Forest & Bird Magazine 334 November 2009

ISS U E 334 • NOVE MB E R 2009

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www.forestandbird.org.nz 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

Number 334 • NOVEMBER 2009

Features 16 • The decline of a river Christine Fallwell reports on the impact of dairy farming on the Mohaka River

18 • Restoring Waiwhakareke Andrew Corkill on restoration of a peat bog in the heart of Hamilton

22 • Hurunui: a river journey Shaun Barnett explores the wilds of the Hurunui

26 • From confiscation to co-management Nanaia Mahuta describes the long journey towards co-management of Waikato River

28 • Twigs, Tweets, Hooks and Bullets Ric Cullinane explains why fishers and hunters have much in common with conservationists

30 • Fight for our fish Mike Joy and Amber McEwan make a plea for the future of our native fish

Regulars 2 • Comment Wet and Wild with Barry Wards

5 • Letters Inspirational birds, marine reserves, SI kokako, rivers and power, binoculars, bees, high country, conservation education, prize-winners

5 • 50 years ago in Forest & Bird 8 • Soapbox Russel Norman says politicians must do more to protect freshwater

9 • Conservation briefs

KCC Coordinator: Ann Graeme 53 Princess Rd, Tauranga 3110.

Tel: (07) 576-5593 Fax: (07) 576-5109 Email: a.graeme@forestandbird.org.nz

32 • My river Sir Robert Jones, Al Morrison, Ruud Kleinpaste, Pita Sharples , Mike Britton, Nic Vallance and Sir Anand Satyanand reveal their favourite river memories

Urban fish, Wild Rivers appeal, wetland destruction, pest fish, Bromhead, Endowment Fund

Forest & Bird is a registered charitable entity under the Charities Act 2005.

Registration No. CC26943.

32 • River views

62 • Going Places

New Zealand’s leading wildlife and landscape photographers share their favourite river photographs

Debs Martin rafts the Clarence River

44 • Fast and furious

65 • Rangatahi

David Young investigates why the Manganuiateao and its whio are under threat from subdivision

47 • Get wet and wild Karen Denyer lists her top 12 wetlands to visit in New Zealand

48 • Freshwater defenders 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 Designer: Dave Kent/Idiom Studio dave@idiom.co.nz Prepress/Printing: Kalamazoo Wyatt & Wilson (NZ) Ltd Advertising: Vanessa Clegg, Tel: 0275 420 337 Email: vanclegg@xtra.co.nz Karen Condon Tel 0275-420 338 Email: mack.cons@xtra.co.nz Membership & Circulation Tel: 0800 200 064 Fax: (04) 385 7373 membership@forestandbird.org.nz

Whangarei student Erana Walker cleans up her local stream

66 • In the field Ann Graeme conquers the Manganuiateao

Carolyn Smith meets a team protecting Northland’s lakes from invaders

68 • Branching out

50 • A slippery problem

71 • One of us

Mike Joy calls for a moratorium on commercial eeling

Designer Dave Kent

54 • Precious Mackenzie

72 • Book Reviews

Dean Baigent-Mercer says the Mackenzie Basin should stay dry; and Forest & Bird helps black stilts

58 • Wild River Debs Martin issues a call to arms to save the Mokihinui River from hydro development

Hulls Creek, Twin Streams

Galapagos, A Field Guide to Native Edible Plants, Castles in the Sand, Godwits: Long-haul Champions

60 • From the Mountains to the Sea Joan Leckie explores the Manawatu River COVER: Rod Morris took the cover photograph of a month-old whio duckling at Te Anau Wildlife Park. While Rod has spent many arduous yet enjoyable hours trekking up the Arthur and Clinton Rivers to photograph whio in the wild, capturing this image was a little more leisurely, as it was taken in a captive rearing facility.

As part of recovery efforts DOC workers were monitoring whio nests and taking eggs as soon as they were laid to hatch them in incubators. The ducklings were then reared in captivity, to be released later in wilderness areas protected by intensive predator control. This intervention was necessary to protect nesting adult whio, their eggs and ducklings from predation by stoats, which was taking a heavy toll on wild whio populations.

To see more of Rod’s images go to www.rodmorris.co.nz

Water, water everywhere . . .

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, Samuel Taylor Coleridge

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Comment Wet and wild

Water warriors

W

ATER! We use it everyday. New Zealand’s native plants and animals depend on it for their survival. Yet our activities impact greatly on this most precious of our natural resources.

New Zealanders have largely believed that we are a nation blessed

with unlimited supplies of clean fresh water. Yet freshwater ecosystems are in serious trouble. At a time when the natural world is under stress, our rivers, lakes, wetlands and streams may be the most at risk.

Globally, freshwater ecosystems have lost a greater proportion of their species and habitat than those on land or in the oceans, and they face increasing threats ranging from poor land management to hydro dams.

Such threats rarely operate in isolation of one another and Forest & Bird’s campaigns are focused on the premise that the needs of people and nature are not in conflict but are interdependent.

It’s important that we more fully understand the nature of that interdependency and the threats to freshwater ecosystems. Dams, discharges and taking of water alter rivers’ natural courses, block the pathways used by migrating fish, reduce and rearrange the patterns of flowing water that have choreographed aquatic life cycles for millennia, and degrade water quality.

Increasing threats from specialised land use are resulting in reduced water flows, pollution from agricultural runoff, poisoning of rivers and lakes and direct habitat destruction. Most of New Zealand’s vast estuaries and wetlands are already gone and much of the remainder are under significant threat from drainage and development.

We must also consider the impacts upon our own cultural and recreational wellbeing intrinsically woven into freshwater natural processes and biodiversity; in tikanga Maori this is mauri, the life-force that establishes the inter-relatedness of all living things. We have a responsibility to be better stewards of our freshwater.

Let us not take it for granted.

A

S New Zealand’s oldest magazine, it seems extraordinary that in 86 years Forest & Bird has never had a specially themed issue before. The fact that the stories in this issue are exclusively dedicated to freshwater indicates just how important it has become.

Our rivers, lakes, streams and wetlands are among our most treasured and important wild places – and are some of the most threatened. They are also home to some of our most unique native wildlife – from whio to whitebait – and are crucial for our own everyday survival.

In this issue you’ll read about some of our most special wet and wild places, and the threats they face. You’ll also notice that the voices behind the stories are just as diverse as the waterways they speak of.

In the mix we have conservationists, trampers, kayakers, rafters, scientists, iwi, local and regional government, Forest & Bird branches, politicians, public servants, academics, community groups, school students, journalists, photographers, fishermen, authors, artists, philosophers – even the Governor-General and a millionaire property developer!

The one thing they have in common is a deep love for New Zealand’s rivers, lakes, streams and wetlands, and the hope that these places and their wildlife will continue to be around for future generations to enjoy.

Together so many voices create one strong voice for the future of freshwater – long may New Zealand keep its wet and wild places.

Helen Bain, Forest & Bird Editor

Barry Wards, Forest & Bird President

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

PATRON: His Excellency the Hon. Sir Anand Satyanand, Governor-General of New Zealand NATIONAL PRESIDENT: Barry Wards DEPUTY PRESIDENT: Craig Potton IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENT: Peter Maddison NATIONAL TREASURER: Graham Bellamy EXECUTIVE COUNCILLORS: Andrew Cutler, Anne Fenn, Mark Fort, Alan Hemmings, Joan Leckie, Janet Ledingham, Peter Maddison, 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, Peter Maddison, Sir 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 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.

A thousand years hence the river will run as it did.

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Turkish proverb

Rod Morris

Whio

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All the rivers run into the sea, yet the sea is not full.

King Solomon

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letters to the editor

“Doomed? Maybe. Extinct?

Not yet.” With this line in my book, High Country Lark, I sum up the apparent status of South Island kokako, one of the most perplexing stories in New Zealand nature conservation.

And the mystery continues.

Helen Bain, in her article (Forest & Bird, August 2009), makes a timely point: this mysterious species has long been tantalising searchers, including Alec Milne, of Golden Michael Coote and Kent Xie Forest & Bird Waitakere Branch Bay, who is in no doubt the bird exists in a remote mountain region of Kahurangi National South Island kokako Park. From other parts of the I can see why some South South Island, including Lewis Islanders might be eager to Pass and Fiordland, there have claim their disappearing bird also been reports in recent as something special (“The years of sign or calls suggestive search for the living dead?”

Forest & Bird, August 2009). It of kokako. Two years ago the Department of Conservation does give them a bit of kudos!

However, I think they have now gave up the ghost, declaring the had quite enough fun; it is time species extinct. Gone forever.

File closed. Really? What DOC to bring this farce to an end.

What is in fact the real bone of seemed to be saying was that it did not want to be bothered contention I wonder. chasing up reports in the Could professional jealousy South Island wilds. With limited be involved? The official view Fourteen years since its Inspirational birds is that the South Island kokako resources and so many species creation in July 1995, Motu on the brink, it is certainly hard We are four students from Manawa (Pollen Island) Marine is indeed extinct and is being pressed to keep the extinction Raglan Area School. We maintained in the face of the Reserve deserves much list from growing. Yet, South recently went on a trip to the experienced ornithologist Alec higher public recognition. The Island kokako appear not to Hamilton Zoo to explore the free Milne’s sighting in the Cobb Associate Minister replied want to take this decision lying flight aviary, which has many Valley. that she had requested the down, not while searchers like different types of birds. But Without positive evidence Department of Conservation Alec Milne keep looking out the birds we were interested in for many years (Since 1967) to discuss the signage matter for sign. He says he saw a bird were all the native birds and to with the New Zealand Transport DOC’s Kokako Recovery Group last year in Kahurangi National promote them we would like the Agency and would advise us of spokesman Ian Flux declared Park, a five-hour tramp from editors to publish this in your the bird extinct in 2004. Milne’s the outcome. a road end, and around that next magazine, because of how 10-second sighting occurred in With greater public awaretime heard a song that was much our whole class enjoyed 2005. Over the next couple of ness the reserve will become unmistakably kokako. Although it and how much we were all years he returned with a tape more valued and appreciated there are probably DOC staff inspired. We would recommend recorder and last March in

by Aucklanders, with flow-on prepared to mount searches this zoo because it’s inspiring response to his played calls of benefits in terms of increased supported by kokako call tapes, and educational. the North Island kokako, Milne volunteers and fundraising the “extinct” label deters them.

Raglan Area School students. heard what he says were the to contribute to upkeep and In High Country Lark I write, (Sarah, Katherine, Rylee and “distinctive organ notes” of a preservation. among other things, of the valClaudia.) kokako. He followed it up with Long-time members of iant searching for South Island more trips but there was no Forest & Bird will remember kokako, spanning decades, by Marine reserve further response. the critical role played by the Rhys Buckingham and Ron Milne rightly points out the recognition organisation in the creation Nilsson. Notwithstanding reports and management of the marine official “extinct” tag is actually We were delighted to receive of the bird in ones and twos, a reserve, rescuing the area from a barrier to people coming recently a letter from Kate recognisable population of South planned commercial use by the forward with suspected sightWilkinson, Associate Minister Island kokako has yet to be disings lest they be dismissed as Ports of Auckland. of Conservation, in response covered. Now a new generation “crazy” (people are reluctant The reserve is one of the to a letter we wrote requestof searchers is in action, funding to report what they have seen last remaining natural coastal ing that official signage be searches largely from their own and heard because they think ecosystems in the Waitemata erected on the North Western resources. But their effort is not that they will not be believed.)

Harbour and is home not only motorway in Auckland to mark as systematic as it could be.

Maybe it is now time for comto endangered fernbirds and a the boundaries of the Motu And time is running out. monsense to prevail.

Manawa (Pollen Island) Marine breeding ground for the New Neville Peat, Dunedin Zealand dotterel, but is also the Moira Ryan, Lower Hutt Reserve. continued next page

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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 to the letters page of the February issue of the magazine will win a copy of Galapagos: Preserving Darwin’s Legacy by Tui De Roy (Random House, $39.99).

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

Deadline for contributions 15 December 2009.

first known habitat of a species of Bactra moth discovered

by Forest & Bird’s Mark Bellingham.

We would also like to see construction of a boardwalk system that allows an appropriate level of access so people can enjoy and learn more about the unique environment of Pollen Island and its surrounding salt marshes, mangrove forests and tidal flats.

Rivers are magnets for the imagination.

Tim Palmer

7

letters to the editor On 21st April 1990 a friend and I were about one or two kilometres inland from the Forest & Bird Tautuku huts in thick bush and heard three notes very similar to recorded North Island kokako calls. Light snow was falling. There were several bell birds calling, as well as the occasional fantail and tom tit. We saw no tui, and heard no song before or afterwards that was like those of tui. The call consisted of a plaintive, drawn out initial note about 1.5 to 2 seconds long, a gap of some 1.5 seconds, followed by two descending shorter notes of similar timbre, the last a little lower than the second, which was lower still than the first. The last note was the shortest, with the last two descending in pitch, flutey and mournful. A few seconds later a largish bird flew clumsily from where I had heard the call

into a tree nearby. Thereafter I could not see this bird. My friend spontaneously said it sounded like a kokako and unlike tuis or bellbirds. We are both very familiar with the bush and birds, and know that tuis can mimic kokako. Neither of us thought this the case. DOC suggested it might have been a tui, woodpigeon or kea. It was none of those. In April 2005 I heard a similar call in the lower Greenstone, repeated twice, but saw no bird.

Dr R John Wilson, Dunedin

Birds on the run Today I went for my regular slow jog in the countryside and I say slow because I am nearly 75. By the time I had returned I had seen the following: starling, mynah, sparrow, blackbird, thrush, yellow-hammer, goldfinch, white-eye, kereru, plover, hawk, pukeko, paradise

Rivers and power

duck, turkey, pheasant, magpie, fantail, hedge-sparrow and kingfisher. I sat down on my verandah to cool down and a cormorant and a mallard flew along the creek below me, a warbler popped around in the ti-tree and a covey of quail visited the garden. A total of 23 species and a record for my run although I never see less than 15. What a delight and an interest our birdlife is and may it always continue to be so.

In your November 2008 issue you published a photo of a possum and a rat feeding on some nesting fledglings. That image is a hard-hitting shocker which I believe should be turned into posters and used as an educational aid. If there is a reason to use all available methods to rid ourselves of these vermin this photo proves it.

Barry Buckley, Oparau

Why must New Zealand keep on producing more and more electricity and ruining more and more rivers? For places that pride themselves with high sunshine hours solar panels could be utilized for street lighting and thus benefiting the environment as well as rate payers.

Edith Shaw, Nelson (This letter wins Poles Apart

by Gareth Morgan and John McCrystal)

Kokako poll Thanks to those who responded to our poll asking whether readers believed the South Island kokako was extinct or not.

72% of respondents said they thought the SI kokako was still alive, while 28% said it was extinct – Ed.

50 Years Ago in Forest & Bird

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orest & Bird’s objectives were not officially expanded till the early 1970s to include “all natural features of New Zealand” as well as our forests and birds. However, attention was certainly paid to New Zealand’s rivers and lakes much earlier, as this National Publicity Studios photo of Lake Ianthe in Westland in the November issue of Forest & Bird testifies. Many of Forest & Bird’s campaigns of the 1950s and 60s focused on freshwater, most notably the nationwide Save Manapouri campaign that stopped the level of the lake being raised for hydro development.

Wanted!

Your binoculars

Got some old binoculars that are just gathering dust?

Conservation projects around the Pacific could put them to good use.

Many community-based projects supported by Forest & Bird’s BirdLife partners around the Pacific are carrying out vital conservation work to protect threatened bird species.

An important part of that work is monitoring – and binoculars are an essential tool in monitoring bird populations.

Often projects operate on very limited budgets, so your help in donating your second-hand binoculars is a valuable contribution to the success of their work.

If you can help by donating binoculars to a Pacific conservation project please send them (carefully wrapped) to: Binoculars Project Forest & Bird PO Box 631 Wellington Or drop them off to Forest & Bird National Office, 90 Ghuznee St, Wellington.

And we’ll make sure they reach a Pacific project where they can help make a difference for conservation.

“Thanks to everyone who sent their unwanted binoculars for use by Pacific conservation projects – they are greatly appreciated by our Pacific BirdLife partners. We are continuing to accept second-hand binoculars for distribution around the Pacific and will keep our readers updated on the projects in which the binoculars are used.”

I was born inland between the creek and the river.

8

8 FOREST & BIRD • AUGUST 2009

Eileen Duggan

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

Crunch time for rivers New Zealand politicians have ignored water issues for far too long. That omission is deliberate, and based on political expediency. Both Labour and National, chanting the mantra of growth, find it easier to leave biased or incompetent local bodies to grapple with environmental problems of our waterways, rather than risking political fallout by imposing rigorous water protection rules.

An allied problem is the loss of public ownership of water.

In strict law, all water belongs to the Crown, but the Resource Management Act supports an insidious process of water privatization. Again the politicians have deliberately dragged their heels so that rural interests can effectively steal the resource.

Farmers should be made to pay for public water they take from rivers and aquifiers. The current system allows them to be what economists call “free riders”, who take a public resource at no cost and on-sell it at a profit.

Common sense dictates that a moratorium on all water takes is needed to preserve the resource while new water allocation and protection rules are designed. Under the current government, sustainable growth is a hollow sham.

Grant Henderson Auckland

where consensus is unlikely, why not target this area of common ground? Many large families can’t afford a Forest & Bird subscription. Why not give them one? If you can’t persuade people that 11 kids is excessive, why not ensure those 11 kids get exposure to good environmental messages?

Eleven keen little eco-warriors might achieve changes to family thinking far more effectively than an outsider could.

Everybody has to start somewhere, and the KCC magazine is a great place to begin the journey. So my challenge to Mr Conn is, get to work organizing gift subscriptions for families you consider to be rampant “overbreeders”, and I urge all readers who agreed with his letter to do the same.

Shannon Barnard Hamilton

High country

My reason for writing is my objection to the proposed increase in dairy farming in the shingle-filled Ahuriri Basin with its pristine values. I am not averse to irrigation per se, as it is essential for the production of beef, sheep and crops that help feed a hungry world, and agriculture is absolutely essential to the economy of our country.

Since tenure review (Helen Clark’s land grab policy) we have been subjected to a huge increase in rates by Educating the masses district councils because the DOC estate pays no rates.

I sometimes wonder whether We are continually subjected Forest & Bird ends up spending its considerable journalistic to abuse by groups such as talent preaching to the environ- yours regarding the so-called degradation of the remaining mentally converted. Stephen land. Having owned this land Conn (letters, Forest & Bird, for three generations, we have, August 2009) expressed some interesting ideas about religious under the terms of our pastoral lease, maintained weed and belief and the environment. pest control. Can DOC do the In response to his comment same? No – there is strong about religions who advocate visual evidence that this is not “overbreeding”, my reply is happening. The Mackenzie that the planet doesn’t have Basin is a dramatic example of time for Mr Conn to persuade visual and physical pollution. huge numbers of people that their religious beliefs are wrong. Massive power lines bisect the However, many religions have a country , interrupting iconic strong concept of “stewardship views, and [there is] modification of rivers, some of which are of the Earth” incorporated into fragile habitats for vulnerable their belief system. Rather flora and fauna. I do not want than waste time on areas

this to happen in the Ahuriri Basin. I am opposed to major abstractions of water from the conservation protected Ahuriri River and support your efforts to halt this madness.

Mike Thomas Omarama

Bees online Thank you to your readers for the interesting replies sent in response to my query about native bees and what vegetation that they favour (Letters, Forest & Bird, February 2009). One very useful reply was from Dr Trevor Crosby of Landcare Research. Trevor is editor of the

collation of information by our scientists in the journals of The Fauna of New Zealand.

Follow these instructions for bees but follow where your fancy leads as well: Google “Landcare Research NZ”. Click on “databases” and select what you need from “Plants,” “Animals.” etc. It is Aladdin’s cave from there on.

Trevor also recommended for information on bees the “Fauna of New Zealand Online” link (go to “Fauna 57: Apoidea [Insecta: Hymenoptera]”).

Basil Graeme Tauranga

Winners • The Meet the Locals DVD set was won by Y Waugh.

• Our kokako draw to win NZ Journey by Georg and Verena Popp was won by V Walker.

• Penguins of New Zealand by Lloyd Spencer Davis was won by Denis Dawson, L Cuthbertson and Philip Howe.

“Nature Tours” Australia & Beyond

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Water is fundamental for life and health.

UN Committee on Economic, Cultural and Social Rights

9

soapbox

The politics of water Green Party co-leader Russel Norman says if politicians want to look after our economy they must look after our water.

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CROSS the country water quality is declining in rivers and lakes while wetlands and streams are drying up. Freshwater ecosystems have collapsed in many parts of the country and most lowland rivers outside conservation zones are unsafe for swimming in the summer.

We are losing something fundamental to who we are as a people when we no longer have access to the last of the wild places.

When rivers are too polluted for people to use they are no longer wild and they are no longer held in common – they are privatised drains. We need to do a better job of looking after our beautiful country.

The main causes of this crisis are increased pollution of freshwater bodies from agriculture, horticulture and sewage, and increased uptake of water for irrigation, industry and urban use. Largescale conversion to intensive dairy farming – a revolution in agricultural land use in the last 10 years – has been the most significant contributor to this trend.

Standing behind this failure is a failed governance system. The Resource Management Act is too weak to deal with the cumulative effects of growing and multiplying sources of pollution and water takes.

Our failure to manage freshwater in this country is in some respects a result of our failure to understand the New Zealand economy. In a finite world, the relative

price of primary commodities inevitably increases. This means that those that have an advantage in finite resources have a global economic advantage.

Our advantage in relatively untouched natural environments has fuelled tourism, while our advantage in freshwater has fuelled our dairy industry, placing considerable pressure on the environment on which these industries are dependent. For the New Zealand economy to perform well we need to get water management right.

One approach worth considering is collaborative governance – the key players (industry, Maori and environmental groups) get together and are resourced by government to pursue a win-win solution which they jointly present to government.

From an environmental perspective, regulation with teeth and significant investment in cleaning up our rivers is a must – we cannot continue to treat rivers like drains.

From an industry perspective, the current first-come-first-served system of allocating water consents locks in existing users and fails to provide an easy way for new entrants to access over-allocated water resources.

From a tangata whenua perspective, water is both a taonga, for which they have kaitiakitanga responsibilities, and a resource, the rights to which they never conceded to the Crown.

There is no guarantee that a consensus between these groups is possible.

However, a path forward will be clearer if the government acknowledges that our economic future is dependent on successful environmental management.

The Government’s first round of proposed reforms of the RMA has been a step backward for environmental protection. They are vigorously opposed by environmental groups, iwi and communities because they limit the ability to advocate for environmental issues.

Water management will be addressed in the next phase of RMA reform. This is an opportunity for the government to do something good for the environment and the future of our economy. It’s time for them to stop saying we have to trade off one for the other – the economy is a wholly owned subsidiary of the environment and the sooner we protect our freshwater the sooner we will protect our long-term economic future.

Capture a wild river Forest & Bird’s Wild Rivers: Captured photo contest is a good excuse to get out on or beside a wild river this summer.

Your favourite scene could show raging rapids or a trickle in a braided river – so long as it highlights an untamed waterway, we want to see it.

The contest has two categories – a New Zealand river landscape without people and a river landscape with people. Kayakers, rafters, fishers, trampers and picnickers all love a wild river. Or the wonderful creatures that live in or beside wild rivers – blue ducks, fish or snails – could be the main focus of your image.

We’d also like a few details about where you photographed your river scene and why it’s special to you.

Prizes include a Leica camera worth $1700 and outdoor equipment worth $900. Winning photos will be printed and will be taken on a wild rivers road show touring New Zealand in autumn.

Entries must be taken this summer and digital entries can be submitted from January 1 to March 15.

Photography guru Craig Potton is the judge, and prize winners will be announced on March 31.

For more details, see www.forestandbird.org.nz • Entries must be emailed to:photocomp@forestandbird.org.nz

10

Between Earth and Earth’s atmosphere, the amount of water remains constant; there is never a drop more, never a drop less. Linda Hogan

GW

GW

conservationbriefs

Discoloured water caused by paint dumped down drains.

Many urban streams are blocked by barriers which prevent fish migration.

Upwardly mobile fish ELLINGTON’S waterways have long been piped, polluted and plundered. So it is surprising to learn that many of its urban streams are still home to native freshwater fish.

Surveys conducted by Greater Wellington Regional Council have found that many of the region’s urban streams still support valuable communities of native freshwater fish, despite streams being piped underground for kilometres, widespread pollution and habitat destruction.

Greater Wellington environmental scientist Alton Perrie says the appearance of concreted drains, rubbish, discoloured water and in some instances an odour of sewage promote a perception that Wellington’s urban streams have low ecological value, but even in some of the most modified streams some fish are managing to hang on.

The surveys found banded

kokopu, koaro, redfin bullies and longfin eels in reasonable numbers and in one stream they found a couple of giant kokopu – a threatened species now extremely rare in the region.

The species found in the surveys were all excellent climbers and so had been able to negotiate the multitude of man-made barriers, such as weirs, pipes and culverts, found in the lower reaches of many of the streams.

But because most of New Zealand’s 35 species of native fish need to migrate between rivers and streams and the sea to complete their lifecycle, these barriers are excluding many of the other fish that aren’t good climbers, Perrie says.

In some streams even fish that are good climbers are no longer able to make the hazardous journey from the sea, so only a very few and very large, old fish were found. Without

intervention these streams will become fishless in the future as the older fish die and no younger fish are able to journey upstream to replace them.

Greater Wellington is working to improve fish passage in streams in the hope of restoring their populations. A fish pass built in Hulls Creek at Silverstream, with Forest & Bird involvement, has proven to be a success – species not

known for their climbing ability, such as inanga, have been found above a weir that was previously a formidable barrier to upstream fish passage.

Restoration plantings by the many stream care groups that work with Greater Wellington are also improving the habitat and water quality of urban streams, and it is hoped their efforts will help restore native fish populations.

Giant kokopu – now extremely rare in Wellington.

Rod Morris

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How you can help make urban streams healthier for native fish: • Join your local Forest & Bird branch or stream care group to help restore a stream in your area.

• Pick up litter such as cans, plastic bags and cigarette butts that could be washed in stormwater from streets into waterways.

• Pick up your dog’s droppings – when washed into storm water they increase bacteria levels in rivers.

• Clean your car on the lawn rather than a concrete drive or road so the detergents are not washed into drains and into waterways.

• Don’t hose grass clippings and leaves into drains • Don’t clean paintbrushes or tip leftover paint and solvents into drains – take them (and household chemicals and waste oil) to the specific sections at official landfills for safe disposal.

I have never seen a river that I could not love.

Roderick Haig-Brown

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conservationbriefs

Donate to Forest & Bird’s Wild Rivers summer appeal and help save a river

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AKE a donation to Forest & Bird’s Wild Rivers appeal later this month – and then head out to enjoy a wild river over summer. As the articles in this issue of Forest & Bird make clear, we can’t take wild rivers for granted.

Donations to the Wild Rivers appeal will help Forest & Bird advocate for our precious wild rivers and the plants and creatures that live in and beside them. Future generations have as much right to enjoy a wild river as we do.

Shaun Barnett/Black Robin Photography

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

Royal Forest and Bird Protection Society

Royal Forest and Bird Protection Society

Conservation Calendar 2010

neW Zealand Conservation diary 2010

New Zealand

Conservation Calendar R O YA L F O R E S T A N D B I R D P R O T E C T I O N S O C I E T Y | 2 0 1 0

JULY 2010

J U LY 2 0 10

A U G U ST 2 0 10

M T W T F S S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31

M T W T F S S 30 31 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29

MONDAY

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TUESDAY

20

WEDNESDAY

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THURSDAY

22

FRIDAY

23

SATURDAY

24

SUNDAY

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By purchasing this calendar you are contributing to conservation work in New Zealand New Zealand tomtit on megaherb, Auckland Islands (Mark Jones/Roving Tortoise)

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

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$

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includes post and packaging

This beautifully produced diary includes photographs of New Zealand landscapes, plants and wildlife. It includes ‘week to view’ pages and is spiral bound so it will lie flat when open.

$

24

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includes post and packaging

Both calendar and diary are available now. Send orders with cheque and delivery details to: Craig Potton Publishing, PO Box 555, Nelson 7010, New Zealand PHONE +64 3 548 9009 Fax +64 3 548 9456 Email maree@cpp.co.nz WEb www.craigpotton.co.nz To order by credit card, refer to the Forest and Bird website: www.forestandbird.org.nz

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It is a fascinating and provocative thought that a body of water deserves to be considered w w w. f o re s t a n d b i rd . o r g . n z as an organism in its own right. Lyall Watson, Supernature

12 FOREST & BIRD • AUGUST 2009

Landowner in court over wetland destruction

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WAIRARAPA landowner is being prosecuted for destroying 14 hectares of protected wetlands to create more farmland.

Greater Wellington Regional Council is taking Lloyd Rayner and his company, Hauroa Farms, to court over damage to the Tauherenikau Delta wet-

lands bordering Lake Wairarapa in March.

Rayner and the company face three charges of excavating a riverbed, damming water and diverting water from a river and wetland. The maximum penalty if the charges are proven is a $200,000 fine per charge or six months’ jail.

Greater Wellington environmental regulation manager Al Cross said the damage was discovered by council staff in March. The council alleges that Rayner dammed a river and drained a wetland to turn it into farmland without gaining resource consent for the work.

Cross says the area is a

Wetlands bordering Lake Wairarapa.

DOC

conservationbriefs

unique wetland of major national significance, and the largest wetland complex in the southern North Island. The wetlands are home to native fish, including black flounder, inanga, koura, freshwater crayfish, common bully and kokopu, as well as unique and threatened wetland plants and water fowl.

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The environmental programme, which we’ve called ‘Restoring New Zealand’s Forest Floor’, commits regular funding from every local Flooring Xtra store to Forest & Bird, so that they may plant in excess of 15,000 native plants and trees around New Zealand every year.

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

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Waikato University

conservationbriefs

Koi carp – a spreading menace.

One fish, two fish, pest fish, shoo fish

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HE Waikato basin is “pest fish central”, with the invasive koi carp making up nearly 80% of the fish living here, according to University of Waikato researchers. In some waterways there are up to four tonnes of koi carp per hectare.

Associate Professor Brendan Hicks says those figures are alarming, and we need to understand more about the ecological impact of koi carp around New Zealand.

He and fellow Waikato University Biology Department researchers are working on freshwater restoration projects which could shape the way we combat pest fish.

At Agricultural Fieldays this year, the university’s stand displayed koi carp and feral goldfish alongside our native whitebait species inanga and banded kokopu in huge tanks to educate people about the spread of pest fish in our waterways. The display showed two tanks of fish – one a murky melee of several varieties of pest fish, the other with clean water and native fish, repre-

senting how our bodies of water should look.

Introduced pest fish such as koi carp, rudd, catfish and feral goldfish are thought to be responsible for the cycling of nutrients from the runoff of fertiliser into the water, which causes increased algal blooms in waterways.

Although koi carp were recognised as a pest fish in New Zealand decades ago, little work has been done on their environmental impact – until Waikato University scientists started work on the issue about 10 years ago.

Hicks says their work aims to establish the environmental impact of pest fish and figure out the best way to control them. The Waikato team will remove pest fish from five water bodies in the region and monitor their ecological systems to establish what damage the fish are doing.

Freshwater restoration and pest fish control are just two parts of a huge, $10 million, 10-year research project led

by Waikato University and

funded by the Foundation for Research, Science and Technology to clean up lakes and improve their biodiversity.

University researchers use an

electro-fishing boat (the only one of its kind in New Zealand) which temporarily stuns the fish so they can be caught for surveys.

We never know the worth of water till the well is dry.

14

14 FOREST & BIRD • AUGUST 2009

Thomas Fuller

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

New Zealand has moved to a new mapping system. If you use maps, make sure you’re moving with us.

A lloot hhaaass cchhaannggeed si sinc nce we we firsstt beeggaann makin akin ak ing to toppoogr graphi apphica hicaal m hi maaps ps in in th the 19930 300sss..

Now we No we haavve aallssoo cha hannggged ed, ttoo a sys ed ysteem th yste that haatt’s ’s com omppaatitibl b e wi withh inntter ernnaatition ion onaall onal navviiggaatitioonnal na al tec echnol hnoollogie hn ogieess,, suc og uch ch as as GP PS S. We’ Wee’r W ’re usin usin us ing ddiiff ffer erennt cooor er ordi dina dina nate nate tes to to maapp tthhe he co couunntr try an and, d, as a resu ressuultt, even re even ev en our ur laarrge gest gest st laanndm mar arks ks have avve sshhiifftteed by by abo bout ut 200m 20 m. Of Of cou ouurs rrsse, e, itt’’s not not a mo no m ve ve thhaatt’’s vi visi sibl ble ttoo the he nnak akked ed eyyee but ut iitt m maake ake kes a diff di ffer eerrennce ce whheen yo you’ u’re re tryin ryyin ing to to tell eelll soom meeon one ne wher whheerre you yoou aarree..

For more information, visit www.topo50.govt.nz or ask for a Topo50 map from any DOC visitor centre or map retailer.

15

RAPP00 RAP P0 0 03 03F 3F&B B

Ass New A ew Zeeaalaand nd’ss mappi aapppi ping ng auutthhoorriity ty, we we’vve re releeaassed ed new ew top oppog ogra og gra raphhic icaall maps aps ttoo ap sshhoow w tthe he cha he hang ngee.. Top opo5 opo5 o5500 ma mappss are re des esiiggne ned ttoo heellp yo you findd yoouur w waay th thro rouuggh roug remo re mote te are reas eas as, aannndd in inccllud ude de uuppda pda date t d innfoorm rmat atioon on on Dep epar a tm meennt ooff Conse onnse serv rvatio attioon (D (DOC OC) huts hu ts anndd trraacckkks. ss.. Anndd eme merg rgen enccyy ser ervviice ice ces wi willl be uussinng thhem m shoul houl ho uld you you ne yo need ed hellp. p.

Endowment funds – Q & A What is an endowment fund?

An endowment fund is an investment fund established by an organisation to assist with long-term funding. The fund’s investment income may be used for operational expenses, including general purposes (such as salaries, overheads and operating costs) or for specified purposes such as capital expenditures. Endowment funds are often used by universities, private schools, museums, hospitals, churches, foundations and non-profit organisations.

What are the rules about how the investment income is used?

Decisions about purpose will be made by the organisation’s trust board, which will work with a trust company or trustees offering guidance and support. The Forest & Bird Endowment Fund operates with its own advisory board, independent of the organisation. Forest & Bird may add and remove advisory trustees from the board. The fund cannot work outside the legal scope of the trust deed.

How do endowment funds receive their funding?

Fundraising for an endowment fund can be done through a bequest programme, applications for charitable grants or general fundraising.

Can donations be made over time?

Anyone who wants to contribute to the Forest & Bird Endowment Fund may do so at any time in the months and years after the fund is established.

How are they useful to charities?

Endowment funds can support sustainability for an organisation, help it weather recession, protect against financial instability, and provide a margin of security so it can direct the time and energy of staff to productive endeavours.

What should institutions wanting to establish an endowment fund look for from a trustee or trustee company?

Reputation, history, a good track record of successful endowments and demonstrated ability to establish longterm, beneficial working relationships.

What is the benefit to donors?

There may be a tax exemption for donors if the endowment fund is for a registered charitable trust (like Forest & Bird). The other benefit is that donors typically want to support a cause dear to their heart, and this enables them to satisfy that desire – with the knowledge that what they have given will continue to support that cause indefinitely, during and after their lifetime.

How widely are endowment funds used in New Zealand?

The Charities Commission is raising the sector’s profile, and its new systems enhance transparency and accountability for donors. Organisations have been hurt financially by the recession and are becoming more assertive about sustainability, with demand for endowment funds growing as a result.

What is the difference between an endowment fund and a charitable trust?

Both are charitable, but an endowment fund is set up for a specific organisation and therefore has what is called a narrow interest, while a trust can have a wide interest. Wide discretion trusts support general activity in New Zealand, while an endowment fund will typically support a particular institution.

Can the establishment of an endowment fund affect the amount of funding a public body receives from other sources, such as the government?

A separate trust deed is developed for an endowment fund, and that is where the capital value of the endowment is reported annually, not on the balance sheet of the organisation.

How does trusteeship of an endowment fund differ from that of a trust?

The role of trustee does not differ, but the Forest & Bird endowment operates with an advisory board, which has more people, with a wider skill base, than a trust would typically have.

Filthy water cannot be washed.

16

African proverb

Water sustains all.

Thales of Miletus

17

Shaun Barnett/ Black Robin Photography

The Mohaka River’s nationally outstanding qualities are protected by a Water Conservation Order.

The decline of a river

M

OHAKA River in Hawke’s Bay has long been upheld as an ecological gem, treasured for its pristine water quality.

Its 172-kilometre length from the Kaweka and Kaimanawa Ranges through northern Hawke’s Bay to the sea north of Napier is home to New Zealand’s native and endangered longfin eel, plus numerous other native aquatic species and whio (blue duck), and supports a highly-rated trout fishery.

The Mohaka’s outstanding value was recognised and protected in 2004 by a water conservation order. But in recent years anglers have reported marked increases in sediment and algae in the upper reaches of the river, and a decline in the size and number of trout.

Fish & Game Hawke’s Bay regional manager Iain Maxwell says the changes followed intensification of dairy farming in the catchment of the Taharua River, one of the Mohaka’s three main upper-reach tributaries, in the late 1990s.

There are now three large dairy farms with 9000 cows in the Taharua Valley – one-fifth of the total number of dairy cows in Hawke’s Bay. The nitrogen they produce flows easily through the free-draining pumice soils into the Taharua River and the Mohaka.

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Underwater video footage taken by Fish & Game shows water clarity deteriorates dramatically immediately below the Taharua confluence, with thick slime, weed and sediment clouding a river that once had the highest water quality in Hawke’s Bay. Scientific studies conducted by Fish & Game and Hawke’s Bay Regional Council confirm that water quality has deteriorated.

A regional council report says nitrate levels downstream from the dairying were the highest in Hawke’s Bay, and algal levels increased significantly where the nutrient-rich water entered the Mohaka.

An ongoing Envirolink/Regional Council/Fish & Game/Cawthron Institute study is indicating changes in the invertebrates which trout and other aquatic species feed on. The invertebrate life is Slime, weed, and sediment clouding a river that once had the highest water quality in Hawke’s Bay.

Water, the hub of life/Water is its mater and matrix, mother and medium/Water is the most extraordinary substance. Albert Szent-Gyorgyi

Fish & Game

Christine Fallwell reports on the impact of intensification of dairy farming on the Mohaka River – and efforts to restore it to its formerly pristine state.

changing from large species such as mayflies and stoneflies to smaller ones like beetle larvae, which provide lower quality food.

Maxwell says the declining water quality is at odds with protection of a river worthy of the “nationally-outstanding” criteria required by a water conservation order. The river is one of the most iconic places in the Central Plateau, and should be recognised and protected in the regional plan, he says.

The Department of Conservation is also concerned about the impact of dairy farming on the Mohaka. “It is a question of all the things that are important to us as New Zealanders – the Mohaka is the very essence of that,” DOC’s Hawke’s Bay Area Ranger Neil Grant says.

Prompted by Fish & Game and DOC’s concerns, and by results of its own monitoring, the regional council will finally take action. The council aims to take a “zero tolerance” approach to breaches of Resource Management Act consents by dairy farmers, and will set up a local stakeholders group to encourage farmers to take measures such as planting trees to reduce nitrogen leaching into groundwater.

The council is also developing a new policy governing the Taharua-Mohaka area for its regional plan, which is likely to set a nutrient limit for the river, and require landowners to operate within “nutrient budgets”.

DOC and Fish & Game welcome the moves. Maxwell says it is the first time the regional council has publicly endorsed and acted to uphold the values enshrined in the water conservation order.

The water conservation order was implemented specifically to control potential hydro-electric development, which was the prime threat when Fish & Game and DOC proposed the order in 1987, so it governs only what can be done on the river itself, not surrounding land.

And the council’s own regional resource management plan gives applications for resource consent for dairy farming the status of “permitted activities”, which means they can be subject to conditions but not declined outright.

When DOC and Fish & Game opposed dairy farm resource consent applications, the regional council claimed it was powerless to act on intensification of dairy farming and its effect on the river. Any changes to plans that tackle the intensification issue could be up to seven years away.

Maxwell predicts that the river will deteriorate in that time – but is optimistic that it can recover to pristine condition within about seven years if the amount of nutrients in the river is set at the level they were before intensive dairying.

That means existing farming can continue, so long as farmers don’t exceed nutrient budgets, hopefully reaching a solution that is acceptable to everyone in the community.

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Meditation and water are wedded forever.

Herman Melville, Moby Dick

19

Restoring Waiwhakareke When Hamilton residents set about creating a park that would restore the native lowland and wetland ecosystems that were once widespread in Waikato, they found that water was the vital ingredient. Andrew Corkill explains.

W

AIWHAKAREKE Natural Heritage Park is a large-scale restoration project covering about 60 hectares on the north-west edge of Hamilton city.

It aims to create a largely selfsustaining habitat that represents the original ecosystem diversity of the Hamilton Basin by reconstructing the native lowland and wetland ecosystems that were once widespread, but are now rare in the Waikato region.

The concept of a natural heritage park came from the then principal of Waikato Institute of Technology, Dr David

20

Rawlence, who proposed the creation of a “living museum” representing the ecosystems of the Hamilton Basin. In 2003 Hamilton City Council agreed to develop Waiwhakareke Natural Heritage Park on its land.

The project has been widely supported by the city’s community but the main partners are the city council, University of Waikato, Waikato Institute of Technology, Tui 2000 and Nga Mana Toopu o Kirikiriroa.

The park will comprise the five main ecosystem types that once existed in the region. Key among them are the wetlands that were once a key part of the natural environment here that has now almost vanished.

Before European settlement wetlands covered 50,000ha of the Hamilton Basin but from the 1860s much of it was drained to make way for farmland, and only 1% now remains.

An example of the Waikato’s most prevalent wetland type, Sporodanthus bog, is being recreated at the park. This bog is being created through the formation of a

peat dome at the lake’s edge. A peat dome is a type of wetland that rises higher than the general water level – it develops from layers of vegetation that grow year-by-year without decomposing.

The two native plants that contribute to the peat dome – Sporadanthus ferrugineus (cane rush) and Empodisma minus (wire rush) – are threatened because of the destruction of so much of New Zealand’s peaty wetland.

To create the peat dome for Waiwhakareke, peat was brought by truck from Torehape on the Hauraki Plains and deposited by the eastern border of the lake to provide the ideal conditions for the rushes to become established.

The peat lake and its aquatic ecosystem are also being recreated.

Lake Waiwhakareke was formed when an ancient course of the Waikato River was isolated by the growth of a natural levee. A peat bog grew on top of the levee, staining the waters brown and generating high levels of acidity in its waters.

In the park’s lower, flatter areas,

Be praised, My Lord, through Sister Water; she is very useful, and humble, and precious, and pure. St. Francis of Assisi

kahikatea and pukatea semi-swamp forest – once a dominant vegetation type of the Hamilton Basin – will be recreated.

On the higher areas kauri-tanekaharewarewa conifer-broadleaved forest – canopy species that were once prominent on ridges around Hamilton – will be replanted, while tawa-rimu broadleavedpodocarp forest will be replanted on the slopes.

Before drainage of the land around it Lake Waiwhakareke was surrounded by raised peatland and it would have been dystrophic – dystrophic lakes have large quantities of organic material, are highly acidic, low in nutrients, and have low productivity, partly because peat-staining limits light penetration.

Over time stock grazing to the water’s edge and run-off of fertiliser from the surrounding pasture has increased the lake’s nutrient status to where it has become eutrophic – rich in nutrients which cause excessive growth of aquatic plants – especially algae – and the resulting bacteria consumes nearly all the oxygen in

the lake. That means it will be a big task to return Lake Waiwhakareke to the original aquatic ecosystem of a Waikato peat lake.

One of the biggest challenges in achieving this goal is the proximity of residential areas to the lake – stormwater runs off the many impermeable surfaces of built-up areas, carrying contaminants and nutrients into the lake.

Developments nearby will be required to manage stormwater onsite, so that the only water entering the lake is through ground water that has been filtered by vegetation to remove nutrients. Preliminary work by the University of Waikato suggests that the lake can be returned to a dystrophic state once most of its catchment is re-forested.

The first planting in the park began in 2004, focusing on the margins of Waiwhakareke/Horseshoe peat lake in the centre of the park, to begin the process of restoring its water quality. About 9ha have now been planted.

As the lake’s natural balance is restored, its freshwater wildlife can also

The first-come first-served approach to water allocation needs refinement.

OECD Environmental Performance Review: New Zealand (2007)

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Rotokauri Community Park entrance and parking

ion

vis

ure

Fut

di sub

Pest Proof Fence Observation hide

Viewing platforms Main paths

Waiwhakareke restoration planting

Horseshoe Lake

Proposed subdivision

Ravenstock Community Park entrance and parking

Main entrance, facilities and parking

Waiwhakareke Natural Heritage Park

return. The lake is already home to species including shortfin and longfin eels, common bullies and giant kokopu.

Mudfish, indigenous to the Waikato Region, may be translocated to research sites in the lake.

It will be many years before a selfsustaining habitat will be developed – Professor Bruce Clarkson of the Centre for Biology and Ecology Research at the University of Waikato believes that the project will have to be handed on to future generations to complete the work.

Hamilton Zoo, which is next to the park, will play an increasing role in the re-introduction of birds and invertebrates, helping to re-build the complexity of a natural eco-system. There are plans for a network of walkways with links to nearby residential areas, a cycleway and a pestproof fence.

The park will provide a wonderful natural resource for Hamilton, drawing many local, national and international visitors, and supporting conservation, education, recreation and scientific research.

Volunteers are a vital part of Waiwhakareke’s restoration.

How you can help Volunteers are vital to the continuing growth and success of Waiwhakareke Natural Heritage Park. To find out how you can help, go to www.waiwhakareke.co.nz or contact Friends of Waiwhakareke at 2smiths@wave.co.nz, or phone Catherine Smith, 07 8558296.

Water is the driver of Nature.

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Leonardo da Vinci

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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.

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

A river is never silent. Even its deepest pools thrive with dark or dreamy utterance.

They shelter more than we can say we know. Brian Turner, Listening to the River

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Hurunui: A river journey

Shaun Barnett/Black Robin Photography

Shaun Barnett explores the wilds of the Hurunui catchment in Canterbury.

A river seems a magic thing. A magic, moving, living part of the very Earth itself.

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Laura Gilpin, photographer

Shaun Barnett/Black Robin Photography

No. 3 Hut, Hurunui Valley, Lake Sumner Forest Park

Snowfall at Cameron Hut, Hurunui Valley, Lake Sumner Forest Park.

Shaun Barnett/Black Robin Photography

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T’S the middle of winter, and the snow covering Macs Knob lies white in the frigid early morning air. My breath steams as I stiffly emerge from the tent and pull out my tripod. The mountains of the Southern Alps lie in utter stillness, and the moon’s orb still hangs over the Hurunui River as its braids reflect the first glint of the pink pre-dawn sky.

Macs Knob presents one of the few viewpoints where the topographical virtues of the upper Hurunui and Harper Pass are immediately obvious. Harper Pass, also known as the Hurunui Saddle, forms a distinctive dip in the Main Divide, sufficiently low to escape the worst of winter snows. Either side of the 962-metre pass peaks rise sharply to heights of more than 1500 metres.

Harper Pass has that rarest of features in the Southern Alps: relatively easy approaches on both sides, which make it an undemanding east-to-west route across the mountains. The Hurunui has many flats, few gorges and quite open beech forest. Even the Taramakau River, on the western side, presents few obstacles to travel other than boulders. By West Coast standards, it is a tame river.

Little wonder this was the principal route used by Maori to cross the Southern Alps during journeys to source that most treasured of West Coast materials, pounamu. No surprise either that the first Pakeha to cross the Southern Alps from coast to coast came this way too. I imagine Leonard Harper (whose explorermountaineer son, Arthur P Harper, later became President of Forest & Bird) as an impressionable youth, crossing over the pass with his Maori guides in 1857.

I imagine, too, in earlier centuries, parties of Maori labouring over the pass carrying kete weighed heavy by the dense, dark pounamu. For hundreds of years parties travelled up the Hurunui River, crossed the pass, and then went down the Taramakau to reach the pounamu grounds of the Arahura.

By the time Harper came to cross the pass now bearing his name, Maori use and knowledge of routes over the Southern

Shaun Barnett/Black Robin Photography

Moon over Harper Pass, Hurunui Valley, from Macs Knob, Lake Sumner Forest Park

Lakes Sumner and Lock Katrine from Macs Knob, winter, Lake Sumner Forest Park

Alps was dwindling; European boats made the alternative of a sea passage more attractive.

For a brief few months of glory in the mid 1860s, Harper Pass became the principal passage from Canterbury to the burgeoning West Coast goldfields, but the more direct route over Arthur’s Pass soon eclipsed it.

Seventy years ago, influential Minister of Internal Affairs Bill Parry decided to open up the Harper Pass route as a tramping track, part of his late 1930s “Physical Welfare” campaign to get the increasingly urban youth of New Zealand out into the open mountain air and healthful exercise.

He engaged deer cullers to cut tracks and build huts, giving them the prosaic

[The] narrow focus on economics is driving the degradation of natural water sources.

Pita Sharples, Maori party co-leader

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Shaun Barnett/Black Robin Photography

Tramper crossing 3 wire bridge, Cameron Stream, Hurunui Valley, Lake Sumner Forest Park

names of No 1 to 5. Two of these are still in use: No 3 and No 4, the latter of which is also known as Locke Stream after one of Harper’s companions.

I must confess that my first trip over Harper Pass, over 20 years ago, did not overly impress me. Parry had wanted the Harper Pass route to rival that of the Milford Track, but the scenery is, it must be said, decidedly less grand. And the travel proved too easy for a young tramper seeking more challenge.

But with age and more trips comes greater appreciation of other qualities: the subtle nature of landscapes, the quiet riffle of a rapid in the upper reaches, the uniformity of beech forest trunks cloaked in black moss, the matagouri-studded flats of the Hurunui above Lake Sumner.

The layers of history represented by a

place that has seen the footfall of Maori pounamu seekers, Pakeha explorers, gold diggers, deer cullers, track makers, anglers, hunters and trampers. The simplicity of accomplishing a modest trip where the focus is on enjoyment rather than overt challenge.

During a later trip, friend Geoff Spearpoint and I crossed Harper Pass just ahead of a snowstorm, and reached the diminutive form of Harper Pass “Biv” just as the first heavy flakes of snow began to waft out of a bleak, grey sky. The winter storm soon reclothed the winterdenuded branches of deciduous fuchsia, and softened the clumps of prickly shield fern. The orange bivouac rapidly became the only colour in an otherwise monochromatic scene. With a warm brew in our hands, and a hut awaiting us down-

valley, the pervading silence was peaceful rather than menacing.

Downstream, a day later, we soaked in the hot springs in the mid-reaches of the Hurunui North Branch. Naked but warm despite the winter, we imagined parties of Maori enjoying just this luxury on their own journeys. Geoff wondered whether the bracken that grows in the warm, steamy environment around the springs was natural, or planted by Maori as a food source for their travels.

On another trip, an autumn one from Lewis Pass to Arthur’s Pass, a friend and I cut across the North Branch of the Hurunui and climbed over Terrible Knob, then bush-bashed down into the littlevisited South Branch of the Hurunui. Here we stayed in the rough shelter of the South Branch Hut, heard great spotted kiwi call during the night, and wondered where the elusive orange-fronted kakariki might hide.

In the South Branch the Department of Conservation operate its largest “mainland island”, controlling predators to ensure a future not only for the kiwi and critically endangered kakariki, but also for karearea, kaka, kea and a host of more common native species.

Back on Macs Knob, as the sun rises and the shadows retreat, the extent of the upper Hurunui and its tributaries comes into sharp relief. Lake Sumner sprawls where it can among enclosing mountain folds. On the south-eastern corner of the lake, the Hurunui slips quietly over the outlet. A short distance downstream, the South Branch adds muscle to the river just before it enters a formidable gorge known as Maori Gully (once the bane of runholders on horseback, now the playground of kayakers and rafters). Then the river flows on, threading a torturous path through the farmland of north Canterbury towards the sea.

The Hurunui to me symbolises journeys, not just those of people, but a conduit through which life flows and depends upon. The river takes the residue of mountains to the lowlands and sea beyond. And it sustains the plants and animals which find home here in Lake Sumner Forest Park.

There are other places in the Southern Alps where the words “grand” and “wild” have greater weight, but I can think of few other rivers that better deserve the protection of a water conservation order than the Hurunui. Dams, weirs and irrigation schemes should have no place on this river.

By means of water we give life to everything.

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Koran

Water conservation orders

Shaun Barnett/Black Robin Photography

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Hurunui River South Hurunui River and Studleigh Range from near Terrible Knob, Lake Sumner Forest Park

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HE headwaters of the Hurunui begin in the Southern Alps and its two main branches (North and South) join to form the main river south-east of Lake Sumner. The river flows east across to Canterbury Plains to reach the sea south of Cheviot.

The river is abundant with native species: it is home to 25 species of native fish, including six threatened species, among them the giant kokopu and longfin eel. It also provides habitat for 58 bird species, including seven threatened species, among them the nationally endangered black-fronted tern, black-billed gulls and banded dotterels.

It also has wide recreational use: the Hurunui is one of the most popular kayaking rivers in New Zealand, and is also used for rafting, trout and salmon fishing, tramping and enjoyment of spectacular scenery.

Threats to the Hurunui include proposals for hydro development and significant extraction of water for irrigation. It is also at risk from introduced pest organisms such as didymo.

WATER conservation order recognises outstanding amenity or intrinsic values of water in rivers, lakes, streams, ponds, wetlands or aquifers, and can cover freshwater or geothermal water. An order can restrict or prohibit taking of water, discharges into water, and other water use such as hydro development.

Water conservation orders can be used to preserve the water body’s value as a habitat, its wild and scenic nature, its significance for Maori, its value as a fishery or for recreational, historic, spiritual, cultural or scenic purposes.

Anyone can apply to the Minister for the Environment for a water conservation order. If the application is accepted a special tribunal will call for public submissions before making its recommendations. If a water conservation order is recommended (and any appeals are dealt with) the Governor-General then makes the order.

An order can restrict a regional council issuing new permits for water use and discharges, but it cannot affect existing permits. Regional policy statements and plans and district plans must be consistent with water conservation orders.

Water conservation orders are an important protection measure because even lakes and rivers within national parks are not covered by the same protection that land has within those parks.

There are currently 16 conservation orders covering water bodies with outstanding values.

Fish & Game and the NZ Recreational Canoeing Association applied for a water conservation order to protect the Hurunui and a special tribunal recommended in August that an order should be put in place to protect parts of the catchment. However Forest & Bird believes further parts of the Hurunui, including the South Branch, should also be protected by a water conservation order.

We’re all downstream.

Sustainable living advocates Jim and Margaret Drescher

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Labour MP Nanaia Mahuta describes the long journey towards co-management of the Waikato River.

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Ko te waipuna te wai-u o Papatuanuku. Ko te wai-u te waiora mo tea o.

Ma wai e whakahoki te waiora ki a Papatuanuku? Rivers at Risk

Rob Suisted/naturespic.com

From confiscation to co-management

In 1987 Tainui opposed the sale of the State-owned Coalcorp, claiming that coal was an “interest in land” and that land illegally confiscated from Waikato tribes in the 1800s was under contention.

That position was upheld by the Court of Appeal.

In the same period the New Zealand Maori Council led action against the Crown and secured a guarantee that river claims and remedies to resolve them would be preserved. To that end, the Crown agreed to limit existing water rights to terms of no more than 35 years.

It wasn’t until the1990s that the decision provided political leverage for the tribe to enter into direct negotiations with the National Government. Five years later Waikato-Tainui signed the first treaty settlement, which saw the return of lands and resources to the tribe and began a new direction for tribal development.

It was in this context that the foundation principles for the river claim

Rob Suisted/naturespic.com

I

N August 2008 the Labour-led Government signed an historical deed of settlement with Waikato-Tainui putting in motion a co-management model for the Waikato River.

The deed was the culmination of rights and interests asserted by Waikato dating back to early settlement of Maori in the Waikato. After the arrival of settlers to Aotearoa/New Zealand the extent of those interests were challenged by the settler Government, culminating in the confiscation of lands and resources under the New Zealand Settlements Act in 1863.

Loss was most evidently felt in Waikato, affecting 1.2 million acres, including the Waikato River, harbours and other resources.

In 1987 a Statement of Claim was lodged with the Waitangi Tribunal setting out concerns relating to the river, in particular: • Recognition of mana • Recognition of the desecration, overfishing and pollution of the river • Failure to recognize and protect fisheries and lands associated with the river • Recognition of the spiritual desecration of the river • Planning legislation which has failed to take into account Waikato-Tainui interests.

The calmly-flowing lower reaches of the Waikato contrast sharply with the raging torrent as it passes over Huka Falls (previous page).

were determined more closely. The principal negotiator at the time, Sir Robert Mahuta, left the Waikato River, the west coast harbours and the Wairoa and Maioro estates out of the treaty settlement, believing that it was a worthy challenge for the next generation.

The Crown acknowledged in the Waikato Raupatu Deed of Settlement that: “Waikato-Tainui’s claim to the Waikato River arises as the result of raupatu (land confiscations). Waikato-Tainui have a special relationship with the Waikato River since the Waikato River is the ancestor of Waikato-Tainui and the water is the life blood of the ancestor. The Waikato River determines the identity and the well-being of Waikato-Tainui and their rangatiratanga over the Waikato River is confirmed by the Treaty of Waitangi.”

So the new co-management model for the river is more than an expression of right, it is an enduring expression of an ongoing commitment to the physical health and well-being of water as a life-giving source, both spiritually and physically.

The opportunity to enter into a new co-management regime has presented significant challenges to the existing water management regime. The solution will undoubtedly challenge central and local government and the tribe to rebalance the existing regime to provide for a broader range of priorities.

So what are the key elements of the Waikato River Settlement? First, if there is to be a concerted effort to improve water quality, then there has to be consideration of both land and water use. If the existing management regime fails to take into

account Waikato spiritual and cultural values, then greater input into decisionmaking needs to be accommodated. Third, everyone needs to take responsibility for the health of our waterways so any commitment to a “clean-up” initiative has to be realized across community and stakeholder groups.

Perhaps most importantly, if we as New Zealanders are to witness the benefit of a new co-management model, we need to make sure the steps we take now preserve the quality of a water resource for current and future generations.

The challenge for a National-led Government will be to persevere with an innovative and new vision for resource management of rivers. The model has a definite potential to redefine in a very practical way stewardship and active management (inclusive of Maori values) of the nation’s waterways. This challenge could get caught in a rights-based regime where the public argument gets stuck on the question of “ownership”.

If the National-led Government continues to move towards privatisation of strategic assets like Genesis or Mighty River Power, they can expect push-back from iwi leaders. Similarly the question of tradeable or transferable water rights will put the ball squarely in front of the Crown to test its claim of ownership against the rights asserted by iwi under the Treaty of Waitangi.

While the path of co-management will not be an easy one, the true benefactor of the Waikato River settlement must be the Waikato River itself.

Pai Maarire

The crisis of our diminishing water resources is just as severe … as any wartime crisis we have ever faced. Jim Wright

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Fish & Game

Twigs, Tweets, Hooks and Bullets Fish & Game Communications Manager Ric Cullinane explains why fishers and hunters share conservationists’ view of freshwater.

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EW Zealand’s environment can only benefit from collaboration between traditional conservation and outdoor recreation groups. The close collaboration between Forest & Bird and Fish & Game on freshwater issues is a good example that has a robust history and has demonstrated some fantastic environmental successes.

In many other countries, including our near neighbours across the Tasman, the relationship between conservation and hunting is somewhat fraught, to say the least. Their adversarial approach diverts energy and sabotages each group’s ability to meet shared goals.

At first glance, the collaboration in New Zealand may seem unlikely. Many of the species managed by Fish & Game were introduced and acclimatised to New Zealand, and enhancement of these introduced populations is often opposed in principle by groups focused on protecting native species.

The use of 1080 generates heat on both sides of the debate, and although Fish & Game has no formal position on 1080, many of our licence-holders are passionately opposed to its use. And the idea of recreational hunting and even angling rests uncomfortably with some ardent protectors of natural ecosystems.

So how is it that our organisations work so well together on behalf of the environment in New Zealand?

Anglers and hunters are often passionate “greenies”. The close personal connection with the natural environment, a realisation that healthy fish and game populations are dependent on the quality of the habitat, an understanding of the interconnections within an ecosystem and the threats to them,

and a strong desire to ensure the opportunities they currently enjoy will be available in the future, all combine to produce passionate and active conservationists.

We speak a common language through the good science that underpins our visions and goals, our management and our advocacy. It is hard to argue away a fact (although many have a good try!) and both Fish & Game’s and Forest & Bird’s programmes depend on credibility based on good science. We share a background based on knowledge, qualifications and experience in biology, wildlife management, environmental science and resource management.

Perhaps most importantly, our members and licence-holders are the products of a culture and heritage built around the outdoors, that promotes values of hard work, pragmatism, goodwill and collaboration. We expect to “get things done”, whether planting a riparian strip or changing legislation, and are prepared to do what it takes. Both organisations have a sense of “service”, a strong sense of the future and a responsibility to leave a legacy for future generations.

That we differ in our reasons for opposing a dam on a river, eradicating stoats, or advocating for the protection of a wetland does not detract from our collaboration. For example, we work through sometimes conflicted values for the protection and enhancement of wetlands.

Fish & Game is the lead agency for organising public awareness of World Wetlands Day each year. Fish & Game owns and manages extensive wetland areas, and works closely with regional authorities, landholders and hunters on wetland protection, development and enhancement. Through the “duck stamp” on each hunting licence, hunters each contribute $2 to a fund for wetland development. Fish & Game is also a significant supporter of the 2010 National Wetlands Symposium.

Water quality in rivers and lakes has declined in regions dominated by pastoral farming.

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OECD Environmental Performance Review: New Zealand (2007)

Fish & Game The Big Lagoon project in Southland was supported by a grant from the NZ Game Bird Habitat Trust with funding from hunters through Fish & Game New Zealand’s Game Bird Habitat Stamp Programme.

We both contribute complementary aspects to a cause. For example, the considerable resources, time and funding required to secure water conservation orders have often been supplied by anglers and hunters through their licence fees. Six water conservation orders have been gazetted since 1997, bringing the national total to 14, and Fish & Game has initiated most, and championed and contested all of them – often with Forest & Bird support. New Zealand’s freshwater anglers and gamebird hunters can be rightly proud of this achievement in protecting our rivers of special value.

Both organisations oppose the draining of wetlands for farmland, and work to reduce the adverse environmental effects

of agriculture on our waterways.

Fish & Game and Forest & Bird, with Federated Mountain Clubs and NZ Recreational Canoe Association formed the Living Rivers Coalition in 2004.

The coalition works because participants remain focused on common outcomes. The recreational, environmental, ecological, cultural, landscape and food gathering values of a natural freeflowing river and high water qualities are held highly by members of all the partners.

Twigs & Tweets and Hooks & Bullets have more in common than they have dividing them. That’s got to be a good foundation to build on.

Fish & Game New Zealand manages freshwater fishing and game bird hunting on behalf of all anglers and hunters, and is governed by elected licence-holders. Everyone who wants to go sport fishing or game bird hunting must buy a licence, and Fish & Game has statutory responsibility under the Conservation Act 1987 for sports fish and gamebirds and the interests of anglers and hunters. Fish & Game employs about 70 staff, and has about 350 volunteer rangers who ensure that fellow anglers and hunters have licences and follow fishing and hunting regulations. About a quarter of Fish & Game’s revenue is spent on habitat protection.

For more information, go to www.fishandgame.org.nz

Sadly there are few rivers that we can safely drink from today.

Hugh Canard, NZ Recreational Canoeing Association

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Mike Joy

Torrentfish

Fight for our fish

Mike Joy and Amber McEwan of Massey University say our native fish will disappear forever if we don’t act now to save them.

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T’S tough being a native freshwater fish in New Zealand. The unique features that make them special on the world stage and allowed them to survive the geological upheavals that formed this landscape make them particularly vulnerable to the multiple blows we are throwing at them now.

New Zealand indigenous fish are highly affiliated with native forest and we’ve Golden longfin

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chopped down about 70% of our forests.

Many of them are wetland specialists and we’ve drained more than 90% of our wetlands to create more and more pasture.

A large number of them need to migrate between freshwater and the ocean and we’ve blocked these passageways with dams, culverts and chemical pollution barriers. Perhaps most obvious of all, our native fish evolved to live in clean, cold water — historical waterscapes that have now been largely replaced with streams full of mud, municipal effluent, factory by-products, nutrient run-off and the agrichemicals and waste products associated with 5.3 million dairy cows.

Our unique fish fauna is naturally specialised to suit the waterways of prehuman New Zealand conditions but our land and waterways were turned by the colonisers into replicas of their home countries. These changes are now accelerating exponentially as industrial farming becomes the norm and dairy companies require unsustainable annual increases in production.

It is little wonder that the many freshwater invaders from Europe and Asia such as koi carp and perch are doing so well here — we have recreated the warm, nutrient-rich soups they evolved in. As well as being a symptom of the degraded conditions they thrive in, these invaders provide yet another nail in the coffin for native species.

Recent research using transponder tags in native fish has revealed previously unknown aspects of the secret lives of these animals in streams where there is little impact from human-induced changes. Koaro, shortjaw kokopu and redfin bullies, formerly stalwarts of most of New Zealand’s middle catchment streams but now only found in catchments with low intensity or no farming, were found to spend much of their lives deep down in the stream substrate. This daytime refuge is the labyrinth of tunnels and

For many of us, water simply flows from a faucet, and we think little about it beyond this point of contact. Sandra Postel, Last Oasis: Facing Water Scarcity

Bluegill

shortjaw kokopu and giant kokopu are commercially harvested. While the two threatened kokopu species are found on the plates of New Zealanders in whitebait fritters, the eels are predominantly eaten

by Northern Hemisphere diners who buy from New Zealand because they have driven their own native eels to the verge of extinction.

We are living in a time of unparalleled environmental destruction: in one generation most of our freshwater fish have made the threatened species list and unless we act quickly they will be all but gone in another generation. As with most other environmental problems there is a lag period and we are now seeing the impacts of previous decades of unsustainable land-use hit home. Even if we stop the destruction right now and start protecting our freshwater ecosystems, these species’ declines will continue for some time.

To save our freshwater heritage we

need amendments made to the freshwater fisheries regulations and to the Wildlife Act, and we must have effective regulations put in place in the agricultural sector. Government-employed and funded freshwater scientists’ hands are tied with political tape, meaning these changes must come from the people.

So rise up all those who want their grandchildren to see native fish and have swimmable rivers. Target the environment, fisheries, State-owned enterprises and conservation ministers, councils and Fonterra and tell them we refuse to accept the loss of our fish and our rivers.

We can have a strong farming industry and clean waters but not when the emphasis is on unlimited increases in production. There is a limit to what the land can produce sustainably and what waste the rivers can assimilate and that point has long since been passed in many parts of New Zealand.

Black flounder

The river belongs to us just as we belong to the river. The Waikato tribe and the river are inseparable. Sir Robert Mahuta

Amber McEwan

gaps between rocks and boulders on the stream bed which offers fish a safe haven and effectively forms a third dimension of native habitat – allowing many more fish to exist than if it was not available. This crucial third dimension has now disappeared from most of our waterways, with the spaces filling up with sediment from geologically unprecedented levels of hill country erosion.

Already, around two thirds of our native freshwater fish are on the threatened species list and populations continue to nosedive as we labour to produce more and more milk from our already choking lowlands. The dairy boom has resulted in massive areas of unsuitable land being forced into apparent suitability by industrial processes. On the West Coast of the South Island huge machines are used to dig through wetland iron pans, turning over millions of cubic metres of earth in a process known as “humping and hollowing”.

This process alters groundwater hydrology and subsequently requires massive fertiliser inputs.

On the other side of the South Island unsuitable land is made “suitable” using irrigation, requiring huge energy inputs to power pumps and sucking the life blood out of rivers to supply the water. Whenever these impacts of farming on freshwater make the news, Federated Farmers representatives leap in with either absolute denial or they point out the economic value of farming to New Zealand, as if this somehow justifies the impacts and that this is a trade-off we all must accept.

The irony of course, is that it is our “clean green” image that underwrites the economic viability of primary producers, and the trashing of our waterways will inevitably mean the loss of this selling point.

The solutions are never easy, they take time and effort, and there must be an economic incentive for farmers to do it right. This is already happening to a limited extent with organic farming and the premiums available for sustainable low-input farming. Because of the extent of changes required to make conventional farming sustainable and to rescue our native fish we need much stronger incentives to motivate change.

Due to discrepancies in legislation, our freshwater threatened species, with equal threat ranking to their feathered contemporaries, have no statutory protection whatsoever. Moreover, many are actually exploited for economic gain. Amazingly, the Freshwater Fisheries Act only specifically protects grayling, an endemic freshwater fish species that went extinct 40 years before the Act was passed.

The endemic and threatened longfin eel,

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Nothing in nature lifts my spirits as much as the sight of a river.

That’s been the case as long as I can remember.

As a child I was strictly banned from going near the Hutt River but went there every day swimming after school in the summer months. It was a magic world – my world.

Then came a young man’s macho phase of having to swim across each river I encountered. After being almost run down by a commercial barge when working my way across the Danube I flagged that nonsense.

But the attraction remains, although confined to meandering stonybottomed rivers. The other, dirt bottom type I find menacing and visually unappealing – just moving canals.

Perhaps it’s my love of fly-fishing but I’m unable to drive over a bridge without stopping, walking back and gazing into the pools, eddies and currents, looking for trout or imagining them there with all stonybottomed rivers.

For many years the Tauranga-Taupo was my favourite. Then it seemingly became everyone else’s and in the 1970s I shifted my affections to the Tongariro. Crowds have since driven me away, aside from which it was always a degree too large to be perfect.

I like a wadeable river which can be easily crossed at least every 100 metres, and with rapids and ribbons of currents and occasional deep pools with overhanging trees.There are many fitting that description in New Zealand but added essential criteria are lots of large trout and few anglers. Probably the Upper Wanganui equates to perfection.

Bugger the harps and hymn-singing. Convince me an eternal life fishing on a heavenly upper Wanganui awaits and I’ll abandon my atheism forthwith.

River views We asked some of the incredibly talented wildlife photographers who regularly contribute to Forest & Bird to send us their favourite photo of river.

The results swept us away.

Sir Robert Jones, businessman and fisherman

I caught my first, and only, six-pound brown trout at the meeting point of the Maclennan and Tahakopa rivers in the Catlins. Down at the end of the Old Coach Road where the ford across the estuary was built I speared my first, and only, moki with a Hawaiian sling. This is where I spent my childhood and teenage years. Canoeing up the slow-moving, moody, dark waters, whitebaiting, picking blackberries along the edge, and hunting for flint tools washed out from ancient middens. We swam at Manuka Point and wallowed in the warm sand on the tidal banks.

We made spears from No 8 and manuka sticks, fired up the Tilly and went floundering at dark. The Tahakopa has a utilitarian beauty until it bursts from underneath the bridge out into a stunning tidal estuary, lined on one side with gnarled rata leaning out beyond its southern edge and a majestic podocarp forest on the other. It will always be my river.

Al Morrison, Director-General of Conservation

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Water is H20, hydrogen two parts, oxygen one, but there is also a third thing that makes water and nobody knows what that is. D. H. Lawrence

Kaipo River, Kaimanawa Forest Park

“As a photographer, I’m fascinated by the way water moves, and how this can be captured on film (yes, I still shoot film!). This shot was taken in the middle reaches of the Kaipo River, one of the headwater tributaries of the Mohaka River in the Kaimanawa Ranges. After flowing through a subdued section, the river spilled over this small ledge. I set up my tripod to ensure I could get a good depth of field in the low, overcast winter light, and took this picture on an exposure that lasted a few seconds. The lapse of time

Shaun Barnett/Black Robin Photography gives the water its silky look, and a sense of flow.

During my tramp in 2004, travel up the Kaipo was slow going, with the track covered in windfalls. We had to clamber over slippery logs and make our way through barriers of branches: one track marker was completely under water. Since then DOC has re-cut the track, enabling a good round-trip from Clements Mill Road over Te Iringa, up the Kaipo River to Kaipo Saddle, across to Cascade Hut, then back to the road on another bush track.

The progress of rivers to the ocean is not so rapid as that of man to error.

Voltaire

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Waimakariri River

Peter Langlands

“The photograph shows the Waimakariri River at dusk, a virtual wilderness on Christchurch’s doorstep, and an important breeding site for critically endangered species such as wrybills and black-fronted terns. The photo was taken at dusk and shows the braided nature of the river. Using a tripod and slow shutter speed I was able to capture enough light, in addition to allowing the feeling of movement through the photograph. The tree trunk in the foreground anchors the shot in addition to adding a pattern to the waters’ surface.”

I migrated from the Netherlands to New Zealand in 1978.

A few weeks before the big shifting day, our Rotterdam newspaper had a pretty good picture of the river Maas (the end bit of the Rhine) on the front page. It’s the famous European river that dissects the city and formed the major shipping infrastructure for inland Germany and even Switzerland.

The caption under the picture explained that the exposed film was developed in pure Rhine water. Imagine having

such a concentration of chemicals in the river water that you could use it as a developer of black-and-white negative film!

At that time, the city of Rotterdam got its drinking water from that river. When I arrived in New Zealand I learned that you could drink straight from the streams in the bush and forests (mind you, this was before Giardia started to bite us in the bum). Rivers have never tasted so good!

Ruud Kleinpaste, “Bugman”

There’s beauty in the silver, singing river.

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Bob Dylan

Gatefold image: Side stream of Wild Natives River, Fiordland National Park Andris Apse (www.andrisapse.com)

A land shaped by water

F

IORDLAND is nothing if not wet.

As the Fiordland National Park Management Plan puts it,“The presence of water and its influence predominate through Fiordland National Park, providing a wide range of ecological, scenic and recreational attributes.”

The 2.6 million-hectare South West New Zealand World Heritage Area (Te Wahipounamu) which includes Fiordland National Park, has the wettest climate in New Zealand, with annual rainfall of about 6000mm in its western-most reaches.

Fiordland’s dramatic landforms and diverse wildlife are largely defined and formed by water: its streams, rivers, waterfalls, lakes, glacier and river-carved valleys and fiords, and its lush rainforests.

Its lakes and rivers comprise the largest system of inland waterways in New Zealand, and its three main lakes, Hauroko, Manapouri and Te Anau, are the deepest in New Zealand (at 462, 444 and 400 metres deep respectively).

Fiordland’s waterways are home to a diversity of freshwater life, including longfin eels, giant kokopu, koaro and galaxids.

These water bodies also have a long historic and cultural relationship with Ngai Tahu, which is now legally recognised.

The large amount of water flowing from land into the fiords results in a layer of dark freshwater on top of the sea water.

This creates unusually dark, yet clean, marine environments so species such as black coral can be found there in relatively shallow waters.

More than 440,000 international visitors visited Fiordland National Park in 2008 – the highest number of overseas visitors for any national park in New Zealand.

National park status is one of the highest levels of protection that can be imposed in New Zealand, but does not extend to the waters of rivers and lakes within national parks. Lakes Monowai, Manapouri and Te Anau, although within Fiordland National Park, are used for hydro-electricity generation.

A proposal to raise the level of Lake Manapouri for hydro generation triggered one of the largest conservation campaigns in New Zealand. The Save Manapouri campaign, spearheaded by Forest & Bird, achieved widespread public support and was ultimately successful. One of the outcomes of this campaign was the establishment of the Guardians of the Lakes advisory group, which oversees environmental impacts of hydro generation.

On hot, dusty summer days, our parents and aunts and uncles used to be sweating it out in the shearing sheds of the Takapau plains.

Us kids would sneak away from the heavy smell of wool, out into the sunlight, and down to the creek. Shorts off and in! Man, did the splash sparkle when we bombed off the swing! Swimming kept us clean and healthy. At night we caught fat strong eels, that writhed and twisted hard, only slowly surrendering their life force.

We lived in the rivers, and the rivers lived in us! That’s why they were our rivers. I haven’t been back to my favourite childhood swimming hole for a while, but I do know this: the rivers of Hawke’s Bay are a mess these days.

Sewage and nitrogen pollution cause massive algal blooms.

Irrigation sucks the creeks dry, so low flows crawl to a stop at the end of summer. Even the eels struggle to survive.

What do the kids do now, in the height of shearing season, if swimming in the creek is a danger to their health? Local hapu should think about taking back our rivers and lakes, to make sure everyone looks after them properly.

Pita Sharples, Maori Party co-leader

Our family, including our three children, had a bach in an area adjacent to the mouth of the Waiwera River from 1979. Over 26 years we enjoyed the river in many ways.

Waiwera is one of the few places in New Zealand where there is fresh water, sea water, geothermal artesian water and a coastal bush walk.

The Waiwera River is a tidal estuary, which means that the sand deposits and mangroves change over time. On the northern side of the river mouth is Pope’s Bush which, we think, was the great pa site known as Maungatauhoro.

Historically the warm water at ‘Waiwerawera’ was very popular with Maori who came from afar to enjoy it just as Pakeha flocked to revel in the ‘spa’.

Behind the sand spit is a shallow area with mangroves and crabs, safe for ‘mucking about in boats’. Walking upriver from the settlement and old bridge, the noise recedes and you become aware of the many birds. Further up the quiet road are hard-working farms and life-style blocks. The SH1 Extension now dominates part of it but we are delighted with the care shown to the river’s health.

Hon Sir Anand Satyanand, Governor-General and Forest & Bird Patron, and Lady Satyanand

Water is the only drink for a wise man.

Henry David Thoreau

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Go river, go. To ocean seek your certain end. Rise again to cloud; to a mountain – to a mountain

drinking from a tiny cup. Ah, river, you are ocean: you are island.

Hone Tuwhare, The River is an Island

Cameron River, South Island

Rob Brown

Rob Brown took this shot of the Cameron River in the South Island high country.

“We went there a couple of years back with Forest & Bird’s South Island field trip.

Landowner Philip Todhunter briefed us on how he is trying to manage the property with conservation goals in mind – a good example of high country farmer trying to do the right thing. He would love to get Blue Duck back into this catchment and this is a good example of how the Department of Conservation and farmers should be working together more.”

What makes a river so restful is it doesn’t have any doubt.

4400

Hal Boyle

Mossy green side creek grotto, Haast, South Westland “There’s nothing better than a mossy green waterfall grotto to capture a nature photographer’s attention. I found this little gem while poking around near Haast and spent several hours trying to do it justice. I’ve used a tilt shift lens that allows perspective control. A great benefit of this lens is that I can take two photos by adjusting the lens, but not moving the camera. This means that the two photos fit together perfectly, creating a square

Rob Suisted/www.naturespic.co.nz format and a fantastic depth of field that this shot warranted.

The obvious feature was the cascade in the background, but in this shot I was drawn to the soft play of water and light in the foreground in a 30 second exposure, and hid the waterfall away.

Technical details: Canon EOS 1DsMk3, TS-E 24mm F3.5 L. 30 secs @ f6.7. You can read other interesting photo stories about my travels on my blog at blog.naturespic.com”.

How could drops of water know themselves to be a river? Yet the river flows on.

Antoine de Saint-Exupery

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Sabine Tributary of the Buller River

I don’t have a single favourite river photo because rivers are such changeable, strange beasts to make still images of, but this shot of the Sabine Tributary of the Buller River sings to me.

The river’s reflection of the sky has made the river rocks look

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Craig Potton blue too. The Buller is my favourite New Zealand river. It is the largest undammed river in New Zealand, with a peak flood flow 50 times its normal flow. I love that uncontrolled wildness but I also love its tranquil and bubbling tributaries like the one in this photo.

My earliest river memories are around fishing for trout in the Mataura River in Southland – age four. My Dad put a worm on the line for me, then I dropped it in, and while he was sorting out my younger brother’s line, I’d already caught a fish! He didn’t believe me, thought it was a snag, but lo and behold a beautiful trout appeared. It turns out that the Mataura River is now badly polluted and poses significant health risks due to high fecal coliform counts (read: effluent). Dad also built a kayak for our family and we’d take it camping to Frankton, and paddle about in the bottom of the Kawarau River, which started many family camping trips whereby Mum, Dad, kids and dog would all take turns noodling around in our canoe in the Mackenzie country – it’s those sorts of memories that kick-started my career in conservation I reckon.

My favourite river is the much maligned Whanganui – the river that flows upside down. It springs to life on my mountain Ruapehu in Tongariro National Park and it greets the ocean in Wanganui, the birthplace of my parents. As it winds from the mountains to the sea, its path is almost a microcosm of New Zealand. It travels through proud, untouched forest, land recovering from unsustainable farm development, existing farming, Maori communities, urban living and communities almost stuck in time. It is rich in history, Maori and European, and you cannot move along it without reflecting on the lives, the struggles, the loves and successes of the people who were there before. It is special to me because of the small part I was able to play in protecting it. It is special because of its living history. It is special because of the memories that it holds for me right back to white-baiting with my grandfather when I was 9 or 10.

Nic Vallance, conservationist and Meet the Locals presenter

Mike Britton, Forest & Bird general manager

Water and air, the two essential fluids on which all life depends, have become global garbage cans. Jacques Cousteau

A special offer for Forest & Bird readers Wild Encounters

O

UR popular Going Places articles and other nature-themed travel stories from Forest & Bird magazine have been collected together in

a handy book edition, Wild Encounters, published by

Penguin.

From the rocky shore to dense rainforests, from braided riverbeds to alpine meadows, Wild Encounters is a handy guide to the best place to experience New Zealand’s wildlife and wild places.

Wild Encounters will retail in shops for $40, but Forest & Bird readers can purchase this book for just $35, including post and packaging, with $10 from each copy ordered going towards Forest & Bird’s important conservation work.

That means you will receive this beautifully illustrated guide and get to help nature in New Zealand.

Please send a cheque for $35, or provide your credit card details in the form below and send to: Wild Encounters Forest & Bird PO Box 631 Wellington

Please send me my copy of Wild Encounters for a total price of $35 (price includes post and packaging and my $10 contribution to help Forest & Bird’s conservation projects).

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Water, thou hast no taste, no colour, no odour; canst not be defined, art relished while ever mysterious. Antoine de Saint-Exupery

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Jordan Kappely

Blue duck or whio rely on clean, fast-flowing rivers and streams.

Fast and furious David Young investigates why the Manganuiateao, home of the endangered whio, faces a new threat

T

HE Manganuiateao is a short, vibrant river in a pumice-land valley frequently lit up by rainbows. For a land as environmentally compromised as New Zealand it carries a large ecological burden, and a history to match.

Running swiftly off the western slopes of Mt Ruapehu, it slices through two major gorges, winds more slowly across idyllic

farming country and dramatically enters the Whanganui River 35 kilometres later, its entry marked by bastion cliffs. For Maori it was a major access route to and from the central volcanic plateau. It may one day again form a link in a mountainsto-sea park concept.

As an ecological corridor between New Zealand’s first national park, Tongariro, and

Dave Kent

The Manganuiateao – an ecological corridor.

All the water that will ever be is right now.

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National Geographic

one of its more recent, the Whanganui, the dashing Manganuiateao contains highly significant natural values, recognised in 1989 when it became the nation’s fourth river gazetted under the “wild and scenic rivers” protections introduced in 1981.

None of this, however, has protected it from a recent unaccountable decision by the Ruapehu District Council to allow a subdivision to proceed on the banks of the river at Pokaka, with consent granted without any notification or opportunity for anyone to voice opposition.

Campaigning for the water conservation order which protects the Manganuiateao began when the old Whanganui-Rangitikei Electric Power Board announced plans for two dams across the Manganuiateao’s deep gorges. The farming community on the flats below the gorge country were almost completely opposed. So too was a coalition of environmentalists, scientists and fishermen who helped push the locals’ petition.

Apart from its great natural beauty the river had two significant elements to defend. One was its fishing – the Manganuiateao is a highly valued trout fishery – and the other was the breeding whio (blue duck). Both were reliant on clean, tree-shaded cool, fast-moving water and high levels of freshwater invertebrates (including caddis, may and stone flies and freshwater crayfish) in this big-boulder river.

The exotic introduced game fish and the

endemic territorial duck of ancient lineage live together with apparently enough food, including alga, and habitat for the whio, listed as one of New Zealand’s endangered birds. Ground-nesting, usually paired for life, and beautiful, it is one of only four duck species worldwide spending its entire life in a river habitat.

In early settler times whio were still widespread. It has since been hammered by the usual combination of lost habitat and introduced predators – particularly rats, stoats, cats and dogs. Today the whio is confined almost entirely to the mountain headwaters to which it has retreated.

In 1997, scientists, led by Murray Williams, then at the Department of Conservation, began a whio recovery programme. Six key areas were selected through both main islands and research undertaken. This included use of video cameras to monitor whio nest sites in Fiordland valleys – these recordings confirmed that the stoat was enemy number one.

Whio had endured throughout the Manganuiateao’s river valley despite at times significant Maori populations and activity. Paramount chief Pehi Turoa made the Manganuiateao home to his people around the turn of the 19th century, as Ngati Patutokotoko. When the main trunk railway survey was underway in the 1880s, the last armed resistance to Crown penetration of Maori territory took place here.

In the past 10 years, iwi, led by Rufus Bristol, have become intensely engaged in DOC’s protection and management of whio on the river. Bristol sees the work as part of his heritage. “I’m working over a lot of the territory of his [Turoa’s] people – I knew what I was following, it has given me a great deal of enthusiasm for what I do.”

Trapping of predators and the management of whio has reaped rewards.

DOC programme manager Jim Campbell reports that the river now supports 32 pairs of whio in 25km of river, and at least another 20 pairs in the nearby Retaruke Valley.

Whio nest from August to October, laying 4-9 eggs which are incubated by the female for 35 days – their young can fly when they are about 70 days old. In a bumper year, like the 2004-5 season, breeding pairs can rapidly boost numbers – one successful pair added five offspring to a whio population that is not much larger than 2500 birds nationwide.

Occasionally there are setbacks: for example in 1995-96 when Mt Ruapehu erupted and lahars discharged eastwards down the river, adding so much sulphur to its waters that the whio had to retreat up side creeks. Yet the bounce-back duck was soon preening and breeding back on the main stem of the river.

I have also seen whio tangled in trailing monofilament nylon left by a careless angler, requiring Bristol’s intervention – anglers and whio do not always make

Follow the river and you will find the sea.

French proverb

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tributaries actually passes through the subdivision and both are protected by a water conservation order.”

Then he heard, in a chance conversation in the local supermarket, that the consent had been granted without notification for 21 homes. He feared the impacts it could have on the wildlife and ambience of this special place, and was deeply concerned at what he saw as a failure to follow due process.

Kelly says the subdivision would be in the buffer zone of Tongariro National Park, a dual World Heritage site, and one of only 25 such sites worldwide. It would also be in a biological corridor connecting Tongariro National Park and the Erua Conservation Area, risking three endangered bird species: the New

Zealand falcon, the western North Island brown kiwi and the whio. And despite the significance of the river to local iwi, there has been no consultation with them.

Now, thanks largely to the efforts of Kelly, the council has agreed to a mediation process in which Kelly, Fish & Game, DOC, Ngati Rangi, Nga Hapu o Unenuku and Ngati Uenuku will participate. DOC conservator in Tongariro, Paul Green, says DOC has agreed to mediation to see if concerns can be met without a challenge to the subdivision’s consent in the Environment Court.

“If we cannot protect our national parks, our rivers covered by water conservation orders and our endangered birds, we really don’t look too clean or green,” Kelly says.

Whio

Rod Morris

companionable river bedfellows.

Climate change is already reaping its grim toll – big floods early in the breeding season can wash out fledgling chicks and sometimes destroy them. Algal bloom, which may also be due to warming, has threatened the river’s ecology in recent times.

But the greatest current danger to the birds and the ecological values is posed by urban creep, at the behest of the local Ruapehu District Council.

Derek Kelly had heard about the proposal for development at Pokaka in 2005 and was assured that as a resident and ratepayer he would be able to object.

“I was deeply concerned at the prospect of 43 houses, some of them abutting the Manganuiateao – one of its

T

HE blue duck or whio (Hymenolanimus malacorhynchos) is found only in New Zealand. It is the only member of its genus and has no close relative anywhere in the world. The whio is a river specialist, inhabiting clean, fast-flowing rivers and streams in forested upland catchments.

Males are larger, weighing about 1kg, and can live for up to 12 years; females are smaller (up to 800g) and much shorter-lived.

The species appeared at a very early stage in evolutionary history, and its long isolation in New Zealand means it has developed many unique features: • Their streamlined head and large webbed feet enable them to feed in fast-flowing water.

• A thick semicircular, fleshy “lip” overlaps their lower bill and allows them to scrape insect larvae off rocks.

• The male whio has a distinctive high-pitched call that sounds like “whio” while the female has a guttural, rattle-like call.

Whio are mainly active during early morning and late evening periods, spending the day in log-jams, caves and other hiding places – some populations have adopted an almost nocturnal existence.

Fossil records suggest that whio were once found throughout New Zealand, but they are now limited to the Urewera, East Cape and central areas of North Island, and the West Coast of the South Island from Nelson to Fiordland.

It is feared that this already reduced range is continuing to contract and remaining populations can be isolated and fragmented. It is estimated that about 640 pairs remain in the North Island and about 700 pairs in the South Island.

Due to their low numbers and continued threats, the whio is listed as nationally endangered.

Forest & Bird works as a partner in the Central North Island Blue Duck Trust to establish new whio populations and protect existing populations.

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I came where the river ran over stones. My ears knew an early joy. And all the waters of all the streams sang in my veins that summer day. Theodore Roethke, The Waking

Get wet and wild National Wetland Trust Executive Officer Karen Denyer reveals her top 12 wetlands to visit in New Zealand.

H

ANDS up if you’ve ever heard a bittern boom, spotted a spotless crake, bounced on a bog, stepped through a swamp, or paddled with a pateke.

We all have our favourite bush walk, mountain hike or beach, but New Zealand’s wet and wild places, especially our swamps and bogs, can be hard to visit.

But an increasing number of boardwalks, viewing platforms, interpretation panels and bird hides are bringing wetlands out of the back blocks and onto our tourist trails.

Communities are supporting efforts by the Department of Conservation, Fish and Game and local and regional councils to improve access to our squishy places. Forest & Bird branches have enhanced access to many wetlands across the country as part of their restoration projects, including Arethusa, Te Matuku, Pautahanui Inlet, Fensham Reserve and Tautuku Estuary.

The National Wetland Trust is developing an on-line directory of wetlands open to the public to help people find these sites and provide information about them. With a greater number of people enjoying and learning about wetlands there will be more willing hands to protect and restore them.

Limeburners Creek, Whangarei Harbour Mangroves, saltmarsh, lush eelgrass beds, birdwatching, interpretation panels and boardwalk off Kioreroa Road.

Tawharanui Regional Park, Matakana Predator-free peninsula with restored freshwater wetlands, a saline wetland and lagoon, pateke (brown teal) and kiwi. Boardwalks, accommodation. Near Omaha, north of Auckland.

Waihora Lagoon, Pureora Forest A small ephemeral pond surrounded by towering kahikatea trees. An enchanting and peaceful grotto-like setting a short walk from the car park off Waihora Rd, via SH32 south of Mangakino.

Lake Ngahewa, Rotorua Volcanic area with colourful cliffs, steaming ground, crater lakes, waterfowl and rare native mistletoe. Short track past crater lakes, geothermal vegetation and interpretation panels. Longer track to summit for views. Entrance off SH5 near Rainbow Mountain.

Potaema Bog, Egmont National Park A boardwalk over this frost-hollow bog on Mt Taranaki gives close up views of sedges, orchids and carnivorous sundews.

Wheelchair friendly 30 min trail off Pembroke Road.

Manawatu Estuary, Foxton Internationally significant wetland with abundance and diversity of wading birds (93 species). Viewing platform, picnic area and walk from Carter Crescent.

Nga Manu Nature Reserve, Waikanae Largest remnant of original coastal lowland swamp forest on the Kapiti Coast, see the rare swamp maire and feed eels. Ngarara Road, off SH1.

Mangarakau and West Haven Inlet, Golden Bay Great place to hear and see bittern and fernbird. Stay at the Friends of Mangarakau House with fantastic views over the wetland. Follow Pakawau Bush Road, north of Collingwood.

Kaki (black stilt) Visitor Hide, Twizel Guided tours to see and learn about our endangered black stilt and the braided rivers they inhabit. Tours depart from Twizel Information Centre.

Ship Creek and Dune Lake, Haast Short walks to a dune lake and ancient kahikatea swamp forest. Lookout tower, information shelter, walkways. Signposted from the Haast Highway, 25km north of Haast.

Tautuku Estuary, Catlins coast Oioi (jointed rush) saltmarsh, hear and see fernbird from a short boardwalk built

by Forest & Bird. On the Southern Scenic Route (SH92).

Awarua/Waituna Lagoon, Bluff Internationally recognised wetland, with alpine bog plants at sea level. An extensive lagoon and peat bog with walks, bird hide and interpretation panels accessible from Awarua Bay Road.

To find out more about visiting wetlands, go to www.wetlandtrust.org.nz The fourth National Wetland Restoration Symposium will be held in Rotorua from 3-5 March 2010. The symposium will be an opportunity for people committed to wetland biodiversity and restoration to share ideas, training and meet other wetland fans from around New Zealand.

What have you done to your rivers? Too late.

Mary Ursula Bethel

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Freshwater defenders Carolyn Smith discovers the fascinating flora of Northland’s lakes and wetlands – and meets a team of dedicated defenders of these freshwater treasures.

A diver goes underwater to check out which “goodies” and which “baddies” are present.

NIWA scientist Paul Champion goes surveying.

W

HERE do you find flowers with moving tongues, snorkelling plants and water-dwelling dinosaurs? If you are thinking between the covers of a science fiction novel you’d be wrong.

This fantastical flora is found in what NIWA scientist Paul Champion describes as one of the most misunderstood of our native places: the humble wetlands of Northland.

“Most people think of wetlands as muddy, smelly swamps,” Paul says. “But they are incredible places that provide a crucial ingredient in maintaining our freshwater ecosystems.”

Paul is part of a team of five NIWA scientists, assisted by the Department of Conservation, contracted by Northland Regional Council to survey the biodiversity of Northland’s 80 freshwater lakes and check for aquatic weed invasions. This

48

work isn’t merely skimming the surface – the team goes underwater, diving and snorkelling in search of potentially disastrous alien invasions.

One of the lakes surveyed is Lake Rotokawau, one of a series of Far North dune lakes known as the Sweetwater Lakes. Here volunteer and amateur botanist Maureen Young spots a tiny plant on the edge of the lake. Reaching down, she tickles its minute white flower with a blade of grass. A little tongue in the middle of the flower swivels around. The tonguewiggler is Glossostigma, a turf plant that grows along the edge of the water and in the lake itself.

Paul shows me another wetland plant, Eleocharis sphacelata, commonly known as kuta, which is often misunderstood – some people complain about this “horrible reed choking up lakes”.

But Paul described these tall, golden reeds that grow in water up to two-and-ahalf metres deep as an incredible plant.

“How is a plant able to survive when most of it is submerged?” he asks.

Splitting one open, he shows me how it is composed of a series of gas chambers. The plant uses these chambers to push oxygen down to the roots, like a complicated snorkelling system.

Kuta creates a nutrient buffer, reducing run-off of silt, effluent and fertiliser from the land leaching into the water, and stabilising the water’s edge. The reeds are also prized

by Maori for weaving, and were traditionally used to create rain capes because of their excellent waterproof qualities.

Kuta reeds act like snorkels to reach oxygen above the water’s surface.

Here in Northland we also have our own “tuatara plant” – a plant as unique in the plant world as New Zealand’s “living dinosaur” is to the animal kingdom: Trithuria inconspicua. This unassuming, spiky plant that grows just under the surface of the water is the only remaining example of its type in New Zealand (it has a few Gondwanaland relic cousins in Australia and one in India).

But as well as these fascinating natives, Northland also has its share of freshwater “baddies”: noxious weeds. Paul points out one such invader: Utricularia gibba. Its pretty yellow flowers belie its dangerous habits – it can spread like a slimy mat over a lake, smothering other plants. It is already in most of the lakes in Northland.

The most likely means of transport would be on ducks from Australia, Paul says. That means it is considered a “natural introduction” in the same

Water is also one of the four elements, the most beautiful of God’s creations. It is both wet and cold, heavy, and with a tendency to descend, and flows with great readiness. John of Damascus

How you can help

I

Utricularia gibba spreads like a slimy mat, smothering other plants.

Trithuria inconspicua – New Zealand’s “tuatara plant”.

category as the self-introduced pukeko or the Australasian harrier hawk. So if it is part of the natural process should we be interfering? NIWA has adopted a “watch and wait” approach to “gibba”, and will monitor it closely to see how it will affect the lakes long-term.

Northland has some of New Zealand’s best and most pristine freshwater systems.

Only 5 per cent of New Zealand’s wetlands remain, and a 2008 NIWA report shows that they continue to be lost at an alarming rate. Because wetlands are often so undervalued, people see them as useless and drain them.

Northland Regional Council’s only certified diving botanist, Lisa Forrester, who is working with NIWA on the surveys, says the term “wetlands” actually includes a wide variety of different types of freshwater systems.

“A peat bog is as different from a swamp as herb fields are to forests. So in reality the 5 per cent figure is misleading, as there are only tiny remnants left of the different types of wetlands.”

NIWA scientist Rohan Wells, dressed in a dry-suit, with a clipboard tucked under one arm, wades into the water. “‘I’m just heading to the office,” he calls out.

He returns from the “office” of Northland’s Lake Heather with a long, stringy, iridescent green branch – one of the top two noxious freshwater plants,

Egeria densa, more commonly known as oxygen weed. The other “nasty” on the most-wanted list of offenders is the dense mat-forming hornwort, which has recently invaded Lake Heather.

Breaking off a tiny bit of the oxygen weed the size of his thumbnail, Rohan explains that this is all that is needed to infest an entire lake.

“A bit of this wrapped around a boat’s anchor chain would be easy to overlook,” he says.

Once a lake is full of weed, a lake can “die” in a matter of months, but the good news is that there are effective methods to eradicate pest plants. Herbicides have proven effective in treating lakes, and grass carp have also been used to eat aquatic weeds into oblivion.

Rohan explains that grass carp are very different from introduced koi carp, which have themselves been an invasive nuisance in New Zealand’s waterways.

While koi carp will breed and muddy up a waterway, making it uninhabitable for the native species, grass carp cannot breed in New Zealand conditions, so NIWA and the council are comfortable using them to eradicate aquatic weed in Northland.

However, the best way of keeping freshwater environments safe from alien plant invaders is to prevent their spread in the first place – that’s where the public can help by doing their bit.

NTRODUCED aquatic plants, animals and diseases compete with, attack or smother our native aquatic species and cause serious damage to our unique freshwater habitats. You can help combat aquatic pests by making sure you don’t assist their spread: • Check, clean and dry. Pests (including waterweeds, pest fish and the invasive algae didymo) can “hitch a lift” on boating and recreational equipment and spread to other waterways. Check, clean and dry boats, trailers, jetskis, canoes/kayaks, fishing and whitebaiting equipment after visiting a lake or river.

• Don’t transfer fish or plants from one lake or river to another, and don’t release pet fish (or weed from fish tanks) into rivers or lakes. They can breed and spread rapidly to infest waterways.

• Report suspected sightings of didymo (“rock snot”) to 0800 80 99 66.

• Help protect waterways by joining a care group or Forest & Bird restoration project that looks after rivers, streams, lakes or wetlands in your area.

Ask for Vigilant Herbicide Gel at your local garden centre or rural supply outlet

No Mess, No Spray, No Weeds!

• Wandering Jew (Willie) • Woolly nightshade • Old man’s beard • Gorse • Kahili ginger • Agapanthus • Cotoneaster www.plantandfood.co.nz/vigilant 0800 VIGILANT (0800 8444 526)

We raced boats from the banks of the pumice creek/Or swam in those autumnal shallows/Growing cold in amber water, riding the logs/Upstream, and waiting for the taniwha. James K Baxter

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Rod Morris

Longfin eel

Decline of our native eels has led to calls to ban commercial eeling

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RESSURE by commercial eeling on New Zealand’s longfin eel populations has led to a call for a moratorium to halt the decline of this threatened native species Mike Joy of Massey University, supported by Forest & Bird, is urging people to sign a petition calling on the Ministry of Fisheries to place a ban or moratorium on commercial harvesting of the threatened endemic longfin eel (Anguilla dieffenbachii).

He believes commercial eeling should be banned until it has been conclusively shown that it will not have significant negative effects on eel populations.

Joy, a senior lecturer in environmental science and ecology, says the petition was spurred by concerns over declining eel numbers.

“Over the last 10 years, we have become increasingly alarmed at the declining numbers of longfin elvers [young eels] observed during fish surveys in many North Island rivers.”

For example in 2007 and 2008,

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sampling of the Hutt River, during which more than 1000 native fish specimens were caught, found fewer than 10 longfin elvers. Just five or 10 years ago there was at least one elver for every other native fish caught there.

Eels are very slow growing, increasing just 15-25 millimetres in length a year (depending on food availability and temperature) and they breed only once, at the end of their lives, after undertaking a long spawning migration to an unknown destination in the south-west Pacific Ocean. After spawning, eel larvae drift on currents to New Zealand, change into transparent “glass eels” and migrate up rivers, darkening into elvers as they swim upstream.

Female longfin eels can grow to almost two metres long and weigh more than 50 kilograms, and take 30-100 years before maturing sexually. Their extreme longevity makes them particularly vulnerable to being caught by fishermen before they can reach maturity and reproduce, Joy says.

He says research confirms observations of declining eel numbers, finding the number of longfin elvers at hydro dams has fallen by at least 75 per cent, and their scarcity is in stark contrast to the huge elver runs witnessed before the 1960s.

Commercial catch records show eels being caught are getting smaller, and most are now in the lowest size category (220500 grams). Very few large longfin eels are now seen anywhere. Regularly fished rivers now show there are up to 100 male longfin eels for every 1-2 females, and Joy fears that very few females are surviving to an age where they can reproduce.

He says commercial eeling is adding pressure to a population which is already reduced because of lost or degraded habitat. More than 90 per cent of New Zealand’s swamps and wetlands have been drained – combined with flood control and man-made barriers to eel migration, such as dams, weirs and culverts, eels’ habitat has been greatly reduced. Many lowland rivers are also contaminated with pollution from farms, which affects the health of eels.

Eels (known as tuna) are a valued food source for Maori, who traditionally controlled overfishing by rahui, or locally imposed temporary fishing bans. Joy says today overexploitation by commercial eeling has drastically reduced a valued wild food resource for Maori (and other recreational eelers).

“A very few people are gaining a shortterm monetary benefit at the expense of

Water is the mother of the vine/The nurse and fountain of fecundity/The adorner and refresher of the world. Charles Mackay, The Dionysia

Rod Morris

Shortfin eel

the long term benefit to a large number of people.�

Nigel Scott, from Toitu- te Whenua (the environmental arm) of Te Ru-nanga o Nga-i Tahu says the iwi is very concerned about falling eel stocks. They have been calling for a review of eel management for years and are frustrated by the lack of action from the Ministry of Fisheries.

Commercial fishing of New Zealand native freshwater eels (both the endemic longfin and the shortfin eel) began in the 1960s and peaked in 1975 at 2434 tonnes (both species). Initially the only requirement was for commercial fishers to have a licence.

Subsequent decline in eel numbers eventually prompted the Ministry of Fisheries to introduce measures to attempt to ensure commercial eeling was sustainable.

A quota management system for longfin and shortfin eels was introduced in the South Island in 2000 and a system for the North Island followed in 2003, and in 2005 some rivers were declared off-limits to commercial eelers. But Joy says this has not halted the decline of eel numbers. “The inclusion of eels into the quota management system was a belated attempt by the Ministry of Fisheries

Feeding the eels at Mt Bruce, Wairarapa.

To trace the history of a river . . . is to trace the history of the soul, the history of the mind descending and arising in the body. Gretel Ehrlich, US writer

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For more information on each fish species and the assessment processes used to produce the Best Fish Guide, go to: www.bestfishguide.org.nz

describes as “nonsensical”.

in New Zealand is exported. The market exists at least in part because eel stocks worldwide are in decline, with concerns for the sustainability of fisheries for the Questions to ask American, European and Japanese eel, Here are a few simple questions to ask your retailer to help Joy says. you make the best seafood choice: In 2006, New Zealand export earnings • What species is it? from the eel fishery (shortfin and longfin) If they can’t tell you what it is, don’t buy it. were just over $6 million. Longfin eel • How was it caught? made up less than 25 per cent of the Avoid fish caught using environmentally destructive commercial eel catch – meaning export of methods such as bottom trawls, dredges and gill nets. longfin eels brings in just $1.5 million or 0.0009% of GDP. • Where was it caught?

Nor does the fishery support many Choose locally caught fish and avoid deepwater species, which are often highly vulnerable to overfishing. jobs. Joy says it is difficult to obtain exact numbers but best estimates put the number of jobs in the commercial eel fishery at less than 100. The Ministry of Eels trapped behind a weir. Eels migrate between rivers and the ocean to breed, but man-made Fisheries has spent hundreds of thousands structures such as weirs and culverts block their passage.

Farmed fish of dollars on managing and researching Salmon and mussels was not sustainable. to rectify a situation brought about by The Best Fish Guide assesses only wild fish caught the in eel fishery in recent years – effort Joy believes is not merited by its low value.

Joy says that because eels do not inadequate governance for over 35 years – New Zealand’s oceans. Salmon is farmed in sea cages and spawn until the end of their lives they too little, too late.” mussels are grown on ropes, so require a different type“Aofvery few people and a very small export revenue are responsible for cannot be modelled using existing In 2007 the Ministry reported that assessment, which we are working on. depleting, to the point of collapse, this fisheries models which rely on species longfin eel stocks were “believed to be in Farmed fish (salmon) generally has a more damaging iconic endemic fish species – which spawning every year. decline” and there was a high risk that impact on the environment has the same risk category as the great Eelmarine quotas are therefore setthan by farmed molluscs the level of exploitation of eels, coupled (mussels, averaging oysters). For on farmed fish kiwi.” spotted pastmore catch information levels – a system Joy with past and present man-made impacts,

and other fish choices, visit www.bestfishguide.org.nz

Forest & Bird is a registered charity. Please help us protect our natural treasures by donating or becoming a member at www.forestandbird.org.nz

Chlorine free sustainable card.

Mike Joy

Forest & Bird is a not for profit organisation and New Almost all eel caught commercially Zealand’s leading independent conservation group.

Best Fish Guide 2009-2010 www.bestfishguide.org.nz

The new Best Fish Guide Due to the declining populations of eels and unknown sustainability of current catch levels, both short and longfin eels rank well down in the “red zone” on the new Best Fish Guide, which Forest & Bird members will receive with their November Forest & Bird magazine. You can use the Best Fish Guide to make better choices when you purchase fish and help ensure our fisheries are sustainable.

We forget that the water cycle and the life cycle are one.

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Jacques Cousteau

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Precious Mackenzie

Dean Baigent-Mercer says bringing water to one of the driest places in New Zealand would be a huge mistake.

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ROUND 10,000 years ago the Mackenzie Basin in South Canterbury was covered in ice.

Glaciers ground and shifted great volumes of broken rock seaward. When the Ice Age ended, glaciers melted, leaving giant mounds of broken rock, “kettlehole” seasonal wetlands where huge lumps of ice melted, and vast gravel fans.

These and other glacial landforms each became inhabited by a range of specialised plants and animals. In prehuman times the Mackenzie Basin was a mosaic of beech, totara and matai forests, woody shrublands of bog pine, coprosma and prickly matagouri, and its distinctive bronze tussock grasslands.

The dry vegetation burnt easily. Lightning strikes, fires lit by Maori and later pastoral farmers have left only tiny remnants of native forest and caused the short tussock grassland to dominate. Few people would think of tussock as a long-lived plant but

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here it is a true survivor – some of the tussocks in the Mackenzie Basin are older than your grandmother.

Despite a wave of extinctions among its plant and animal life since human arrival, the ecology of the Mackenzie Basin remains outstanding in its uniqueness.

Here are some of the last and most extensive remaining areas of undeveloped inter-montane basin floor ecosystems in New Zealand.

“The Mackenzie Basin’s a bloody desert!” one high country farmer told me, which isn’t far off the mark. With less than 600 millimetres of rainfall a year, it is one of the driest parts of New Zealand, and is as dry as many parts of Central Australia.

But although the vast drylands of the Mackenzie Basin may look barren, they are extremely rich in native plants, lizards and insects. Life here may also appear harsh and tough, but it is very fragile.

The Mackenzie Basin is home to 39% of Canterbury’s threatened plants, including 32 species listed as threatened, and another 59 plants in the “at risk” category.

You’ve got to get on your hands and knees to really appreciate a lot of what lives here. Entomologists have mapped

the distribution of insects and spiders and the plants they live on and found their ecosystems and composition change remarkably with altitude and rainfall levels in the basin.

Species of spider, weta and moths which exist only in the Mackenzie Basin have recently been discovered. Both the Mackenzie Basin tunnel web spider and Tekapo weta live underground is soft soils and come out at night.

The open, undeveloped character of the Mackenzie Basin remains because most of the basin is still held in pastoral leases under the Crown Pastoral Lands Act. Pastoral leases can’t be developed for uses other than grazing, so leases provide much stricter controls than if these lands were in freehold ownership and subject only to the weak protection of the Mackenzie District Plan.

Department of Conservation botanist Nick Head says the undeveloped basin floors are highly significant as some of the last remaining examples of previously widespread ecosystems and biodiversity.

“And despite being historically overgrazed these ecosystems are resilient. Even the most depleted will recover if managed sympathetically,” he says.

Life processes take place in an aqueous medium. All organisms arecomposed mostly of water, whether they dwell in the oceans, lakes, and rivers, or on the land. Robert E. Ricklefs

Chris Woolmore

The process of tenure review, which leads to some parts of pastoral leases becoming conservation lands while other parts pass into private ownership by the former leaseholders, has led to a standoff over the conservation of these areas.

Farmers want ownership and irrigation of the same areas that conservationists and scientists have argued need protection for their unique conservation and landscape values.

All too often, tenure review decisions have handed these fragile basin lands to farmers, with public conservation land assigned to mainly mountainous areas that are less useful for farming. This means that already rare habitats are being wiped out or severely reduced, compounded by the rapid expansion of irrigation of the naturally dry basin.

The Department of Conservation would like to see a “Drylands Park” covering about 30,000 hectares in the heart of the Mackenzie Basin. This idea was backed by the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment, who reported that of the South Island’s network of high country parks, only the proposed Mackenzie Basin Drylands Park is predominantly at low altitude, so would be a valuable addition to

the range of ecologies represented.

The biggest threat to these drylands is water. Applications have been made to take more than 164 million cubic metres of water from high country lakes and rivers to irrigate and cultivate 27,000 hectares of

the Mackenzie Basin.

This water grab would turn one of New Zealand’s most distinctive and well-loved landscapes into a replica of the Canterbury Plains, and wipe out some of our rarest and most distinctive native ecosystems.

Irrigation dramatically alters dryland landscapes.

Water is the basis of life and the blue arteries of the Earth! Everything in the non-marine environment depends on freshwater to survive. Sandra Postel, Global Water Policy Project

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“Just add water” would be a recipe for disaster, putting at risk: • 91 species of threatened and ‘at risk’ plants that rely on the naturally dry habitats of the Mackenzie Basin.

• Lakes Tekapo, Pukaki, Ohau and Benmore, which could be affected by algal blooms caused by farm nutrient runoff from the expansion of agriculture.

• The grand entrance to the multi-billion dollar high country tourism industry, including scenery which is a major drawcard for international visitors.

• The natural habitats and flows of numerous high country rivers and streams from which the water would be taken.

It would also bring industrial-scale farming to the Mackenzie Basin, turning the burnt brown landscape bright green, and strewing it with livestock and huge irrigators – a big turn-off to the tourists who are drawn by the vast, dry, empty landscapes, bringing with them billions of dollars in tourism revenue.

The attraction of a drylands park and a “Great Cycleway” from Geraldine to Mt Cook would be a much more appropriate and sustainable use of the landscape.

All sides agree that the Mackenzie must be better managed. But the visions for its future are poles apart.

If we succeed in protecting the Mackenzie Basin for its natural values people in the future will look back and see how perilously close we came to polluting lakes, causing extinctions and destroying our iconic landscape assets – all for the short-term gain of a few.

In coming months, expressions of public support will be essential to protect the Mackenzie Basin from disastrous political decisions. In a country so widely blessed with adequate rainfall to meet the needs of our communities and agriculture, our rare drylands should not be sacrificed.

Kettlehole wetlands

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Rod Morris

HEN rare rain comes, the kettleholes fill. Then water evaporates to leave a surface of bare mud that is rapidly colonised by a huge variety of specialist native plants that form distinct zones of dense turf plant communities, until they are flooded again in the winter. These plants have a short life-cycle. They germinate, put down roots, grow leaves, flower, often with strongly-scented flowers, and drop seed, all before the ground is flooded again.

There are many nationally threatened plants that are confined to these habitats. Examples include the nationally critical grass Amphibromus fluitans, the nationally vulnerable native lily which forms a flowering spring bulb (Iphigenia novae-zelandiae) and the endangered pygmy rush (Isolepis basilaris).

Longjaw galaxias

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Oasis in the desert

ORE than six metres of rain falls each year around Aoraki/Mt Cook, contrasting sharply with the 0.6-0.8m that falls in the Mackenzie Basin.

As rain in the mountains rushes to the Pacific Ocean, water emerges as freshwater springs, tributary streams and rivers. The rivers pool at Lakes Tekapo, Pukaki and Ohau, draining on to Lake Benmore, then converge as the Waitaki River and run to the sea.

These Mackenzie Basin water bodies are oases of life.

The black-fronted tern, black stilt, wrybill, plover and blackbilled gull are some of the distinctive braided river birds that rely on clean water and strong river flows.

So do many native fish, such as the lowland longjaw galaxias, which is New Zealand’s most threatened native fish. It shares the same dubious ranking for threat of extinction as the kakapo:nationally critical. The slender pencil-like fish is 75mm long and known from only seven populations. They require a 100% pure habitat at the head of a spring.

This freshwater life is at risk from proposed large-scale development of the Mackenzie Basin, which will change silt and nutrient levels. Lakes Tekapo, Pukaki, Ohau and Benmore are at risk from the degradation and pollution seen elsewhere nationally.

No farmer has the right to pollute.

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Minister of Agriculture David Carter

Forest & Bird helping black stilt

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Predators, such as stoats, feral cats and ferrets, pose the main threat to kaki’s survival in the wild, but it is hoped that predator fencing around release sites and ongoing pest control will help reduce the risk of predation.

Black stilt or kaki (Himantopus novaezelandiae) were once common throughout New Zealand but are now restricted to the braided riverbeds and wetlands of the Mackenzie Basin in South Canterbury.

Predation by introduced pests and loss of their habitat through development for farming and hydroelectricity has greatly reduced their numbers and they are critically endangered.

Kaki are black with red legs but are black and white till 18 months of age.

They breed at 2-3 years and mate for life, with both parents sharing incubation of their eggs.

They eat aquatic insects, molluscs and small fish.

The black stilt recovery plan aims to increase their population to at least 250 breeding birds by 2011.

Andrew Walmsley

OREST & Bird’s South Canterbury branch has released more than 80 of one of the world’s rarest wading birds, the black stilt.

The black stilts or kaki were raised in captivity at the Department of Conservation’s captive breeding centre at Twizel and at Peacock Springs in Christchurch, and released near Lake Tekapo in August.

The South Canterbury branch has worked to protect the endangered black stilt since the late 1970s, when the area where the birds were released was first set up with predator fencing and funding from the branch.

The black stilt population then numbered only 23 birds, making it the rarest wading bird in the world. Since then recovery efforts have been rebuilding their numbers and the latest release boosted their wild population to more than 200.

The stilts were nine months old at release and it is hoped that they will survive to adulthood at two years of age and breed to further boost the wild population.

Black stilt

Reader giveaway: Audrey Eagle Botanical Art Stationery

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UDREY Eagle’s beautiful New Zealand botanical paintings from her award-winning book are now available as cards and in an elegant journal.

The long-time Forest & Bird member’s Eagle’s Complete Trees and Shrubs of New Zealand won the Montana Medal for Non-fiction in 2007. The beautiful paintings from the book are now available in a journal, including 28 full-page colour reproductions interleaved with pages for making notes. Five paintings have also been chosen to include in a box set of 15 cards.

Te Papa Press has given us three sets of the journal and cards to give away to Forest & Bird readers. To go in the draw please send your name, address and daytime phone number to Audrey Eagle draw, Forest & Bird, PO Box 631 Wellington by December 10.

The sea refuses no river.

Old saying 57

Chris Todd

Wild River Debs Martin issues a call to arms to save the Mokihinui and our other wild rivers from hydro development.

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once barely-known West Coast river, the Mokihinui has sprung to prominence as the defining river for Forest & Bird’s campaign to protect our wild rivers.

Last year we highlighted the imminent threat to the Mokihinui from a hydro dam proposed by power company Meridian which would destroy the Mokihinui River valley. Eighteen months on we have defended the river at a resource consent hearing and are waiting for the decisions which will determine its future.

While electricity generation, irrigation schemes and pollution pose significant threats to other rivers like the Nevis, the Hurunui, the Wairau, the Ngaruroro, the Manawatu and the Waikato, the Mokihinui still stands out. The river and the proposal for an 85-metre-high hydro dam within the public conservation estate epitomises all that is fundamentally wrong about the way some industries in New Zealand conceive of, treat and ultimately value our rivers.

In the opening words of the Department of Conservation’s lawyer, Dean Van Mierlo, at the hearing: “The Mokihinui hydro scheme is the largest-scale

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proposed flooding of public conservation land in New Zealand since the Manapouri scheme of the late 60s and early 70s.

If constructed, it will be the largest inundation for hydro electric generation purposes of lands and ecosystems set aside for protection and conservation ever seen in this country.”

The West Coast has had its fair share of battles to save forests. Now it is hydro electricity generation that has become the new threat. Set aside as “stewardship” land, with a full range of protection yet to be properly identified, the Mokihinui catchment has suffered by being left out of plans for Kahurangi National Park.

The Mokihinui is a large wilderness river with hugely significant values – to which DOC’s 16 expert witnesses testified at the hearing. It is home to blue duck/ whio, abundant longfin eel, its own species of Powelliphanta snails, and a raft of native birds and invertebrates. The vegetation in its catchment ranges from high mountain forest, through extensive beech, podocarp and broadleaf, an unusual riverbank turf zone and swathes of seral vegetation – the plants that grow to heal the scars left by earthquake and rain-triggered erosion.

Northern rata does not grow any further south inland than the Mokihinui catchment – an irony given that Meridian Energy, the State-owned enterprise promoting the

hydro scheme, is also the major sponsor of Project Crimson, an organisation set up to protect rata and pohutukawa.

The Mokihinui hydro scheme’s effect of drowning all the rata within a 330-hectare zone will far outweigh Project Crimson’s programme of new planting.

Now bring it all together: public conservation land, very high biodiversity values, stunning landscapes, high natural character, important fisheries and a recreation wilderness for all to enjoy. DOC has stood strong on this one, and deserves praise for doing so. Our concern is that in the current political climate, where DOC is being instructed by ministers to consider opening up areas for mining and other development, the department and ultimately the public conservation estate, will become political fodder.

The only argument for damming the river is one that says “but what else will we do for power?” This is a simple question, requiring a complex answer. It is no good shifting the problem onto the doorstep of another river, another community or non-renewable sources. It requires our country to become more aware of the limitations within which we live, as well as taking available opportunities for achieving serious goals in energy conservation and efficiencies.

The November 2008 briefing to incoming Minister of Energy Gerry

Till last by Philip’s farm I flow/To join the brimming river/For men may come and men may go/ But I go on for ever. Alfred Lord Tennyson, The Brook

Brownlee revealed we could make savings of 6400 gigawatt hours a year at less cost than building new electricity generators.

The Electricity Commission could save 840 gigawatt hours (equivalent to Dunedin’s yearly power use) by 2016.

It requires smart technologies, government investment in newer technologies, and a political and energy sector willingness to alter the focus from a growth and profit-driven industry, to one of integration and responsibility.

The reverse is that we continue to dam our remaining wild rivers and have none left for our future generations to enjoy – and, more importantly, our biodiversity to survive and thrive.

The Mokihinui campaign has brought together an eclectic mix of people: residents, trampers, conservationists, hunters, scientists, whitebaiters, anglers, historians, farmers, geologists, kayakers and rafters. All of these people have experienced the wonder and the wildness of the Mokihinui, many walking, rafting or kayaking the 14-kilometre gorge that would be inundated by a hydro lake.

With more than 60 rivers around New Zealand identified as possible hydro sites, we can’t afford to take on each river as an individual campaign, even if each of them

had the special values of the Mokihinui.

But we do know that wild rivers on conservation lands are a target.

For example, in the Wellington region140, of 170mW of potential hydro generation projects are within conservation land or in native forests; in Tasman region 435 of 480mW (more than 90%) of hydro “potential” is located within or near public conservation land, including the southern entrance to Kahurangi National Park.

In the face of these threats, national non-government organisations gathered in Murchison to work together on a campaign to save our New Zealand wild rivers. Federated Mountain Clubs, Fish & Game, Whitewater New Zealand, Council of Outdoor Recreation Associations, ECO, the Federation of Freshwater Anglers and Forest & Bird have agreed to work together to bring public attention to the plight of these wild and remote rivers and to lobby for better political protection.

We will be seeking the support of Forest & Bird members across the country. Join our Day on a Wild River on the last weekend of November to help launch this very important campaign.

Mokihinui is among the best and most significant of our wild rivers, but it is far from the only one at risk.

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How you can help • Write/ring/email Meridian Energy, PO Box 2454, Christchurch, 0800 496 501, hydro.info@meridianenergy.co.nz urging them to abandon their plans to dam the Mokihinui.

• Write to the Minister of Conservation and/or West Coast Conservancy Office thanking them for upholding protection of the biodiversity, recreational assets and historical heritage of the Mokihinui River.

• Write to your local MP/s and newspapers about why wild rivers need protection and the need for energy conservation.

• Make submissions to your local council or DOC if you hear about threats to wild rivers.

• Switch off! Use less energy and help the the pressure off wild rivers.

• Go to www.forestandbird.org.nz to see where more than 60 potential hydro developments have been identified around New Zealand.

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Mokihinui Summerlea

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Forest & Bird’s Wild Rivers campaign aims to:

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Seddonville

Dam site

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Mokihinui River

HE Mokihinui is the third-largest river on the West Coast, and is ranked 7th in New Zealand for natural values. It nestles below the western shoulder of Kahurangi National Park and drains the uplands of the Lyell, Radiant, Allen, Glasgow and Matiri ranges. It meanders across flats before plunging through a steep gorge to emerge in the Tasman Sea on the West Coast. Its name means “big raft”.

Native species found on the river include blue duck (whio), longfin eels and giant and short-jawed kokopu, while the surrounding forest includes beech, matai, miro, nikau, kahikatea, rata, kiekie, long-tailed bats, kiwi, weka, kereru and Powelliphanta giant snails.

Recreational use of the river includes rafting, kayaking, tramping, fishing, whitebaiting and sightseeing.

The main threat to the river is a proposal by Meridian Energy to build an 85-metre-high hydro dam, which would flood 330 hectares, destroying the natural river gorge and its surrounding native forests and wildlife.

• Preserve wild rivers forever with the same legal protection as national parks • Protect the plants and animals living in and beside wild rivers • Encourage local and regional government, the Department of Conservation and communities to preserve wild rivers • Maintain high water quality in wild rivers • Ensure wild rivers remain accessible to everyone • Create a national energy strategy that will protect wild rivers

All New Zealanders have a common interest in ensuring that the country’s freshwater resources are managed wisely. Proposed National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management

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From the mountains to the sea

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HE Manawatu River begins near Norsewood on the eastern side of the Ruahine Range, passes through the range via the spectacular Manawatu Gorge and winds its way across the Manawatu plains to reach the sea on the west coast of the North Island near Foxton.

The river has an interesting and varied history, having been used first by the moa hunters hundreds of years ago, then later by the Rangitaane and Raukawa iwi. For the Maori it was a highway, a means of travel, for Manawatu was one big flax swamp, and travel overland was very difficult. There were more than 150 marae along the riverbanks and the area was a rich food source, a plentiful yearround supply of birds and fish, and flax for weaving clothing and decorating houses.

Legend tells that the river was named

by Hau as he travelled south down the coast. The name “Manawatu” means “my heart stood still!” and it refers to the size of river and the difficulty Hau saw in crossing it. There are lots more stories passed down, many about taniwha in the river – warning the people of the dangers lurking in the waters. The river has much spiritual significance for Maori today.

Early European settlers sailed up the river from the sea, first settling at Paiaka, but soon shifting to what is now the town of Foxton. The inland swamps were prized land for the settlers, because first

they could cut a crop of flax, then they were left with rich soil for farming and crops. Today the fertile soils are still famous for growing potatoes.

Foxton became a busy port, with ships bringing coal and merchandise and shipping out flax to make rope for the sailing ships.

Barges carried goods and flax up and down the river, and at the height of the flax industry there were 60 flax mills along the banks. After the flax boom went bust, drains were dug for miles across the flats, draining the wetlands to create farmland.

The river has always flooded, overflowing at first into the swamps, but once farms were created they were still often inundated. To try to control these floods spillways were built - today when the river flow reaches a certain height floodgates open to allow the flood to rush out to sea in a more direct route.

The Moutoa spillway works well today, but another smaller cut made at Whirinoko in the 1940s with not so successful. The first big flood after the cut was made quickly became the main channel of the river, cutting off the port of Foxton from the deep water. There still remains a “loop” of river round to Foxton, but it is silted up and not usable by large boats today. A group of locals are setting about opening up this loop for recreational boating.

Rivers are roads which move.

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Blaise Pascal

Tom Marshall

Joan Leckie explores the Manawatu River

Royal spoonbill

In the 1800s the river mouth met the sea several kilometres north of where it exits today. With the strong southward current depositing much sand on the coast a spit has gradually grown and the river mouth has slowly moved southwards.

The Manawatu River estuary covers about 250 hectares, and remains one of the largest natural wetlands in the southern half of the North Island. Its mudflats are rich feeding grounds for wading birds, with different species occupying the feeding grounds at different times of the year. Altogether 93 bird species are recorded as using the estuary, including threatened species such as the fernbird and bittern.

Because of the biodiversity values and the naturalness of the area, and Forest & Bird’s nomination, the estuary has been recognised as a wetland of international

importance under the Ramsar Convention, and has become a much valued area for the people of Manawatu and Horowhenua.

The Ramsar Convention supports “wise use of wetlands” for people as well as for nature, and it is the only Ramsar site in New Zealand that is used so much as a recreational area as well as being a natural area for birds, plants and fish.

The sandflats in the estuary were once widely used by four-wheel-drive vehicles, ruining the sand dunes and taking over the flats. But these days local volunteers patrol the estuary and beach keeping vehicles off the sand dunes and making sure everyone can enjoy the environment.

Fishing, yachting and beach walking are the most common occupations of visitors, and bird watching is also very popular. In season whitebaiters sit patiently with their nets, day in and day out.

The local Forest & Bird branch organises a day in the spring to welcome those amazing fliers, the bar-tailed godwits and lesser knots, when they fly in from Alaska and Siberia. Every year a good crowd comes from the city to have a look

at these visitors from across the other side of the world – amazed that the godwits have just flown 11,000 kilometres across the sea non-stop in just 6-7 days. The birds arrive exhausted and thin, and spend the summer eating and lazing on the sandbanks, fattening up again for the long flight back again. Another public day is organised to farewell the birds – “see you next spring!”

Over winter other species take over the feeding grounds, the most spectacular being the flock of 20–30 royal spoonbills, which wave their big black spoonbills side to side as they stride along in the shallows of the tide looking for food.

Visitors can also see what appear to be little balls of fluff bowling along the sand in the wind – the endangered native wrybills.

These little birds breed on the stones of the Canterbury braided rivers, and have sharp beaks curved sideways for catching insects under stones. They come north for the winter, most only stopping here for a breather before travelling on further north, but a small group always stays around all winter.

Manawatu Estuary

The big clean-up E

IGHT towns, one city, and at least five big industrial plants discharge waste water into the Manawatu River. It also flows through land used for intensive dairy farms, pig farms and cropping. So it is not surprising that the waters of the Manawatu

River are heavily polluted.

In bygone days the river was seen as a cheap and easy way of disposing of waste.

But times are changing.

Sediment from unsustainable farming practises in the hill country is causing

The Ramsar Convention

T

HE Convention on Wetlands, signed in Ramsar, Iran, in 1971, is an international treaty for the conservation of wetlands.

There are now 159 signatories to the Convention, including New Zealand, and 1847 wetland sites, covering 181 million hectares, are included in the Ramsar List of Wetlands of International Importance.

There are six wetlands in New Zealand which have Ramsar status, including Manawatu River estuary, which was nominated by Forest & Bird. Forest & Bird is seeking Ramsar recognition for a further six wetlands.

Every year on February 2 the first signing of the convention is celebrated with activities around the world on World Wetlands Day. For more information go to www.ramsar.org or www.forestandbird.org.nz

another problem: the river bed is becoming clogged with sediment covering the stones in the lower reaches. This raises the bed of the river, smothers the invertebrate life, and higher stopbanks are needed to prevent flooding.

Permits to discharge waste into the river are coming up for renewal, and Forest & Bird, with Fish & Game, the Department of Conservation, iwi, local groups and Horizons Regional Council are pulling together to clean up the river. New strict standards for water quality and water allocation are planned through Horizons Regional Council’s Proposed One Plan.

Fonterra, with two major dairy plants along the river, has led the way by undertaking to spend $6 million on a plant to clean up their discharge at their Longburn factory. NZ Pharmaceuticals and the Shannon fellmongery have improved their discharges a little.

Horowhenua District Council is still considering how to deal with sewage discharges from Foxton and Shannon townships, and Tui Brewery is seeking to continue to pump much of their waste water into the river for another 21 years.

Farmers and power companies are resisting controls on their activities which affect water quality.

Everyone says they want a clean river. The way to achieve this is known, but very few are willing to pay the cost.

Eventually we will succeed – hopefully sooner than later.

When the river is deepest it makes least noise.

Proverb

61

goingplaces

River queen

Debs Martin

Debs Martin rafts the Clarence from the mountains to the sea

A river is more than an amenity, it is a treasure.

62

Oliver Wendell Holmes

goingplaces

Debs Martin

S

The five-day rafting trip is suitable for all ages.

Clarence River Rafting owner/operator Ben Judge and his team of well qualified guides transport us through the Leader Valley and over Jacks Pass behind Hanmer Springs, to the “put in” at the Acheron confluence. This January morning there is typically hot dry weather, with temperatures frequently ranging into the mid thirties, and the cool waters of the Clarence/Waiau-toa look tempting before we even start.

Our travelling companions are a mixed bag: retired farmers, two teenage girls and a young boy, architect and scientist, and another keen Forest & Birder. After a safety briefing, three rafts (two laden

with people and one with food and camping equipment) are guided over cobbled riverbeds into the first of three spectacular gorges.

Our first day has the shortest run, and the most impressive rapid, The Chute, where the water funnels rapidly through a small space between rocks.

Our raft expertly shoots the gap – largely thanks to the expertise of our raft guide, Ben’s son, Jordan.

Clarence River Rafting is a family affair, and Ben and his crew guide about 12 trips a year, mostly in spring and summer. The company contributes to control of some of the weeds that proliferate

along the riverbanks of the river, especially broom.

The upper waters of the Clarence are high in clarity and home to several native fish species. Able to compete better with trout than dwarf galaxias, the northern species of galaxid has a stronghold in the upper Clarence. Once the river is joined by the siltier waters of tributaries on the long twisting traverse through the Inland and Seaward Kaikoura Ranges the torrentfish is present in high numbers as the silt deters trout.

Our guided trip along the river sees us pampered with deck chairs, food deliciously prepared over a fire pit, and entertaining stories. Care is Blenheim

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Clarence Rive r

PRAWLED across a tussocked and rockstrewn backdrop, encompasses 180,476 hectares of postglacial terrain. Moraines, outwash plains and tarns are a reminder of this region’s glaciated past, with the scarring of major active fault lines writ large.

Spilling from headwater lakes like Lake Tennyson, cascading over rocky buttresses and wending through incised gorges, the headwaters of the Clarence River (Waiau-toa) are sourced within this vast landscape.

It is the river that beckons.

The Spenser Mountains are the headwaters for a number of major South Island rivers flowing in different directions: the Buller/Kawatiri to the lush West Coast, the Wairau to the braided plains of Marlborough, the Waiau through the arid landscapes of North Canterbury, and one of the longest rivers in New Zealand, the Clarence/ Waiau-toa, weaving through the Inland and Seaward Kaikoura Ranges.

The Clarence/Waiau-toa has drawn adventurers throughout history and today it is one of New Zealand’s few multi-day wilderness rafting adventures, described by Clarence River Rafting as a “perfect introduction to rafting and a river environment.” My 13-yearold daughter and I enlist for a five-day, 214-kilometre trip from the confluence of the Acheron tributary to the sea.

It’s a chance to witness the extensive lands of Molesworth Recreation Reserve, the newly gazetted Ka Whata Tu o Rakihouia Conservation Park, and high country stations. The trip is also an opportunity to see much of the extensive flora of South Marlborough and the Kaikoura Ranges. With more than 550 recorded native plant species, the region is one of the five main centres of species evolution and endemism on the mainland.

Kaikoura Molesworth Station

Christchurch Hanmer Springs

Conservation Park Public Road Hanmer-Rainbow Road Christchurch 1 Acheron Road

What would the world be, once bereft of wet and wildness? Let them be left, O let them be left, wildness and wet; Long live the weeds and the wilderness yet. Gerard Manley Hopkins

63

goingplaces taken to ensure the campsites have little impact on the environment. With names like Big Eddy, The Jam, and Dope Plot (a marijuana plot was once discovered in the area), each of our four campsites hold a particular charm. One of the most stunning was alongside a hairpin bend, with views up to Tapuae-o-Uenuku, the largest peak outside the Southern Alps.

The most striking views from the river are of the steeply incised gorges cutting down through the sandstone and mudstone, split by faults, or carved through greywacke scree. Bursting from small crevices is the showy Marlborough rock daisy.

One of the highlights is the opportunity to stop at Manuka Flat and witness a small tract of podocarps in a flood prone plain. We disembark and wander in quietness through a tall stand of matai, the roots of these large trees torn and littered with boulders from a recent flood.

The geology is also fascinating, with the region splintered by several fractures from the main Alpine Fault.

Deep downcutting by the river through the gorge reveals a patterned landscape of deeply folded mudstone and sandstone layers.

We spot many birds in the wider spaces between gorges, where the river nestles amongst rounded greywacke boulders.

There is an inland shag colony; the nationally endangered black fronted terns are plentiful in the upper reaches, and paradise shelducks are dotted along the river. We also caught less

frequent glimpses of banded dotterels and pied stilts, and a karearea, our native falcon, is spotted circling overhead.

Towards the coast, black backed gull colonies become more plentiful.

In some places problem weeds, such as old man’s beard, are starting to take hold, but could be eradicated by a coordinated effort. Goats streamed down from the hillside in the mornings to drink from the river – ongoing management of this particularly harmful pest needs more effort.

The river margins have been witness to more than a century of farming and this history is evident. At Quail Flat you can wander through a working historic back country homestead, and the tall presence of Lombardy poplars, a sure sign of human habitation, are dotted through the landscape. Some of the banks are lined with willows, and mobs of grazing cattle graze the hillsides, but only a few working stations remain in these remote reaches.

Forest & Bird’s campaign to protect this area resulted in proposal in 2002 to create a Kaikoura Ranges National Park.

Ongoing negotiations with the Department of Conservation and local hapu Kati Kuri, and iwi, Ngai Tahu, resulted in the decision to grant conservation park status, including additional lands that had been become public conservation land through the tenure review process. The new park, Ka Whata Tu o Rakihouia, covers more than 90,000 hectares and is another link in our vision

to establish an East – West Coast corridor exemplifying the diversity of geologies, flora and fauna across the South Island.

But this is a journey of a river, and the Clarence/Waiautoa will take you to meet the sea, in its own good time.

Travelling 214km by river, beginning in high country, negotiating gorges, and wending our way through a landscape that slowly reveals coastal forest stands, leaves plenty of time for reflection, enjoyment and great conversation.

In the heat of summer, we roll off our rafts between rapids to cool down in the pleasurable waters of the Clarence, before

heaving back in to answer the call of “forward paddle” by our guide as we negotiate the next twist in the river. As we bounce out over the last bouldery rapids before greeting the sea, there is a sense of having gained a greater understanding of one of the more remote places in this country.

As we haul up rafts, peel off stinky polypro clothing, and taste the saltwater of the sea, a quietness descends. What more appropriate sound to fill it than the calling of the gulls and the crashing of the surf as a glance back towards the mountains reveals the sentinel of Tapuaeo-Uenuku.

Getting there

C

LARENCE River Rafting offers a 5-day guided rafting trip on the Clarence/Waiau-toa River. The base is situated at Clarence, half an hour north of Kaikoura on SH1. Ph 03 319 6993 or 027 224 3345, email raftingben@xtra.co.nz, website www. clarenceriverrafting.co.nz The Clarence is a grade 2/3 river, and the 5-day rafting trip is suitable for all ages (minimum 5 years) and no experience is necessary. The trip is fully catered with all equipment and transport supplied. An alternative trip is a half-day adventure on the lower Clarence. Trips are normally held during spring and early summer. You can join an existing trip or put one together with your own group of friends.

Any individual/groups can make their own arrangements to raft/kayak the Clarence/Waiau-toa River (prior river experience is highly recommended) but you need to contact DOC’s Nelson-Marlborough Conservancy Office: 03 546 9335, nelsonmarlboroughco@doc.govt.nz, 186 Bridge St, Private Bag 5, Nelson.

Kaikoura, Albatross capital of the world.

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96 Esplanade, Kaikoura Call Free 0800 733 365 Ph 03-319 6777 www.encounterkaikoura.co.nz

I can hear you/making small holes/in the silence/rain

64

64 FOREST & BIRD • AUGUST 2009

Hone Tuwhare, Rain

Encounter Kaikoura is a Green Globe certified business

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

RANGATAHI

Kiwi: Dick Veich, Ruru: Ian Gill/DOC

Bringing the community together W HANGAREI student Erana Walker, 17, admits she never used to be interested in environmental issues and was keener on becoming a lawyer than getting her feet wet restoring her local stream.

Her perspective changed in 2003 when Whaea Jo Walker took Erana and other students from Te Kura Kaupapa Maori o Te Rawhiti Roa to see the state of the local Waitaua stream. What Erana and her classmates saw shocked them.

“The stream was full of rubbish; there was even an old washing machine in it. Many of us swim in the Waitaua stream in summer and we suddenly realised what we had been swimming in,” Erana says.

The experience led to the creation of the Waitaua Awa Environment Project – a student-driven project that aims to restore the Waitaua Stream to a healthy state through streamside planting, monitoring and increasing community awareness and respect for their local awa or river.

The project kicked off with a clean-up of the river, with help from Whangarei District Council and Northland Regional Council.

Dead willows, the washing machine, bits of furniture and other rubbish were removed.

The difference was immediately visible but over time rubbish began to creep back into the stream and the group realised there was a need to spread the word through the local community.

Erana and other students set about talking to other local schools and the wider community and getting them involved in the restoration work. Six years later the first plantings are taller than head height, stream invertebrates are thriving and hopes are high that native freshwater fish will make a return.

Local children are also involved in the community nursery where eco-sourced seeds are propagated for future plantings.

Over the last two years Erana has helped organise the EnviroMatariki planting day where people get their hands dirty for the health of the river and have planted more than 4000 plants.

Erana is proud of the achievements of her small school, which has just over 200 students, in bringing the community together.

“It’s awesome that the people here can look at our school and know it produces great leaders and rangatahi who can make a real difference.”

Erana’s efforts have been rewarded with her recent selection as a UNICEF New Zealand Kiwi Climate Ambassador, and she will travel to Copenhagen for the Children’s Climate Forum this month.

Erana and four other young New Zealanders will talk about the effect of climate change on young people in the South Pacific.

Erana and the other delegates are not only raising money for their own travel but also for Kiribati youth who would otherwise struggle to make it to the forum. It’s important to them that Kiribati is represented, especially because the low-lying island chain is under threat of being submerged by climate-related rises in sea level.

More than 400 plants have been planted on stream banks.

Erana is interviewed about the project by Te Karere.

Erana will study environmental planning at Waikato University next year, leaving the Awa Project in the capable hands of Whaea Jo, her fellow students and the community. Erana believes that communities who have hands-on involvement with restoration work see benefits that go beyond just having a healthy stream. “The whole community has learnt new skills and having a common goal has helped bring us together to produce something really positive.”

If you want to help Erana and the Kiribati youth get to Copenhagen email Erana at: era_wal@terawhitiroa.schoolzone.net.nz

From my first sight of the river I felt it to be a part of my life . . . I felt the river was an ally, that it would speak for me. Janet Frame, on the Clutha River

65

in the field

Four go mad on the Manga Ann Graeme conquers the Manganuiateao – but it could easily have been the other way round.

Illustrations by Pamela Robinson

W

E went down the Manganui a te ao River in the Mark II raft.

Mark I had sunk on the Patea River. Basil built Mark II out of three truck tyre tubes, each laced tightly to a base board of plywood and tied in a line so that the raft looked like a string of doughnuts.

To paddle, one person sat on the rubber rim of the front tube and the other on the rim of the back tube. The pack was tied in the middle tube. When the going got rough and the raft heaved and hollowed over the rapids, the paddler could slide down onto the wooden floor inside the tube.

On the map, the Manganuiateao looked an excellent excursion for Labour weekend. We knew from day trips that its upper reaches offered lots of moderate rapids to suit our homemade craft, but we had never rafted beyond the road end.

From there the river flowed through wild country to join the Whanganui River, not far above Pipiriki.

It would make a fine adventure, we thought, to raft down the Manganuiateao into the Whanganui and down to Pipiriki.

On the map, it didn’t look too far. But who could advise us of the suitability of the river?

66

Thirty years ago there was no commercial rafting, nor any white water maps. So we rang the Raetihi police station.

“Can we go down the Manganuiateao in a raft?”

“Sure, you’ll be fine! The jet boats go up it all the time!”

Ah, the good old days before OSH. Today no policeman would offer such advice and we would never have had our fine adventure. But, with due respect to the policeman, it wasn’t very sound advice.

Our friend Andy had built a plywood canoe and he and his wife Linda were coming too. We camped at the road end beside the river and launched our craft in the morning, waving goodbye to the friends who would drive the cars around to Pipiriki.

It was a flawless day. The river chuckled as we glided along, scarcely needing to paddle at all. Rarely could we see 50 metres ahead as the river twisted and turned, jinking around massive boulders, dropping over little waterfalls and clattering over rapids. We left the farmland behind and the ferny banks rose to the forest

behind. Paradise ducks honked ahead of us and once a whio flew overhead.

As the afternoon progressed the river became even more twisting, the rapids more and more frequent and the river banks rose into cliffs. Soon we were travelling down a sunless gorge. The raft was making good progress but the canoe was less robust. Frequently it tipped its paddlers into the water and, battered by the many rapids, it sprang a leak. It had to be carried over the rougher rapids and the rapids were getting rougher all the time.

Linda and Andy were making slow progress and after each rapid Basil and I had to wait for them. Finally we looked back, and, although we couldn’t hear their voices over the roar of the water, we saw a tableau unfold in the shallows behind us.

Linda and Andy were wearily carrying their canoe. It was visibly the worse for wear, the planks bulging where rivets had popped apart. Then Linda dropped her end. She stood, arms akimbo, and addressed her husband and the stricken craft. The body language was unmistakeable. Then she threw down her paddle and strode downstream towards

us. Andy looked sadly at his abandoned canoe, then he picked up the paddles and followed her.

They climbed onto the raft with us.

Now we were four people and two packs crammed into three tubes. There was no way back and no way up the sheer cliffs so on we went, the raft riding low in the water. The cliffs became higher and higher. They seemed to lean out over the river and I worried that we might startle the goats, seemingly glued to the vertical walls, and they might tumble into the river on top of us.

As the afternoon passed it occurred to us that we might not reach the Whanganui River before nightfall. The light was fading and we couldn’t risk being on the water in the dark. We realised we would have to spend the night on one of the gravelly beaches below the cliffs.

When the next beach swung into view we leapt ashore. The beach was tiny but luckily it was heaped with driftwood. We had been discussing how the aborigines sleep out in the bush between a triangle of fires, so we built three fires and strung our wet jerseys to dry over them.

We shared our resources – and they weren’t a lot: two packs, two black bin liners, a raincoat each and a handful of scroggin. At least we weren’t short of water.

We curled, as best we could, wearing all our well-smoked clothing, inside either a bin liner or pack, and lay down to sleep in the middle of our triangle of fires.

Maybe the aborigines can sleep this

way, but I wouldn’t recommend it. Facing the fire is too hot, one’s behind is too cold and one’s hip, pressed into the sand, is frozen. We were all awake in the cold before dawn and we watched the mist rise in fingers off the water.

As soon as it was light enough we set off again on our raft. More rapids and more rapids and more rapids. Now just obstacles to navigate, they weren’t exciting any more. It was a long time before we reached the river mouth. Out we floated, exhausted and dishevelled, into the broad Whanganui, and there, waiting for us, was a jet boat.

Our friend Pat had become alarmed when we failed to turn up the previous day, and had notified the ranger, who had asked the tourist jet boats to watch out for us. So we were rescued, and made the rest of the way to Pipiriki by jet boat, our raft bouncing along behind us, under tow.

There on the wharf at Pipiriki stood Pat. “About time!” she said.

Since our adventure many rafters and kayakers have revelled in the wild river that is the Manganuiateao. Three decades on the goats are fewer and the whio are more numerous. Other rivers we have rafted have since been tamed but the Manganuiateao still runs free.

How lucky we have been to have enjoyed the wild rivers. Our Mark I and Mark II rafts were followed by many more.

Our children have grown up and gone rafting themselves. Will the wild rivers still be there for our grand-children to enjoy?

67

branchingout

Bringing the life back to Hulls Creek

H

ULLS Creek in the Hutt Valley was once a sluggish, weed-infested and lifeless waterway, prone to frequent blockages, flooding and erosion.

No native fish or invertebrate life lived there and its margins were dominated by rampant weed growth, detritus swept by residential stormwater and rubbish that had built up for decades.

A river is only as healthy as the catchment that feeds it. Hulls Creek feeds into the Hutt River, draining much of the eastern Upper Hutt valley through farmland, open space and residential properties.

Streambank planting (above and below) has transformed Hulls Creek.

Since 2003 Forest & Bird’s Upper Hutt branch and Greater Wellington Regional Council have been working to bring the natural life back to Hulls Creek, mainly over a two-kilometre stretch between Silverstream and the Taita Gorge, where it enters the Hutt River.

Dense willows, countless skips of rubbish and tangled, rampant masses of old man’s beard and numerous other undesirables have been cleared. They have been replaced with suitable native trees on the higher areas and massed wetland grasses and flax on the lower areas and stream banks.

Earlier plantings are now pro-

viding good protection of stream banks, enabling the stream to better cope when completely submerged with flood water.

The 11,400 plants that have been planted so far at Hulls Creek are locally sourced and grown from seed by Forest & Bird members in their nursery.

A fish passage has also been built near the junction of Hulls Creek with the Hutt River, where a weir caused an overhung drop in level, preventing migrating native fish moving upstream. Since this construction, migratory fish have been found upstream as well as the non-migratory ones that were already there.

The rich alluvial soils swept down from higher up the catchment have provided an ideal base for new native plantings and weeds alike. Work continues to ensure that the baddies don’t overrun the good guys, at least until the indigenous plantings are big enough to dominate on their own.

One of the most rewarding experiences of the project is being joined by the whoosh of the kereru and the clowning of the tui as they join us in the health riparian habitats that have been restored to Hulls Creek.

Barry Wards

You can lead a head to water but you cannot make it drink.

68

68 FOREST & BIRD • AUGUST 2009

Old saying.

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

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branchingout

Streaming ahead

H

EALTHY streams make healthy communities, the Twin Streams Project in Waitakere is proving.

The Twin Streams Project began in 2003 and includes the mainly urban catchments of the Oratia, Waikumete, Opanuku, Pixie and Swanson Streams – an area covering 10,000 hectares, with a population of 100,000 people.

Partners in the project are Auckland Regional Council, Waitakere City Council, local schools, community groups and businesses. Like many community and neighbourhood groups, Waitakere Forest & Bird members have been active in Project Twin Streams, caring for a section of the Opanuku Stream in Henderson. There they have transformed a weedy area of stream bank into a regenerating urban native forest.

The Twin Streams vision is “working together for healthy streams and strong communities,” demonstrating that looking after the environment can also have positive effects in the wider community.

The key person behind the Twin Streams project has been Waitakere City’s Assets Manager Tony Miguel, whose determination and foresight has seen Waitakere City become a world leader in the integration of drinking water, stormwater, wastewater and natural water management. This has been

great for the local environment, and has led to significant reductions in water consumption and costs to ratepayers.

The main objective of the Twin Streams Project is to improve the streams and waterways in the area, and so far nearly half a million plants have been planted along 56 kilometres of urban stream banks.

Planting creates habitat for freshwater life including native birds, fish, lizards and insects, and also provides a buffer that reduces the level of pollutants being washed into waterways and protects stream banks from erosion and flooding. Over their lifetime the plants will also absorb the equivalent of the annual emissions of 15,000 cars.

The project has also had positive effects for people by bringing communities together, educating people about the environment around them, and getting them involved in healthy activity. Local communities are reclaiming the natural habitats that flow through their city, and children are able to play safely in their local creek.

One of Forest & Bird’s Ark in the Park schools, Swanson Primary, has been active in the Twin Streams Project. Pupils have been out water sampling, investigating stream animals and plants, and planting along parts of the local Swanson Stream. The project has been

a great way for the pupils to appreciate what needs to be done to keep their stream healthy.

The planting programmes in Twin Streams have also led the way in ecological design.

Council ecologist Chris Ferkins has played a major role in the planting design and his method of using native plants, such as toetoe, instead of wood chips for mulch, has significantly reduced costs.

Unfortunately Twin Streams may become a casualty of

the Government’s Auckland SuperCity plans, Forest & Bird’s North Island Conservation Manager Mark Bellingham warns. The Auckland Transitional Authority is favouring a model of water management that fails to integrate the “three waters”- water supply, wastewater and stormwater.

“Water management using last century’s model generally fail to deliver significant reductions in water consumption or ecological improvements to urban waterways.”

How you can get involved:

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WIN Streams Project holds about 15 community planting and clean-up days and other events each year usually from May to September) and welcomes volunteers. Find out more about the Twin Streams Project at www.waitakere.govt.nz

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

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

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

The river was my Rubicon. I had heard stories about the terrible Wilberforce.

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70 FOREST & BIRD • AUGUST 2009

Mona Anderson, A River Rules My Life

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oneofus

Dave Kent – designer extraordinaire

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HIS issue of Forest & Bird will be the last one to benefit from the flair and skills of our enormously talented designer Dave Kent.

Dave began designing the magazine in May 2005 and has since overseen the design and layout of 19 issues of Forest & Bird. It was a big challenge taking on New Zealand’s longest-running magazine, but Dave brought a new sense of freshness to the magazine.

Since then the magazine has gone from strength to strength, and Dave’s skilful eye can turn a pile of what seem like quite ordinary “ingredients” of words and photographs into a visual spectacular.

His contribution plays a huge part in the great appreciation among our readers for their magazine, and is no doubt a big factor in our 97% satisfaction rating.

He has never, in nearly five years of working on the magazine, revealed so much as a hint of bad temper, even when sorely provoked by late copy, pernicious typos, ever-changing deadlines, demanding editors, or any of the thousand other annoyances that inevitably arise when producing a magazine. The only thing we won’t miss about working with Dave is trudging up three flights of stairs to reach his loft studio.

Sadly, for health reasons, this November issue will be Dave’s last. It is quite fitting that things have gone full circle since Dave’s first Forest & Bird issue – his first cover featured a handsome Rod Morris shot of a whio, and his last cover for this issue is again a whio, courtesy of Morris.

Fortunately, Dave will continue to work on KCC’s Wild Things magazine and other publications, and remains a valued friend and member of Forest & Bird.

Helen Bain, Forest & Bird Editor

Willie Weka (right, at rear) has given up on getting a piece of Dave’s pie on a recent Forest & Bird staff trip to Kapiti Island.

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

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

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

Go river, go. To ocean seek your certain end.

Hone Tuwhare, The River is an Island

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bookreviews

Galapagos: Preserving Darwin’s Legacy edited and principal photographs by Tui De Roy, Bateman, $79.99

A

S one would expect from a book by world-renowned nature photographer Tui De Roy, Galapagos is packed with a wealth of photos of the unique and diverse wildlife of these islands.

From the obvious subjects like the islands’ famous giant

Castles in the Sand: What’s Happening to the New Zealand Coast?

by Raewyn Peart, Craig Potton Publishing, $49.99

A

RE our coastlines under threat from development?

Raewyn Peart thinks so and comprehensively outlines her argument in Castles in the Sand.

Peart tells the story of the New Zealand coast, beginning with the place that our coast has in our hearts, and how that coast is being eroded through development. Her story is emotional, historical, scientific and political.

Peart is a senior policy analyst for Environmental Defence Society, a lawyer and has

72

tortoises to the many smaller but equally fascinating species found nowhere else in the world, Galapagos is a treasure trove full of natural marvels.

The book draws together expertise from a range of scientists and other experts, but De Roy’s own background as a self-taught naturalist who has spent most of her life in the Galapagos Islands is the common thread that weaves it all together with a familiar touch.

There is a huge mine of information in the book’s 240 densely-packed pages, but the language and layout are friendly to the interested but non-scientific reader.

De Roy is also actively involved in the preservation of the Galapagos Islands and the book covers the threats to Galapagos wildlife and the efforts being made to protect it.

Informative and inspiring.

Helen Bain

A Field Guide to the Native Edible Plants of New Zealand, by Andrew Crowe, Penguin $29.95

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ESTING the theory of whether a particular plant is edible or not sounds like a hazardous undertaking, but author Andrew Crowe has put many of the plants described in his book to the taste test.

Crowe has personally sampled more than 150 native plants, even undertaking an “experiment” in which he stayed for 10 days in the bush living off nothing but native bush tucker.

He has obviously lived to tell the tale – and his thorough

worked in resource management for more than 15 years. Her passion for New Zealand’s coastline is clear, as is her advocacy for the environment and public access to the coastline.

The author is a supporter of New Zealand’s iconic baches, finding them in keeping with the New Zealand egalitarian attitude – much more so than the large, garish holiday homes now found near some of New Zealand’s most beautiful beaches. I particularly liked her comparison between former Prime Minister Rob Muldoon’s bach and the holiday home of today’s PM John Key. As Castles in the Sand points out, the impact of climate change may exacerbate the Godwits: Long-haul poor decisions in coastal management by central and local Champions, by Keith government.

Woodley, Raupo, $50 Peart offers hope in the form HE godwit is a truly of some inspiring examples inspirational bird, of coastal management and undertaking an incredible restoration, and this book is a 11,000km migration between comprehensive, well-researched Alaska and New Zealand. plea for better coastal Keith Woodley is manager at management. the Miranda Shorebird Centre on the Firth of Thames, where Phil Bilbrough

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warnings in this book about being extremely careful to eat only plants you are sure of should be adequate protection for readers keen to snack on the natural bounty of our environment.

With plenty of line drawings, colour photos and detailed descriptions of the plants, and a whole chapter on plants you definitely shouldn’t eat, readers are not likely to incorrectly identify their supper, with nasty or even fatal consequences.

Crowe’s own personal experience of edible plants is well supplemented by substantial research that draws on Maori knowledge, early European historic accounts and more recent scientific research.

This adds up to a wealth of fascinating and useful information. Did you know, for example, that you can use kauri sap as chewing gum, or that many of our seaweeds make delicious salads?

Add to that the practical features such as pocket-sized dimensions, plastic cover and a ruler to help identify plants, and this is a very handy guide indeed – you’d certainly find it valuable reading if you got lost in the bush.

Helen Bain

the godwits gather each year in huge numbers, so he is well-placed to tell their amazing story.

From their place in Maori tradition and early European settlement in New Zealand to the latest technology that allows researchers to track the godwits’ flight path; and from our own shores to the most distant reaches of the godwits’ international itinerary on the Alaskan tundra, this book provides great depth and breadth of information.

There is enough detail to keep expert ornithologists happy, but the book is also fascinating and accessible to the lay reader. It is also richly illustrated with colour photographs on nearly all of its 240 pages.

Helen Bain

I do not know much about gods; but I think that the river is a strong brown god–sullen, untamed and intractable. T. S. Eliot, Dry Salvages w w w . f o r e s t a n d b i r d . o r g . n z

72 FOREST & BIRD • AUGUST 2009

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(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.

FOREST & BIRD • NOVEMBER 2009

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2009index A

AGM – May 62, Aug 56 Albatross – May 43, Aug 5, 30 Anderson, Allan – May 61 Annual report – May 62 Anson, Erin – May 36 Antipodes Islands – Aug 8 ANZANG photos – Feb 33 Aorangi Forest Park – Aug 40 Appeals – May 8, 10, 45, Aug 33 Aquatic weeds – Nov 48 Ark in the Park – May 8, Aug 14 Auckland Islands – Feb 28

B

Backyard conservation – May 36, 56, Aug 5 Balance, Peter and Queenie – Aug 58 Banks Peninsula – May 50 Barry, Don – Aug 57 Bats – Feb 53 Beech – May 2 Bees – May 5 Bellbird – May 37, Aug 50 Best Fish Guide – Aug 10, Nov 52 Big leaf - Feb 14, May 5 Binoculars – Aug 15 Bird of the Year – Feb 8 BirdLife Community Conservation Fund – May 10, Aug 11 BirdLife International – May 10, 46, Aug 15, 31, 45 Black flounder – Nov 30 Black stilt – Nov 57 Bluegill – Nov 30 Boarfish – Aug 48 Bounty Islands – Aug 8 Braided rivers – Feb 10 Buller River – Nov 32 Burger Wisconsin – Aug 10 Bushy Park – May 61 Butterflies – May 38

C

Cabbage tree – Aug 50 Cameron River – Nov 32 Campbell Island – Aug 8 Campbell Island teal – Aug 29 Cape Rodney – Okakari Point Marine Reserve – Aug 48 Carson, Craig – Aug 58 Chatham Island taiko – May 10, Aug 22, 29 Chatham Island tui – May 12 Chatham Rise – May 45 Clarence River – Nov 60 Climate change – Feb 10, May 2, Aug 55, 64 Codfish/Whenua Hou Island – Aug 34 Cranwell, Steve – Aug 45 Crockett, Davy – Aug 22 Cuckoo – Aug 40, 60 Cutfield, Paul – Aug 40

D

Dairy farming – Nov 16, 30, 49, 54 Deer – Aug 40 Distinguished Life Members – Aug 56 Dotterel – Aug 63

E

Easton, Luke – Aug 53 Eels – May 11, Nov 9, 28, 46 Ellesmere (Lake) – Feb 38 Endowment Fund – Feb 50, May 13, Nov 14 Environment Bay of Plenty – May 60 Executive (F&B) – Aug 56 Extinct birds – Feb 20

F

Fairy tern – Aug 16 Falcon – May 20, Aug 40 Fantail – Aug 40, 50 Fenwick, Rob – Aug 56 Fieldays – Aug 60 Fiji – May 10, 46

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Fiordland National Park – Nov 32 Fish & Game – Nov 16, 25, 28 Fisheries – Feb 28, May 9, 43, Aug 5, 8, 10, 30, Nov 30 Flooring Xtra – Aug 57 Flux, Ian – Aug 28 Forests – May 29, Aug 2, 6, Aug 40, 43 Freshwater – Feb 6, 11, May 11, 49, Aug 10, 60, Nov (entire issue) Frogs – Feb 18

Lochmara – Feb 42 Longjaw galaxias –Nov 56 Lowland biodiversity – Aug 6, 40 Lucas Creek – Aug 60

M

Important Bird Areas – May 43, 46 Insects – Aug 63

Mackenzie Basin – Aug 10, Nov 54 Maddison, Peter – Feb 2, May 2, Aug 2, 56, Mahoe – May 36, Aug 40 Mahuta, Nanaia – Nov 26 Maire – Aug 40 Mana Island – May 10, Aug 11 Manawatu – Feb 50, Aug 59 Manganuiateao River – Nov 44, 66 Manuka – Aug 50 Maori conservation – May 21 Marine reserves – May 21, 40, Aug 8, 48 Marlborough Falcon Conservation Trust – May 25 Matakohe Island – Aug 15 Mataura River – Nov 38 Matiu/Somes Island – May 53 Maui’s dolphin – Aug 11 Maungatautari – Feb 52, May 8 McEwan, Amber – Nov 28 McKinlay, Jim – Aug 58 Milne, Alec – Aug 27 Miro – May 38 Mistletoe – Aug 53 Moa – Feb 20 Mohaka River – Nov 16 Mokihinui River – Nov 58 Monarch butterfly – Feb 8, May 38 Mongoose – Aug 43 Moon, Geoff – May 58 Morepork – Aug 60 Morgan, Tina – Aug 59 Morris, Rod – May 36 Morrison, Al – Nov 30 Motuihe Island – May 7 Motutapu Island – Aug 24, 52 Mutton, Dorothy – May 60, Aug 58

J

N

G

Galapagos – Feb 15 Garden Birdwatch – May 17 Geckos – Feb 41, Aug 36 Golden Spade – Aug 63 Gorse – May 50 Grey warbler – Aug 40, 60 Groser, Tim (Minister of Conservation) May 7, 39, Aug 56

H

Hapuku – Aug 48 Hawaii – Aug 43 Hawk – Aug 50 Heatley, Phil (Minister of Fisheries) – May 9 Hector’s dolphin – Aug 11 Hedgehogs – Aug 26 Heron – Aug 40, Aug 63 High country – Feb 13, May 6, Aug 2, 10, 17, Nov 54 Hihi – May 8, Aug 50 Hinau – Aug 40 Hinewai Reserve – May 50 Hoheria – Aug 40 Hulls Creek – Nov 68 Hurunui – May 48, Nov 22 Hutt River – Nov 68 Hydro development – May 11

I

Jones, Sir Robert – Nov 32 Joy, Mike – Nov 30, 50 JS Watson Conservation Trust – May 61

K

Kagu – May 32 Kaikoura – May 27 Kaimai Mamaku – May 28, Aug 60 Kaimanawa horses – Aug 14 Kaipara – May 10, 52 Kaipo River – Nov 32 Kaka – Aug 60 Kakapo – Feb 8, May 13, Aug 29, 34 Kakariki – Aug 50, 60 Kamahi – Aug 40 Karaka – Aug 40 Kauri – May 2 Kawakawa – Aug 40 Kayakers – May 11 Kea – Aug 17 Kendrick, John – Aug 58 Kent, Dave – Nov 71 Kereru – May 2, 36, Aug 41 Kettlehole tarns – Nov 56 Kingfisher – Aug 63 Kiwi - Feb 7, 12, May 7, Aug 12 Kiwi Conservation Club – Feb 52, May 58, Aug 63 Kleinpaste, Ruud – Nov 32 Koaro – Nov 9, 28 Kohekohe – Aug 50 Koi carp – Nov 11, 28 Kokako – May 8, 10, Aug 14, 27, 50 Kokopu – Nov 9, 28 Kowhai – May 37

L

Lee, Mike – Aug 52 Lizards – Feb 41 Little Blue Penguins – Aug 9, 50

New Caledonia – May 32 New Year’s Honours – Feb 56 Ngaio – Aug 40 Norman, Russel – Nov 8 North Island robin – May 30 Northland lakes – Nov 48

O

Obituaries – May 58 Old Blues – Aug 59 O’o – Aug 43 Otago Peninsula – May 50 Otanewainuku Kiwi Trust – May 10

P

Pakiri Beach – Aug 16 Park, Geoff – May 58 Pauatahanui – Aug 61, 63 Pendergrast, Jim – May 60 Penguins – May 10, 60, Aug 9, 50, 64 Pennantia – Aug 37 Pestbusters – Aug 57 Pest fish – Nov 12, 30 Pests – Feb 12, 14, May 28, 36, Aug 14, 15, 24, 26, 39, 40, 42, 43, 50, 52, 55, 57, 60, 61, 64, Nov 40, 57 Phytophthora – May 2 Pied stilt – Aug 61 Places for Penguins – Aug 9 Pohutukawa – May 36 Possum – May 36 Powelliphanta – Nov 58 Puha – Aug 42 Pukeko - Aug 51

Q

QSMs – Feb p44

R

Rafting – Nov 62, 66 Rangitoto Island – Aug 24, 52

Rata – Aug 40, 59, Nov 58 Rats – Aug 45, 50, 53, 60 Rebergen, Aalbert – Aug 40 Red Admiral – May 38 Reel Earth – May 60 Reserve Management Act – Aug 6 Rewarewa – Aug 40 Rifleman – May 16, Aug 40, 50 Rodents – Aug 39, 45, 53 Ruapehu Lodge – Feb 52

S

Saddleback – Aug 50 Satyanand, Sir Anand – Nov 32 Science – Aug 54 Sea lions – Feb 28, May 5, 9 Seashells - Feb 46 Seaweek – May 62 Sharples, Pita – Nov 32 Shore plover – Aug 11 Shoveller – Aug 63 South Island kokako – Aug 27 Spiders – Aug 63 Sporodanthus – Nov 18 St James – Feb 13 Storm petrel (NZ) – Aug 29 Sub-Antarctic Islands – Aug 8 Sullivan, Don – Aug 57

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Tahakopa River – Nov 32 Takahe – Aug 11, 29, 50 Tarakihi – Aug 10 Tate, Wanda – Aug 63 Tautuku Lodge – Aug 59 Tecomanthe – Aug 37 Tennyson, Alan – Feb 20, Aug 27 Te Rere – May 10, 60 Three Kings Island – Aug 36 Tiritiri Matangi Island – May 16, Aug 50 Titoki – Aug 40 Tomtit – Aug 50 Totara – Feb 48, Aug 40 Trout – Nov 28 Tuatara – Aug 50 Tui - May 37, 51, Aug 40, 50, 60 Twin Streams – Nov 69

V

Valder Conservation Grants – Aug 15 Vallance, Nic – Aug 7, 64, Nov 32 Vanuatu – Feb 14, May 5 Varroa – May 5 Vercoe, Deidre – Aug 34

W

Waiheke – Feb 24 Waikaremoana – Aug 12 Waikato River – Nov 18, 26 Waimakariri River – Nov 32 Wairarapa – Aug 40, 53 Wairau Lagoon – Feb 45 Waiwera River – Nov 35 Waiwhakareke Natural Heritage Park – Nov 18 Walker, Erana – Nov 65 Wards, Barry – Aug 2, 56 Water Conservation Order – May 49, Nov 25, 28, 44 Waugh, Susan – Aug 31 West Coast – May 40 Weta – Aug 50 Wetlands – Feb 24, 39, 51, Aug 59, 61, 63, Nov 11, 18, 30, 47, 50 Whanganui River – Nov 32 Whio – May 11, Nov 44 Whitehead – May 8, Aug 40, 50 Wild Rivers campaign – Nov 10, 58 Wilkinson, Kate (Minister for Land Information) – Aug 56

Y

Yealands winery – May 14 Yellow-eyed penguin – May 10, 60 Young, Jane – May 60

Nothing is weaker than water, yet for overcoming what is hard and strong, nothing surpasses it. Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching w w w . f o r e s t a n d b i r d . o r g . n z

76 FOREST & BIRD • AUGUST 2009

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, Michelle Leman, 8 Second Avenue, RD 1, Waiuku 2681. Tel: (09) 235-3512.

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

Hibiscus Coast Branch: Chairperson, Pauline Smith; Secretary, Katie Lucas, PO Box 310, Orewa 0946.

Tel: (09) 427-5186.

Kaipara Branch: Chairperson, Suzi Phillips; Secretary, Suzi Phillips, PO Box 187, Helensville 0840.

Tel: 021 271 2527.

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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, Vacant, PO Box 108, Coromandel 3543. Tel. (07) 866-6720.

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, Sue Greenwood, Forest & Bird, PO Box 582, Whakatane 3158. Tel: (07) 307-1435.

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

Rotorua Branch: Chairperson, Vacant; Secretaries,

Margaret Dick, Tel: (07) 357-2024 or Delight Gartlein Tel: (07) 357-2575. PO Box 1489, Rotorua 3040.

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, Vacant; Secretary, Liz Cole, PO Box 15638, Tauranga 3144. Tel: (07) 577-6412.

Te Puke Branch: Chairperson Cathy Reid; Secretary, Bev Nairn, PO Box 237, Te Puke 3153.

Tel: (07) 533-4247 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.

Lower North Island Central Hawkes Bay Branch: Chairperson, Max Chatfield; Secretary, Barrie & Judith Bayliss, PO Box 189, Waipukurau 4242. Tel: (06) 858-8765.

Hastings-Havelock North Branch: Chairperson, Ian Noble; Secretary, Lorna Templeton, 11/15 Devonshire Place, Taradale, Napier 4112 . Tel: (06) 845-4155.

Horowhenua Branch: Chairperson, Robert Hirschberg; Secretary, Belinda McLean, 47 Te Manuao Road, Otaki 5512. Tel: (06) 364-5573.

Kapiti-Mana Branch: Chairperson, Tony Ward; Secretary, John McLachlan, 78 Langdale Avenue, Paraparaumu 5032. Tel: (04) 904-0027.

Lower Hutt Branch: Chairperson, Kevin Bateman; Secretary, Stan Butcher, PO Box 31194, Lower Hutt 5040. Tel: (04) 567-7271.

Manawatu Branch: Chairperson, Brent Barrett; Secretary, Anthea McClelland, PO Box 961, Palmerston North Central, Palmerston North 4440.

Tel: (06) 353-6758.

Napier Branch: Chairperson, Neil Eagles; Secretary, Margaret Gwynn, 23 Clyde Road, Bluff Hill, Napier 4110. Tel: (06) 835-2122.

North Taranaki Branch: Chairperson, Carolyn Brough; Secretary, Murray Duke, PO Box 1029, Taranaki Mail Centre, New Plymouth 4340.

Tel: (06) 751-2759.

Rangitikei Branch: Chairperson,Diana Stewart; Secretary, Betty Graham, 41 Tutaenui Road, Marton 4710. Tel: (06) 327-7008.

South Taranaki Branch: Chairperson, Dave Digby; Secretary, Lynda Sutherland, 39 High Street, Eltham 4322. Tel: (06) 764-7479.

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.

Tai Haruru Lodge, Piha, West Auckland A seaside haven set in a large sheltered garden on the rugged West Coast, 38km on sealed roads from central Auckland. Close to store, bush reserves and tracks in the beautiful Waitakere Ranges. Double bedroom and 3 singles, plus large lounge with wood burner, dining area and kitchen. Self-contained unit has 4 single beds. Bring food, linen and fuel for fire and BBQ. Off peak rates apply.

Booking: Jean and Peter King, 10 La Trobe Track, Karekare, Waitakere City. Tel: (09) 812 8064.

Email: hop0018@slingshot.co.nz

Waiheke Island Cottage Located next to our 49ha Wildlife Reserve, 10 mins walk to Onetangi Beach, general stores etc. Sleeps up to 8 in two bedrooms. Lounge, well-equipped kitchen, separate toilet, bathroom, shower, laundry. Pillows, blankets

provided. No pets. Ferries 35 minutes from Auckland.

Enquiries with stamped addressed envelope to: Robin Griffiths, 125 The Strand, Onetangi, Waiheke Island.

Tel: (09) 372-7662.

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 lodge accommodates up to 15 people. It has a fully equipped kitchen including stove, refrigerator and microwave plus tile fire, hot showers. Supply your own linen, sleeping bags etc. For information and bookings please send a stamped addressed envelope to Mike and Linda Hay, 172 Guppy Road, Taradale, Napier 4112.

Tel: (06) 8444651. Email: hayhouse@clear.net.nz.

Matiu/Somes Island, Wellington Harbour Joint venture accommodation by Lower Hutt Forest and Bird with DOC. A modern family home with kitchen, 3 bedrooms, large lounge and dining room, just 20 mins sailing by ferry from the centre of Wellington or 10 mins from Days Bay. Ideal place to relax in beautiful surroundings, with accommodation for 8. Bring your own food and bedding and a torch. Smoking is banned

Upper Hutt Branch: Chairperson, Barry Wards; Secretary, Fred Fowler, PO Box 40875, Upper Hutt 5140. Tel: (04) 528-3127.

Wairarapa Branch: Chairperson, Geoff Doring; Secretary, Roger Greenslade, 18 Johnstone Street, Masterton 5810. Tel: (06) 377-5255.

Wanganui Branch: Chairperson, Esther Williams; Secretary, Ray Hutchison, PO Box 4229, Wanganui 4541. Tel: (06) 345-2651.

Wellington Branch: Chairperson, Peter Hunt; Secretary, Janet Coburn, PO Box 4183, Wellington 6140. Tel: (04) 971-8200.

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

Tel: (03) 308-5620.

Central Otago-Lakes Branch: Chairperson, John Turnbull; Secretary, Denise Bruns, 4 Stonebrook Drive, Wanaka 9305. Tel: (03) 443-5462.

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; Secretary, Jo-Anne Vaughan, Puponga Road, RD 1, Collingwood 7073. Tel: (03) 524-8072.

Kaikoura Branch: Chairperson, Ailsa Howard; Secretary, Barry Dunnett, Pooles Road, RD 1, Kaikoura 7371. Tel: (03) 319-5086.

Marlborough Branch: Chairperson, Andrew John; Secretary, Lynda Neame, PO Box 896, Blenheim 7240.

Tel: (03) 578-2013.

Nelson-Tasman Branch: Chairperson, Helen Campbell; Secretary, Jocelyn Bieleski, PO Box 7126, Nelson Mail Centre, Nelson 7042. Tel: (03) 548-6803.

North Canterbury Branch: Chairperson, Bruce Coleman; Secretary, Andrew Simpson, PO Box 2389, Christchurch Mail Centre, Christchurch 8140.

Tel: (021) 132-9066.

South Canterbury Branch: Chairperson, Marijke Bakker-Gelsing; Secretary, Margaret McPherson, 29 Mountain View Road, Glenwood, Timaru 7910.

Tel: (03) 686-1494.

South Otago Branch: Chairperson, Roy Johnstone; Secretary, Suzanne Schofield, 64 Frances Street, Balclutha 9230. Tel: (03) 418-4415.

Southland Branch: Chairperson, Craig Carson; Secretary, Jenny Campbell, PO Box 1155, Invercargill 9840. Tel: (03) 248-6398.

West Coast Branch: Chairperson, Kathy Gilbert; Secretary, Carolyn Cox, 168 Romilly Street, Westport 7825. Tel: (03) 789-5334.

everywhere on the island, including the house.

For more information, visit www.doc.govt.nz and for bookings, contact the DOC Wellington Visitors Centre at wellingtonvc@doc.govt.nz, ph (04) 384-7770 or mail to PO Box 10420, The Terrace, Wellington 6143.

Mangarakau Swamp Field Centre, North West Nelson Borders Kahurangi National Park and Te Tai Tapu Marine Reserve. New, 10 bed lodge with two bathrooms, fully equipped kitchen. Sleeping bags, towels and food required.

Contact Jo-Anne Vaughan – Golden Bay Branch Secretary for details: javn@xtra.co.nz or phone (03) 5248072.

Tautuku Lodge, Otago State Highway 92, Southeast Otago. Situated on Forest and Bird's 550ha Lenz Reserve 32km south of Owaka. A bush setting, and many lovely beaches nearby provide a wonderful base for exploring the Catlins. The 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