Ruamahanga River, and he’d like his iwi to work with Forest & Bird on similar environmental issues.

He thinks Mäori and Pakeha share a similar response to the beauty of the natural world. “I think Mäori and Pakeha both have Te Hakari Dune wetland – whanau planting day

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

a spiritual feeling about wild places,” he says.

All Mäori interviewed for this story expressed an appreciation of the deep attachment many Pakeha feel for New Zealand’s wilderness and to their own wähi tapu (sacred sites). Metiria Turei talked about her tribal maunga, Mt Ruapehu. It’s also special to her husband – “a Pakeha boy” whose uncle died there. “The affection and spiritual connection is very strong for both of us – for different reasons.”

Turei sees some urgency for Mäori and Pakeha conservationists to work together.

“Our environment doesn’t have the time to wait for us to sort out any differences.”

Green MP Metiria Turei

Sea change in Kaikoura

K

AIKOURA Forest & Bird members and local iwi have a much greater understanding of each other after working together for three years on managing their coast.

Te Korowai o Te Tai o Marokura (Kaikoura Coastal Marine Guardians) was set up in 2005 after a proposed marine reserve failed to win favour in 1992. It’s brought together iwi representatives, fishers, Forest & Bird and other groups. They haven’t yet come up with definite plans but it’s been a great opportunity to learn more about opponents’ views.

Forest & Bird delegates Lynda Kitchingham and Barry Dunnett say Te Korowai has broken down many barriers between iwi and Forest & Bird. “There was a strong animosity towards Forest & Bird from the iwi,” says Kitchingham, who is of Ngäi Tahu descent. “But we have a better understanding of the Mäori perspective now.”

Kaikoura runanga representative Gina Solomon better appreciates Forest & Bird’s view. “When Forest & Bird started [on Te Korowai] they were staunch about the marine reserve but over time have sat back and listened to other views,” she says. “And I’m looking forward to giving something back – gifts and gains.”

The main difference between Forest & Bird and iwi is that Forest & Bird wants a permanent marine reserve and iwi want to look at all tools, not just marine reserves. “If everything was flourishing I’d be happy for the marine reserve to be limited,” Kitchingham says. “But that’s pie in the sky. The reality is there is a whole lot of greed, and people are coming in and heavily fishing these areas.”

Solomon is hesitant about a marine reserve. “There is a part of me that would not be unhappy if we had a marine reserve in our area. Future generations would like to see what a marine reserve would bring.”

F O R E S T & B I R D • M AY 2 0 0 9

27

Al Flemming

Al Flemming

Trampers negotiate a stream crosssing.

A forest health check

Forest & Bird’s Central North Island Field Officer Alan Fleming, with Ann and Basil Graeme, checks the vital signs of the Kaimai Mamaku forests.

B

Al Flemming

ROWSED, milled, cleared & mined over the years – it’s not hard to see why one of our largest tracts of forest, the Bay of Plenty’s Kamai Mamaku forests, has been a key focus for several of Forest & Bird’s North Island branches.

As the newly-appointed Central North Island Field Officer, my arm almost left its shoulder socket when the call went out for volunteers to take a walk through parts of this 37,000-hectare forest wilderness.

This stretch of forest contains a unique mix of plant life that encompasses “warm” kauri in its northern reaches and “cool beech” to its south. Its long, narrow shape and plant diversity is a very microcosm of Aotearoa. Over a week we would take in three very different forests: the northern Waitawheta forest, Aongatete in the middle and Otanewainuku to the south. We would taking a snapshot of the forest’s health in one week! Donning binoculars and tramping boots as essential equipment for my new role as “forest doctor,” I set off.

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Visitors to Kaimai Mamaku enjoy the spectacular Twin Bluffs kauri. w w w. f o re s t a n d b i rd . o r g . n z

Otanewainuku

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HE third walk was in the southernmost part of the Kaimai Mamaku forest, at Otanewainuku. Like Waitawheta, this forest is growing on soil derived from andesite and here it is covered with ash layers from long-ago volcanic activity. This makes it very fertile and suitable for root growth and it supports tall, dense forest of rimu and tawa.

The hour-long rimu loop walk gives you a good glimpse of the giant trees that tower above the lush undergrowth where the many palatable ferns and shrubs show that deer numbers are low.

The quality of the forest is a tribute to the care it has received.

This area wasn’t logged and 1080 pest control in the 1990s by the Department of Conservation has been followed up with ongoing work by the Otanewainuku Kiwi Trust. For the last six years they have

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Kaimai Mamaku Forest Park Paeroa

Waikino

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Waihi

Waihi Beach

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Karangahake Waimata

Tirehia

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Mangaiti

Te Aroha Katikati

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Wairakau

Tau ran ga

Aongatete

Ha rbo ur

Gordon

Te Puna e ang ai R Kaim

HE central Kaimai forest is best seen by hitting the long loop trail at Aongatete, south of Katikati. Moving further south, the volcanic rock that covers the forest floor is a less fertile variety (rhyolite).

Although the forest is warm enough to support puriri and kohekohe, both rich sources of food for the birds, there is no kauri here, so the forest was never systematically logged.

Dominated by rimu and tawa, heavy browsing by deer and possums has damaged the canopy trees, and removed seedlings and palatable species like fuchsia and kamahi. Fallen trees now let in the sunshine, to create conditions favouring inedible, sun-loving species like tanekaha, miro and totara.

Two-and-a-half years of pest control by the Aongatete Forest Restoration Trust is beginning to showing its value. New growth sprouted on some damaged trees, kiekie fruit, a favourite of rats and possums, was ripening and birdsong rang from the trees. The ripe tawa berries lay uneaten on the ground, proof that rat numbers were low and, when we paused to look at a rat bait station a robin hopped up to our feet.

Rats are very hard on forest birds, eating their eggs, chicks and even the parent birds sitting on the nest, so we were delighted to see a fantail with a fledgling in tow, even through the young bird was a cuckoo! Like its fellow dupes the grey warbler, tomtit and silvereye, fantails are known to mistakenly nurse the shining cuckoo’s chicks.

As we walked to higher altitudes, puriri and kohekohe gave way to tawa and rimu and then tanekaha, tawari and totara. It takes about two-and-a-half hours to complete this greatly varied walk, crossing a number of small streams. Back at the Aongatete Lodge, another short track leads to a fine swimming hole, great to recover from the day’s exertion.

DOC

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DOC

Aongatete

Co rom an de l Ra ng e

IRST up was the lowland forest close to Waihi – Waitawheta Forest, whose fertile soils derived from the andesite volcanoes have created a rich array of dramatic cliffs and crags. Before extensive logging the fertile soils once supported great forests of kauri, rimu and tawa with kahikatea on the alluvial plains. Logging and farming have seen the lofty kahikatea replaced by pasture along the river but on the steeper slopes a young forest is regenerating.

Big rimu trees and the magnificent bluff stream kauri grow in sites which were too difficult to log and act as a nursery for the young forest and rimu and kauri seedlings. A few pate and hen-and-chicken ferns in the under storey can be found but the scarcity of many palatable species suggests that some deer and many possums are present. Gnawed tawa berries strewn on the forest floor attest to the presence of rats. I saw or heard few birds but it was their moulting time and the day was hot and sunny.

Okauia

a

ng

ra

u Ta Lower Kaimai

Rod Morris

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been undertaking pest control – and it shows. The plants are burgeoning and the wildlife is increasing.

Here we saw and heard more birds than in the other forests, especially the robins. Robins are rare or lost from many mainland forests and their presence at Otanewainuku, and their reappearance at Aongatete, shows just what pest control can achieve.

Our Kaimai forests are splendid in their beauty and variety.

They are also our water catchment forests, our bulwark against storms and flash floods and the biggest “carbon sink” we have in the Bay of Plenty, contributing to efforts to redress the harm caused by New Zealand’s carbon emissions. They deserve our care. They need widespread pest control.

Hopefully we can give back to our Kaimai Mamaku forests the level of care that they need to maintain good health. And hopefully when I return for a follow-up “health check” in future years, we will have achieved those things that will see our “patient” once again thriving.

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DOC

Waitawheta

N

5

Mamaku Plateau 0

5

10km

Rotoru

a

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North Island robin – Toutouwai (Petroica longpipes)

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ESPITE its name, the North Island robin is not related to its European namesake, the red-breasted robin. It is also now considered to be a separate species from the South Island robin (Petroica australis) and Stewart Island robin (P australis rakiura).

The North Island robin is known for its fearless and friendly demeanour, and it often comes very close to human visitors to the forest, even perching on their head or boot. It will also be familiar to many trampers who will have heard its long, loud call, with its distinctive falling notes.

The robin is about the size of a sparrow, weighing 35 grams and measuring 18 centimetres in length. The oldest known robin was 16 years old but most have a much shorter lifespan. Robins feed on insects, grubs and worms on the forest floor.

North Island robins form pair bonds which usually last year after year.

They breed from September to February, incubating 2-3 eggs at a time, and raising two or even three broods in a season. The female does all the incubating but is fed on the nest by the male, who also helps rear the chicks.

Once widespread through the North Island, the robin is now restricted to the central North Island and its distribution is patchy, found mainly in mature beech or podocarp forest and in manuka/kanuka. Its population has been reduced by predation by introduced pests, but it has fared better in predator-free offshore and mainland islands.

North Island robin – flourishing where pest control is in place.

How you can help • Visit the forest and see and hear for yourself what we have – and what is missing!

• Support care groups in your area.

• Protect your own forest remnants and stream edges from introduced pests.

• Talk to local MPs and councillors – ask them to support pest control and community conservation initiatives.

Al Flemming

• Spread the word – let others know abut the campaign.

• Add your name to our list of Kaimai supporters – email a.fleming@forestandbird.org.nz or contact your local branch.

Dairy cattle graze against the backdrop of the Kaimai Ranges.

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Forest & Bird

Kiekie – a favourite of possums

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pacificplaces

New Caledonia’s ghost of the forest New Caledonia’s national emblem, the kagu, is under serious threat – but conservationists hope they can bring this endearing bird back from the brink of extinction.

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HE kagu (Rhynochetos jubatus) is a flightless bird about the size of a chicken that lives in the forests of New Caledonia – it is known as “the ghost of the forest” due to its pale ash-grey colouring. But – much like New Zealand’s national bird, the kiwi – the kagu is declining in numbers and urgent action is needed to ensure its survival.

Found nowhere else but New Caledonia, the kagu’s numbers have steadily declined since the 19th Century, due to deforestation and predation by introduced species. Its numbers are now estimated at just 250-1000, and it is listed as endangered on the World Conservation Union (IUCN) Red List of species threatened with extinction.

Like the kiwi, the kagu is particularly threatened by predation by dogs – a single dog loose in a forest area can wipe out or severely reduce isolated populations of these defenceless birds.

As in New Zealand, New Caledonia has no native mammals except bats, meaning

birds like the kagu have no means of defence against the new, predatory arrivals. Unlike some flightless birds, the kagu still has large wings, but they lack the musculature needed for flight.

Again like the kiwi, the kagu’s groundnesting habits make it particularly vulnerable to predation. Kagu form pairs that last their lifetime of at least 20 years, and couples take turns to incubate a single egg and then raise the chick in an unconcealed nest that is little more than a pile of sticks on the ground.

In yet another parallel to the kiwi, the kagu feeds among the leaf litter and rotten logs of the forest floor, where it feeds on insects, worms, snails and lizards, again increasing its risk of predation.

The birds are described as “naïve” – they show no fear of humans and sometimes even jump on cars to look at their reflection in the windscreen, mistaking it for another bird. Their fearless nature has contributed to their

Conservation Research New Caledonia

Conservation Research New Caledonia

The kagu chick, in a nest that is little more than a pile of sticks on the ground, is highly vulnerable to predation.

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Kagu

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Conservation Research New Caledonia

Kagu form life-long pair bonds and perform “duets” that can last 15 minutes.

Conservation Research New Caledonia

The kagu’s inquisitive, fearless nature can get it into trouble.

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decline as they have no instinct to flee from predators. When attacked they usually flatten themselves on the ground, making them easy targets.

On the positive side, the kagu’s inquisitive and endearing character has made it greatly loved in New Caledonia.

As the national emblem, its silhouette with its distinctive feathered crest is seen on many business logos, on the currency and on stamps. Local people are excited about efforts to save “their” kagu.

Its loud and distinctive song may also help its survival by securing its place in the hearts of locals – the kagu’s vocal repertoire includes barking, hissing and rattling, and morning duets sung by kagu pairs can last 15 minutes. As New Caledonian conservationist Sophie Rouys says “Kagus are stunningly beautiful and the New Caledonian forests wouldn’t be the same without the echo of their morning song.”

In 2008 Rouys coordinated the creation of a Kagu Recovery Plan on behalf of the Societe Caledonienne d’Ornithologie (the BirdLife affiliate in New Caledonia) that will hopefully set the kagu on the road to recovery over the next decade.

The recovery plan is the result of many environmental groups and funded by Conservation International, and sets out long-term objectives – for the next 100 years – for the kagu’s recovery.

A proposed project leading from the plan has three main goals: to assess and monitor kagu populations in three priority areas; to educate and involve the community in their protection; and to encourage decision-makers to support conservation measures that will ensure the kagu’s recovery.

Any progress will require the support of local communities, who hold land rights over the remaining kagu forest habitat, and will be closely involved in conservation work. Scientific research will help fill in the gaps in what is known about the kagu’s remaining populations.

An awareness “toolkit” including posters, leaflets and stickers, and publicity in local media and through schools, will help raise awareness among communities about the kagu’s plight and how they can help protect them – for example by controlling dogs in areas where kagu are found.

Long-term it is hoped that the Kagu Recovery Plan’s success will be seen with the down-listing of the kagu from “endangered” to “vulnerable” on the Red List. If that can be achieved then the “ghost of the forest” will remain a real, living bird, and not just a ghost of an extinct bird that lives only in memory and photographs. w w w. f o re s t a n d b i rd . o r g . n z

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A journey round our backyard

Chloe Rosenberg

Erin Anson and Rod Morris discover a world of wildlife in their own garden.

Rod Morris and Erin Anson check the possum traps in their backyard wilderness on the Otago Peninsula.

Rod Morris

Adult male bellbird feeding on yellow rata.

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T’S a popular misconception among nontravelers that people who do travel find their inspiration overseas, rather than at home.

Charles Darwin spent only five years traveling. The rest of his life was largely spent contemplating what he had seen at the family home in Kent. Here he conducted experiments and wrote in peaceful solitude, greatly inspired by the wonders of his own

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garden. He developed into the world’s greatest scientist in his own garden, not on the Galapagos Islands.

Our own garden is a few miles out of Dunedin on the warm north-facing slopes of the Otago Peninsula, overlooking the harbour. It is a quarter acre of mostly regenerating mahoe/ngaio scrub, with about six “old man” kowhai – survivors of the original forest cover – and one tall smallleafed ribbonwood. Not the greatest patch of “forest” in the world, but we call it home, and over the past 10 years we have tried to take care of it, largely by trial and error.

As gardeners we began with the obvious things: removing introduced weeds such as ivy and banana passionfruit smothering the regenerating mahoe canopy, and taking out blackberry and aluminium weed that was choking native ferns on the forest floor.

We removed the hawthorn, elderberry and sycamore trees that were beginning to take over the canopy.

We quickly learned it wasn’t much use controlling introduced weeds alone if we didn’t tackle animal pests as well – in fact some pests were working collaboratively to w w w. f o re s t a n d b i rd . o r g . n z

Rod Morris

Kereru closely guard their single egg but their vigilance is not enough to deter possums from raiding their nests.

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the children’s pets were kept. We discovered a stream of rats, mice and possums was visiting our pets after dark, and helping themselves to the smorgasbord of cat food, chook wheat and guinea pig pellets that our pets left uneaten. To combat our unwelcome dinner guests we reduced our pet numbers and put food (and household compost) in pest-proof containers.

Rather than unwittingly putting food out for pests, we specifically put it out for native birds. We supply sugar water not just in winter, but year-round to provide continuity between flowering times of nectar-producing native trees like kowhai and pohutukawa, as well as eucalypts and other exotics, for the native honey-eaters like tui and bellbirds.

Many of our neighbours do the same, and tui are choosing to stay and nest.

Ten years ago there were no resident tui, although bellbirds always bred here. Now we have three established tui pairs, and four

or five tui fledglings can be parked at any of the sugar feeders while the parents gather insects to feed their youngsters.

We have observed tui parents driving out resident thrush and blackbird families, scolding neighbourhood cats, and catching significant numbers of wasps and blowflies to feed their chicks.

Three pairs of kereru also nest and raise chicks in the neighbourhood. Kereru lay only a single egg, and are very good parents, closely guarding their developing chick.

However, possums are a significant threat to kereru as they are large enough to push even a determined kereru off its nest to get at the chick.

After 10 years of possum trapping on our property we still average about five possums a month as they wander in from neighbouring areas. A recent initiative may see possum control extended peninsulawide – we certainly hope so.

Old macrocarpas are stand-ins for matai, miro, rimu and totara once found on Otago Peninsula.

Rod Morris

outwit us. As fast as we pulled out banana passion fruit, the possums deposited fresh seed in their droppings.

Possums would eat the hawthorn berries in autumn and re-infect the ground, and all winter long its deciduous “gaps” let in light and encouraged a fresh crop of passionfruit seedlings to sprout and race for the canopy before it closed over again in the spring.

Removing the hawthorn and planting fastgrowing ngaio filled the gaps, and we began removing the possums.

Elsewhere in the bush, European starlings were distributing elderberry in a similar way. Once the elderberry trees were removed, the starlings stopped visiting us in autumn.

Once we began to get on top of possum numbers, ngaio seedlings appeared everywhere in the bush – where once the canopy was mainly mahoe, we now have much more ngaio.

A possum scientist at Invermay, Bernie McLeod, told us possums starve in captivity if they are fed only mahoe – perhaps the only reason our bush canopy was mahoe at first was because it was the only native tree the possums weren’t eating!

We started to wonder about the kowhai, too. Dunedin nurseryman Philip Dunn told us that every winter ship rats completely defoliated all the kowhai seedlings growing in his tunnel houses.

Once we started poisoning ship rats large numbers of kowhai seedlings began appearing in the bush – some are nearly two metres high now, and will probably become a significant feature of the canopy again.

With predator control slowly taking effect in the bush it seemed that everywhere was now pest-free – except the areas near where

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It is not just the more obvious native species such as birds that have gained from our efforts – the smaller native creatures are also bouncing back. Where once there was aluminium weed, our forest floor is now covered in several native fern species, including the hounds tongue fern. This provides shelter for a variety of native moths whose larvae feed on ferns.

Rather than drain a natural seepage area on our property, we’ve planted native carex and sedges and it is now home to a large and colourful Aoraia moth which comes tapping on our windows on moist autumn evenings, a distinctive wingless native crane fly, and a large species of bush dragonfly.

In an area of fallen timber in the bush lives a colony of peripatus (velvet worms) and our modest urban “forest” supports several species of stick insect, including the largest found in New Zealand, which we find clinging to the Lophomyrtus bush.

Five native butterfly species – two species of copper butterfly, a little blue, the red admiral and a tussock butterfly – visit us in summer if we don’t mow the lawns too closely, and allow the daisies and dandelion “weeds” to flower.

Otago Peninsula is a significant stronghold for the red admiral butterfly.

Good numbers of them feed on the nectar from the ribbonwood and kowhai, as well as exotic buddleia and scabiosa in the garden, while a small patch of native tree nettle has become home to red admiral caterpillars.

In summer native kowhai moth caterpillars almost defoliate the old man

kowhai, but their timely abundance provides a popular food source for young shining cuckoos (as many as four in one tree), warblers, bellbirds, tui and waxeyes.

Along the top edge of our property a row of old macrocarpas provide potential nest sites for kereru, tui, bellbirds, little owl and white-faced heron and serve as winter shelter for stick insects and hibernating red admiral butterflies.

They are “stand ins” for the matai, miro, rimu, and totara which once supported forest birds in this area. We treat them as “honorary podocarps” towering above the regenerating mahoe, ngaio and kowhai, providing shelter from winter gales.

For us, these days the ultimate wildlife experience can be found close to home, watching a gaggle of young tui squabbling over who had last turn at the sugar water, or a red admiral on the window sill. Small rewards, but well worth the time and effort.

When we travelled some years ago, we briefly visited Sir David Attenborough at his home in Surrey, and he talked more enthusiastically about the English robins and wrens in his garden than he did about blue whales or mountain gorillas seen on his travels.

You may be surprised to learn that our own leading conservationists like Don Merton are just as concerned about the introduced wasps killing the monarch butterflies in their garden as they are about the kakapo. Travel to exotic, far-flung destinations has its own rewards, but some of life’s greatest wonders can be found in your own backyard.

Rod Morris

Red admiral feeding on Lacebark flowers

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TG: National’s conservation policy clearly outlines our plans. We aim to boost community conservation, encourage private conservation and improve pest control.

F&B: How does the current world economic situation affect the way you will deal with conservation issues?

Meet the minister

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HE appointment of Tim Groser as Conservation Minister in the new National Government came as a surprise to many – not least the minister himself. Forest & Bird caught up with him to see how he has been getting his head around the portfolio.

F&B: Were you expecting to get the Conservation portfolio or was it a surprise?

TG: I wasn’t expecting it, and it came as a very pleasant surprise. After just a few months in the role I have had the opportunity to meet many passionate conservationists and see firsthand the valuable work DOC and others are undertaking.

F&B: Your other portfolios, Foreign Affairs and Trade, haven’t been teamed with Conservation before – how do you see them working together?

TG: I see my main portfolios as being integrally linked – maintaining New Zealand’s unique flora and fauna, contributing to economic growth, and leading the world in sustainably and efficiently produced and transported products.

F&B: What has been your own experience of wildlife, conservation and the outdoors?

TG: I was lucky enough to have had a two-week tour of public conservation land when I started in my role as Minister. I was amazed by the sheer beauty of some places I visited. One thing that came through very strongly is that DOC can only do its job well when it engages with the wider community on issues such as weed control and native species conservation, and I was able to see first-hand many examples of this engagement working well. I was a keen tramper in my

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youth – mainly in the Tararuas.

Today I am a keen scuba diver and motorbike rider – my problem now is finding enough time for these activities.

F&B: What is your favourite New Zealand native animal and plant (and reason for your choice)?

TG: I am constantly amazed by New Zealand’s unique natural biodiversity. I don’t have a particular favourite, but I am becoming increasingly adept at handling kiwi for release into the wild. I was extremely pleased recently to release the first of nine little spotted kiwi on to pestfree Motuihe Island – there was a real feeling of community spirit and hope for the continued survival of the little kiwi.

TG: I readily advocate for my portfolios around the Cabinet table.

F&B: How will you balance working on conservation issues at home with the demands of your other ministerial jobs which require you to be frequently away from New Zealand?

TG: Conservation is a priority for National and our principles are clear. We believe in sustainable resource use, that economic growth and improving the environment can and must go hand in hand, that good science is essential to quality environmental decision-making, and that New Zealanders have a unique birthright to access and enjoy our special places.

TG: My other ministerial responsibilities will take me out of the country from time to time. Early on it became clear that I would not be able to devote as much time to conservation as I would otherwise have been able to, so the solution was to appoint an associate – Kate Wilkinson.

F&B: Will you push for creation of new marine reserves?

TG: The Marine Reserves Bill was tabled with the Select Committee under the previous TG: Where I live, in Titirangi – it’s Government back in 2000 and has made little progress since. the place I draw on for rest and inspiration. From my home, I can The Government intends to advance this bill during the first walk through regenerating kauri term in office. forest and nikau palms down to estuary mudflats where I can see F&B: What is your view on the use of 1080 to control introwater and bush-covered headlands. Tui and kereru have made duced pests? their home in the area and I can TG: 1080 is an important tool hear moreporks calling at night. in the efforts to eliminate TB It is a fantastic respite from a and control the possum plague. busy week at Parliament.

We pushed for the independ-

TG: I believe the next step forward for conserving our unique flora and fauna is to encourage the initiatives of thousands of volunteers and dozens of organisations in community conservation projects. We must also remove disincentives to landowners seeking to improve their land management. This will be addressed in changes we are making to the RMA. F&B: And how will you as minister attempt to address them?

F&B: Can Forest & Bird members count on you to advocate around the Cabinet table for conservation if its interests conflict with actions proposed by fellow ministers?

TG: Conservation makes a strong contribution to the economy and the Government’s priorities will be to focus the areas of greatest potential impact, such as community conservation partnerships, tourism and Maori economic development.

F&B: Where is your favourite place in New Zealand?

F&B: What are the three most urgent conservation issues in New Zealand?

mental funding for the coming year is being considered as part of the Budget process.

ent ERMA review of 1080 and broadly agree with its 2007 conclusions and tighter restrictions on the use of 1080. There are risks associated with 1080 and, as the largest user in the world; we need to go to extra effort to understand the health and environmental risks and to ensure these are carefully managed. We are keen to develop alternatives to 1080, including the development of new technologies.

F&B: Can you commit to maintaining or increasing funding to the Department of Conservation?

TG: All ministerial and depart-

F&B: Conservation hasn’t traditionally been viewed as a high priority for National – why should people trust you and your party to support conservation issues?

F&B: How well do you know your parliamentary colleagues in the Green Party? Can you see potential for a relationship between National and the Greens similar to National’s relationship with the Maori Party?

TG: The Government has been meeting with the Greens to discuss a number of policy matters.

F&B: What kind of self-drive ministerial car do you have and how good is its fuel efficiency and emissions?

TG: For security reasons, I am unable to provide information about my individual self-drive vehicle. A number of criteria are taken into account when purchasing self- drive vehicles, including fuel efficiency.

F&B: Your job requires you to undertake frequent air travel – do you do anything to offset the carbon emissions?

TG: Yes. Carbon credits are purchased for all Ministerial travel.

F&B: Have your views on conservation changed in the last 20 years, and do your children’s views influence your own?

TG: My views have changed a great deal, from taking the countryside and flora and fauna for granted as a fixed feature, to a very different view that it needs active management.

F O R E S T & B I R D • M AY 2 0 0 9

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Marine protection â&#x20AC;&#x201C; the The biological richness and little-modified landscapes of the West Coast mean that 86 per cent of the region is deservedly designated as public conservation land â&#x20AC;&#x201C; yet not a single hectare of the marine area off its coast enjoys equivalent protection. Eugenie Sage looks at progress towards changing that.

4 0 F O R E S T & B I R D â&#x20AC;˘ M AY 2 0 0 9

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S waves sweep the sand, tourists gather to watch an orangered sun slide into the sea, and another long meeting ends in Hokitika, the raucous seagulls are oblivious to efforts to safeguard some of their habitat.

Beginning late this month the West Coast Marine Protection Forum will seek public comment on nine proposed inshore marine protected areas. The proposals are the result of more than four years of gathering information about the West Coast marine w w w. f o re s t a n d b i rd . o r g . n z

Western front environment, public meetings, and much discussion about how to best apply the Government’s Marine Protected Areas policy.

The policy aims to help achieve the objectives of the New Zealand Biodiversity Strategy including that, “New Zealand’s natural marine habitats and ecosystems are maintained in a healthy functioning state” and “A full range of marine habitats and ecosystems representative of New Zealand’s marine biodiversity is protected.”

The 2005 policy emphasises a regional approach to marine w w w. f o re s t a n d b i rd . o r g . n z

Kerin Welford

protection instead of ad hoc applications for single marine reserves which slowed progress towards the Biodiversity Strategy’s goal of protection of 10 per cent of New Zealand’s marine area by 2010.

Under the policy forums will be set up to establish what protected areas should be established.

The West Coast Marine Protection Forum is the first mainland example of this regional approach. Chaired by Buller farmer and businessman Bruce Hamilton and assisted by the Department of Conservation and Ministry of Fisheries, the forum’s 14 members represent tangata whenua, commercial and recreational fishing, tourism, community, local government and environmental interests.

Four primary protected areas are proposed at Kahurangi, Punakaiki, Okarito and the Gorge River in South Westland, with five small educational or showcase sites designed to be more accessible to the public.

Collectively the sites would protect 9 per cent or 96,484 hectares of the West Coast inshore marine environment with 77,530ha proposed as “no take” marine reserves.

The Fisheries Act closures proposed for the remaining 18,954ha would allow recreational fishing and commercial methods such as long-lining, but prohibit other fishing methods including trawling, Danish seining and dredging which have an impact on the seabed.

The four primary sites cover 15 of the region’s 17 recorded inshore habitat types, and are adjacent to large areas of national park (Kahurangi, Paparoa and Westland/Tai Poutini) or public conservation land.

The proposed 66,450ha Kahurangi Marine Reserve includes the most extensive rocky reefs in the northern West Coast and is interspersed by sandy and rocky beaches. It extends across the continental shelf to deep sub-tidal mud and sand habitat on the Challenger Plateau 12 nautical miles offshore.

This would make it New Zealand’s third largest marine reserve after the Kermadec Islands and Auckland Islands, and the largest reserve off the mainland.

The 3887ha Punakaiki site includes a river mouth, tidal lagoon, gravelly and cobble beaches, bedrock coasts and sandy seabed out to two nautical miles offshore and to depths of about 20 metres. The proposed marine reserve encloses two areas where fishing, except for methods which have impact on the seabed, could occur.

The proposed 13,768ha Okarito Marine Protected Area includes the northern part of Okarito Lagoon as a marine reserve. A mix of Fisheries Act closures and marine reserve status is proposed for F O R E S T & B I R D • M AY 2 0 0 9

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highly natural river mouths, gravelly beaches, boulder moraine headlands, and sand and mud seabed on a coastline which reflects the area’s glacial history and intense wave action.

The “jigsaw” boundaries of the 12,213ha Gorge Marine Protected Area result from the need to stay within waters less than 200m deep and the desire to avoid a trawling ground north of Gorge River. The site includes areas of bedrock and boulder coast with small sandy beaches and deep rocky and boulder seabed adjacent to South Westland’s underwater canyons. The protection of these biologically rich canyons has been left to a future offshore Marine Protected Area process involving deepwater fisheries.

Educational sites intended to showcase marine habitats and biodiversity are also proposed for Tauranga Bay, Mahinapua Creek/ Tuwharewhare, Ship Creek, Hapuka Estuary and Jackson Head.

These sites are already well visited by schools, tourists and locals, and most have good public access and existing visitor facilities. Some marine species such as whitebait, fur seals and tawaki/Fiordland crested penguins are already protected at these sites but their habitats are not.

The package of nine proposed Marine Protected Areas represents a compromise and is far less than Forest & Bird

Kahurangi

Punakaiki

Proposed Marine Reserve

Proposed Marine Protected area

Okarito

Gorge

initially sought. However, given that at the forum’s first meetings in 2005, fishers bridled at the mere mention of marine reserves and environmental advocates responded similarly to comments about the need to maximise the area available for fishing, what has been agreed so far shows what a collaborative process can achieve.

When the forum has considered public submissions and any potential changes to site location and boundaries, it will make recommendations to the ministers of conservation and fisheries later this year.

For more information about the West Coast Marine Protection Forum go to www.westmarine.org.nz

Kerin Welford

Eugenie Sage is a member of the West Coast Marine Protection Forum

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Places for our ocean wanderers Craig McKenzie

New Zealand’s ocean territory is home to a third of the world’s seabirds, many of them under threat and found nowhere else.

Helen Bain looks at a proposal to define areas to help protect them.

Southern royal albatrosses

F

OREST & Bird is at the forefront of work to set up a network of sites critical for the long-term viability of seabird populations. These sites, known as Important Bird Areas, are a significant step towards the conservation and sustainable management of our most vulnerable – and magnificent – seabirds.

Protecting New Zealand’s seabirds is a big job. Our Exclusive Economic Zone is the fourth largest in the world, covering 1.7 million square kilometres, reaching from the tropical north to the freezing sub-Antarctic in the south, including diverse habitats ranging from the 10-kilometre-deep Kermadec Trench w w w. f o re s t a n d b i rd . o r g . n z

to shallow coastal estuaries.

This vast ocean area is home to a large number of seabirds – while many breed in dense colonies on land, they range far across the oceans to forage for food, some travelling thousands of kilometres and not touching land for years at a stretch.

These include many of the world’s albatrosses – New Zealand is known as the albatross capital of the world, with 11 species of albatross breeding in our EEZ, including eight that are listed as globally threatened.

In total we have information on 76 species of seabirds in this area, including 33 species that are considered vulnerable,

endangered or critically threatened. The 10 areas proposed by Forest & Bird as Important Bird Areas are the key feeding areas for these species, mainly around the continental shelf of New Zealand.

Seabirds such as Antipodean, northern and southern royal, Campbell, Chatham, Salvin’s, Buller’s and grey-headed albatrosses, white-chinned, black and Westland petrels, rockhopper and yelloweyed penguins, Buller’s shearwaters, Pitt Island, Auckland, Campbell and Bounty shags are all identified as threatened species. The proposed Important Bird Areas identify areas critical to these species’ survival.

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Ministry of Fisheries

Seabirds are attracted by fishing vessels, making them vulnerable to by-catch deaths

Ministry of Fisheries

Thousands of seabirds are killed as by-catch in New Zealand fisheries.

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The 10 Important Bird Areas proposed for New Zealand’s EEZ surround much of the mainland and our offshore islands, as well as the sub-Antarctic Campbell and Auckland Islands, the Chathams to the east, and the Kermadecs to the north.

The lack of information about many of our seabird species makes establishing protection more challenging – 58 of the 76 species studied are described as “data deficient” for proper analysis. For example, little is known about the distribution at sea of the most critically endangered species of seabird in New Zealand, such as Chatham Island taiko and Chatham shag, so they couldn’t be included in the analysis.

This raises the question of whether the zones go far enough to protect these littleknown species by identifying the areas where they need greater protection. Forest & Bird will be working with BirdLife International and government agencies to make sure key gaps in the data are addressed.

However, the distribution of 21 of the 76 species studied is relatively well known (and overlap extensively) so Forest & Bird is confident that the main areas where seabirds range at sea are covered.

The areas are set up using internationally accepted criteria under the leadership of BirdLife International – in essence they aim to provide a network of places of significance for the conservation of birds.

Important Bird Areas are a wellestablished conservation tool worldwide on both land and in marine areas – New Zealand and the Pacific are among the last regions to implement them. More than 2000 Important Bird Areas have been proposed around the world for the protection of seabirds in more than 150 countries.

In New Zealand’s EEZ they will serve as a practical conservation tool to protect our most special and at-risk seabirds.

Most threats to seabirds come from their interaction with human activities, most notably fishing. Thousands of seabirds, including albatrosses, are killed as by-catch each year in New Zealand fisheries, including more than 1200 albatrosses that are killed in our trawl and long-line fisheries.

Better management and use of measures which are proven to reduce by-catch would dramatically reduce seabird deaths.

Forest & Bird Seabird Advocate Susan Waugh, who has drafted the proposal to set up the Important Bird Areas for seabirds in New Zealand, says the analysis shows that New Zealand’s EEZ is an extremely important area for seabird conservation worldwide.

Although Important Bird Areas don’t provide a legal basis for protection, they provide an objective analysis that can be used to work with the Government to define where we should establish protected areas, or other protection measures such as fisheries regulations, to better protect seabirds. w w w. f o re s t a n d b i rd . o r g . n z

Graham Robertson

Seabirds on the rise HE Chatham Rise is an elongated undersea platform that stretches some 1000 kilometres between the New Zealand mainland eastwards to beyond the Chatham Islands.

The water along the rise is no more than 1000 metres deep – much shallower than the deep trenches to the north and south. Here warm sub-tropical waters from the north meet cold sub-Antarctic waters, creating ideal conditions for plankton, and the marine life which feeds on them. In turn this makes the area highly attractive to seabirds – and commercial fisheries.

The Chatham Rise is renowned for the diversity and concentration of seabirds which breed here and in the sub-Antarctic islands, and forage along the Chatham Rise.

The Important Bird Area proposed by Forest & Bird here includes Chatham, northern and southern royal and Antipodean albatrosses, white-chinned petrels and Pitt Island shags.

The most highly threatened of these

180∞

170∞E

T

Chatham albatross (Thalassarche eremita), The Pyramid, Chatham Islands

species is the Chatham albatross (Talassarche eremita) which is listed as critically endangered by the IUCN (World Conservation Union).

It is a darkly handsome bird, with a dark grey head, dark back and white underparts, and the adult’s beak is bright yellow.

The Chatham albatross doesn’t breed till the age of seven, at a single site on a tiny islet in the Chathams, Pyramid Rock, and its population is estimated at about 11,000 adult birds, with about 5000 “active” nests.

During the breeding season, from September to April, the Chatham albatross feeds on squid, fish and krill, foraging almost entirely in the New Zealand EEZ around the Chatham Islands. It then migrates across the Pacific to spend the southern winter in the EEZs of Peru and Chile, before returning to the breeding colony in July-August. Tracked birds have made the incredible journey to the South American coast in just 11-30 days.

Its low population, single breeding site and the fact that its foraging area coincides

Chatham Rise

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Chatham Islands

with trawl and long-line fishing areas, put the Chatham albatross’s future in doubt.

In 2007 a Government observer recorded 12 Chatham albatrosses and 22 Salvin’s albatrosses caught by a single long-line vessel fishing for ling and blue-nose – an 30∞ S led the Government to incident which introduce tougher regulations to try to reduce by-catch of seabirds.

It is hoped that the IBA proposed for the Chatham Rise will help further focus Government, fishing industry and conservation organisations’ efforts to reduce seabird deaths in our fisheries here. Then, perhaps, seabirds really will be on the rise on the Chatham Rise.

Forest & Bird Albatross Appeal Forest & Bird’s winter appeal this year will help support conservation efforts to protect our ocean wanderers, the albatrosses. As the 40∞S seabird capital of the world, home to 11 species of albatross, New Zealand has a key role to play in advocating for better protection of these magnificent seabirds from threats such as fisheries by-catch.

You can do your bit by donating generously to our appeal – look out for the Albatross Appeal envelope in your letterbox in June.

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VIPs – Very Important Places

Vivien Chartendrault

Helen Bain looks at work being done in Fiji to set up areas to protect the islands’ unique birdlife.

Vitu Levu Southern Highlands. Protection of forest habitat is vital for conservation of Fiji’s birdlife.

T

HE concept is simple: look after the places where birds

landmass, and expects to add at least half a dozen more once

live, and you will look after everything else.

they have more information.

The actual acronym used by conservationists for these

The sites are chosen because they are areas where birds

Very Important Places is not VIPs, but IBAs: Important Bird

that are threatened or have restricted ranges are found. In Fiji

Areas.

11 bird species are threatened with extinction and another six

BirdLife International Pacific Partnership is introducing the concept to Fiji to help preserve some of its rarest and most threatened birds, such as the Fiji petrel – which was not seen for more than a century before its rediscovery in the 1980s.

An Important Bird Area is an internationally recognised site

are classified by the IUCN (World Conservation Union) as “near threatened”.

Most of the IBAs are forested areas, but others aim to protect Fiji’s rare seabirds, such as Fiji and collared petrels, black noddies, red-footed boobies and lesser frigate birds. Both

for the conservation of birds. It has no legal status, nor does it

forest birds and seabirds are under threat from predation by

force land-owners to conserve the area. What an IBA does do

introduced species such as rats, cats, mongooses and pigs.

is clearly identify the most urgent conservation priorities, build community support and provide a focus for action.

Birds work well as a focus around which to establish

Almost all Fiji was once covered in forest, but half has been cleared for agriculture and timber, and through fires, and much of the remaining forest is degraded and fragmented. Most of the

protection for a number of reasons. First of all, they are easy

birds the IBAs aim to protect are forest species, so protection of

to find. They sing, and can be fairly easily seen and identified.

forest habitat is vital.

Birds are usually well-known and loved in local culture – Fiji’s 87

BirdLife is setting up site support groups, including

species of birds are a core part of its natural heritage and 27 are

landowners, to work towards protecting habitat – mainly forest –

found nowhere else in the world. Like New Zealand, Fiji lacks

in the IBAs to allow the birds to thrive. Senior technical advisor

native mammals – apart from three flying foxes and two types

James Millett says the process is a slow one.

of bat – and its birds are the most colourful and identifiable species among its native wildlife.

So conservation organisation BirdLife Pacific had plenty to

“It takes time to build up relationships and get the confidence of communities, but communities are absolutely critical to success. In the Pacific you just can’t do it without it

work with when setting up IBAs to protect Fiji’s birds. It has

being community-driven. It is always going to be a case of push

identified 14 IBAs so far, ranging in size from three hectares

and pull, because of the financial pressures. Most villages are

to 720 square kilometres, covering a total of 17% of Fiji’s

very rich in natural resources and agricultural produce, but often

4 6 F O R E S T & B I R D • M AY 2 0 0 9

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short of cash money – signing a logging lease can give a short term cash injection.”

However money from logging has brought little benefit to local

Fiji’s birds in peril

gain from potential income connected with IBAs, such as eco-

Fiji is home to many rare and fascinating birds, many of which are found nowhere else, and are under threat from habitat loss and predation by introduced pests. Among the rarest are:

tourism, that can bring sustainable revenue and employment.

Fiji petrel (critically endangered)

communities, as it is often quickly spent and is not invested in social projects where it would bring lasting gains for local people. Conservationists hope that communities will be able to

“Ecosystem services” provided by natural ecosystems, such as drinking water, reduced flood risk, soil conservation, food supply from plants and fish, and natural medicines, are also estimated to be worth Fiji $1 billion a year to the local economy.

Protecting the ecosystems has practical and economic benefits as well as conservation ones.

Setting up IBAs doesn’t mean an end to logging, Millett says.

“While truly protected areas that will never be commercially logged are important, sustainable logging is not catastrophic in itself – the forest grows back. What we are trying to change is unsustainable logging where codes of practice are ignored and later the forest is not allowed to recover and invasive plants take over. Many communities won’t agree to no logging, so we try to protect core areas and encourage best logging practice in others. Logging is a fact of life, so we try to have it done in the best way possible.”

Few areas of Fiji are set aside as conservation areas, and there is very little conservation “infrastructure” in terms of government departments and funding devoted to conservation, leaving much of the task to non-government organisations and communities. The work of identifying and conserving IBAs has been supported by the European Commission and the British Government’s Darwin Initiative, providing crucial funding.

Once IBAs are established conservation work can begin to control predators, and stop their spread to new islands. Already efforts to eradicate rats from islands to protect birdlife are showing success, and have been strongly supported by island communities.

“Fijians are very proud of their land, their resources and their country, and that has been a very strong theme of meetings with communities. We hope that with their support IBAs will be a very successful way of looking after Fiji’s birdlife for future generations of Fijians to enjoy.”

Orange dove – one of Fiji’s most distinctive native birds.

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The Fiji petrel is a small black-brown petrel with a short neck and stout black bill giving it a thickset appearance. It is known to nest only on the island of Gau but forages at sea, probably hundreds of kilometres distance from the island.

It is presumed to nest in burrows high in the interior of the island, but its breeding site has never been discovered.

The Fiji petrel was previously known from a single specimen collected from Gau in 1855 and it was not seen again till 1984. Since then 17 Fiji petrels have been reported as having landed on rooftops in Gau, and a public awareness campaign has educated people about how to look after grounded and injured birds.

Red-throated lorikeet (critically endangered) The red-throated lorikeet is a tiny – just 18cm from the tip of its beak to the end of its tail – green forest bird with red throat and thighs.

It lives in mature forest and feeds on nectar.

The last confirmed sighting was in 1993 and recent surveys have failed to find it – it is believed to be on the brink of extinction or may be already extinct. The redthroated lorikeet is believed to be highly vulnerable to predation by ship rats, which were probably responsible for its disappearance from Fiji’s forests.

Long-legged warbler (endangered) The long-legged warbler hadn’t been seen for 109 years till it was rediscovered during a survey by a partnership of conservation organisations. It has since been found at four sites, now designated as IBAs. As a ground bird it is believed that it may be highly vulnerable to predation by rats and mongooses.

The long-legged warbler’s brown plumage, elusive habits and preference for dense, undisturbed forests mean it may have been overlooked in the field and conservationists hope it could be more common than previously thought.

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A river in danger

Chris Todd

Sophie Huber discovers the magic of the Hurunui – and efforts to protect it.

The Hurunui faces threats from hydro development and excessive taking of water for irrigation.

W

Sophie Huber

The gravel bed of the Hurunui provides habitat for a variety of native birds, fish and invertebrates.

48

E sit in the half-dark with the silver ribbons of the Hurunui River weaving across the valley before us. It flows from between steep, bushblanketed slopes to our right, running from its headwaters in the Southern Alps, through the scorched Canterbury landscape and out to the sea.

In silence, soaking up the pristine beauty of the scene, it’s hard to imagine that human intervention could soon change all of this.

On a crisp March afternoon our party has driven up the river to Lake Taylor, which is above the confluence of the north and south branches of the river. After a steep hike over a saddle we come down to the river’s edge and follow the south branch up to Lake Mason where we will camp the night.

Here the golden high country hills slope down to the river valley. The steeper ravines are filled with lush pockets of dense native bush. Sheep and cattle graze across our path and birdlife increases as we near the lake. We pass a group of anglers, thigh deep in the strong current, getting lessons from a local fishing guide.

High country stations lease large tracts of the dry land to either side of us. Water shortages in the Hurunui district are a big issue for farmers here, as it is throughout Canterbury. Every major river in Canterbury w w w. f o re s t a n d b i rd . o r g . n z

Chris Todd

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

An intriguingly spotted berry found along the river.

Sophie Huber

home to 25 species of native fish, including six threatened species, among them the giant kokopu and longfin eel. Fourteen of the native fish species are migratory and the river system plays a vital part in their breeding and life cycles – to which dams would be a major obstacle.

Birds are also prolific in the area. Fiftyeight species have been identified in the Hurunui catchment, 17 of them threatened.

Braided rivers like this one are rare in New Zealand and three of the birds found here depend on the braided river habitat for their survival: the nationally endangered black-fronted tern; the black-billed gull, whose population is in serious decline, and the banded dotterel, which is gradually declining.

Supporters say dams, weirs and largescale taking of water need to be prohibited to preserve the natural state of the river, its wildlife and opportunities for recreation.

It is fully dark as we return to camp over spongy ground; the full moon is reflected on the lake before us and lights a path back to our bush bivvy and milk-powdery cups of tea. We can only hope that the Hurunui will be protected for others to enjoy it as we have.

Sophie Huber

The Hurunui is popular with recreational users such as kayakers, rafters and fishers.

Intricate fungi discovered on the trip.

A group of walkers takes a break to enjoy the scenery along the Hurunui.

Sophie Huber

(with the exception of the Clarence) has water takes, dams or diversions, and many water sources have been sucked dry. It is hardly surprising that a consortium of irrigators, farmers and power companies are in the midst of a project to harvest the healthy flows of this river too.

Forest & Bird’s South Island conservation manager Chris Todd has arranged our overnight trip to visit a spot where water resources are in high demand.

A few weeks after our trip a special tribunal began hearing the case for a Water Conservation Order to be made on the Hurunui River. In August 2007 Fish and Game and the New Zealand Recreational Canoeing Association applied for the order in response to a proposal to build a weir on Lake Sumner (from which the Hurunui flows) and a possible dam on the south branch of the river.

In August 2008 the Associate Minister for the Environment appointed the special tribunal to hear and report on the application. Forest & Bird supports the Water Conservation Order and made a submission at the hearing.

A Water Conservation Order would prohibit damming on the main stem of the river, the lakes and the major tributaries above the confluence with the Mandamus River and would effectively give the Hurunui the status of a national park. Under the Resource Management Act the river must be shown to have “outstanding amenity and intrinsic values” to qualify for this level of protection. Supporters think it has.

The river is a favourite with kayakers from Canterbury and beyond. It offers premium white-water kayaking opportunities for a large community of paddlers. In their submissions kayakers have described the varied conditions of this pristine location as being among the best in the world for their sport.

Fishermen also appreciate the rivers and lakes of the Hurunui catchment for their brown trout and salmon populations, spending an estimated 20,000 fishing days there each season. The river catchments are

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49

Hugh Wilson

Gorse wars After two decades, Banks Peninsula’s Hinewai Reserve is winning the battle with the gorse and there’s enough food in the regenerating forest to keep a recently released flock of tui happy, Marina Skinner reports.

H

UGH Wilson strides out from Hinewai Lodge pointing proudly to the wineberries, seven-fingers, kotukutuku (native fuchsia), putaputaweta and mahoe all coming along nicely. Twentyfive years ago this was weed-pocked pasture, and gorse was the only thing you’d have said was doing well.

Brown creepers and bellbirds call as we stop to admire the white flower clusters of Olearia avicenniifolia. We scramble down a bank. Fuchsia Falls spills on to rocks that stay mossy beneath tall fuchsia trees.

Today this stretch of Banks Peninsula is

succeeding as a regenerating forest when for decades it failed as a farm. Manager Hugh Wilson saw a future for the land that many sceptics couldn’t in 1987.

“I am all for saving patches of bush,” a nearby farmer wrote when he heard about Hinewai, “but the thought of starting from scratch on land that is clear enough to be used productively frankly appals me. As for shutting up a whole valley, heaven help us from fools and dreamers.”

That folly and dream has led to more than conservation success. “Hinewai and the Banks Peninsula Track (which passes

The south-east corner of Banks Peninsula showing Hinewai Reserve.

Akar

oa H arbou

r

Akaroa

5 0 F O R E S T & B I R D • M AY 2 0 0 9

Hinewai Reserve

through the reserve) pour more into the local economy than farming this land would,” Wilson says.

Hinewai started as a 109-hectare block above Otanerito Bay on Banks Peninsula, bought by a trust set up by businessman Maurice White. In 1991 the reserve grew tenfold when Otanerito station was added.

Last year the Hinewai empire expanded even further and now totals 1250 hectares.

“We would love to extend the reserve to the sea,” Wilson says, but he’s happy to see other Banks Peninsula landowners protecting patches with QEII National Trust covenants.

Botanist Wilson has a hands-off approach to forest restoration, letting nature follow its own course wherever possible, and about 40 per cent of the reserve is now native bush.

“We’ve never done any planting here – it’s against my principles,” Wilson asserts until the artful plot of Akaroa daisies at his back door is pointed out. “Oh, yes, I’m always lying,” he laughs. “We’ve done a small amount of planting.”

Gorse has proved the most prickly problem – and not for the obvious reasons.

“Our biggest battle is with the regional council [Environment Canterbury],” Wilson says.

The council insists that all landowners keep a 10-metre gorse-free boundary line and remove any gorse on pasture. Hinewai has a dispensation, so gorse scattered around the property no longer has to be removed. But there’s a lot of work maintaining the reserve’s 17-kilometre boundary line.

Hinewai allows most of its gorse to work w w w. f o re s t a n d b i rd . o r g . n z

as a nursery for mixed hardwoods and podocarps. Kanuka and manuka scrub is a good incubator for red and black beech.

“It annoys me that we still get flak about gorse,” Wilson says. “Bush regenerating through exotic gorse is not the perfect situation but it’s a damn sight better than what was there before the gorse. Long term it will shuffle down into the original bush.”

Kanuka and mahoe seedlings are popping up on the boundaries, despite occasional setbacks from neighbours’ spray drift.

Removing grazing animals from pasture is the first step to winning the gorse war.

Stock keep the grass low, allowing the gorse to take off. Without stock, the grass grows high and stops gorse seeds germinating but invading native bracken lets shade-tolerant native shrubs and trees establish.

Until the mid-1990s herbicide was forbidden at Hinewai but now Wilson’s gorsebusting technique is to hand cut the weed and apply a little herbicide to the stump. He never sprays and cut gorse is left as a mulch for the bracken and grass to come through.

“If you disturb the roots, all you are doing is cultivating a new gorse crop.”

Wilson doesn’t do all the work on his own. Paul Newport has been living with his partner Tricia Hewlett at another house on the property since early 2008, and other workers have made huge contributions over the years. Volunteers sometimes lend a hand, and visitors are always welcome at the 12-bed lodge at the reserve.

A vigorous possum-trapping campaign began in August 2005, and after 3½ years almost 10,000 possums have been

Bringing back the birds

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N April about 30 tui from Maud Island in the Marlborough Sounds were released at Hinewai Reserve in a bid to re-establish a permanent Banks Peninsula population.

Hugh Wilson is a hesitant partner in the project initiated by the Banks Peninsula Conservation Trust, Department of Conservation, Ngai Tahu and the Christchurch City Council.

“The whole philosophy of Hinewai is you don’t interfere [with nature].

You still see one or two tui a year [on Banks Peninsula]. My philosophy is you establish the habitat and they will come. It was a dilemma for me. The Banks Peninsula community was very keen to reintroduce tui and they thought Hinewai was the place to do it.”

caught. Bait stations are in place to catch recalcitrants.

Hinewai has joined Banks Peninsula’s tourism drawcards, with up to 6000 walkers a year following the reserve trails, including 2500 people on the Banks Peninsula Track.

Wilson has a good relationship with local Maori at Onuku Marae, and he shares his plants with rongoa Maori practitioners, who use them for tonics and other traditional preparations. Practitioner Heeni Phillips regularly comes from Christchurch to gather the leaves of kawakawa, five finger, red

But Wilson is pragmatic – “I believe in minimal intervention, not no intervention.”

He is not concerned about the newcomers upsetting any ecological balances since tui were relatively common on Banks Peninsula until about 25 years ago. “There will be interaction between tui and bellbirds but there is plenty of food even at the worst times of the year,” he says.

It’s not known why tui disappeared but habitat loss, predators and avian disease are possible reasons. The Banks Peninsula Conservation Trust believes tui stand a better chance on the peninsula now because conditions are improving thanks to forest regeneration and pest control.

mapau and other plants.

Scientists are also frequent visitors, investigating soils, plants and animals. And it’s easier for them to get permission to collect plants at Hinewai than on DOC land.

Wilson conveys a quiet contentment with Hinewai’s progress. “I never would have envisaged a big bush reserve. It has exceeded my dreams. And it quietly grows better all the time. So does the wonderful support base of people who know and love Hinewai and contribute so generously to the reserve.”

Man on a mission

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EADERS of Hinewai’s newsletter, Pipipi, will have an idea of Hugh Wilson’s delicious sense of whimsy – “Hinewai is weathering the current economic crisis remarkably well… Borrowing heavily from the atmospheric sector, we are converting nebulous loans of carbon dioxide into solid assets such as trees, bellbirds, native bees and spiders.”

He’s an inspiration with his dedication to Hinewai and his efforts to keep a dainty carbon footprint.

The committed cyclist hasn’t used a car for about 40 years. For the first five years that he managed Hinewai he split his time between Banks Peninsula and Christchurch, where he continued his botanical writing and illustrating. He’d cycle the seven-hour journey every 10 days.

Banks Peninsula animal ecologist Tina Troup, who’s known Hugh Wilson since she was a child, says he has worked selflessly for Hinewai. “It’s been a huge cost in terms of energy and material comforts,” she says.

“One of the remarkable things about Hugh is that he has the grand vision but he sees that it involves many thousands of small steps.”

“The whole of Banks Peninsula is the richer for having Hugh here,” Troup says. “There are farmers who thought he was nuts but who are now covenanting bush and asking for advice on conservation.

“He’s made enemies, he’s lost a few friends – but that’s a very small number compared with the positive influence he’s had.”

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F O R E S T & B I R D • M AY 2 0 0 9

51

Young Forest&Bird

RANGATAHI

Kiwi: Dick Veich, Ruru: Ian Gill/DOC

Kaipara kaitiaki Jenny Lynch

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EARCHING for kiwi, poisoning and trapping pests, monitoring rare birds and looking at vehicle use on your local beach are activities far removed from the usual

science experiments in high schools.

Kaipara College Sustainability Group is moving well beyond the limits of the school science lab to take part in more than 30 environmental projects in their community in the past year.

The group has focused on restoring biodiversity through predator control at local sites such as the Muriwai Beach gannet colony and Kaipara Forest & Bird’s Colin Kerr-Taylor Reserve. It is committed to developing young kaitiaki who can take part in environmental actions that benefit its community.

Teacher Marty Taylor says he started the group because he saw a significant dislocation between young people and the environment. By getting students outdoors to do bird counts, monitor sand dunes or trap possums they are able to see and feel the impacts of their actions.

The group’s most recent project involved four Year 13 students travelling to Tiritiri Matangi Island in the Hauraki Gulf in March to help capture 59 hihi to be translocated to the Maungatautari Ecological Reserve in Waikato. Students helped

Marty Taylor

capture the birds with mist nests and feeder box traps and

Hihi caught by the students having it’s wing swabbed before translocation to Maungatautari.

assisted with health checks to ensure the birds were fit to be transported.

Student William Sanson, 17, says working with such an endangered species first-hand is an experience that he

Student Sam Smith on the way to Tiritiri Matangi.

realises he is privileged to have. He has found the opportunity to be involved in handson conservation work has increased his understanding and appreciation of the work that goes into protecting New Zealand’s biodiversity.

The lessons learnt from the students’ involvement has also taught them new skills and instilled in them a potentially long-term interest in conservation. Manuka Cliff, 17, says he’s always been a bit of a “greenie” but being part of the sustainability group has inspired him to study biology and environmental studies at university.

Marty Taylor

He says he’s proud of what the group has

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achieved. “Knowing that because you trapped stoats you will increase the chances of kiwi surviving, that’s pretty special.” w w w. f o re s t a n d b i rd . o r g . n z

Urban Sanctuary

Determined to whistle her way into a feathered friendship, or see our only living dinosaur, Mandy Herrick touches down on one of New Zealand’s most important urban sanctuaries, Matiu/Somes Island.

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UST a quick boat ride from Wellington City is an island that is becoming home to a new wave of immigrants – the feathered, reptilian and insect variety.

North Island robins, ornate skinks, forest geckos, a colony of Wellington tree weta, Brothers Island tuatara and red-crowned kakariki are just some of the threatened species that have now taken up residence on the island, with the help of humans.

As a Wellingtonian I have watched Matiu/Somes’ barren landscape being

Lloyd Homer, GNS Science

goingplaces

transformed over the years into a green oasis – however it was only recently that I learnt this was largely the result of the vision and muscle of Forest & Bird’s Lower Hutt branch.

Now forested and predator-free, MatiuSomes has become the perfect home for the diaspora of endangered species needing safe havens in which to bolster their populations.

Alighting on the pier from the East-West ferry I found myself in a small crowd of 53

Mandy Herrick

goingplaces

You can reach Matiu/Some’s lighthouse via a walking track.

binocular-toting visitors and campers (a campsite is a recent addition to the island’s facilities) wanting to catch a glimpse of these precious species.

Feathered friendship, I was assured, was only a whistling workshop away. The workshops are run by Department of Conservation ranger, Matt Sidaway, but even under his expert tuition we all struggled to recreate the soaring, lilting tones of the island’s songbirds.

After a few pathetic attempts (alas more spittle than song) to join the chorus, I sat – mute – enjoying the real avian cacophony coming from the treetops.

Like Tiritiri Matangi Island not far from Auckland City, this forested piece of land is quickly becoming a showcase, conveniently located just a 20-minute ferry ride from Wellington’s CBD, of the benefits of species protection for our threatened native plants and animals.

Boatloads of visitors arrive four times daily, totalling 15,000 visitors a year, demonstrating the value of these urban sanctuaries in bringing wildlife to the people.

Matiu/Somes has a colourful history that saw it take up a variety of roles: it has been a prisoner-of-war camp, strategic pa site, and quarantine facility – for both humans and animals.

One poor Chinese chap, suspected to have leprosy, was not even allowed into

the quarantine station, but was forced to spend the last few miserable months of his existence in a cave on the tiny Mokopuna Island (more a rock than an island) off the main island of Matiu/Somes. The lighthouse keeper delivered his food via a flying fox. In the end he died of tuberculosis – it seems he didn’t even have leprosy after all.

On a short walk to the island’s summit (15 minutes) you stumble upon various artefacts from the island’s varied history. As you emerge from the forested skirt that covers the bottom of the island you discover a grim concrete facility encircled with barbed wire – the old quarantine station, which DOC has plans to preserve as a museum.

Not keen on catching a dormant superbug, I quickly climbed further up to the summit, upon which another chapter of history revealed itself – a defence unit of gun emplacements erected during World War II. Grazing around these concrete emplacements are 20 or so sheep that are vestiges of the island’s pastoral past –they now act as four-legged lawn-mowers to reduce fire risk on the island.

As a conservation reserve, a historic reserve and a recreational reserve, the island juggles a variety of roles. Its conservation history began when members of Forest & Bird’s Lower Hutt branch set about eradicating pests in the 1980s and then took on the task of replanting its barren sides

India Hansen

The camping ground on Matiu/Somes

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with pioneer species such as taupata, ngaio and harakatea, and later secondary species such as totara, rata and kahikatea.

Over the past 20 years more than 110,000 trees have been planted, covering the island in a thick under-storey of native plants. An easy walking track circumnavigates the island providing views of Wellington, Eastbourne (and behind it Rimutaka Forest Park) and the Hutt Valley across the harbour, as well as the opportunity to look into the lighthouse.

Most abundant in the regenerating native vegetation are the kakariki which dart over the track, often stopping to eye you from behind branches. Re-introduced in 2003, these birds are beginning to again fill the forest with their chatter – along with North Island robins, kingfishers and fantails.

The chance to see New Zealand’s only dinosaur relic – the tuatara – was a key motivation for the trip, so at nightfall I ventured out, torch in hand, hoping to meet one of the 60 or so tuatara on the island.

The island’s original population of tuatara was wiped out in the mid-1800s, but in 1998 more than 50 tuatara from Brothers Island were successfully introduced here.

Fellow visitors have reported seeing them sitting about in full view in broad daylight.

But instead of a reptilian encounter, I was greeted by a little blue penguin who was heading summit-ward (70 metres from sea-level).

I was so intrigued by what motivates a penguin to climb to such great heights that it at least partly warded off my disappointment in failing to see a tuatara.

Still seeking tuatara the next day, I tried to catch a glimpse of one by a tree where one is known to sunbathe, but again I was out of luck.

To keep the island’s precious native inhabitants safe from introduced pests, DOC inspects visitors’ luggage on entry to the island. If they spot a vessel making an illegal landing staff lay down traps to make doubly sure that no pests are making any nefarious attempts to board the island.

Perhaps the two most precious creatures on the island are the two baby tuatara that hatched in 2007. Successfully incubated at Victoria University from eggs found on the island, the baby tuatara were released in 2008 after a competition decided on their names – Ngake and Whataitai – after the harbour’s resident taniwha.

A little-known fact about the tuatara is that it has cannibalistic tendencies – not a quality that is helpful for a critically endangered species – so the juveniles are kept in a separate spot from the adults.

Hopefully with a little more breeding, there may soon be a fully fledged crèche. And with better luck, next time I visit they will be feeling more sociable. w w w. f o re s t a n d b i rd . o r g . n z

Getting there: Somes Island

Forest & Bird

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The elusive tuatara

Helen Bain

O get to Somes Island you can either take the regular ferry trip from Queen’s Wharf at Wellington, or from Eastbourne on the other side of Wellington Harbour. The journey takes about 20 minutes. There are sailings throughout the day, including on weekends and public holidays (except Christmas Day) but sailings may be cancelled due to rough weather. For a ferry times, see East-West Ferries – www. eastbywest.co.nz.

From the wharf where the ferry drops off passengers, it’s a 5-10 minute (uphill) walk to the Forest & Bird lodge. The lodge sleeps eight people and has a large lounge and kitchen. Bring your own food, bedding and a torch. Smoking is banned everywhere on the island, including the house. It costs $20 per person per night (minimum 2 people) to stay at the lodge – to book phone 04 569 2542, or for more information go to www. forestandbird.org.nz.

The island has one main track that is relatively flat and circumnavigates the island, which takes about 45 minutes to complete – you don’t have to be very fit and it is ideal for fairly young children. The walk offers good harbour views and you are likely to see a range of native species that have been re-introduced to the island. The visitor centre contains a variety of relics from Matiu/Somes’ past, including WWI and II memorabilia, and a good history of the island’s restoration.

Ornate skink reintroduced to Matiu/Somes The plant nursery – replanting has cloaked Matiu/Somes in native vegetation.

Helen Bain

Mandy Herrick

North Island robins are easy to spot on Matiu/ Somes.

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Bookings essential. www.oceanwings.co.nz

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F O R E S T & B I R D • M AY 2 0 0 9

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in the field

Everyday friends Ann Graeme delights in the “common” birds found in her back garden Illustration by Pamela Robinson

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HERE’S a scrawny cock sparrow on the lawn outside the kitchen window.

He’s picking up fragments of bread and thrusting them down the throats of his demanding teenage chicks.

They beg and gape with their yellow beaks, cheeping helplessly although I think they are really old enough to feed themselves. Now he hops away, bouncing on his matchstick legs as if he’s on springs.

Sparrows hop. Hopping is an efficient way of moving from branch to branch, but it consumes a lot of energy (just try it!)

The thrush hops too, though it is presently perched on the bean vine singing its lyrics, two by two.

A starling flies in and struts over to the bread. Starlings walk and so do myna birds.

Are sparrows and thrushes related because they hop, and perhaps mynas and starlings because they walk? I look it up, and I’m wrong. Hopping and walking, they are all related one to another in the great group of birds called passeriformes.

I look up the other birds I see in the garden: tui, fantail, riroriro, silvereye, greenfinch, goldfinch, yellowhammer – they too are all passerines, members of the passeriformes.

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Passerines are birds of the forest and grasslands so it makes sense that some of them have been able to adapt to the modified habitat of the garden. But it is the sheer number and variety of passerines that surprises me.

Some 5400 species of birds are passerines, which is about three-fifths of all known living birds. In evolutionary terms they are the most recent group, evolving in Gondwana between 60 and 65 million years ago.

From these ancestral birds diverged two groupings or sub-orders: one gave rise to the New Zealand “wrens” – the rifleman and the rock wren. Today they are the sole survivors of their lineage all the other 5398 species of living passerines are descended from the other sub-order!

This makes our two relict species very special birds. We used to have bush wrens too, but, scarcely 50 years ago, they became extinct.

The riflemen is a very appealing bird, perhaps because it is so tiny and has scarcely any tail. They zip from branch to branch, zigzagging up the tree trunks and poking in the cracks for insects and spiders.

Their relatives, the rock wrens, hop

and flitter amongst the boulders above the tree line in the Southern Alps. Desperately few in number, they will be increasingly threatened as warmer winters allow more predators to reach their alpine fastness.

But back in my garden, the passerines I see are commoners numbered amongst the 5398 species of the dominant sub-order. So what have riflemen and robins, or sparrows and starlings got in common?

They are all perching birds. Some other birds can perch too but passerines have perfected the skill. This may seem a mundane quality until you think about just how remarkable perching is. These birds can perch all night, asleep on swaying branches, and not fall off!

The foot of a perching bird has four claw-tipped toes, three pointing forwards and one backwards. The upper leg muscles are attached to tendons which run down the back of the leg to the tip of each toe.

When the bird is standing or walking the tendons are relaxed and the toes are spread out. But when the bird squats on a branch, it bends its legs. This tightens the tendons over the joints, drawing in the long, slender toes to lock around the branch. The more the bird sinks into slumber, the tighter

its toes become locked. It has to wake and stand up to release its grip on the branch.

Song is another characteristic of passerines, particularly of the large subgroup of some 4000 species which we call songbirds.

Every species of bird has a unique call or set of calls to communicate with its fellows but “song” is reserved for proclaiming territory and attracting a mate. A male pukeko will screech to warn away other males and croon and cluck to his mate, but that is scarcely a song to our ears. It is the song of the passerine songbirds that we admire, the exquisite notes and melodies of kokako, bellbird and thrush.

They can sing their complicated melodies because they, alone in the bird kingdom, have specialised voice boxes.

Instinct provides them with the rudiments of their songs but they learn the finer points by imitation. This capacity to learn allows some species to be excellent mimics, like the city-dwelling tui that imitate telephones ringing and other urban noises.

Birds living in different geographical areas often have their own dialects. This has posed a problem for conservationists trying to bring together solitary individuals of rare

species like the kokako. A male introduced to a new home may sing a tune that females in his new forest do not recognise.

But not all the passerines are songbirds. The house sparrow belongs to a smaller grouping whose members lack a specialised voice box. Its little song is simple and innate and it can’t learn a new one. It appears to be the least distinguished of this great group of birds, yet it has one huge advantage: it can adapt to the landscapes and environments of the dominant species on Earth today.

That’s us.

The house sparrow has been our fellow traveler around the globe. It was brought to New Zealand in 1867 to control the insects that were devastating the crops of the colonists. So well did it adapt and multiply that only 15 years later the Small Birds Nuisance Act was passed to encourage its destruction, such was its appetite for the crops it was intended to protect. So much for biological control.

Despite various bounties on their heads, house sparrows continued to thrive, though recently they have suffered largely unexplained downturns in their populations both here and in their home countries.

But the sparrows still congregate on my lawn and their adaptability may give them the edge over other more specilised passerines whose populations are fading away. Sparrows may be common and brown and unredeemed by song, but they seem to be survivors: cheery, cheeky birds to have hopping on the lawn.

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Tim Galloway and Dave Kent

branchingout

Kiri and Willie go online – thanks to Central Auckland branch

Gordon Ell

F Obituary – Geoff Moon

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HILE Geoff Moon was a distinguished bird photographer he valued more his lifetime of bird study and the scientific facts he garnered while sitting in a hide. He regarded himself rather as a naturalist who used photography as a tool for his observations.

When he arrived from Britain as a veterinarian in 1947, he found our bird books often contained assumptions about birds based on British studies.

So he set about observing the New Zealand behaviour of birds and rewriting many of the texts.

The challenge of native species formerly unknown to him led to pioneer observations of such birds as the morepork, reef heron, kereru and kingfisher.

When he started publishing his findings at his own expense, the consequent essays were accompanied by the striking photographs he took while recording bird behaviour in the field.

Commercial publishers followed up on his early Focus on New Zealand Birds with volumes of bird photography and later guide books illustrated with his photographs which encompassed most New Zealand species. Sometimes he also

used a movie camera to detect the behaviour of birds and these sequences formed the basis of several pioneer nature documentaries.

Geoff Moon crammed the seasonal demands of birdwatching within his demanding job as a country vet. Often he worked deep into the night observing bird behaviour and processing film. Yet he found further time to serve his profession and take a leadership role in the amateur photographic movement. His OBE honour recognised his contribution to veterinary services and photography.

Forest & Bird recognised his contribution to conservation — as advocate and inspiration — by making him a Distinguished Life Member. He was particularly interested in encouraging a knowledge of nature among the young.

Geoffrey James Harwood Moon died in his 94th year. He used to joke he’d retire when he was 100. Certainly he was still working on his material at the time of his death, with a justpublished book on wetland birds — in conjunction with his wife Lynette — and a further volume already with his publishers.

Gordon Ell

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INANCIAL support from Forest & Bird’s Central Auckland Branch will allow the Kiwi Conservation Club to upgrade to an exciting and interactive website for children.

The branch has approved a $45,000 contribution to the cost of rebuilding the KCC website to update it with the latest interactive learning experiences to make KCC and conservation a heap of fun for youngsters.

Central Auckland branch chair Anne Fenn says the branch felt that the upgrade of the KCC website was essential to bring the conservation message to a younger generation.

“Forest & Bird is strongly aware that we need to keep attracting young people, and we saw the website as one of the most important ways to reach out to and communicate with children,” Anne Fenn says.

“These days if kids want to find information about something they are interested in, they are far more likely to go online than they are to go to the library.

We have to make sure that our online presence is relevant and exciting for them.”

The majority of new members also join online, so providing an attractive website which would encourage more young people to join would be a wise investment, Anne Fenn says.

KCC Coordinator Ann Graeme says Auckland Branch’s support for the website upgrade means KCC will be able to use the latest technology to bring its conserva-

tion message to its members.

It is planned to bring many of the most popular features of KCC’s Wild Things magazine to the website – in particular the much-loved characters Willie Weka and Kiri Kiwi – and introduce interactive, educational games.

Ann Graeme, who writes the magazine content, and Tim Galloway, who does the illustrations, are looking forward to bringing their stories, puzzles and drawings to a wider audience online.

The KCC website upgrade follows the successful relaunch of Forest & Bird’s website last year – since the website was upgraded the number of people visiting the site, and joining and donating online has increased significantly.

Do we know your email address?

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OREST & Bird staff and branches try to use email as much as possible to save paper and postage and keep you informed about our work and up-to-date on urgent conservation issues with our e-News. If you have not already provided your email address please send an email to membership@ forestandbird.org.nz with your name and mailing address so we can update your membership record.

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In its second chapter, he takes the role of a surveyor just off the boat at the spot that would soon become known as Britannia and later Petone. Dense forest clad the floor of the valley in 1840.

Such was the thirst for space and arable land, most of it was gone within 60 years, thanks to axes, saws and fire.

Inadvertently, Dr Park once gave a demonstration of his skills at Lower Hutt. A service club organised the first of its series of outdoor ShapeShifter sculpture exhibitions, and one of its first venues was the garden surrounding Frederic Wallis House at Boulcott.

Dr Park had gone to see

KCC gathering

Along the way coordinators were shown new games and techniques they could take back to their local KCC groups, including how to encourage a crab to exit its burrow, what to look for when hunting katipo spiders, explaining mushroom fairy rings and constructing safe habitats for our local lizards.

Braving the freezing southerly and avoiding the fugitive who was on the run from police around the Port Hills at the time

added extra excitement to the day and everyone returned with a host of new ideas to take back home.

Coordinators were also invited to share their experiences of running a KCC group and the challenges that they face. There was a unanimous feeling that KCC provided a great pathway to getting kids involved and interested in the environment and conservation from an early age and the coordinators were

Jeff McEwan

EOFF Park was a botanical detective with an historical bent. An influential ecologist, he could take a stretch of suburbia or open farmland, analyse landforms, ferret through innocuous scrub, consult historical accounts and then, in his mind’s eye, visualise what had been growing there, say, 150 years ago. What we know about the former Hutt Valley, for example, is not solely the result of early surveyors’ sketches or notes left by early European settlers.

Dr Park produced proof of the forests’ extent in his landmark book Nga Uruora: The Groves of Life, Ecology and History in a New Zealand Landscape (1995).

man-made sculptures but was, instead, transfixed by nature’s version. Around the entrance driveway was a stand of towering kahikatea. For 160 years they had been spared the axe and fire. He realised he was standing under the sole survivors of the forest that once covered much of the valley floor.

“They’re all that’s left,” he murmured. “It’s a bloody miracle they’ve survived.”

To the “who-cares?” brigade, Dr Park’s findings seemed daft or peripheral at best. To sectors of forest industries, he was a greenie who imperilled livelihoods and profits. To road makers needing a new curve, he was a meddler who couldn’t see the wood for trees. To pastoralists and some local bodies, he was a busy-body who made excuses for wetlands and who stood in the way of another addition to The Great New Zealand Drain.

To brand him as an impediment to progress was fatuous.

In the field of ecology, he was a careful scientist with a pedigree of scientific skills and a powerful academic appreciation of the way Europeans rhapsodise about scenic treasures while wielding a chainsaw.

He was a plants expert from his boots up. Raised in Pinehaven, in the Hutt Valley, he was inducted into the outdoors and to plants by a neighbour and acclaimed botanist, Tony Druce, who was an enthusiast for field work. The schoolboy became one, too, accompanying him far afield during school holidays.

After graduating from Victoria University in 1969 with a degree in botany and geology, Dr Park completed a masters in ecology and soil science. He won a

Obituary – Geoff Park

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IWI Conservation Club volunteer coordinators from around the country gathered in Christchurch in March to share their experiences of helping educate and inspire a new generation of conservationists.

Particpants enjoyed a field trip to the estuary at Clearwater, going up into the Port Hills, down to Lake Ellesmere and to Birdlings Flat and Kaitorete Spit.

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scholarship to do a doctorate at the Australian National University in Canberra in 1972.

His thesis, on nutrient cycling, led him to develop ecological surveys when he returned to New Zealand in 1975.

He spent 20 years as a public servant, first with the DSIR’s botany division at Nelson, where he was involved mainly in conservation ecology in the Nelson, Marlborough and West Coast regions. The most important was a survey of surviving forest in Nelson and Marlborough, which led to the protection of numerous lowland forests in the Upper South Island and Marlborough, including the Paparoa National Park.

From 1981 to 1986 he set up and led the New Zealand Biological Resources Centre before its incorporation in the Conservation Department. He resigned from the department in 1996 to start the consultancy of Geoff Park Landscape, History and Ecology. He was awarded an Anzac Fellowship, and a South Fellowship at Victoria University.

From 2000 to 2003, he was a concept leader at Te Papa.

Since 2003, he had written an ecological history of pre1840 Bay of Islands, made a film about naturalist and writer William Herbert Guthrie-Smith of Tutira, advised on ecological restoration, and completed Theatre Country: Essays on Landscape and Whenua. He was awarded Forest & Bird’s prestigious Old Blue award, and his Itinerant Ecologist column was a regular feature of Forest & Bird magazine.

Peter Kitchin (reproduced with the permission of the Dominion Post) proud to be a part of it.

Some volunteers, who worked as individuals rather than with a group of coordinators, thought it would be helpful to encourage more Forest & Bird members to volunteer some of their time to their local KCC club. If you are interested in getting involved with KCC in your area contact Jenny Lynch at j.lynch@forestandbird. org.nz or 04 801 2766.

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branchingout E Rere Yellow-eyed Penguin Reserve will be ablaze with rata blooms, thanks to a gift from local plant lover Jane Young.

Jane, of Owaka, is an expert at growing southern rata from seed. She collects seed from trees that grow along the coastline and the hills of the Catlins.

With her husband Jim, who is a fellow teacher at Catlins Area School, Jane has been instrumental in setting up a native plant nursery at the school. The couple’s sheer dedication is demonstrated by the fact that part of the couple’s living room is given over to raising seedlings for plant

projects. This luxury treatment certainly ensures that the trees get a great start.

Jane’s rata trees have been used in a variety of revegetation projects involving the Department of Conservation and the Papatowai Forest Heritage Trust.

Her gift of more than 30 southern rata to Forest & Bird’s Te Rere reserve in the Catlins will be a colourful addition to the native vegetation which provides habitat for yellow-eyed penguins.

The reserve’s caretaker Fergus Sutherland says that the rata are ideally suited to the windy coastal headlands

Fergus Sutherland

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Jane Young at work in the nursery.

Yellow-eyed penguin, Te Rere

at Te Rere – located near the southernmost point of the South Island, conditions can get pretty wild down there.

Work days and penguin counts are held four times a year at Te Rere. You can get involved

in this exciting penguin project by contacting Brian and Chris Rance (03 2131161 or rances@ ihug.co.nz), or check out Te Rere on the reserves page at www.forestandbird.org.nz.

who have taken the role of guardians of this natural gem.”

Jim has also covenanted native forest areas on his own property, has spent countless hours on pest control, training young conservationists, guiding visiting groups and educating the public about the importance of keeping dogs out of kiwi habitat.

“Jim’s love of the forest and his enthusiasm for sharing his knowledge of natural history have given so many people the chance to value and respect the environment,” Carole says.

Environment Bay of Plenty Chairman Councillor John Cronin said the awards recognised individuals and organisations working for a better environment in the Bay of Plenty.

“The work these people do is often voluntary but it goes a long way towards helping us and improving our region’s environment.”

For further information about the festival visit www.reelearth. org.nz

WO Forest & Bird stalwarts have won top honours in the Environment Bay of Plenty annual environmental awards.

Joint winners of the individual award were Jim Pendergrast and Dorothy Mutton, who were recognised for their lifetime of work.

Dorothy joined Forest & Bird as a young girl and has been a

member for 58 years. She was one of the founders of the Te Puke branch, and has served as chairwoman, treasurer and branch committee member.

She was involved in the campaign that led to the establishment of the Kaimai Mamaku Forest Park, protection of Oropi forest and of kokako habitat in Rotoehu Forest, among many

Green screen

Heading the big-budget titles is Wild Oceans, shot off the wild southern coast of West Africa. Another high profile title is Sundance nominee Crude, the latest offering from awardwinning director Joe Berlinger, who takes the viewer along on a high-stakes chase to bring big oil companies to justice in the Amazon rainforests.

More than 40 films from 23 countries will be screened during the festival in Palmerston North before touring the country.

Brent Barrett says the gala

opening at the Regent Theatre in Palmerston North would broaden the appeal of the festival.

“While most people care deeply about the planet, we know we’re competing with other activities in busy lives so we’re going high profile, high impact with a gala opening complete with celebrity star power and live music.”

Tickets to the gala opening are available from TicketDirect.

Festival season tickets will be available from Downtown Cinemas.

Jim Pendergrast

Forest & Bird winners

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EW Zealand’s 2009 Reel Earth environmental film festival kicks off with a gala opening evening in Palmerston North this month.

Reel Earth was co-founded

by Forest & Bird’s Manawatu branch chairman, Brent Barrett, who remains active as festival director.

Now in its fifth season, the festival will premier a global crop of new documentary films focusing on the environment.

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BOP Times

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other conservation causes.

Dorothy is also active in kiwi monitoring, tree planting and other restoration work, and is a keen photographer and botanist.

Te Puke Branch Chairwoman Carole Long says Dorothy inspires others to care for the environment.

“Dorothy makes every expedition a exciting one, with her enthusiasm, detailed knowledge and eye for detail. She has the gift of passing on this enthusiasm and knowledge to everyone who is fortunate to accompany her on trips into the outdoors.”

Fellow Forest & Bird member Jim Pendergrast is a dedicated member of the Otanewainuku Kiwi Trust and Carole says he and his family have worked hard to keep Otanewainuku Forest intact.

“The ancient rimu and kahikatea and totara trees in the forest are a tribute to the tenacity of Jim and other local residents

Dorothy Mutton

Fergus Sutherland

Floral tribute

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oneofus

BNZ Save the Kiwi Trust

since it was bequeathed to Forest Bird – he remembers personally baking 400 scones to feed visitors to Bushy Park’s first open day in 1962.

Till last year he had served for 12 years as Executive Committee Chairman of Bushy Park Trust. During that time he was proud to have been involved in the introduction of North Island robins, saddlebacks and kiwi into the predator-free haven of Bushy Park, and seen it listed as one of the top 20 restoration sites in Australasia.

Such passion for conservation might seem unusual in a man who has also been a farmer all his life (not to mention a former world-record setting shearer and Skellerup Young Farmer of the Year) but Allan says farmers can be unfairly painted as anti-conservation, though many are enthusiastic conservationists – and Forest & Bird members.

Allan was among those who petitioned Forest & Bird to pay for the building of the Ruapehu Lodge, now being rebuilt after being burned down last year. He was part of the big conservation campaigns of past decades, such as Save Manapouri and stopping the logging of Waipoua Forest.

His lifetime of service to conservation and the community was recognised in the New Year’s Honours this year when he was awarded the Queen’s Service Medal.

In recent years conservation has moved more into the mainstream, and Forest & Bird has necessarily changed with the times, he says.

“Conservation is a movement whose time has come, right across the world, and Forest & Bird is well-placed to take advantage of that, but you have to be pretty smart about it. You can’t villify people because most of them aren’t actually villains – you have to stick to the issues.”

A natural born conservationist

A

LLAN Anderson has been a Forest & Bird member for so long he can’t remember exactly when he joined.

But he can clearly remember as a young boy marvelling at the covers of his first issues of Forest & Bird magazine, (then known as “the Journal”) a karearea (native falcon) and a weka. Rifling back through the back issues in Forest & Bird’s library places them in 1951 and 52 – he must have been 11 or 12 years old at the time.

“I have always been fascinated by nature,” he recalls, and it was that fascination that made him an early convert to Forest & Bird. w w w. f o re s t a n d b i rd . o r g . n z

Allan organised his first trip to Kapiti Island as a 13-year-old, and begged time off from his farm chores to attend Forest & Bird’s summer camps. Another early hint of his life-long passion for conservation was his winning a prize of two pounds 10 shillings – a fortune then to a teenage boy – in Forest & Bird’s essay competition.

The young Allan’s essay theme was how to fence off an area of bush to protect it – an apt topic, given that many decades later he went on to become a driving force in the construction of a predator-proof fence around the Bushy Park reserve near Wanganui.

Allan has been involved with Bushy Park

JS Watson Conservation Trust Applications are invited from individuals or conservation groups for financial assistance for conservation projects for the 2009-2010 year.

This Trust is administered by Forest & Bird.

Application procedures and forms can be downloaded from our website – www. forestandbird.org.nz.

For further information email office@ forestandbird.org.nz or write to: JS Watson Conservation Trust Forest & Bird PO Box 631 Wellington Preliminary applications close June 2009

F O R E S T & B I R D • M AY 2 0 0 9

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branchingout Forest & Bird AGM

In synch for Seaweek

S

Ways people can do their bit to protect the marine environment year-round include:

EAWEEK started with a splash with Forest & Bird’s synchronized swimming display in Wellington Harbour this year.

Forest & Bird’s branches were involved in a range of activities around the country for Seaweek, including snorkeling, beach walks, coastal cleanups, visits to marine reserves and gannet colonies, film evenings, coastal restoration workshops and a farewell to the godwits.

Forest & Bird Marine Conservation Advocate Kirstie Knowles says Seaweek is all about celebrating the marine environment – and the importance of looking after it.

• Experiencing our marine life by going snorkeling, rockpooling or diving • Avoiding driving on beaches and keeping dogs on leads on beaches • Not dumping things like paint or solvents into drains – they end up in the sea • Reporting suspicious activity to the Ministry of Fisheries (0800 4 POACHER) or DOC (0800 DOCHOT) • Joining a coast care group or taking part in a beach cleanup • Being careful not to drop litter on beaches or in the sea – it can harm marine life • Keeping boat engines and hulls clean to prevent the spread of pests

Forest & Bird will be holding its 86th Annual General Meeting in Wellington in June and all members are welcome to attend.

The AGM will start at 8.30am on Saturday 27 June in the Victoria Room at the Mercure Hotel, Willis Street, Wellington. It will include receipt of the annual accounts and the annual report, and the election of Forest & Bird’s Executive, President and Vice-president.

The AGM will be followed by the Forest & Bird Council meeting and annual conference, where members and guest speakers will tackle the most urgent conservation issues and challenges we face today.

Annual Report To avoid delay in mailing the May issue of Forest & Bird magazine to members, this year we are producing Forest & Bird’s Annual Report separately from the magazine. The Annual Report including audited accounts will be available on our website (www.forestandbird.org.nz) from the end of May. Print copies will also be available on request from Forest & Bird’s national office.

• Supporting marine reserves.

Tune in to Forest & Bird

L

isteners worldwide can now tune in to Forest & Bird Hastings/Havelock North’s radio broadcasts on the internet.

The branch produces a conservation-themed radio show on Radio Kidnappers – and the live show and past programmes are now available on the internet.

Recent programmes have covered carbon credits, kiwi conservation in Hawkes Bay, the branch’s night trip to Blowhard Bush, and a Kiwi Conservation Club trip to Cape Kidnappers.

The programmes include interviews with Forest & Bird members and others working in

bookreviews

conservation, and are often conducted during branch field trips.

The show is also an opportunity to let the public know about the branch’s upcoming activities and events.

The show is broadcast at noon on the third Friday of every month on Radio Kidnappers (1431 AM)

and is also broadcast live on the internet. If the live broadcast time doesn’t suit, you can also listen to programmes from the last seven months online at any time.

To listen go to www.radiokidnappers.org.nz, click on “Internet Audio” then select “Listen Live” or “Download Programmes”.

reptiles, butterflies and other wildlife into your garden.

There is plenty of practical advice – for example instructions

By Gordon Ell, New Holland, $45 on how to build a bird feeding ormer Forest & Bird president table or nest box, which species and magazine editor Gordon to plant to provide food for birds, Ell’s Encouraging Birds in the and advice on dealing with pests.

New Zealand Garden, first pubEll is not a purist in his attitude lished in 1981, was so popular towards non-native species, and that it was reprinted 11 times. includes introduced species His new book is a like a bigamong those which may be welger, brighter, hardback version comed into gardens (his attitude delivering more of Ell’s wealth towards hedgehogs in particular of knowledge on enticing birds, is more benevolent than that of

many conservationists).

The many colour photographs and drawings add to the allround usefulness of the book as a guide for those who would like to get better acquainted with nature in their own backyard.

Helen Bain

Attracting Birds and Other Wildlife to Your Garden in New Zealand

F

6 2 F O R E S T & B I R D • M AY 2 0 0 9

(Gordon Ell is speaking at North Shore Forest & Bird’s meeting at Takapuna Senior Citizen’s Hall on July 6 at 7.30pm. Non-members are welcome, entry by donation.)

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Banks Peninsula Track www.bankstrack.co.nz

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Bush & Beyond

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Guided Walks

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

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

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

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63

bookreviews

New Zealand Wetland Birds and their World

By Geoff Moon, New Holland, $39.99

G

EOFF Moon’s photography will be familiar to Forest & Bird members as his images have for many years featured in the pages of Forest & Bird magazine.

Leafing through old copies of the magazine recently I spotted one of Moon’s photographs, of a kingfisher catching a cicada on the wing, on the cover of the magazine from 50 years ago,

which gives you an idea of how long he has been in this game. Sadly this is likely to be the last of many books by Geoff Moon, as he died in March, aged in his nineties.

Moon’s many decades spent watching our wetland birds enriches this book with a wealth of personal observations and intimate knowledge of the habits of some of our most shy and elusive wetland species.

There is enough detail and in-depth knowledge here for the passionate “twitcher” but the book is also an intriguing insight into the world of wetland birds for less knowledgeable readers.

The detail of the photographs is entrancing: the emerald-green eye of a black shag, the legs of a pied stilt so long and slender they look as if they could not possibly support its weight, the drops of water flying from the feathers of a kingfisher as it shakes itself dry, the Muppet-like fuzz of a bittern chick. A treat for birders and non-birders alike.

Helen Bain

A Driving Guide to Scenic New Zealand

By Dave Couwdhury, Craig Potton Publishing, $34.99

Touring the Natural Wonders of New Zealand

By Peter Janssen, Photography by Andrew Fear

T

HESE two books provide ample information for travellers aiming to travel around New Zealand – by the scenic route.

A Driving Guide is the more pragmatic of the two, providing fold-out maps of the North and South Islands, 50 “bird’s eye” maps of each area by

6 4 F O R E S T & B I R D • M AY 2 0 0 9

Geographx, plus practical information such as where to find food and fuel stops, toilets, and distances and driving times.

There is also information about recreational opportunities such as walks, picnicking spots and so on but the serious outdoors adventurer, might prefer

Which Native Forest Plant?

Which Native Tree? (New Ecology Edition)

By Andrew Crowe, Penguin, $25

O

VER 20 years ago I worked on a Friesian island in Holland and met a botanist who was writing The Ecological Flora of the Netherlands, a book about the relationships between plants and animals, especially invertebrates.

Eddy Weeda’s beautifully illustrated five volume book was finally published in 1999 and I have never seen anything like it. That was until I received the “ecological editions” of Andrew Crowe’s well-known books.

These are small, popular books that follow Andrew’s instantly recognizable lay-out.

What’s so wonderful about them is that it is no longer just about recognizing plants or animals, but about the strong connection between plants and animals. It informs the reader about how certain species of insects only live on a single species of plant, and that some plants have a whole range of

insect species that only live on that particular plant.

Crowe explains the connection between plants and animals for a range of common and well known tree and forest plants, with a third book about ferns to follow later in the year. Some plant groups are particularly rich in species-specific invertebrates: Muehlenbeckia (especially M. australis), many species of small-leaved tree daisy (Olearia) and of course ongaonga or stinging nettle.

If we lose a specific plant species (locally or nationally), we lose the associated insects at the same time. We often hear about the status of the plants, but rarely about the invertebrates. Now we only have to wait and hope for someone to take up a project to write the comprehensive “Ecological Flora of New Zealand.”

to look to the companion volumes, Tramping in New Zealand and Day Walks in New Zealand from the same publisher.

Touring the Natural Wonders of New Zealand has a stronger focus on the natural features and wildlife to be found along New Zealand’s roads. Extensive use of colour photographs and fact boxes on particular native plants and animals provide a greater depth of information about the nature which travellers may encounter on their journeys.

A good accuracy test of such

books is to check out their coverage of your own home patch – I found a mistake in my neighbourhood: the book incorrectly names Toast Martinborough as Taste Martinborough, but that’s not bad for a whole chapter.

Both books are quite large in format, which gives plenty of space for loads of information but neither would fit easily into your average glove box or day pack, which is where they would be most useful.

Aalbert Rebergen

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

FOREST&BIRD n u m b e r 3 3 1 • f e b r u a ry 2 0 0 9

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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.

Licence to kill This NZ sea lion pup’s life should not end in a fishing net.

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

Membership Details

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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.

Family memberships Make this a family membership, at no additional cost.

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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

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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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*Should the membership fee be increased Forest & Bird are authorized to automatically increase this amount.

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 Account number Suffix (Please attach an encoded deposit slip to ensure your number is loaded correctly) To: The Bank Manager

Bank:______________________________ Branch:__________________________ Town/City:____________________________ Your 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:

- The accuracy of information about Direct Debits on bank statements.

- Any variations between notices given by the Initiator and the amounts of Direct Debits.

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, Wild Things.

Join us at www.kcc.org.nz 6 8 F O R E S T & B I R D • M AY 2 0 0 9

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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, 119D Skudders Beach Road, RD 1, Kerikeri 0294. Tel: (09) 401-7401.

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, Vacant, PO Box 310, Orewa 0946.

Tel: (09) 427-8996.

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, Lynda Neame, PO Box 896, Blenheim 7240.

Horowhenua Branch: Chairperson, Robert Hirschberg; Tel: (03) 578-2013.

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 Griffiths; Paraparaumu 5032. Tel: (04) 904-0027.

Secretary, Andrew Simpson, PO Box 2389, Christchurch Lower Hutt Branch: Chairperson, Kevin Bateman; Mail Centre, Christchurch 8140.

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

Tel: (03) 338-9343.

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, Kathy Gilbert; Secretary, Lynda Sutherland, 39 High Street, Eltham Secretary, Carolyn Cox, 168 Romilly Street, Westport 4322. Tel: (06) 764-7479.

7825. 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.keith@ruralinzone.net

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