ISSUE 370 • SUMMER 2018 www.forestandbird.org.nz
Time to put
NATURE FIRST PLUS
Tale of two whānau
Can we save hoiho?
Fabulous freshwater fish
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ISSUE 370
• Summer 2018
www.forestandbird.org.nz
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Contents Editorial
34 A sea lion’s life
Conservation news
36 Maddie makes a difference
6 8 10 11
A tale of two whānau Kererū krushes it Adopt a bat Landmark Te Kuha win
Cover story 12 14 16 18 19 20
Big is beautiful Force of Nature history project Tautuku treasures All forests should look like this Mega-mast coming + appeal NPS for biodiversity
Freshwater
Follow us on Twitter @Forest_and_Bird
22 Our fabulous fish
Watch us on YouTube
24 Can we save hoiho?
www.youtube.com/ forestandbird
Marine
2 Browsing mammals 4 Letters
Branch project
Young conservationist Forest collapse
37 Russell State Forest gets a lifeline
I wonder?
38 How many seeds on a pōhutukawa?
Seabirds
40 Saving seabirds on the high seas
Books
42 Top Christmas books + giveaway
Our partners
47 Nature’s charms + giveaway
In the field
48 Should we allow genetic modification?
Forest & Bird project 50 Fairy tern hope
Biodiversity crisis
JOIN FOREST & BIRD
51 Lizard love
0800 200 064 membership@forestandbird.org.nz www.forestandbird.org.nz/joinus Members receive four free issues of Forest & Bird magazine a year.
EDITOR
Caroline Wood MAGAZINE ENQUIRIES AND LETTERS
E editor@forestandbird.org.nz ART DIRECTOR/DESIGNER
Rob Di Leva, Dileva Design E rob@dileva.co.nz PRINTING
Webstar FOR ALL ADVERTISING ENQUIRIES
Karen Condon T 0275 420 338 E mack.cons@xtra.co.nz Membership & circulation enquiries T 0800 200 064 E membership@forestandbird.org.nz
In the field Focus on flora
26 Mapping harakeke colours
Climate
28 Methane matters 45 Back the ban
52 Rangitīkei forest rambles
Birdlife International
54 Setting the global agenda
Parting shot
IBC Kōtutuku v fantail
Community
29 Love DOC day 39 Picture perfect 56 Kaptivating kākā
Predator-free NZ
30 Sleuthing with Pet Detective 46 Tahr trouble
Dawn chorus
CHRISTMAS BOOKS READER COMPETITION (Prizes worth $500) SEE PAGE 42
32 Mission to move COVER SHOT Mokohinau gecko on pōhutukawa flowers. Photo: Neil Fitzgerald www.neilfitzgeraldphoto.co.nz
Hoiho. Photo: Bernard Spragg
Forest & Bird’s new Kiwibank account number is 38-9019-0456965-01. If you use online banking, search for us under “bill payers”. We will be closing the old ANZ account during December. LAST CHANCE TO CHANGE:
Editorial MARK HANGER
Browsing mammals out of control In my past life, as a tramper who regularly roamed around the Southern Alps, I rarely saw a Himalayan tahr. This past winter, a friend encountered up to 30 of them in the Hooker Valley floor next to Aoraki/Mt Cook village. Sadly, such an sight is no longer out of the ordinary. At Tautuku, during Forest & Bird’s recent South Island Gathering, we heard from locals who have seen herds of 30 to 40 deer grazing in the adjacent valley, and they are regularly seen on our Lenz Reserve. I worked in the Tautuku area for three years during the 1980s and never saw a deer, but waking up on the Sunday morning of our gathering there was one on the main road opposite our cabins! My message is that introduced browsing mammals are increasingly out of control, they are widening their range, and their numbers are spiralling upwards under our noses. Culling was the effective management tool in the 1940s–60s, then commercial hunting was seen as a good solution, along with widespread aerial pest control. More recently, hoofed browsers, including deer, goats, and pigs, have not been seen as target species by government agencies, so areas are not prioritised on their prevalence – that’s especially an issue because only a minority of our conservation land actually receives pest control in the first place. The adequacy of existing pest control has been further reduced because 1080 pellets are likely to include deer repellent if they’re being used in an area hunters say they want to shoot in. So possum numbers are reduced, but deer, goats, pigs, chamois, wallabies, and tahr are thriving. And they are thriving on conservation land, in our special national parks, which are supposed to be managed for conservation purposes – and yet successive governments have been loath to fulfil their statutory duty. The National Parks Act 1980 states: “The purpose of preserving in perpetuity as national parks, for their intrinsic worth and for the benefit, use, and enjoyment of the public, areas of New Zealand that contain scenery of such distinctive quality, ecological systems, or natural features so beautiful, unique, or scientifically important that their preservation is in the national interest.” There is no mention of using conservation lands to manage introduced browsing mammals for recreation. There is nothing in the legislation that permits the government to use our national parks and reserves as “browsing mammal sanctuaries”, yet this is what is happening. Despite claiming the opposite, recreational hunting has failed to effectively control browsing mammals. And local community conservation and Predator-Free New Zealand 2050 initiatives are not, by and large, targeting ungulates at this time either. Right now, there are possibly up to 50,000 tahr happily munching on our alpine meadows and tussocklands – there should be fewer than 10,000 according to DOC’s tahr plan. No-one has any idea of the numbers of deer living in our beech forests, let alone the lowland podocarp forests. Decades ago, culling operations were begun by DOC’s predecessor, when it was realised that the forests were on the point of collapse with no sub-canopy regeneration. We are close to that crisis point once again. As an organisation, we must remain resolute in the face of an increasingly vocal but very small minority of New Zealanders who wish to see our public conservation estate become “hunters’ playgrounds”. Nature in Aotearoa New Zealand is already in crisis, without allowing and normalising introduced browsing mammals as an intrinsic part of our natural landscapes. Ka kite anō Mark Hanger Forest & Bird President Perehitini, Te Reo o te Taiao
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Royal Forest and Bird Protection Society of New Zealand Inc. (Founded 1923) Registered Office at Ground Floor, 205 Victoria Street, Wellington 6011. PATRON Her Excellency The Rt Honourable Dame Patsy Reddy, Governor-General of New Zealand CHIEF EXECUTIVE
Kevin Hague PRESIDENT
Mark Hanger TREASURER
Alan Chow BOARD MEMBERS
Chris Barker, Kate Graeme, James Muir, John Oates, Monica Peters, Te Atarangi Sayers, Ines Stäger CONSERVATION AMBASSADORS
Sir Alan Mark, Gerry McSweeney, Craig Potton DISTINGUISHED LIFE MEMBERS:
Graham Bellamy, Ken Catt, Linda Conning, Audrey Eagle, Alan Edmonds, Gordon Ell, Philip Hart, Joan Leckie, Hon. Sandra Lee-Vercoe, Carole Long, Peter Maddison, Sir Alan Mark, Gerry McSweeney, Craig Potton, Fraser Ross, Eugenie Sage, Guy Salmon, Lesley Shand, David Underwood Forest & Bird is a registered charitable entity under the Charities Act 2005. Registration No CC26943.
Forest & Bird is published quarterly by the Royal Forest and Bird Protection Society of New Zealand Inc. Opinions expressed by contributors in the magazine are not necessarily those of Forest & Bird.
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Letters Forest & Bird welcomes your feedback on conservation topics. Please send letters up to 200 words, with your name, home address, and daytime phone number. We don’t always have space to publish all letters or publish them in full. The best contribution to the Letters page will receive a copy of Ajax the Kea Dog – a working dog’s life in the high country by Corey Mosen RRP $39.99, Allen & Unwin. A heartwarming story of two conservation heroes and their adventures in the remotest parts of the South Island. Please send letters to the Editor, Forest & Bird magazine, PO Box 631, Wellington 6140, or email editor@forestandbird.org.nz by 1 February 2019.
Cull for the climate
Kiwis can clean up their act
New Zealand’s ratification of the COP21 Paris Accord commits us to reducing our greenhouse-gas emissions. We can do this by slashing our use of fossil fuels, and restoring our native plant communities so they thrive by absorbing increasing amounts of CO2 for photosynthesis. This process, “carbon sequestration”, has immense potential to contribute to New Zealand’s battle against catastrophic climate change caused by anthropogenic CO2 emissions. That potential is drastically reduced by the millions of herbivores roaming Aotearoa at will, including deer, possums, wallabies, thar, chamois, rabbits, hares, plus feral cattle, sheep, pigs, goats, and horses. An adult red deer can eat 30–40kg of leaves, mosses, lichens, and liverworts daily; an adult possum can eat 300g of leaves daily. Central and local government must fund sustained campaigns to eliminate introduced herbivores from lands managed by the Department of Conservation, Land Information NZ, Pāmu/Landcorp, and regional and local councils. The task is as huge as it is essential. Aerial application of 1080 at three-yearly intervals over the entire DOC estate, supplemented by hunters employed by DOC and regional councils, is crucial for maximising the capacity of our native plant communities as carbon sinks.
Two excellent articles on plastic (Spring 2018) – thank you, David Brooks and Dr Steph Borrelle. Bag after bag of rubbish was recently taken from a central Wellington hillside, one of the sites of the Tanera Gully Restoration Project (bringing back pre-1840 biodiversity). Most of it is plastic. And there’s plenty more, down that slope. Supermarket bags, of course. But every other daily domestic article – shoes, electrical appliances, clothes, containers, even a 1988 licence plate. As for bottles, if there was a cash refund for returning bottles, we’d be able to employ someone to do this work (ok, slight exaggeration). Rubbish is everywhere in Wellington, just a centimetre or two into the top soil, wrapping itself around roots, breaking down into hundreds of pieces. Not biodegrading. Another reality check to the “clean-green” nonsense we’ve had sold to us in the past several decades. Kiwis can and should clean up their act. Unlike their preferred obsession, the anti-1080 crew would be on solid, evidence-based ground were they to focus on the ubiquitous poison, plastic. We’ve got to stop using the stuff. More important, we’ve got to stop making the stuff. Well done, Countdown et al for stopping the use of plastic bags.
Chris Horne, Wellington Best letter winner
Only one Oparara I read with interest your article on the Oparara basin (Winter 2018). We spent quite a few holidays in Punakaiki and have been avoiding the “pancake rocks” ever since development of the boardwalks for tourism. All its charm and wonder is gone since hordes of tourists visit the site. Not to mention the touristy shops and cafes. However, a little further north is another opportunity to access the sea, via a long walk down to a visiting platform, plus opportunity to descend a stairway down to the beach. This quiet coastal spot is not as well known, there is no shop, and we enjoy going there very much. So it is with dread I hear of plans to develop the Oparara basin. My vote would go to the proposal to shorten the road considerably and have a much longer walk into the basin. Wilderness experiences that offer great beauty and quiet spaces are becoming rarer worldwide. Given the numbers of people who want to visit the area, let’s keep the Oparara basin as pristine as possible. Annelies Pekelharing Banks Peninsula 4
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Denis Asher, Wellington
Saving Samoa’s national bird I read with great concern about the story of the manumea, or tooth-billed pigeon of Samoa (Spring 2018). Despite all the work over the last two decades by well-meaning individuals and agencies like the Pacific Development Conservation Trust, nearly all of Samoa’s birds are heading for extinction. Samoa, like many other Pacific islands, is peopled by those who, through greed and necessity, slash, burn, hunt, and gather to stay alive. The corollary of this is the ongoing loss of their biodiversity. If we know the end is nigh, can’t we, as concerned conservationists, do something practical to save Samoa’s national bird? Can we not bring a small breeding population to New Zealand? We have the experts here who could do the job. We have done a lot of damage to Samoa in the past, so let’s do something practical as a compensation. When I worked at the late Sir Peter Scott’s Slimbridge Wildfowl Trust, the highly endangered neinei goose from Hawaii was being saved by breeding experts. Samoa is much closer to New Zealand than Hawaii is to England! Sadly, I expect stiff-necked bureaucrats and apathy will see the endangered manumea quietly slip away, to join its more notorious cousin the dodo. Gerry Brackenbury, Lower Hutt
Big birding day out I was just reading issue 369, and the article written by Tapabrata Chakraborti (Is it a kākā or a kea?) got me thinking. In the article, he talks about how to instantly recognise, or “spot” native birds using a phone app for assistance. I was reading this article during the Forest & Bird’s well-loved annual Bird of the Year competition (Team Tarapuka, seeing you asked). I also happened to watch an American film called The Big Year in that same week I was reading my mag. This is a movie about a competition to “spot” and record the most bird species in North America over the course of a year. So, what if all this could be put together to raise the profile of New Zealand birds and help in education and conservation? Perhaps Forest & Bird could run an Aotearoa “Big Year” before or during its Bird of the Year competition. Anyone could enter to snap and post as many different native birds as they could over a specified timeframe, with the one collecting the most getting a profile in the mag. It would be a good use of the new artificial intelligence in bird spotting that Tapabrata writes about, although I’m sure traditional methods would be as exciting for the experienced as for the young. It could be the new “kiwi” pokemon, “gotta catch them all!” I’d love to hear what people think. Jessica Rose Albert Eden Local Board, Auckland Editor’s note: There is an international birding day (https:// ebird.org/news/october-big-day-6-october-2018), and last year there was a NZ Birdathon, which was organised by Forest & Bird members but not under our moniker.
WIN A BOOK Forest & Bird is giving away two copies of Aotea Great Barrier, Land and People by Chris Morton & Peter Malcouronne (RRP $69.99). This memorable book is a moving tribute to the landscapes of this ruggedly beautiful place and the islanders that love it. To enter, email your entry to draw@forestandbird.org. nz, put BARRIER in the subject line, and include your name and address in the email. Or write your name and address on the back of an envelope and post to BIRD draw, Forest & Bird, PO Box 631, Wellington 6140. Entries close 1 February 2019. The winners of New Zealand’s Forest Birds and Their World by Geoff Moon were Christina Gibbons, of Silverdale, and Donna Kirkby, of Kaiapoi. The winner of Pathway of the Birds by Andrew Crowe was Chris Daniels, of Auckland.
This poem by 10-year-old Maya Zipfel, from Auckland, was submitted by her grandfather, poet and writer Robin McConnell, who directed the New Zealand Poetry Project. The poem is completely her own work, and we loved it so much we decided to publish it here.
Ko te Tane Rakau The Wooded Tane
Made by love and power Willing to be free I lay there in the middle Of an ancient tree I dwell in the souls Of people that believe Of people that believe In me and other trees. © Maya Zipfel August 2018
Kahikatea, New Zealand’s tallest-growing native tree, once dominated the swampy lowland forests that covered much of the country. Most kahikatea swampland has been cleared and drained for farmland, and kahikatea grow quite differently on dry land, but, here, at the edge of Lake Brunner, West Coast, you can still find ancient trees with their characteristic, fluted buttresses standing in the water. Photo: Steve Reekie
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Conservation news
Motiti Rohe Moana Trustees receive Forest & Bird’s inaugural Kōtuku Award for tiakitanga ahurei (outstanding guardianship) in recognition of their ground-breaking marine protection efforts. From left, Te Atarangi Sayers (Trust technical advisor), Chairperson Umuhuri Matehaere, Maraea Brown (Kuia), Kataraina (Bunty) Keepa (trustee), and Hugh Sayers (Trust project manager).
A tale of two whānau In 1958, a tiny hapū from Motiti Island asked the Prime Minister Walter Nash to prohibit fishing near their home. He declined to do so. Today they are asking his great-grandson Fisheries Minister Stuart Nash to finish the job and allow coastal waters in the Bay of Plenty to flourish once again. By Caroline Wood. Forest & Bird and the Motiti Rohe Moana Trust are calling on the government and regional council to get on with protecting the marine environment around Motiti Island in the Bay of Plenty, seven years after the Rena disaster. A small hapū on the island has been battling for more than 60 years to protect the local marine environment, and their efforts intensified following the Rena ship wreck on the nearby Otāiti/Astrolabe Reef in October 2011. In 1958, Motiti islanders complained to fisheries officials that the waters surrounding their island were being so heavily fished by commercial and amateur fishermen that the people living on the island were finding it hard to catch sufficient fish to live on. The local district inspector of fisheries, Mr K Fraser, District Inspector of Fisheries, agreed they had a case, writing in his June 1958 report: “The population of Maoris on the island is 200 and they depend on the harvest from the sea for 90% of their food. The people are finding it very hard to catch sufficient fish because of the activities of spear fishermen. “A request is to be made to Mr W Nash, Minister of Māori Affairs, to bring in a regulation prohibiting fishing within 400 yards of Motiti Island by all people except those living on Motiti Island. 6
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“I consider the request of the Motiti Island Maoris to have the fishing reserved for their people is most reasonable.” The Minister of Māori Affairs, Mr W Nash, was of course none other than Sir Walter Nash, who at the time was also the 27th Prime Minister of New Zealand. He turned down the islanders’ request. Kaumātua Umuhuri Matehaere, 75, chair of the Motiti Rohe Moana Trust, remembers all of this happening even though he was only a teenager at the time. “In 1958, my parent’s generation wrote to Walter Nash, Stuart Nash’s greatgrandfather, who was the Minister of Fisheries. Historian Dr Vince O’Malley has copied the letter into our archives.
Sir Walter Nash was Minister of Maori Affairs in 1958 and turned down the hapū’s request for a marine reserve around Motiti Island.
The current Fisheries Minister, Stuart Nash, is MP for Napier and Sir Walter Nash’s greatgrandson.
ASTROLABE REEF
MOTITI MATTERS The government is appealing June’s landmark High Court Motiti ruling that agreed that regional councils can use the Resource Management Act to manage coastal fisheries to protect native biodiversity. The case will be heard in the Court of Appeal next year. “The Motiti Rohe Moana Trust and Forest & Bird call on Fisheries Minister Stuart Nash to instruct the Ministry for Primary Industries to drop the appeal and allow regional councils and local communities to determine how they manage fisheries to protect their coastal taonga,” says Dr Rebecca Stirnemann, Forest & Bird’s Central North Island regional manager. Meanwhile, the Environment Court ordered the Bay of Plenty regional council to establish three no-take marine reserves near Motiti Island (see map), which hasn’t yet happened. Recently, the regional council approached the Trust and asked for mediation. “So far, we’ve sought three smaller inshore reserves. But we won’t be stopping there, we will keep going. We want to see protection around the island,” adds Umuhuri Matehaere. “What we’ve achieved is not enough. We would prefer to have the 1958 original idea, closure around Motiti Island. “It’s a landmark case, and its going to benefit New Zealand as a whole, not just the Bay of Empty. I’m sure of that.” Motiti Rohe Moana Trust project manager Hugh Sayers says communities can now use the Motiti ruling to ask for more marine protection in their coastal areas. “We wanted a reservation around Motiti Island, a form of protection for the island’s benefit. The ocean is the food cupboard for Motiti. The fish were abundant at the time, but they felt it needed some protection. They could see it was changing. People were coming to the island and diving to catch fish. “We had no control at all. They were coming in fishing charter boats and runabout. Sometimes, 25 people were coming fishing. In the 1950s, trawlers were also coming in to shelter near the island.” Umu grew up on the island. Once a year, he would leave the island by boat for Tauranga to buy clothes. There was no doctor. The children went to the island’s native school and weren’t allowed to speak Māori. “We got the strap if we did,” remembers Umu. “As a boy I, would go down and collect seafood three times a week. We’d collect paua, kina, limpets, pupu, crabs and crayfish. They were abundant. At the age of 12, I’d grab them, I didn’t have a mask or anything, I’d grab the antennae. There were unbelievable numbers of them. In some areas, we didn’t even need to get our feet wet. We knew the special holes where they bred and grew. Fishing was very easy during the day or night,” he said. “Today, we call it the ‘Bay of Empty’. The comparison there is a big difference, I’m going back 60 years. During that time, its seafood has been depleted significantly. There been a lack of control. Now our young people dive and they can’t find the fish. “There’s no hapuk. It’s all gone. Snapper and tarakihi are now much smaller than they were. It makes me sad and angry.”
OKAPARU REEF AND BREWIS SHOAL SCHONER ROCKS MOTITI ISLAND MOTUNAU ISLAND
Taken together, the three proposed marine areas near Motiti Island represent 0.7% of the Bay of Plenty and are 13 times the size of Leigh marine reserve.
BAY OF PLENTY Red arrows signify boundry distance of 1km from feature/island
“Our plea to you is to get on the case in your local area. There is a a mandatory requirement for councils to protect most classes of natural character, landscapes, features, and biodiversity, and the cultural and intrinsic value, so we need to have accountability and implement these protections. “Next year is the 250th anniversary of Captain Cook naming Te Moana a Toi ‘The Bay of Plenty’ because of its abundance. Today, the Bay of Empty has been cleaned out, its rich biodiversity lost. I doubt Captain Cook would recognise it. “Even worse, over the last 30 years the rate of depletion in the Moana has increased under DOC and the regional council’s watch. It’s time to turn it around. “The Motiti Rohe Moana Trust is very grateful to Forest & Bird for being there and walking with us through this journey. It’s something we can all do in all our communities. We can achieve this.”
The Tauranga Inspector of Fisheries report to the Marine Department in June 1958 recommending a marine reserve for Motiti Island. The request was turned down.
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Conservation news Photo: Glenda Rees
KERERŪ KRUSHES IT Our round-up of the high jinks and low shenanigans during this year’s Bird of the Year. With a heavy swoosh and a fatty flutter, the kererū has glided to glory for the first time in Forest & Bird’s annual Bird of the Year competition. The kererū, also known as kūkūpa and New Zealand wood pigeon, powered ahead early in the voting to claim the the title for 2018. It maintained a formidable headwind to the finish with 5833 votes, despite strong challenges from teams kākāpō and kakī. Its successful campaign was led by a team of digital natives, including Green Party MP Chlöe Swarbrick. Their campaign focused on the bird’s weighty size and appetite, kicking off a meme war over which native bird is the “roundest”. “New Zealanders have voted overwhelmingly for change, and the kererū pledges to honour this groundswell of popular opinion and govern for the many,” said Team Kererū co-campaigner Tim Onnes. “Team kererū would like to thank the voting public for their support. It has been a long and arduous campaign, and we couldn’t have done without them.” This year’s Bird of the Year competition featured 62 different 8
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campaign teams and prompted celebrity endorsements from Stephen Fry for the kākāpō and comedian Bill Bailey for the takahē. The competition also featured on the dating app Tinder for the first time, with Shelly the kakī/black stilt attracting 500 matches throughout New Zealand. There was attempted international fowl-play when IP addresses in Australia tried to submit 300 votes for the shag and then more than 1500 for the kakī. However, these attempts were thwarted by Forest & Bird’s hawk-eyed election scrutineer at Dragonfly Data Science. These birdy shenanigans reached the highest echelons of power, with the Environment select committee chair, Dr Deborah Russell, pausing proceedings during hearings for the Crown Minerals (Petroleum) Amendment bill to ask our submitters – climate advocate Adelia Hallett and chief executive Kevin Hague – whether the kererū had “rigged” Bird of the Year. Meanwhile, politicians on all sides of the political divide waded in too, with Prime Minister Jacinda Adern casting her vote for the “bogan of birds”, black petrel/tāiko. Opposition
leader Simon Bridges cast his vote for takahē, while his deputy Paula Bennett gave cross-party support for the winning bird kererū. The competition was popular across the generation divide, with pupils from Bethlehem School making a video in te reo Māori supporting the kakaruia/black robin, while 86-year-old Mona submitted her vote by letter because she didn’t have a computer to vote online (see panel). This year’s competition was our most popular yet. It attracted more than 48,000 votes, up from 41,000 in 2017, and resulted in worldwide media coverage, featuring on The Guardian, CNN, and the Australian Daily Mail, among others. The fate of many forests is linked to that of the kererū, as it’s the only native bird big enough to swallow and disperse the large fruit of karaka, miro, tawa, and taraire. New Zealand’s kererū population is classed as stable overall, but it is at risk of becoming locally extinct in areas without sustained predator control. Thanks to our friends at shoemakers Allbirds, who created a beautiful custom wool and tree runner shoes inspired by last year’s winner,
the kea, with proceeds from the shoes going to Forest & Bird. They proved so popular many sizes flew out of the door, raising thousands of dollars for our conservation work. Forest & Bird’s long-term partners Heritage Expeditions also sponsored the competition and donated an expedition to the New Zealand sub-Antarctic islands, Stewart Island, and remote Fiordland, to encourage people to vote. We would like to thank them for their ongoing support.
THE TOP FIVE BIRDS 1 Kererū
5833
2 Kākāpō
3772
3 Kakī/black stilt
2995
4 Orange-fronted parakeet/kākāriki
2452
5 Kea
1984
AGE NO VOTING BARRIER The kererū may have gobbled up most votes for Bird of the Year, but 86-year-old Mona, from Ashburton, captured the heart of a nation after writing to Forest & Bird to say she was upset we no longer had included a paper voting form in the magazine because it meant she couldn’t vote for her favourite bird, the South Island tomtit. Our Bird of the Year team flew into action and cast a special vote on Mona’s behalf, then we tweeted her letter saying we were now accepting postal votes. The tweet went viral, garnering nearly 500 likes in a matter of hours. It also captured the attention of Radio New Zealand’s Checkpoint show, who send a reporter down to interview Mona and her one-woman campaign to change Bird of the Year’s voting rules. “We are very grateful to Mona for the time and effort she put into writing to us about her favourite bird,” says Kirk Serpes, from the Bird of the Year comms team. “I have sent a hand-written letter to Mona explaining how we cast a special vote for her and also to tell her that we will be changing the rules next year to ensure voting access for everyone – with or without a computer. As a special gesture of thanks, we also gave her a book – about birds of course! “The South Island tomtit received 463 votes on final count this year, which is a solid effort for such a tiny bird,” added Kirk.
Robert C Bruce Trust 2019 grants
Perpetual Guardian, as trustee for the Robert C Bruce Trust, is calling for applications for the 2019 grants. The Trust provides grants for research work and projects relating to forests and afforestation on public land. Applications will be considered from organisations and individuals. Further information and application forms are available from the Trustee: Phone: 06 953 6130 Email: palmerstonnorth@ pgtrust.co.nz Post: Perpetual Guardian PO Box 628 Palmerston North 4440 Closing date for applications is 31 March 2019.
www.perpetualguardian.co.nz Forest & Bird
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Conservation news
ADOPT A BAT Wellington radiologist Dr Trevor FitzJohn explains why he bid $500 to adopt a bat during Forest & Bird’s whacky Halloween TradeMe auction. “Congratulations!! You have adopted a bat, equipped it with a radio-transmitter, and helped to protect one of our most critically endangered native species. And you get to find out exactly what bats get up to under cover of darkness.” This was the message Trevor FitzJohn received from our bat-tastic conservation team after winning the inaugural Adopt-a-Bat auction on TradeMe, which closed at midnight on Halloween. Trevor engaged in a spirited bidding war with another member to scoop the auction with his generous $506 bid. He was the first person to “adopt a bat” following the launch of a new Forest & Bird bat fundraiser. He named his bat “Iti Peera” or little gem. Since 2010, Forest & Bird has been leading long-tailed bat protection work in the top of the South Island through our Bat Recovery Project at the Pelorus Reserve, near Havelock. During December and January this year, Forest & Bird’s Bat Recovery Project manager Gillian Dennis, assisted by volunteers, will attempt to catch and radio tag up to 15 bats in the Pelorus/Rai catchments. We’re trying to find out where the bats roost and have their pups, and also where they forage for food. Long-tailed bats move to a new roost tree almost every day, so early each morning bats will be tracked to discover where they choose to spend the day after a busy night on the wing. The success of the project rests on finding roosts to catch as many bats as possible. And this is where philanthropist and bat lover Dr Trevor John’s generous gift comes in. “I wanted to help, and I like bats. I haven’t seen many in New Zealand, but they are more common in the UK and, in fact, my cousin, who is a vicar in Wales, really did have bats in his belfry not so long ago! “I can’t wait to find out where Iti Peera goes in the dark of the night, and I hope my donation will help Forest & Bird’s conservation efforts for these special creatures.” Trevor, who has helped bring a number of cuttingedge diagnostic technologies to the Wellington region,
One of New Zealand’s critically endangered long-tailed bats. Photo: Gillian Dennis.
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Trevor (pictured right) with his cousin, Rhobert Pattinson, a Welsh vicar who really does have bats in his belfry!
won a Queen’s Birthday Honour in 2016 for his services to radiology. He is also an artisan cider maker and actively encourages nature to his apple orchard in the Wairarapa.
Love the night life? Please help Forest & Bird save New Zealand’s critically endangered long-tailed bats. Your support will contribute to the conservation of this precious bat, found only in New Zealand, by assisting with project costs, including the purchase of specialist bat-catching equipment, radio-tracking equipment, and radio-transmitters. By finding out where our long-tailed bats roost, Forest & Bird’s Bat Recovery Project volunteers will be able to focus their predator-control efforts and protect them during next year’s beech mega-mast. We have a range of “bat adoption” packages, including a child-friendly option with an adorable soft toy bat – see Forest & Bird’s online shop https:// shop.forestandbird.org.nz/ – but get in quick, we only have 50 left! You can also find out more and make a donation through our GiveaLittle page, http://bit.ly/2zDqlf3.
The Te Kuha mine site. Photo: Neil Silverwood
Landmark Te Kuha win Forest & Bird has achieved another precedent-setting legal win in the Court of Appeal, and nature is better protected as a result. Council reserves throughout New Zealand are now protected from mining following Forest & Bird’s landmark win in the Court of Appeal in October. The Court of Appeal agreed with Forest & Bird’s argument that councils need to protect the special features of conservation reserves and not allow them to be destroyed in the name of economic development, in this case an open-cast coal mine. Forest & Bird went to court as part of a multi-pronged legal campaign to use existing legislation to stop the proposed Te Kuha mine development destroying ancient forest and rare coal plateau habitat near Westport. Supported by those who donated to our recent Te Kuha fundraiser, Forest & Bird’s general counsel Peter Anderson went to the appeal court to argue that Buller District Council needed to protect the special features of the Westport Water Conservation Reserve. The council had given mining company Rangitira Developments Ltd access to the land to be developed as part of the Te Kuha mine footprint. “This reserve is a pristine area of intact forest, home to threatened birds, lizard, invertebrate, and plant species, so it’s fantastic news that the Reserves Act will be able to fulfil its purpose in protecting the natural features, as the public of New Zealand would rightly expect,” says Peter Anderson. Rangitira had argued that protection of the natural and biological features was only one matter that Buller council had to consider and that it could weigh this against the economic benefits of the mine. But the Court of Appeal found the Council cannot enter into an access arrangement that is incompatible with the primary purpose of the reserve and had to protect the
natural and biological features of the reserve. “This means that, when considering Rangitira’s application for access, the council has to identify the special features of the reserve and ensure they are protected. The economic benefits of the mine are not relevant,” Peter added. In a separate decision in July, the Ministers of Conservation and Energy refused permission for the mining company to include 12ha of conservation land in the mine pit. The company has said it will seek a judicial review of that decision. Forest & Bird has also taken a case with the Environment Court appealing the resource consents the council has granted to the company for the mine. “The proposed mine site is home to great-spotted kiwi, South Island fernbird, the West Coast green gecko, and the largest known population of the rare forest ringlet butterfly and other threatened invertebrates, including what appears to be a previously unknown species of tiger beetle. Our view is that it is not an appropriate place for an opencast coal mine,” adds Mr Anderson. Forest & Bird will continue its legal fight against the proposed opencast mine at Te Kuha. The proposed development would see the destruction of prominent forested hilltop visible from both Westport and the iconic Buller Gorge road. We’d like to thank the 1000+ people who donated time and funds to our Te Kuha fundraiser earlier this year. We raised more than $100,000, which has helped fund our legal work as we attempt to stop this opencast mine destroying a pristine and untouched landscape.
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Cover story
BIG IS BEAUTIFUL
There are significant challenges ahead if we are to succeed in restoring nature on a landscape scale, as Kevin Hague explains. Forest & Bird’s mission is to protect and restore nature in Aotearoa New Zealand. This is a pretty big challenge – it’s massive. Last year, we spoke of nature being in crisis, and that wasn’t an exaggeration. Many scientists are warning we don’t have more time. There’s no room for further slippage. Slowly losing is still losing, and we can’t afford to lose. Forest & Bird has recently celebrated a number of major legal victories, including stopping the proposed opencast mine at Te Kuha, on the West Coast, and a precedent-setting Motiti win in the Court of Appeal. But if our conservation effort is about trying to stop something being mined, or making the marine environment not quite as bad as it is now, it’s just slowing down the loss, and the endpoint is still the same. For almost 100 years, Forest & Bird has been at the forefront of protecting nature on a landscape scale. Going back to the beginning, Kāpiti Island could be said to be the Society’s first restoration initiative (see panel). Ninetyfive years later, Kāpiti Island is predator-free, and nature is flourishing. Landscape-scale restoration is possible and vital. We need to move from protecting small areas to restoring nature everywhere. But the obstacles we face are huge.
Forgotten places and species We still have many forgotten places in Aotearoa that need urgent help. Let’s look at the conservation estate. While we have good protection of some ecosystems, there are many that are under-represented. The alpine areas are doing OK, mainly because no-one wanted them for farming or mining. But we don’t have enough wetlands under active conservation management – we’ve lost 90% nationwide and they continue to disappear. There are also not enough drylands – we’ve all seen the horrifying pictures of the Mackenzie Basin, an area of extraordinary biodiversity, but hardly any of it is in public conservation estate. We’ve lost almost all of our lowland forest. Of particular concern are the few places where we still have a progression of forest to the sea. 12
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Much of our conservation effort is about individual iconic species like kiwi and kākāpō, which get a lot of attention (and resources). But what about the forgotten species, including insects, bats, birds, frogs, and geckos, that used to be plentiful but are now in big trouble? We can’t have restoration plans for all 4000 plant and animal species at risk of extinction, so we need protection for whole ecosystems instead.
Going beyond gesture There’s a tendency for governments to make a ritual nod towards nature protection and restoration without actually going the distance that’s required. The great victory for Forest & Bird in making conservation one of the key issues in last year’s general election is that we have seen the government decide to very substantially increase the parts of New Zealand under sustained predator control. But it’s still not enough, and it just won’t do the job. And once you start looking, you’ll find this idea of gesture everywhere. Take biosecurity and the lack of effort that has gone into kauri dieback – an existential threat to an iconic national tree. The Ministry for Primary Industries responded angrily to Forest & Bird’s media release when we announced we were closing our reserves and said its leadership on stopping the disease had been hopeless. In nine years of the kauri dieback programe, MPI spent just $2m in research. It’s a gesture, a hopelessly small amount, a ritual nod as kauri goes to its grave.
The forest ringlet is in big trouble. Photo: Melissa Hutchison
Wrybills breed exclusively on braided riverbeds. Photo: Craig McKenzie
The Waimakariri River in Canterbury with Mt White Station on the left. Photo: Neil Silverwood
The myth of balance
Opportunity is ripe
Until recently, we had a Prime Minister who talked about striking a balance – that we could protect the environment but that it couldn’t come at a cost to business. I think this kind of attitude still characterises much of the conservation debate in this country. Take the Te Kuha mine proposal – its proponents basically said that nature is lovely but the local economy also needed jobs and money. The issue is that the point of balance was lost decades ago. We’re not in a situation where environment and growth are given equal rating. We’ve lost so much biodiversity that no more compromise is possible. In the years between 1996 and 2012, a total of 72,000ha of nature on private land disappeared, and this needs to be addressed. Forest & Bird was involved in drafting the National Policy Statement on indigenous biodiversity protection (see p20), and we are pleased to see this important document recently published for public consideration. We also look forward to the Department of Conservation returning to its core purpose under the Conservation Act – protecting nature, not facilitating private commercial enterprise.
This is where Forest & Bird comes in. We have this amazing history. Of all New Zealand’s conservation groups, we probably have the clearest insight and foresight of the nature of problems we face and the ways they might be resolved. We are in a unique position of being a national organisation that has trusted and well-liked branches around the country. We are the only group working across the whole spectrum of conservation work – legal, advocacy, education, children and young people, planting, trapping, weeding, and science and research. Not even DOC does all of this. We have enormous expertise, we are the organisation that can provide leadership, and it’s our responsibility to do this. Encouragingly, we may be pushing at an open door in terms of bringing the rest of New Zealand with us. Many companies are now saying nature is crucial to their business. I believe the current government is genuinely committed to conservation, and the Minister of Conservation knows the challenges ahead. There are thousands of conservation groups working throughout the country, so we have lot of potential allies. We need to be able to galvanise them to form a movement for transformative change because it’s time to put nature first.
Landscape not museum Conservation has to be something that we do throughout New Zeland, not just in a few places. Twentieth century attitudes towards conservation were to identify a place where natural values still exist and say “let’s link arms and protect this place so future generations can still enjoy it,” while accepting the same kind of habitat loss everywhere else. Unfortunately, conservation doesn’t work that way. The pepper-potting of small reserves doesn’t restore biodiversity. We don’t have any more time. What we need to do now is use these places as our “arks”, and open them and use them to repopulate much bigger areas. We need to move away from the pākehā conservation construct, seen by many Māori as a lock-it-up prison mentality, and find ways of finding the common ground that must exist to achieve abundance in nature again.
Forest & Bird has an amazing history of advocacy and on-the-ground conservation. Tautuku saltmarsh, the Catlins.
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Cover story The battle for Kāpiti Island Forest & Bird’s founder Captain Val Sanderson visited Kāpiti Island in 1922 and found that, 20 years after being declared a “sanctuary”, there were 5000 head of goats and sheep roaming free, the forest was bare, erosion was rapidly assuming mastery, and birds were few and far between. Sanderson was furious and began to gather people together to lobby for action, agitating through the newspapers until the government capitulated and promised to remedy the situation, which it ultimately did.
Then: Sheep farming at north end of Kāpiti Island circa 1910–1920. Photo: Alexander Turnbull Library.
HISTORY PROJECT AWARDED $58,000 GRANT Force of Nature is a major new conservation history project that will document Forest & Bird’s first 100 years, examining some of its most important campaigns, the people who led them, and the quality of the natural world that has been protected as a result. Thanks to a generous $58,000 grant from the Stout Trust, this exciting new Forest & Bird project will result in a landmark Force of Nature book written by historian David Young and published by Potton & Burton in 2022, just ahead of Forest & Bird’s centennial celebrations. Overflow stories, recollections, and archives will be gathered on a free Forest & Bird Force of Nature website that will document important events, video and photos about the Society, and its branches, members, and supporters. More on this ambitious three-year Forest & Bird project in your March magazine. In the meantime, please get in touch if you would like to help, for example by suggesting places or species your branch has helped protect over the past century, or contributing towards the cost of collecting oral histories of local members, please contact the project manager, Caroline Wood, at c.wood@forestandbird.org.nz.
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Sanderson formed a committee to oversee Kāpiti Island’s restoration. The wild goats and sheep were eliminated, and, assisted by a predator fence, nature was rejeuvenated. The fledgling Society then suggested that New Zealand was “merely Kāpiti Island on a bigger scale”. If the question of preservation was handled in a similar manner, the Society said, the country might be saved from the effects of erosion caused by the misuse of the land and the destruction of its native forests by deer and goats, unscientific milling, and fire.
Now: Kāpiti Island is an important nature sanctuary today. Photo: Rob Suisted.
India’s dawn chorus Join us for a fully escorted, small-group, bird-lovers and wildlife tour in north India. 20 days, departing 14 October 2019. India’s diversity of habitat types and altitudes give it a rich bird life. It has over 1200 bird species including 70 raptors, 30 duck and geese species, and 8 stork varieties. We visit 5 magnificent National Parks: in the Himalayas, the Ganges Plains and on the Deccan Plateau. In this season we will also see masses of migratory birds from north Asia. And wildlife, including tigers, is a bonus.
Contact: colourindia.co.nz | elight@kiwilink.co.nz 09 422 0111 | 021 235 3932
Chance sighting Forest & Bird’s contractor Gavin White recently saw what is likely to be the nationally endangered Tautuku gecko (Mokopirirakau“ southern forest”) while out servicing trap lines in our new conservation project in the Catlins. If confirmed, it will be an exciting find because this rarely seen blue-eyed gecko hasn’t been recorded in this location before, nor has it been seen living so deep in the rainforest. It’s just one of the many treasures to be found (if you go looking) in Forest & Bird’s landscape-scale Tautuku restoration project
Mokopirirakau “southern forest”. Photo: Carey Knox
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Cover story
Tautuku treasures
The view from Florence Hill down to Tautuku.
Forest & Bird is hoping to return whio and kākā to the Catlins, as Caroline Wood finds out during a visit to our new landcsape-scale restoration project. Follow the Chaslands Highway from Papatowai towards Tautuku, and you come to the scenic Florence Hill lookout. It’s the only spot on the Catlins coast where you get a bird’s eye view of the rainforest falling like a cloak from the hilltops to a beautiful curve of sand to the ocean. Next stop Antarctica. Dropping down to Tautuku from this spot, it’s easy to see why this place holds a special place in the heart of local Forest & Birders. It contains the largest remaining area of lowland podocarp forest running continuously from “hilltops to sea” in south-east New Zealand. This ecological wonderland includes a variety of ecosystems, including virgin and regenerating podocarp and hardwood forests, a mosaic of wetlands, an estuary, pingao sand
Whio are locally extinct but could be re-established at Tautuku if effective predator control can be established. Photo: Bubs Smith
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dunes, oioi rushlands, frost flats, manuka shrubland, and more. Two Tautuku river catchments are of national significance because they still contain native forest cover from their headwaters to the sea. This huge area is home to a diverse plant, bird, fish, and animal life, including species that have disappeared from many other parts of mainland New Zealand – red and yellow-crowned kākāriki, long-tailed bats, the elusive Tautuku forest gecko, fernbird, rifleman, karearea, and a newly discovered and nationally significant population of gollum galaxias fish (see panel). There are important populations of southern rata and manuka, which are, so far, myrtle rust free. Despite the richness of life in Tautuku, the native flora and fauna still need significant human help to survive. Deer are a big problem and so are pigs, both wreak significant damage in the forest and wetlands. The scale of the trapping to control these and other introduced predators like possum, rats, and stoats is massive. Sadly, whio, kākā, and South Island robins are locally extinct as a result. It is here that Forest & Bird has established an ambitious landscape-scale restoration project envisaged as an “Ark in the Park” for the South Island. The aim of the Tautuku Restoration Project is to restore the landscape so nature present in the area can thrive and locally extinct species can be reintroduced. The project will also contribute towards the national goal of a Predator-Free New Zealand by 2050 and help the forest become a carbon sink to mitigate against climate affects. Situated in the heart of the 6600ha project area is Forest & Bird’s 550ha Lenz Reserve purchased by the
Society in 1964 with funds bequested from the estate of Iris Lenz. You can stay here in our rustic bush cabins next to the Tautuku Outdoor Education Centre. Tautuku is within one of DOC’s 13 ecological management areas in the Catlins, but it doesn’t have enough resources to fund predator control in all of the country’s public conservation estate, even in priority areas like this. This is one reason why Forest & Bird has stepped in to help. Our regional project is driven by three Forest & Bird branches, South Otago, Southland, and Dunedin, with the assistance of a paid part-time project manager, Francesca Cunninghame, who combines the role with her position running Forest & Bird’s other seabird restoration projects in Otago. “Our first priority at Tautuku is to better understand the area, which key native species are still present, and which introduced species are threatened,” explains Francesca. “We need to establish intensive and sustained predatorcontrol work in our own reserve, and then, working with community volunteers, residents, land owners, and local iwi, expand into neighbouring Department of Conservation land and Māori land.
Deer damage in Forest & Bird’s Lenz reserve in the heart of the Tautuku ecological restoration area.
“Whio used to live in the Catlins but became locally extinct more than 30 years ago. We have heard about the odd sighting and really want to believe there are still one or two individuals hanging on, but it’s unlikely, so they are on the list for reintroduction at Tautuku. We also see the odd kākā fly over the Catlins and hope that if we make the area safe for them, we can attract them back to establish here. “The main challenge is large mammal control – pigs and deer – this project will only succeed with community support to get them under control. Additionally, predator cycles in lowland podocarp forest are not well understood. Securing the Fleming and Tautuku rivers catchments under effective predator control is essential if we are serious about bringing back whio.”
Forest & Bird branch stalwart Roy Johnstone is a key member of the team protecting Tautuku from introduced mammalian predators.
“We need to do more work to identify and monitor key species found here, their threats, and establish where they are breeding. This will help raise the importance of the site now it has been included on the long list for DOC’s Battle for our Birds funding.” There are now 500 rat and stoat traps at Tautuku. Forest & Bird employs contractors to help with predator control, as relying on volunteers in this harsh terrain isn’t practical. “We estimate that we need 4000 traps just to control the stoat population across half the 6600ha project site. That doesn’t include rat control. It’s not practical. That’s why we would need large-scale aerial 1080 operations to help us control predators in this vast area,” adds Francesca. If you would like to volunteer or financially support Forest & Bird’s Tautuku Ecological Restoration Project, please contact f.cunninghame@forestandbird.org.nz (to volunteer) or j.winchester@forestandbird.org.nz (to make a gift).
GOING WHERE A WOMAN AND FISHING MACHINE HAVE NEVER GONE BEFORE Rose Clucas is a freshwater fish expert, who was recently employed by Forest & Bird to undertake the first fish surveys of the Fleming and Tautuku rivers. Rose discovered two healthy river catchments brimming with fish and insect life, including inanga, eels, lamprey, redfins, stoneflies, caddis, and mayflies. This is great news because it means there should be enough food for whio when they are reintroduced. She also discovered a large and previously unknown population of gollum galaxias, a nationally vulnerable non-migratory species of small freshwater fish living in the upper Tautuku and Fleming rivers above waterfalls that provide natural barriers to trout. The population, which has probably been trapped there for millennia, were confirmed by DNA analysis at the University of Otago.
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These rivers haven’t been surveyed before because this is not easy country to access, there are few tracks, and the rivers are filled with lots of debris and deep pools. “To go where a woman Rose Clucas is training her and fishing machine have border collie Koko to become never gone before is no a conservation fish dog. Koko can already locate whitebait mean task in this kind of on command and is currently country,” Rose jokes. being trained to find inanga Rose, accompanied nesting spots on stream edges. by Forest & Bird staff and volunteers, spent days electric fishing and hand-netting in the lower and upper Fleming River and along the Tautuku River, both of which are in the Tautuku project restoration area. On our last day, Rose took us to check a fyke net in the lower Fleming and made an exciting discovery – a giant kokopu, the first recent record of New Zealand’s largest native fish in this river. We carefully released it back into the river.
ALL FORESTS SHOULD LOOK LIKE THIS Walking along the Wisp Track towards the Catlins River, we cross over an rickety swing bridge and head upwards into the heavily flowering native silver beech trees. Just 10 minutes into the forest, we are surrounded by bird song, a tomtit comes to check us out, a shining cuckoo calls. Tiny riflemen and karearea are also found here, along with a significant population of long-tailed bats. But we are here to see mohua. This forest is an important stronghold for this fragile species that is in big trouble in other parts of the South Island. Francesca Cunninghame and Fergus Sutherland, our walk leaders, start calling the birds, rubbing bits of polstyrene together to mimic their distinctive calls. First we hear them, then we 18
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“The kind of fish communities I found at Tautuku represent what New Zealand streams used to look like. They are representative of what they should look like in the future, explains Rose. “What it demonstrates is what we consider to be the norm in other parts of the country is not the norm. It helps to shake up our thinking about what is normal.”
Gollum galaxias (Galaxias gollumoides), one of 12 species of non-migratory endemic galaxiids from southern New Zealand. Photo: Rod Morris
spot them, their delicate yellow heads flitting about in the treetops. It’s a highlight for all of us, and we spend a long time trying in vain to photograph them. Here, in the Beresford Range, north of Tautuku, we are witnessing the benefits of sustained aerial 1080 operations thanks to DOC’s Battle for our Birds programme. This area has had regular predator control since 2005 and is now home to one of the most important population of mohua left in mainland New Zealand. We walk alongside the tea-coloured Catlins River, with its many waterfalls and rapids. The forest is alive with plant life and birdsong. It pulses with good health and yet feels ancient and magical at the same time. There’s springy green moss cloaking the forest floor and, if you go looking, you will find native orchids, fabulous funghi, and the native mistletoe Peraxilla colensoi. I feel happy and sad at the same time. This is how all our forests should look, but most have fallen silent because the life has been sucked out of them by rats, mustelids, deer, and pigs. Mohua are unusual because last year’s juvenile birds often stay to help look after the new chicks. It’s the mohua equivalent of letting teenagers babysit their younger siblings. Francesca tells us that rats and stoats can run straight up the beech tree trunk and into the canopy-level mohua nests. It means mothers as well as chicks Mohua. Photo: Jake Osborne are often lost to a single rat.
Mega-mast coming Next year, the conditions are ripe for the largest beech mast in nearly half a century – a megamast event unlike anything seen since 1972. This will coincide with increased fruiting in our ancient podocarp forests – leading to plague of predators across a much wider range of forests than we’ve seen in recent years. The exploding number of rats and stoats will prey on native birds, including mohua, kākā, kea, whio, and kiwi, bats, and land snails. Without aerial 1080 drops across the country, we could see localised extinctions of some species as we did with mohua in 2000. The good news is that successful Forest & Bird advocacy saw DOC’s baseline funding for pest control greatly increase in this year’s budget – it has the
capacity to carry out aerial 1080 predator control over a million hectares of forest during 2019. But this won’t be nearly enough to control the booming predator populations we expect to see next year – there are more than four million hectares of beechdominated forest, let alone all the podocarp forests. DOC needs to at least double its efforts. With your support, Forest & Bird will try to convince the government to put some of the country’s budget surplus towards the emergency pest control that will be needed in 2019 and 2020. Standing up takes courage, and that’s what Forest & Bird is here for. With your help, we are a strong voice for nature. We back ourselves with on-the-ground predator control experience and evidence-based science.
tiritiri matangi island
WETAPUNGA
We know it’s a controversial issue, but Forest & Bird will not do a 180 on 1080. Too much is at stake. We need to stand together and speak out about the importance of its use if our birds and forests are to stand a chance. To make a gift, please go to www.forestandbird.org.nz/ savingnature.
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Rifleman. Photo: Jake Osborne
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Though better known for its native bird population, Tiritiri Matangi is also home to hundreds of elusive wētāpunga (giant wētā). In fact, as an important breeding ground, it’s been called a wētāpunga ‘Love Island!’ In June, 150 wētāpunga from Auckland Zoo became new residents – boosting the population and creating more genetic diversity. This was the fourth translocation to Tiritiri Matangi since 2011, supplementing several island-born generations. What makes wētāpunga so special? The wētāpunga is New Zealand’s largest insect. They can't survive on the mainland due to predators, so Tiritiri Matangi is one of the only places you can see them. So how can you spot a wētāpunga on Tiritiri Matangi? The nocturnal wētāpunga can often be seen during the day camouflaged in trees along the Wattle Valley track. But like the birds, there’s always luck involved! Your best chance is to book a guided walk with the Supporters of Tiritiri Matangi.
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Draft NPS Biodiversity
Nature’s future in our hands
Mottled petrel chick held by researcher. Photo: Jake Osborne
It’s been hailed as a game changer for nature protection, especially on private land. Caitlin Carew looks at the draft National Policy Statement for Biodiversity. Government ministers have been handed a once-in-alifetime chance to halt and reverse the serious decline of New Zealand’s native wildlife. A report containing the draft National Policy Statement on Indigenous Biodiversity, and further recommendations to help nature thrive, was officially handed over to the government in October. Forest & Bird was part of a stakeholder group that worked together for 18 months to produce the report. While it still needs to go through a public consultation process and be adopted by the government before coming into effect, our chief executive Kevin Hague is calling it a “gamechanger for New Zealand’s environment.” “Under previous governments, there have been several unsuccessful attempts to produce a NPS for Biodiversity. This stakeholder-led process has been a breakthrough,” he said. Forest & Bird and Federated Farmers were the foundation members of a collaborative group tasked by the previous Environment Minister, Nick Smith, with coming up with a draft NPS for Biodiversity. They were joined by the Forest Owners Association, Environmental Defence Society, the Iwi Chairs Forum, and representatives from the infrastructure sector. “The status quo isn’t working for anyone,” explains Forest & Bird lawyer Sally Gepp, who sat on the group along with Jen Miller, Forest & Bird’s group manager for conservation & advocacy. “Forest & Bird, Environmental Defence Society, Federated Farmers, councils ... we’re all getting tied up in Environment Court processes Velvet worm. for years. Photo: Bryce McQuillan
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Forest & Bird spent five years in court in Hawke’s Bay arguing about what a wetland is and how to determine where its boundaries lie. “Everyone is using precious time, money, and resources on litigation. It is in all of our interests to agree on a clear, consistent direction to protect nature.” A National Policy Statement is nationwide policy that directs councils how to apply the Resource Management Act through their regional and district plans. There are already statements in place for freshwater management, urban development, coastal policy, and renewable energy generation – but crucially not for biodiversity. Sally points to decisions where significant adverse effects on threatened species have been allowed to happen because the impact isn’t considered to be the “tipping point” for the affected flora and fauna. Examples include the Escarpment Mine on the Denniston plateau, and the East-West Link motorway in Auckland. “Without clear direction around biodiversity protection, there is no national context for decision-making, which we know results in a ‘death by a thousand cuts’ scenario,” she explains. The report states that, between 1996 and 2012, human activity caused the loss of nearly 71,000ha of native habitat – mostly in our lowlands, wetlands, and coastal areas. These areas are not well represented on public conservation land. Kevin Hague says New Zealand’s native wildlife has been allowed to fall into an unparalleled crisis, one which is unfolding on privately owned land, as well as public land. “Regional and district plans are meant to protect these important values, but they’re inconsistent and sometimes ineffective. While wholesale forest destruction has generally become unacceptable, ecosystems such as wetlands and the central South Island’s dryland grasslands
are still particularly vulnerable to loss from development. We cannot rely on public conservation land alone to protect biodiversity,” he says. Sally says that the NPS for Biodiversity is designed to apply to both public and private land, but is particularly important on private land because it doesn’t have the same benefit of protection as a national park, conservation area, or reserve. “In these areas, policy needs to be carefully targeted to ‘protect what remains’ without unnecessarily affecting existing activities and positive conservation actions.
Otherwise, the shift will not be durable,” says Sally. “This is why the NPS for Biodiversity process was not just a scientific exercise but rather one which truly benefited from having a range of perspectives contribute to it.” RMA compliance, monitoring, and enforcement remains inconsistent throughout the country, and several practical changes aimed at improving this part of the resource management system were recommended. The stakeholder group also suggested that smaller councils be financially supported to identify their significant natural areas.
NPS BIODIVERSITY HIGHLIGHTS n
The draft NPS for Biodiversity uses the lens of hutia te rito, which recognises that people are not separate to nature and have the power to protect or destroy the environment. Decision-makers are also required to consider the impacts of climate change on biodiversity.
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The protection of “significant natural areas”, a concept already used in environmental management, is strengthened. The vulnerability of highly mobile species like New Zealand’s endemic bats, which are hard to detect and rely on habitat beyond protected areas, is also recognised.
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A best practice method for identifying “when wet land is a wetland” and a direction to protect wetlands is included. Forest & Bird regularly advocates for better wetland protection but, at the moment, the loss often occurs through non-notified consents or as a permitted activity.
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It strengthens the requirements for consent applicants to provide information about how developments impact on biodiversity. “Better information means better decision-making and should reduce those situations where applications are not publicly notified because the council simply doesn’t know what the impacts of a proposal will be,” Sally explains.
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The draft NPS also proposes that councils set legally binding targets and timeframes for restoring areas where biodiversity is depleted and that they develop strategies, together with the community, to achieve the targets. This aligns with the conservation work being carried out by Forest & Bird branches and sets a framework for community conservation to be scaled up through better support and alignment with a regional vision.
Wairepo kettleholes, MacKenzie Country. Photo: Shellie Evans
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Freshwater
OUR FABULOUS FISH
Giant bullies are “at risk” of extinction following a recent update to their threat status. The males turn black at breeding time, but little else is scientifically known of the giant’s lifecycle.
Forest & Bird has launched a campaign celebrating New Zealand’s fin-tastic fish, as our freshwater advocate Annabeth Cohen explains. Photos by Rod Morris. Quick – name a native New Zealand bird! How many came to mind? Quite a few I imagine. Second challenge, name a native freshwater fish, go! Believe it or not, most people on the streets of Wellington couldn’t do it. Recently, I went out on a beautiful sunny day in Wellington and spoke with more than two dozen people of all ages and most were stumped – except for the unexpectedly wonderful grandfather at a food court who, after rattling off a number
Adult inanga, one of the five whitebait species that we eat despite it being in the same “at risk – declining” category as the North Island brown kiwi.
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of scientifically correct fish names, confessed he had worked with the great ichthyologist Bob McDowell. This summer, Forest & Bird is drawing attention to how unique and wonderful – you could say fin-tastic – our native freshwater fish truly are, which is why we really need to look after the health of New Zealand’s rivers, streams, lakes, and estuaries. Did you know that we have more than 50 of these precious creatures and another dozen that have yet to be scientifically described? The sad truth is that most of these incredible swimmers are in serious trouble. With a history of poor land and water management over the past decades, it may not come as a surprise, but it’s nonetheless sad to hear, that 74% of our native freshwater fish are at risk or threatened with extinction. It’s a bit of a conundrum, how do we save something that most of us don’t even know are there? It is time to fight for our fish, but first we must know and care about them. Fish are definitely out of sight, often swimming in deep dark pools or inhabiting
shallow muddy streams, but they don’t have to be out of mind. Our mission is to show off the incredible shapes, sizes, and colours of New Zealand’s native freshwater fish.
The Redfin bully is perhaps New Zealand’s most colourful fish. The males protect the nests until the eggs hatch.
Over the past few weeks, I have been travelling with a film-maker all over the country to capture videos and photographs so we can give members of the public an insight into their incredible stories and life cycles. We’ve been down to the West Coast and Southland to talk with whitebaiters, up to the Tongariro National Trout Centre to see its marvellous collection of native fish,
THREAT STATUS CHANGES and over to the Kāpiti Coast at dusk in search of the elusive giant kōkopu. We’ve interviewed fish experts like Dr Mike Joy, and also secured the services of children who will appear in some of the awareness-raising videos. The fish imagery coming your way over the coming months is going to be a visual treat, plus there may be one or two laughs too. Watch out for your Forest & Bird magazine editor’s nine-year-old son Cormac, who thinks his mum has eyes in the back of her head just like his favourite fish, a black flounder!
The non-migratory southern flathead galaxias are only found in the south of the South Island. They are also found on Rakiura (Steward Island), where they are thought to have arrived during the ice age.
Every three years, the Department of Conservation gets together its top scientists to discuss the threat status of New Zealand’s freshwater fish. It is through this process that we know that nearly three-quarters of our native freshwater fish are threatened or at risk of extinction. It also tells us how each individual fish species is faring. The scientists examine the latest data and ask questions about each species’ current population size, which is calculated by the number of breeding adults or the area of occupied habitat. They consider how the population is likely to change over the next 10 years, and the potential future impact of human activities on their wellbeing. The aim is to avoid the fate of the New Zealand grayling. Once abundant, by the 1860s, their population began to decline. The last known specimen was caught in the late 1920s to early 1930s. Deforestation and competition from introduced trout may have contributed to its demise. In 1951, some years after the last sighting, the species was given full legal protection by the Freshwater Fisheries Regulations, to date the only New Zealand native freshwater fish to be protected, even though by then it was most likely already extinct. Fast forward to 2018, and New Zealand currently has five “nationally critical” fish species, which means they are facing an immediate risk of extinction. They are the lowland longjaw galaxias found in the Kakanui river, the Canterbury mudfish, the lowland longjaw galaxias found in the Waitaki river, the Clutha flathead galaxias, and the Teviot flathead galaxias. In August this year, the threat statuses were updated with some notable changes. Two species were put into a worse “at risk” category – the giant bully went from “not threatened” to “at risk – naturally uncommon” because of reinterpreted data and the southern flathead galaxias went to “threatened – nationally vulnerable”. Three fishes improved status. The redfin bully went to “not threatened” based on improved knowledge. The Waitaki lowland longjaw went to “nationally endangered” following active conservation management. And the Pomahaka galaxias went to “nationally vulnerable” based on improved knowledge. Illustration: Margaret Tolland
WHITEBAIT MANAGEMENT
FISH BILL SUBMISSIONS
Forest & Bird’s freshwater advocate Annabeth Cohen is representing the Society on the Whitebait Working Group, along with other experts and representatives from a range of interest groups. The aim is to put together an “issues and options paper” for the Minister of Conservation. Next year, there will be proposed changes to the whitebait fishing regulations, and we will be asking our members to help by making their voice known and calling for changes to safeguard the species. You can start now by taking this survey put together by the Department of Conservation on whitebait fishery management. Check it out at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/ WhitebaitManagement.
Thank you to the more than 1000 Forest & Bird members who sent in a submission in support of the “fish bill”, otherwise known as the Conservation (Indigenous Freshwater Fish) Amendment Bill, which will improve legal protections for freshwater fish. These submissions will support Forest & Bird’s detailed technical submission. Why is this bill so important? There is currently very little protection under the law for freshwater fish, but this bill amends the Conservation Act to provide some significant new protections. For example, DOC will be allowed to manage fishing outside conservation land, including on private land. Forest & Bird
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Branch project Melanie Young and Leith Thomson tagging one of Te Rere’s penguins. Photo: Fergus Sutherland.
CAN WE SAVE HOIHO? In the 1980s, Forest & Bird rescued a yellow-eyed penguin colony in the Catlins from imminent destruction and set up a private scientific reserve to protect it. But, over the last decade, numbers have been declining, and this year only five viable nests were found. Can we find out why hoiho are dying, before it’s too late? By Caroline Wood. We are bumping in a 4WD across a field on private farmland somewhere in the Catlins. Forest & Bird’s yelloweyed penguin sanctuary isn’t marked on a map, and without a guide it isn’t easy to get to this small windswept parcel of land, one of the most southerly points of the South Island. Around these parts, locals joke that if you fall into the sea the next stop is Antarctica. It’s here, in a remote spot midway between Curio Bay and Chaslands Mistake, that a local Forest & Bird Southland branch member, Fergus Sutherland, first discovered a colony of yellow-eyed penguins in 1981. Seeing their forest breeding grounds being cleared for sheep pasture (the birds were standing around the bulldozer), he and local branch members worked with the farmer to protect a small area for the birds, doing predator control and planting. Later in 1989, with the help of Forest & Bird’s then National Conservation Director Gerry McSweeney, a larger area was purchased and fenced. Fergus, now 73, still looks after the penguins today and is the reserve’s caretaker. He leads us into the cool dappled light of the forest criss-crossed by traplines. This low coastal forest remnant several hundred metres from the sea is where the penguins rest on land and, every spring, nest under fallen trees and raise their chicks. The chicks are dependent on their parents for food until they fledge in late February. It’s late October, and the females have laid their two eggs. Hoiho are unusual among penguins for raising two chicks per nest, Fergus tells us. The nest-guarding birds 24
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observe us calmly as we watch them. They don’t seem too bothered to see us and our cameras. The parents take it in turns to guard the nest and head out to sea for food. The previous week, volunteers had been counting hoiho nests along the Otago and Catlins coastline. They found just five viable nests at Te Rere – less than half the 11 nests found here last year and significantly fewer than the high of 23 in the 2008/09 breeding season. The pattern is the same everywhere. Something is happening to the penguins’ ability to breed successfully, but we don’t know what. “There were more than 100 birds in early 1990s, but unfortunately the story of yellow-eyed penguins on the mainland of the South Island is a very sad one. We’ve just counted five viable nests. That’s the lowest number we’ve ever found, and this is a story repeated up and down the coast,” Fergus says. “It’s gut-wretching for all of us involved with penguin conservation. We know we’ve done a good job protecting them on land. We have excellent predator control, and there’s lots of good nesting sites here, but we just don’t know why it’s happening. We think there’s something going on out at sea, it may be fishing or climate change, but something is affecting them.” In 2008, Te Rere was home to 81 hoiho, but there are thought to be just 20 remaining today. The population is dropping so rapidly that Te Rere’s management committee has made a big decision. They’ve decided to allow penguin researchers to tag the birds as part of a national
Department of Conservation monitoring project (see panel). “We have a policy at Te Rere of minimal handling and no tagging of penguins. They’ve been left alone as much as possible, as a natural population, which made it a very hard decision to make,” says Fergus, “But we felt we didn’t have a choice. We need to do something.” Back at Te Rere, we head towards the ocean, pushing our way through the forest and thick twists of flax before emerging onto the edge of a high rocky clifftop overlooking a U-shaped bay. There are only two landing points where the penguins can access the land. Fergus tells us the parent birds used to forage for a day at sea, but now they could be gone for two to three days at a time, perhaps because they need to go further to find fish. In a few months, thanks to the new monitoring project, we will know much more about their foraging habits. Without this vital evidence, Forest & Bird fears hoiho are on a rapid path to extinction on New Zealand’s mainland. We need to find answers, and we need find them fast before it’s too late.
Caretaker Fergus Sutherland with one of the many predator traps at Te Rere.
Two of Te Rere’s penguins captured on remote sensor camera.
MAJOR NEW MONITORING PROJECT Hoiho are known to be at risk from several pressures, including climate change, food supplies, fishing nets, pollution, forest loss, human disturbance, dogs, and disease. No-one knows the main reason for their ongoing decline, but scientists suspect it’s related to their foraging habits. Dr Thomas Mattern, from the University of Otago, has been researching yellow-eyed penguins for more than 15 years and recently pioneered GPS tracking of hoiho on the Otago coastline, making exciting new discoveries about their underwater life and feeding habits. Together with PhD student Melanie Young, he has been contracted by DOC to undertake a new two-year monitoring project throughout Otago and the Catlins in a bid to find out what is happening to hoiho. This major study is also supported by MPI and the fishing industry. As part of the project, Thomas and Melanie will microchip Te Rere’s birds before returning to attach small GPS tracking devices and video cameras to their backs so
they can see where they go when they head into the ocean – the video footage is amazingly clear. The tracking devices don’t hurt the birds and are recovered after about a week. He said: “We’re going to be tracking yellow-eyed penguins from Te Rere reserve for first time, which is important because we don’t know anything about Catlins penguins’ foraging behaviour. We think they may be having to go further to look for food, possibly towards the set net area in the Forveaux Strait, which may compromise their survival rate. “It’s part of the biggest monitoring project of yelloweyed-penguins to date, a comprehensive two-year study of all the mainland breeding sites, including Otago and Rakiura/Stewart Island, so we will get the most complete picture yet of where penguins go, where they forage, and what kind of food they eat.”
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The number of penguins and nests at Te Rere from 1995 until 2018. 80
n Penguins n Nests
60 40 20 0
1995/96 96/97 97/98 98/99 99/00 00/01 01/02 02/03 03/04 04/05 05/06 06/07 07/08 08/09 09/10 10/11 11/12 12/13 13/14 14/15 15/16 16/17 17/18 18/19* *Current breeding season
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Focus on flora
MAPPING HARAKEKE COLOURS
Let's make a flax floral map. Photos: Shellie Evans
Do harakeke display a different flower colour depending on the landscape they inhabit? Di Lucas, a landscape planner and ecologist, needs your help to find out the answer From Hokianga to Rakiura, the fat buds of harakeke are pointing determinedly skywards, as they have seasonally for millennia, ready to burst into flower – the kōrari. Harakeke or New Zealand flax grows naturally on each island, in every region, every district, and every rohe throughout the lands of Aotearoa New Zealand. This sturdy plant belongs on the islands too, including the Chatham Islands and Norfolk Island. From the bucketing rainfall places of the north and west to rain-shadowed central and eastern places, harakeke belongs in various habitats. Our otherwise diverse lands are woven together by this staunch plant, the New Zealand flax, Phormium tenax. Liking some wetness, harakeke frequently defines rivers and streams, lakes and wetlands, seepages and springs. From the dune swamps of our coasts, along the rivers feeding in, many metres above on the hills up-country, and down to our inland valley and basin floors, harakeke belongs extensively, or in niches, in every catchment. Three decades ago, a kaumātua recounted to me a very old whakataukī (proverb), which recognised that harakeke display a different flower colour on each mountain range. Having since seen something of the diversity of colours in kōrari – various tones of yellow, orange, red, purple, green, and black – I have longed to explore the whakataukī and am hoping this year is a major flowering year around the country. This summer, I’m launching a citizen science project to map the floral colours of harakeke from Northland to Southland. By working together, we can find out whether there is something to the whakataukī and, if there is, what causes the differences. We know the soil doesn’t impact 26
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flower colour, but perhaps something else in the plant’s ancestral landscape does, such as the kind of birds or insects living in its particular environment. We seek your help in recording the flower colours of naturally wild harakeke throughout New Zealand. We’re hoping as many people as possible will record a naturally occurring plant’s location and context, and upload photos to the New Zealand Plant Conservation Network site. Perhaps some Forest & Bird branches and Kiwi Conservation Clubs might like to collate some further information for their area. They may also like to note any animals feeding on the harakeke flowers, whether tūī, bellbird, lizard, or myriad insects. They might even work with local iwi to explore the topic together. Then, as the season progresses, we’ll make a harakeke/ flax flower colour map of the country for Forest & Bird. New Zealand paint manufacturers Resene are supporting the project by publicising it in its email newsletter. Resene also plans to create a custom colour palette of the harakeke colours, which will feature in Habitat magazine. “This is such a wonderful idea!” says Rebecca Long, a Resene colour expert. “I’m looking forward to assisting Di with this very special project. I can’t wait to see the results!” This project is about the natural diversity, not the cultural diversity of the species. Please confine your recordings to harakeke (P.tenax) understood to be naturally occurring, and not the result of plantings. If you need any more details or help uploading your field recordings, please contact me at harakeke.lucas@gmail.com.
Harakeke flower recording form Use this form to record your field observations and then log them online at www.nzpcn.org.nz. Alternatively, scan this form and email it and your photos to harakeke.lucas@gmail.com.
Where was it? Place name Region Describe the location When did you see it? Was it mainly in bud, flowering, or finishing? What colours were the flowers?
Illustration: Hugh Wilson
Optional: you can use the line drawing to record the colours on different parts of the flower.
Have you taken photographs? 1. Close up of the flowers 2. Wide angle shot showing the landscape the flax inhabits *To record your field observation on the New Zealand Plant Conservation Network website, go to www.nzpcn.org.nz and search for “Phormium tenax”. Click on the “Record an observation” button. You will need to register as a “Phenology recorder” the first time you log a sighting.
Climate
METHANE MATTERS
Forest & Bird believes it makes no sense to exempt methane emissions from the government’s zero-carbon plan, and is calling for urgent action following a landmark IPCC climate report. Climate scientists have confirmed it is still 100% possible to keep climate change below the key target of 1.5°C, but it will require “rapid, far-reaching and unprecedented changes in all aspects of society”. The latest special report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Global Warming of 1.5°C, was released in October in South Korea following a week-long approval session. It warns the dire effects of a 1.5°C global warming on humans and nature are likely to happen more quickly than originally envisaged and therefore there is less time to make a significant transformation of the global economy. The IPCC says we have only 12 years to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 45% from 2010 levels, says Forest & Bird’s climate advocate Adelia Hallett. “This means that urgent and deep emissions cuts – including methane from dairy farming – are needed to keep warming below 1.5°C and avoid the worst impacts on humans and nature.” Dairy cows are a significant source of methane, which makes up half of all NZ’s emissions. Forest & Bird believes it makes no sense to exempt methane emissions from the government’s carbon-zero plan. 10 indicators of global warming
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“Worryingly, New Zealand’s gross emissions have actually increased 19.6% since 1990. Methane from dairy cattle has significantly contributed to this, with a 600% increase in nitrogen-based fertiliser and our national dairy herd doubling since 1990. “The current push by some industries to exempt methane from the government’s zero-carbon plan is irresponsible and unethical. Methane is 33 times more damaging than carbon, and makes up 50% of New Zealand’s emissions profile. We believe methane and black carbon need to be cut by at least 35%.” New Zealand is already experiencing the consequences of living with 1°C of warming. For example, in the past 12 months, warm temperatures have caused a breeding failure in the southern hoki fish population, our most important fish export. “Even 1.5°C warming is going to be really hard to meet, but the IPCC warns the impact on fisheries and aquaculture will be twice as bad at 2°C. The good news is we can avoid that scenario if we are sufficiently committed,” adds Adelia. “New Zealand’s primary industries and all political parties must take note of the IPCC’s message. There is no sense in giving methane emitters a free ride here. It will destroy our environment and our economy, and that’s not a price worth paying.” Victoria University of Wellington’s Professor James Renwick (right) said the IPCC report made for “sobering reading”. “We are currently living with 1°C of global warming, and we’re seeing effects already in extreme events and impacts on ecosystems and societies worldwide. More warming, even half a degree, means more and bigger impacts, but it is clear that a 1.5°C world would be a lot more manageable and recognisable than a 2°C world.” NIWA climate scientist Dr Jonny Williams, who was a reviewer of the report, said it was important to emphasise that rising air temperature was just one aspect of climate change, alongside effects like ocean acidification. “When it comes to the risks to humans from climate change, sadly it is often the people who are least able to take action who will be affected the most,” he said.
LOVE DOC DAY
Celebrating Love DOC Day in Inglewood, Taranaki.
Forest & Birders made it their mission deliver messages of support and sweet treats to their local DOC office to thank local rangers for their work protecting nature in our beautiful backyard.
Forest & Bird championed the setting up of the Department of Conservation three decades ago, because we know how important it is to have a strong and robust government department leading the internationally renowned conservation work New Zealand is known for. It’s been a tough few months for DOC staff involved in aerial predator control with some unpleasant (and untrue) flack flying around on social media, an anti-1080 march on Parliament, opposition to an important tahr cull, and reports of DOC staff being verbally harassed out in the field. Forest & Bird decided to show some love in October and remind our endangered rangers that we really appreciate the work they do. Nature can’t say thank you but we can. And it seems our messages of support and love (and especially the cakes) were well received. One senior ranger wrote to DOC’s Director General Lou Sanson: “Just to demonstrate not everyone harasses us, Debs Martin at Nelson/Marlborough Forest & Bird organised local branches to deliver cake and a lovely card to our regional and district offices as a symbol of how much they support the work of staff, which is pretty amazing. Staff have really appreciated the kind gesture.” Across Cook Strait, Forest & Bird’s Manawatū branch organised a morning tea for their regional DOC office in Palmerston North, where the quality of baked goods on offer must have spread like wildfire on the bush telegraph, with more than 35 DOC staff attending. “In an environment where the negative voices are so loud, it really means a lot when a positive voice is heard. And any voice is made so much more powerful when accompanied by food!” wrote a DOC manager in a message of thanks to the branch. The Blenheim branch took a large fruit cake and a message of support to the DOC office in Renwick, with a similar response from the manager there, who said: “I want to say how much this very generous and heartfelt gesture meant to us all. We are all very touched and appreciative of Forest and Bird’s warmth and kind deed.” Forest & Bird’s regional managers and branches organised cards and cakes for other local DOC offices, including the Catlins, Te Anau, Invercargill, Kaikōura,
Motueka, St Arnaud, Takaka, New Plymouth, Napier, Waikato, and Warkworth. It’s the third time Forest & Bird has organised a national love DOC day. Sue Maturin, Forest & Bird’s Otago and Southland regional manager, said: “In a low-key way, we wanted to say thank you to DOC for the work it does to protecting our native plants and animals from predators, and to remind them they do have friends on this issue. We last did this about four years ago, and it was time for us to do it again.” TENDER TENDER TENDER
1 1
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2 2
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WARKWO H LLOT W A RK W ORT R TH OT10 1 0MOIR M OI RHIL HILL LROAD R OA D BUSH BLOCK, NORTH AUCK Build your dream home or off-the-grid hide-away on this unique property. 40 minutes of Auckland's CBD,AUCK this 75 BUSH BLOCK, NORTH BUSH North BLOCK, NORTH AUCK hectare property giant Kauri & rare Build dream home Build your your dreamboasts homeor oroff-the-grid off-the-grid native species suchunique as the property. protected40 hide-away on hide-away onthis this unique property. 40 Northern Paryphanta (Giant Kauri Snail) & minutes minutes North Northof ofAuckland's Auckland'sCBD, CBD,this this7575 Hockstetter Frog which are well established hectare hectare property propertyboasts boastsgiant giantKauri Kauri&&rare rare after 20 years of intensive possum and nativeover native species speciessuch suchas asthe theprotected protected pest control. 3 km's of(Giant trails to discover the Northern Paryphanta Kauri Snail) & Northern Paryphanta (Giant Kauri Snail) & flora, exploreFrog the which bush, picnic byestablished or swim in Hockstetter are well Hockstetter Frog which are well established the Panoramic views across bush afterstreams. over 20 years of intensive possum and after over 20 years of possum and and & intensive East over Mahurangi, pest farmland, control. 3North km's of trails to discover the pest control. 3 km's of trails to discover the Kawau, Coromandel and the Barrier Islands. flora, explore the bush, picnic by or swim in flora, explorePanoramic the bush, picnic by or swim the streams. views across bush in the streams. Panoramic views across bush and farmland, North & East over Mahurangi, and farmland, Northand & East Mahurangi, Kawau, Coromandel theover Barrier Islands. Kawau, Coromandel and the Barrier Islands.
TEN DER Closes on 23 Jan 2019 at 4:00pm (unless sold prior) TEN DER VI EWI NG TEN DER Closes For on 23 Jan 2019 at Phone Information or4:00pm Viewing(unless Closes on 23 Jan 2019 at 4:00pm (unless sold prior) www.barfoot.co.nz/767327 sold prior) VI EWI N G VI EWI NJon G Redwood Phone For Information or Viewing Phone For Information or09 Viewing 021 761 900 A/H 423 9568 www.barfoot.co.nz/767327 www.barfoot.co.nz/767327 j.redwood@barfoot.co.nz Warkworth 09 425 8742 Jon Redwood
Jon Redwood
021 761 900 A/H 09 423 9568 021 761 900 A/H 09 423 9568 j.redwood@barfoot.co.nz j.redwood@barfoot.co.nz Warkworth 09 425 8742 Warkworth 09 425 8742
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Predator-free NZ
Sleuthing with pest detective
Photo: Shona McCahon
Old-fashioned field observation still has its place when protecting our flora and fauna from the ravages of pest animals. By Shona McCahon, co-ordinator of www.pestdetective.org.nz. Imagine you’re out in the bush one day and, sadly, see a mangled corpse of a tūī with neck injuries. Further along the track, you notice some mystery animal droppings. Could these be related? You use your mobile phone to access the Pest Detective website, go to the Clues section, and scroll through images of pest animal droppings and kill sign. You discover that the bird’s neck injuries are typical signs of ferret, stoat, and cat predation. And the droppings are definitely those of a stoat. Your identification is an alert for some human action, whether it’s further monitoring or trapping. The Pest Detective website was developed as an interactive guide to help New Zealanders identify the presence of vertebrate pest animal species from the signs they leave in the field. Many pest animals are notoriously difficult to detect because of their nocturnal and/or reclusive habits, and, although there are increasingly sophisticated technologies available for monitoring pest populations, the ability to recognise in-the-field signs and understand animals’ behaviour patterns remains very useful. In fact, it was Department of Conservation field staff who originally began to develop a pest-ID field guide. That grew into a website project, which the former National Pest Control Agencies developed in two stages, with support from various government agencies and the New Zealand Lottery Grants Board. Stage 1 featured the 19 “most wanted” culprits, including all the rodents and mustelids, most deer, and other herbivores like goats and rabbits – and, of course, possums. Eleven more were added in Stage 2, including a reptile (plague skink), five unwanted organisms, and four birds. The website is essentially a purpose-built search tool. You may already use it, but, depending on what you want to know, you can start searching from the Home page either by:
n
Clues – you have field sign you wish to identify Culprits – you suspect a particular species or simply want to learn about any of the 30 pest animals featured. The clues – nearly all illustrated with photographs – are sorted into droppings, footprints and tracks, vegetation damage, kill sign, and “other” characteristics such as eye shine or smell. A nifty feature is the interactive species distribution mapping, developed by the Department of Conservation, whereby one can zoom in and out from the large to local scale. We have more than 750 images and counting. The collection includes commissioned line drawings of important clues and as many photographs of specifically New Zealand examples as we’ve been able to find. Some have been donated by Forest & Bird members. Gaps in the collection are still being filled as people send in more images. So who uses Pest Detective? It was originally developed for practitioners in the pest control industry, but, with burgeoning community interest in predator control and nature restoration, it has proved popular with a much wider audience, including landowners and land managers, conservation volunteers, community groups, researchers, and schools and their students. Young members of Forest & Bird’s Kiwi Conservation Club/Hakutui Toa have used the website to become “pest detectives”, and we have a younger kids’ activities section we hope to gradually expand. Find Pest Detective at www.pestdetective.org.nz. n
ANSWERS (a) Hedgehog (b) Fallow deer (c) Dama wallaby (d) Feral pig (e) Goat (f) Possum (g) Cat (h) Rabbit (i) Canada goose (j) Stoat
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TAKE THE PEST DETECTION QUIZ
A Droppings
D Wallow
B Droppings
E Footprints
H Vegetation damage
C Footprints
F Footprints
I Droppings
Fallow deer
Cat
Hedgehog
Possum
Rabbit
Match the following 10 clues with the culprit animal species:
Dama wallaby
Feral pig
Goat
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ANSWERS PAGE 30
Stoat
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Broome to Alice Springs 11 – 22 June 2019 Windjana Gorge, Tanami Desert, Wolf Creek Crater, Lake Gregory and New Haven Reserve.
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Dawn chorus Kevin Parker with one of Bushy Park’s hihi. The nature sanctuary, near Whanganui, was established following a bequest to Forest & Bird. Photo: Mandy Brooks
MISSION TO MOVE
One of New Zealand’s top bird translocation experts Dr Kevin Parker talks to David Brooks about his ground-breaking conservation work. Over nearly two decades, Dr Kevin Parker has worked on 65 translocations involving 3000 rare native species, but he never forgets that the experience for the birds is similar to an “alien abduction”. “What we put them through is extraordinary – catching them, putting them in a box, transporting them, and releasing them into a new site,” says Kevin, a translocation specialist, who also works in conservation restoration and management. “What is even more extraordinary is they survive and start new populations.” Kevin is well known to many members for translocations to and from Forest & Bird’s reserves. They include reintroductions of whiteheads at Auckland’s Ark in the Park, moving tīeke (saddlebacks) and North Island robins from Whanganui’s Bushy Park, and bringing fernbirds to Wellington’s Pauatahanui Wildlife Reserve from Lake Rotokare Scenic Reserve in Taranaki. A childhood obsession with nature was further fuelled by TVNZ Natural History Unit documentaries, including famous early translocation successes with kākāpō and black robins. Kevin’s passion continued into adulthood with work at the Auckland Zoo, as an Auckland Regional Council park ranger, and volunteering in projects in the US, Israel, Antarctica, Torres Strait Islands, and Solomon Islands, alongside academic work, including a PhD in ecology. Living close to the Tāwharanui Open Sanctuary north of Auckland, Kevin gets to experience the benefits of translocations and intensive conservation management from home, where he sees many avian visitors from the park. He remembers taking part in night time morepork counts in the park before the predator fence was built and pests eradicated. “What really struck me was the constant movement in the leaf litter around me because there were so many ship rats.” Now species including takahē, kiwi, pāteke, tīeke,
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red-crowned kākāriki, and Duvaucel’s geckos have been reintroduced. Bellbirds, which nest in Kevin’s garden, greyfaced petrels, and kākā have reintroduced themselves. “I was in my early 20s before I saw a live tīeke for the first time. Now on a busy summer’s day when there’s several thousand people down at the beach at Tāwharanui, there are tīeke calling in the trees behind them. That’s pretty astounding,” he said. When he started doing translocations, most were to offshore islands, but now many involve projects returning birds to mainland sites. Dispersal of birds into surrounding unprotected areas is a major challenge on these mainland sites. Other changes include the stronger focus on picking large high-quality release sites that can support big bird populations likely to persist in the long term. Different species of birds can be trickier to work with than others, and within every species some birds are more easily stressed than others. Kevin tries to provide lots of refuge and food options for captured birds, and he will often move the birds at night when they are usually inactive and not feeding.
Kevin works with lots of different community conservation groups. Here he is with volunteers from the Shakespear Open Sanctuary.
In the last two decades, there has been a rapid growth in the number of community conservation groups wanting to translocate birds into areas they are restoring. This has opened up new conservation opportunities and raised consciousness. But community projects should only be additional to the work a well-resourced Department of Conservation needs to do on the biodiversity-rich public conservation lands, says Kevin. Translocations are an important tool, but looking after natural populations and encouraging their natural spread should come first. Some community-led translocation proposals are overly optimistic about their prospects of success. A restored area may be too small to support a population, and translocation often remains a risky bet. “If you look at the translocation data over a wide range of species (not just birds) in New Zealand and internationally, we still fail a lot.” A recent study showed the survival rate for birds in the first 3–12 months after translocation is a little lower than normal survival. This is likely due to factors including the stress of being moved, having to find new food sources, and knowing what the local threats are. “For me, when I do a translocation, I know that some of the birds I translocate are not going to make it, and I’m quite haunted by that. At the same time, we’ve started a lot of big new healthy populations, but we need to think really carefully about whether a translocation is a sensible idea.” Birds are the most commonly translocated species, but he would like to see more groups look at lizards, invertebrates, and plants that can be successfully translocated to much smaller sites. “A high quality habitat of a hectare or less could support populations of some lizard species, threatened plants, and invertebrates as well.” Iwi involvement is increasing all the time, as is the wider recognition of kaitiakitanga or Māori concepts of environmental guardianship. Kevin says more ways need to be found to work alongside iwi and hapū. A project initiated by Ngāti Tama to bring back kōkako to Taranaki has a special place in Kevin’s heart. The last kōkako were removed from the Parininihi Forest two decades ago because of the ravages of introduced predators. But, last year, 20 birds descended from the last fertile male from the forest were returned. “To stand in the marae and hear people speak when the birds were returned to the Ngāti Tama rohe was incredibly moving.”
50 years ago
Kevin with Forest & Bird’s Wanda Tate, who led a project to return fernbirds to our Pauatahanui reserve.
Pauatahanui promise Last year was a record year for Kevin Parker. He did eight translocations involving six different species. But the translocation of fernbirds to Forest & Bird’s Pauatahanui Wildlife Reserve north of Wellington was one of his most worrying projects. On one hand, there was the chance to establish the southernmost fernbird population in the North Island in a high quality habitat that had been restored over three decades. On the other hand, the coastal saltmarsh is a very different habitat from the inland freshwater wetland the birds came from at Rotokare Scenic Reserve in Taranaki. “That’s huge. It’s like dropping one of us in the middle of Beijing, and we were also translocating them to a site with quite good dispersal corridors. They can move and show up in odd places, quite a long way from any other fernbirds. I felt the translocation could go either way, but I thought it was worth trying to establish them in the lower North Island,” he says. So far, the signs are very promising. A total of 22 birds were released into Pauatahanui last year, and at least four nesting pairs fledged 12 chicks over the spring and summer. Another 25 birds were transferred earlier this year. “When I first visited there, I felt more comfortable because the area they restored is classic fernbird habitat. That’s a valuable lesson for other community groups that translocation is only going to work if you have high quality habitat, which involves dealing with the predators and providing a big enough area for food, shelter, and breeding.” *The fernbird translocations at Pauatahanui were carried out thanks to grants from the Stout Trust.
A persistent threat Again for the third time in a decade, we have found it necessary to appear before a tribunal to defend our native fauna and flora against those who wish to legalise and perpetuate destructive browsing pests on our mountains and in our forests. Recently representatives of those interested in the tourist industry and hunting appeared before the Wildlife Commission with a request that certain species of deer should be removed from the lists of noxious animals and even be given some form of protection from hunting pressures again. During the past 40 years this society has proved to the satisfaction of the Government and all really interested in the welfare of the country that wild browsing animals and our bush and bird life simple cannot exist. Forest & Bird magazine, November 1968
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Marine Joy’s older sister Zoe with last year's pup Tasman. Both sisters are related to “Mum” who returned to the Otago mainland in the early 1990s to breed.
A sea lion’s life
Joy, a critically endangered New Zealand sea lion who lives on the Otago coast north of Dunedin, has given birth to four pups over the past four years, but only one has survived. This is her story. Words and images by Victoria Ponder.
It was a late December night in 2017 when Joy dragged herself up the beach and through the bushes to this year’s birthing spot on the Otago coast north of Dunedin. After days of luring males away from her chosen birthing beach with her enticing hormone perfume, the last kilometre schlep from sea to the safety of the trees was exhausting. Close to a campsite wasn’t necessarily the most sheltered spot she had chosen in four years of pupping. But among a cathedral of trees next to an estuary, Joy gave birth to her fourth pup Tohu, meaning sign, after a little white mark on his nose. It wasn’t long before that white mark disappeared into Joy’s blubbery belly as Tohu attached himself to her teat, sucking it for the white fatty goodness so vital to the survival of all pups. Tohu grew quickly on his mother’s milk. After a week of bonding and suckling, it was time for Joy to leave Tohu so she could return to sea to feed her own weakened body. It would be two days before she would return, so she found him a safe “playground” near the beach where she could easily locate him upon her return. Three months pass, and it was time to teach young Tohu how to swim. She does this at Long Beach, east of Purakaunui on the Otago Coast, where Tohu quickly settled into a crèche of three pups, where he could play 34
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while Joy was away hunting. The gargantuan adult males on the beach also like to play but much rougher. Rough enough to crush a young pup. In March 2018, Tohu’s lifeless body was found. He had been crushed to death at the age of just three months. He was the third pup Joy had lost in the past four years. Her first pup, June, who was born at the end of 2014 or early 2015, generated great excitement locally, as she was continuing the female legacy of her great-grandmother Mum. This famous sea lion matriarch is credited with being
Long Beach
the first of her species to return to the mainland to breed in the early 1990s. Alas, DNA mutations had coded another fate for June. Once weaned from the milk, June’s body rejected the fish intended to make her strong, and soon Joy was left pup-less. In January 2016, Joy gave birth to her second pup Rua. On one memorable day, Rua was found at the local campsite taking shelter from the sun under a car, much to the owner’s delight. Rua made it to 11 months, within a month of independence, when she was found dead in November 2016, two stab wounds in her side. By 2018, for all that her name conveyed, Joy had experienced more loss than happiness. Three times, her pups had died: one by DNA, one by knife, and the third by crushing. Thankfully, Joy will likely give birth again this summer, and she still has her third pup – appropriately named Hope – who was born in January 2017. Hope survived her critical first 12 months and is now living independently. She is Joy’s success story. In two or more years, when she is fully mature, Hope should add to her mother’s lineage by giving birth to her own pups and continuing the sea lion whakapapa of the Otago coastline.
Hope is Joy's third pup and survives to carry on her family line.
John Burke, from the NZ Sea Lion Trust, checking a female sea lion’s tag.
How can you help this breeding season? Hope and Joy’s chances of success were greatly improved by the human help they received from the New Zealand Sea Lion Trust, and the Warrington Surf Life Saving Club, northeast of Waitati, which patrols the South Otago beach where they live. Both organisations support the work of DOC’s Otago coastal ranger, Jim Fyfe, and play a vital role in monitoring and managing the mainland population. Without the organisations’ volunteers, there would be no information on sea lion numbers, how long they live, how many pups they have, and what condition the population is in. Volunteers work tirelessly in their spare time getting to know all the sea lions and their stories. These magnificent mammals are “like family”, with many of the sea lions being named by or after volunteers! But the work is not without its difficulties. The breeding sites are often in remote locations and popular with freedom campers,
and finding, capturing, and tagging pups is not easy. Volunteers also raise awareness among locals and visitors, asking beachgoers to keep at least 10m away from sea lions to avoid harassing them and for their own safety. Dogs in particular can be very stressful for the sea lions and should be kept on leads on the beach. Otago’s sea lion volunteers also help spread stories and knowledge about these magnificent marine mammals and the threats they face. While Aotearoa’s critically endangered birds are relatively well known, it’s not so widely recognised that we New Zealanders are responsible for the welfare of the most endangered sea lion species in the world. Could you spare some time to help New Zealand sea lions this summer? See www.sealiontrust.org.nz for details.
Sea lion summer Victoria Ponder is a master’s student of science communication at the University of Otago in Dunedin. Her article was inspired by a recent internship researching and photographing the New Zealand sea lion population in Otago. She decided to focus on one particular sea lion called Joy and create a biography of her life. “Quite a few people around the Otago peninsula already know the story of ‘Mum’, but I have approached the story from a different angle,” explains Vicky. “I thought an article about Mum’s family line would bring her continued legacy to life. So I focused on the story of Joy, another sea lion that has often been in the news over the past few years. Joy is Mum’s granddaughter. “My aim is to connect people to the sea lion stories happening right now along the Otago coast. I want to encourage volunteers to help during the mainland breeding season this summer. With about 17 pups expected this year, it would be great to prevent some of the tragedies that Joy has had to endure in her lifetime.” Forest & Bird
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Young conservationist
Maddie makes a difference Maddie Baker, aged 8, is probably Forest & Bird’s youngest regular giver. We find out why she is passionate about protecting nature. Many of Forest & Bird’s youngest members have grown up to become lifelong conservationists, and we have a feeling eight-year-old Maddie Baker will be one of them. Earlier this year, Maddie decided to give a third of her weekly pocket money to Forest & Bird – and we are pretty sure she is our youngest regular giver! Maddie, who lives on a lifestyle block outside Whakatane, is mad about nature and particularly passionate about insects and marine life. She enjoys helping out with pest control and planting new trees close to her home and recently became interested in climate change and what is happening with the plastics that are going into the oceans.
“I love the ocean and want to help take care of it,” says Maddie. “I think Forest & Bird should save up my money to buy a machine to clean all the rubbish from the ocean and the beach, if something like that exists, otherwise I’d like to invent one when I’m older. Or you can use my money to buy seedlings to plant in the forest,” she adds. Making a charitable donation is something that we agreed that we would do once Maddie started getting pocket money, explains mum Lisa Eve. “We told her that each week she would get $3 to spend, $3 to save, and $3 to donate. We also said we would match her gift to the charity she chose. “I thought that she was going to choose to sponsor a local child through Variety or something similar, but we were looking through some different ideas and she saw that she could make a donation to Forest & Bird and that’s what she wanted to do. “Last month, we set up a monthly gift in her name to Forest & Bird. We sat down together to answer all the questions online. It was a proud mum moment! She said her reason for donating is for the oceans and to stop plastic killing the birds.” During Plastic-free July, Maddie and her mum organised movie events in Whakatane to highlight the impact of plastics in the ocean, and Maddie took part in a beach clean-up. They also used some of Forest & Bird’s materials to run a competition for school students, asking what 36
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ideas kids had to keep plastic out of the oceans. Maddie entered the competition but wasn’t allowed to win any of the prizes! “She’s pretty good with her bird identification too and knows her pūkeko from her takahē. We recently went to Zealandia, and she enjoyed seeing the takahē there,” adds Lisa. “She loves the KCC magazines and doing all the activities and puzzles. We have been on a few KCC trips, but unfortunately there aren’t that many in this area. She also reads Forest & Bird magazine but mainly looks at the pictures of the birds and insects.” Nature’s Future fundraiser Helen Ward says Maddie is a wonderful inspiration for conservationists of all ages. “Maddie’s awareness that nature needs a hand, and her willingness to support us, is remarkable, especially given she is only eight years old,” says Helen. *Making a regular monthly donation is a great way to help Forest & Bird be a stronger voice for nature – for more information, see www.forestandbird.org.nz/ naturesfuture.
Forest collapse
Russell State Forest gets lifeline
Native trees dying from extensive possum damage in rugged Russell State Forest. Photo: Dean Wright
An aerial 1080 operation took place over the Russell State Forest in October. It’s the first step in bringing kūkupa back to abundance. The native forests remaining in Northland are small on a national scale. Impacts of colonisation, land theft, logging, burning, and farming have reduced what’s left into islands that are even more important to look after. In 2015, Forest & Bird launched a Forest Collapse campaign to draw national attention to its plight, releasing shocking drone footage showing the collapse of the forest from introduced animals. Previously, in 2013, we successfully fought to stop a mining company with an exploration permit over the forest. “The collapse of this forest has happened slowly, over decades, and mostly at night. Since possums arrived in Northland during the late 1950s and early 1960s, they have eaten their way through every part of the north,” says Forest & Bird’s Northland conservation advocate Dean Baigent-Mercer. “Parts of Russell State Forest had an aerial 1080 operation in 1995, but little has been done on the scale needed.” A breakthrough came last year when Maggie Barry, then Minister of Conservation, committed DOC to support the creation of a hapū-led 20-year recovery plan. Nine hapu came together to agree to a recovery strategy and operational plan for Russell State Forest, a feat considered by many to be impossible. Two years of challenges were overcome by implementing tikanga, mātauranga Māori, and whanaungatanga. Without it, nothing would have happened. The heart of the plan is to: “Kia whakahokia te oranga me te mauri o te mana o te ngahere, hei painga mō ngā uri whakatupu” – “Establish the health of Russell State Forest and sustain it for the future,” which also includes the intention to “eradicate pests and return what was lost”. Wildlife surveys showed an 80% decline in kūkupa numbers in Russell State Forest between 1979 and 1993. “Generally, people have forgotten what healthy native
forests are like. We have inherited loss. But northern kaumātua in their 70s and 80s can remember seeing flocks of 30–40 kūkupa when they were children. That was normal back then, and we can have that again,” adds Dean. Te Kapotai kaumātua Kara George remembers such changes during his lifetime: “During the 1950s and 1960s, this was a regenerating forest, recovering from the logging onslaught and farming encroachments. Pest culling was around goats. Then came the possums, and now recovery hangs in the balance. “The next step forward is to decide how we get to the outcomes we are aiming for,” he adds. Bringing this ngahere back to abundant life will need inter-generational commitment and hard work because the forest is an advanced state of collapse. Forest & Bird’s Northland conservation So far, more than 20 hui have been held advocate Dean Baigentto highlight the terrible state of the Mercer forest. It is the first time pre-settlement hapū have worked together on a recovery plan for a forest that is under Treaty claim. This spring, an aerial 1080 operation covering nearly 8000ha kicked off the future recovery of Russell State Forest and the nearby peninsula of Rākaumangamanga/ Cape Brett. All waterways tested 39 hours after the operation had no traces of 1080. Pest numbers following the operation will be made public in the coming weeks. Hopefully, the future is at last looking brighter for the ngahere. *A few days before the operation, Forest & Bird filmed both drop sites from a helicopter, showing the rough terrain and devastation of tōtara and pōhutukawa – see Russell State Forest: http://bit.ly/2F6UVnk and Rākaumangamanga/Cape Brett: http://bit.ly/2DazsYc. Forest & Bird
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I wonder? Pōhutukawa flower. Photo: Rod Suisted
HOW MANY SEEDS ON A PŌHUTUKAWA TREE? In tribute to New Zealand’s favourite Christmas tree, botanist Peter Johnson makes an estimate of the number of seeds on one specimen in his Dunedin garden. In Dunedin, even well south of its natural latitudinal limit of distribution, pōhutukawa grows well and flowers heavily. Lots of seeds are produced too, though they are released a month or two later than in Auckland. Pōhutukawa, New Zealand’s Christmas tree, has very fine “dust” seeds distributed by the wind. In summer, we are all familiar with the fire-red flowers, and by July these have turned to seed pods or capsules. Bunches of capsules are held at the tips of leafy stems, 38
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each capsule packed with needle-like seeds. Under a microscope, the slightly flattened fertile seeds can be distinguished, and a rough count indicates at least 200 seeds per capsule. Multiply this by an estimate of numbers of capsules, and, based on the fruiting heads visible in our tree in July, this leads to a remarkable 13 million seeds. Multiply that by two, and we have 26 million seeds on our 40-year-old tree!
Community Week 37: My favourite critter challenge “Silver eyes” by Catherine Thompson.
PICTURE PERFECT Join photo-artist Judi Lapsley Miller on a year-long nature photography challenge and help change the world one image at a time. Do you love taking photos of our wildlife and wild spaces? Perhaps you want to take your photographs further and use them for positive change in the world? Join like-minded enthusiasts from around the world on a year-long weekly photography challenge, designed especially for wildlife and nature photographers of all ages, abilities, and gear. Photo-artist Judi Lapsley Miller created the “Art of Birding” Wildlife & Nature Photography Challenge in 2018 to push herself creatively and to encourage others to do the same. The challenge has since been taken up by photographers and artists all around the world. Continuing in 2019, the all-new weekly challenges will encourage you to take nature photos more intentionally. You will think more about the stories your photo can tell, you will hook the viewer in with compelling, creative images, and you will increase your technical skills and repertoire. You will be encouraged to share your photos and stories so they can make a difference. This is your challenge: do as much or as little as you want and in your own timeframe. Each challenge is created so that most people can participate, regardless of skill level or where you live in the world (though there is a New Zealand bias). Most challenges can be achieved with just a camera phone and app. Some challenges have advanced options to push those with more experience. By the end of the year, your photography will be at a whole new level. If you want to start using your photography for causes you care about, head to www.artbyjlm.com/aob. The 2019 challenges will go live in late December, but in the meantime you can sign up on our social media groups and newsletter. *Judi Lapsley Miller is a photo-artist, Forest & Bird member, and conservation volunteer based in Wellington. She created the “Art of Birding” weekly wildlife and nature photography challenge for her volunteer “Storyteller” team at Zealandia Eco Sanctuary. The challenge is named after her “Art of Birding” blog.
Week 34: Bokeh/blur challenge “Australasian gannet” by Janice McKenna.
Week 27: The human touch challenge “Kākahi harvesting” by Linton Miller. Linton was new to photography, but after six months of weekly challenges he was confident enough to cover the kākahi (freshwater mussel) translocation for Zealandia. The resulting photos were used widely by Zealandia and national media, including Radio New Zealand and Stuff.
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Seabirds Purse seine fishing in Chile.
SAVING SEABIRDS ON THE HIGH SEAS Seabird expert Cristián Suazo, who works for the Albatross Task Force in Chile, recently visited New Zealand, working out of Forest & Bird’s national office. Here we ask him about the challenges of international seabird conservation. Q. Can you tell us a bit about your role on the
Albatross Task Force?
A. The Albatross Task Force is an international team of bycatch prevention experts working alongside governments, communities, and fishers to reduce seabird bycatch in fisheries. We develop and promote mitigation measures that will reduce the number of deaths from seabirds getting hooked or entangled in fishing gear. Put simply, my job is seabird conservation at sea – I’m part of a diverse team trying to protect endangered albatross and petrel species in some of the deadliest fisheries across the world. Q. You are in New Zealand on an internship supported
by the Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels (ACAP) to review and update ACAP’s Seabird Bycatch Identification Guide. How will this help reduce bycatch in New Zealand waters and around the world?
A. ACAP involves 13 countries in relation to the conservation of albatross and petrels worldwide. Its Seabird Bycatch Identification Guide is for fishing observers who work on board commercial fishing boats, where they are tasked with the job of identifying and monitoring bycatch. The update will help them better identify bycatch species and improve databases for better decisions about priority seabird mitigation methods in the future. 40
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Q. Last September, New Zealand researchers Kath
Walker and Graeme Elliott gave evidence to an ACAP meeting in Wellington about the plummeting numbers of Antipodean albatross Diomedea a. antipodensis (see panel). What has ACAP been doing to help this species? A. ACAP has a list of focal species for the agreement, and last year the Antipodean Albatross was recognised as one of the priority species in the list. The knowledge about the plight of the Antipodean Albatross was delivered by New Zealand researchers, and now the other ACAP parties have a responsibility to support the actions of any of the 13 parties, especially when we have shared seabird species, such as the case of New Zealand and Chile. Q. How can Chile work with New Zealand to protect
the Antipodean Albatross and other at-risk seabirds? A. Every year, Antipodean Albatross are traveling across the South Pacific reaching hotspots in Chilean waters such as the Humboldt Current (north and central Chile) and off the fjords and islands in our sub-Antarctic waters. We have important fisheries where Chile is currently working to implement mitigation measures, including electronic monitoring and mitigation measures, among other actions. This is a great opportunity for the collaboration and change of experiences between these two ACAP parties but also to work together on other future actions to protect
It is estimated that an albatross dies in a fishery every five minutes. This incidental capture, known as bycatch, is largely responsible for the population declines observed in albatross populations worldwide. New Zealand and Chilean albatrosses in the middle/high seas of the Pacific. Illegal fisheries and lack of compliance with mitigation measures are two challenges we are currently working on. Q. Are you worried about any other species in
New Zealand/Chile waters?
A. One of my concerns is related to the Westland petrel Procellaria westlandica, which is another ACAP listed species. The Westland petrel is 100% from New Zealand and is also a common visitor to our waters off Chile. Local observers are collecting bycatch data of New Zealand species, such as the white-chinned petrel P. aequinoctialis, but I am sure that we are including Westland petrels in such records. One of the aims of the ACAP ID guide is to train observers so they can better tell the difference between cryptic species such these two petrels. Q. Can you tell us about the mitigation measures
you’ve developed to help fishers in Chile kill fewer seabirds, specifically in the purse seine fishery? A. In the productive waters of the Humboldt Current, we have important fisheries targeting small pelagic fish such as anchovy and sardine. Those fisheries involve mainly smallscale boats, but there can be 400 such vessels in a single port in south-central Chile. The fishing gear comprises a surrounding net to catch fish schools, which also are the prey of different seabird species. Among them, the most representative is diving seabirds such as the endemic pink-footed shearwater Ardenna creatopus but also sooty shearwaters A. grisea. Our analysis of this fishery identified different sources of bycatch, such as entanglement in the rope buoy line and in the net itself (due to mesh size). Another important source was the excess of netting material in the upper section of the net, which formed a
ceiling that diving shearwaters encountered when they were feeding on the caught school. So, with the help of former fishermen, now working as net manufacturers, we tried to fix all of these sources of bycatch. We reduced the mesh size in some sections and cut down the quantity of netting material in the upper section of the net. Then, we went to sea for field experiments with these modified nets and compared with control nets (unmodified ones) during normal fishing conditions. We recorded a reduction of seabird bycatch by about 98% and a saving of $3000 per boat, as these nets are much cheaper to produce, using 800kg less mesh. The project’s success saw it nominated for the Latin American Green Awards 2018 among the best 500 socialenvironmental ideas in Latin America, and we continue to look at making adjustments and improving best practices in this recently unstudied fishery. Antipodean albatross. Photo: Neil Fitzgerald
EXTINCT IN 20 YEARS? Antipodean albatrosses consists of two subspecies endemic to New Zealand. Diomedea a. antipodensis breeds almost exclusively on Antipodes Island, but following a dramatic population crash in 2005 adult males have been declining at 6% per annum and females at 12% per annum. Since 2005, when not breeding, most females have been regularly visiting the coast off Chile, waters that they rarely visited in the past. Considering the absence of land-based threats, the main cause of high female mortality appears to be fisheries bycatch north of New Zealand and in the central and eastern Pacific between 20 and 30 degrees south. If this steep and rapid decline continues at the current rate, it has been predicted that D. a. antipodensis will be functionally extinct in 20 years. We believe it is now one of the great albatrosses most threatened by bycatch and warrants ... priority ... for conservation management. Kath Walker and Graeme Elliott, in a submission to ACAP last September.
Modified purse seine net with reduced mesh size in some sections.
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Books
TOP CHRISTMAS BOOKS Here is our festive round up of recently published books for nature lovers. You can buy any of these titles online with a generous 20% reader discount until the end of February 2019. A proportion of sales will go towards funding Forest & Bird’s conservation work, thanks to publishers Potton & Burton’s generous support.
Birdstories
Fight for the Forests
Geoff Norman RRP $59.99 Hardback
Saving New Zealand’s native forests 1970–2000 Paul Bensemann RRP $69.99 Hardback
A fascinating, in-depth account of New Zealand’s birds, which spans their discovery, their place in both Pākehā and Māori worlds, their survival and conservation, and the illustrations and art they have inspired.
The greatest success stories of the modern environmental movement in New Zealand were the public campaigns to save our native forests, beginning in the 1960s with the battle to stop Lake Manapouri being drowned.
Down the Bay
Awatere
A natural and cultural history of Abel Tasman National Park Philip Simpson RRP $79.99 Hardback
Portrait of a Marlborough valley Harry Broad RRP $69.99 Hardback
Down the Bay is the first comprehensive and authoritative account of Abel Tasman National Park to ever be published, a book that beautifully captures what is an unforgettable visitor experience.
Kākāpo Rescued from the brink of extinction Alison Ballance RRP $49.99 Hardback Kākāpo follows the fall and rise of one of the world’s most unusual birds, the charismatic yet mysterious night parrot, from the brink of extinction, through a roller-coaster ride of hope and loss. 42
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Author Harry Broad’s interest in this area was piqued when he was working on his acclaimed and best-selling book Molesworth, and this let him to write Awatere, which focuses on the area around the Marlborough river and valley south of Blenheim.
Swim A year of swimming outdoors in New Zealand Annette Lees RRP $39.99 Paperback Swim is the result of the author’s personal quest to swim every day of a full year in the natural waterways of New Zealand. From Northland to Fiordland, she swam outdoors in rivers, lakes, ponds, the sea, estuaries, wetlands, springs, and outdoor lido pools.
Aotea Great Barrier
Animals of Aotearoa
Land and people Chris Morton & Peter Malcouronne RRP $69.99 Hardback
Explore & discover New Zealand’s wildlife Gillian Candler & Ned Barraud RRP $34.99 hardback
Created around Chris Morton’s spectacular and evocative photographs, and a thoughtful and authentic text from Peter Malcouronne, this is a unique and special book, a tribute to this ruggedly beautiful island and the community that love it.
A must-have compendium for children curious about New Zealand’s wild animals. Based on the award-winning and bestselling “Explore and Discover” natural history series, this book is full of information about our native animals on land and at sea.
New Zealand’s Backyard Beasts Ned Barraud RRP $29.99 hardback RRP $19.99 paperback In New Zealand’s Backyard Beasts, children (and adults) can learn to identify some of the creatures most commonly found in the backyard. Beautiful illustrations are accompanied by informative text and fascinating facts.
CHILDREN’S TITLES
Whose Home is This? Gillian Candler & Fraser Williamson RRP $24.99 hardback RRP $14.99 paperback Following the acclaimed Whose Beak is This? and Whose Feet are These?, author Gillian Candler and illustrator Fraser Williamson turn to looking at the homes of native birds and sea creatures, such as the yellow-eyed penguin and octopus.
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Potton & Burton’s CHRISTMAS BOOKS reader competition We have $500 of books to give away to two lucky Forest & Bird readers, but you need to get in quick to win! Publishers Potton & Burton are giving away two fantastic summer holiday gift packs showcasing their just-published nature and conservation titles. To be in to win, email draw@forestandbird.org.nz with your name, address, and the keyword FAMILY or NATURE. Entries close at 5pm on Sunday 16 December 2018, and we will deliver the prize packs in time for Christmas.
Family pack (total value $220)
Nature pack (total value $280)
Kākāpō Swim Birdstories Whose Home is This? NZ’s Backyard Beasts Animals of Aotearoa
Birdstories Fight for the Forests Down the Bay Awatere
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Climate
Back the ban
Flow testing the first gas discovered at the Pohokura gas field off the coast of north Taranaki. It is currently the biggest producer of gas in New Zealand. Photo: Rob Tucker/ Photo New Zealand
A partial ban on oil and gas exploration is tangible proof that New Zealand is finally heading towards a low-carbon world, says Forest & Bird’s climate advocate Adelia Hallett. Amendments to the Crown Minerals Act, passed by Parliament in November, mean there won’t be any more block offers for new oil and gas prospecting in New Zealand’s waters and onshore exploration will be limited to Taranaki. It doesn’t go far enough – existing exploration permits covering an area the size of the North Island are still valid, as are rights to extract if finds are made – but the move is a clear signal of where New Zealand is going. Forest & Bird supports the ban because of the damage burning fossil fuels, including natural gas, does to the climate and because mining and drilling also cause huge environmental destruction. But it doesn’t mean New Zealand will stop extracting fossil fuels overnight; that’s unlikely to happen until at least 2050 under current policies. Nor does it mean, as some are claiming, that we will have to import fossil fuels to replace those we are no longer producing, thus increasing global emissions. That argument is based on the assumption that we will keep using fossil fuels at the same rate as we are now, which is highly unlikely in a world that is rapidly ditching them. Another issue we got asked about when we made our oral submission to Parliament’s Environment Committee in September was the concept of natural gas as a “transition fuel”. Because natural gas emits fewer greenhouse gases than oil and coal, the argument goes, we should allow gas exploration to continue. It’s an idea that might have held weight 30 years ago, but not now. Quite simply, we’ve left action so late that we now don’t have the luxury of a leisurely transition to carbon neutrality. As the International Panel on Climate Change points out in its new 1.5˚C report, we have about a decade in which to
make serious emissions cuts if we want to avoid levels of climate change that could be devastating for us and for nature. It’s crazy to go looking for more gas and developing fields when the world cannot afford to burn 80% of those we already know about. Instead, the money should be invested in new, low-carbon technologies that could be New Zealand’s future. Energy minister Megan Woods and climate minister James Shaw both say technologies like batteries and hydrogen have huge potential, with Shaw floating the idea of New Zealand exporting surplus energy. “What you do is you massively overbuild wind so that you’ve always got that baseload, even in the winter,” he told Parliament. “Then the spare capacity in the other nine months of the year you use to create hydrogen, which you export to Japan and other countries that are making a major play in hydrogen, and you turn energy into an export market in New Zealand for the first time. “At the moment, we import something like $5.5 billion of fossil fuels to cover our energy needs – we import that – and that is almost exactly the same as our balance of payments deficit. We could turn that around. “We could actually turn energy into an exporter, reverse out our balance of payments deficit, and turn the energy into one of the great wealth creators for this country, entirely from renewables.” *Thanks to all our members and supporters who made submissions supporting the ban. Forest & Bird’s detailed submissions can be found at http://bit.ly/2SY01Fq. Read about why New Zealand shouldn’t explore for more natural gas reserves at http://bit.ly/2OwpxOJ. Forest & Bird
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Predator-free NZ
TAHR TROUBLE
Tahr hunter, Westland. Photo: Rob Suisted
Skyrocketing tahr numbers are destroying rare alpine plants, and a cull is needed to bring the population under control.
Forest & Bird has written to the Department of Conservation objecting to its new Himalayan tahr control plan because it only seeks to reduce the population by 10,000 and not 17,000 as originally proposed. Skyrocketing tahr numbers show hunting organisations aren’t able to adequately control the tahr population, despite their claims to the contrary. Forest & Bird strongly supports the reduction in tahr numbers to protect New Zealand’s sensitive native alpine ecosystems. “Current levels of tahr control are not sufficient to maintain the status of tussock grasslands and iconic species such as the showy giant mountain buttercup (Ranunculus lyalli), known as the Mt Cook lily, and rare plants such as the yellow mountain buttercup (Ranunculus godleyanus), let alone enable their recovery,” says Forest & Bird’s regional manager for Canterbury, Nicky Snoyink. “In the last couple of decades, recreational, safari, and commercial hunters have lobbied for the management of tahr numbers to be left mainly to their own efforts. But leaving the main management of tahr numbers in the hands of the hunting community has led to out-of-control population increases. “Instead of 10,000 animals, we now have a population of over 35,000 tahr on public conservation land and probably closer to 50,000 when non-conservation land is taken into account. “This is five times the maximum population required by the Department of Conservation’s Tahr Control Plan.” The Himalayan Tahr Control Plan sets a target for the total tahr population in the central South Island mountains (between the Rakaia and Haast Pass) at 10,000 animals. It also requires tahr populations to be actively managed to ensure they do not expand their range, particularly to the north and south. “We do not think that the proposed cull of 10,000 animals will have much effect on the existing population. Now the spring breeding is here, and the tahr cull has gone on hold following the recent tragic helicopter crash, 46
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the population of these animals will most likely grow. “While we fully support DOC’s objective to cull tahr, we don’t think the operational plan they have put in place will do the job. It also lacks a staged approach to demonstrate how the population of 10,000 will be achieved over time.” Following a meeting of the Tahr Liaison Group earlier this year, Forest & Bird was disappointed to learn that hunting organisations were opposing the proposed cull to protect New Zealand’s fragile alpine environments. “It is essential that we do not hand over conservation management to the hunters, adds Nicky. “Because of the past failures of recreational and commercial hunting, we now need to reduce tahr numbers by 80%. If the hunting organisations were genuine in their claims that they want to look after the environment, they would support DOC’s proposals rather than opposing them.” The Tahr Liaison Control Group includes the NZ Deer Stalkers Association, Game Animal Council, Safari Club International, Professional Hunting Guides Association, Forest & Bird, Ngāi Tahu, LINZ, Wild Animal Recovery Operators, Federated Mountain Clubs, Aerial Assisted Trophy Hunting, and tahr farmers.
Mount Cook lily: Photo: Bernard Spragg
Our partners
NATURE’S CHARMS
A passion for the environment led Evolve founders Louise and Tim Laing to develop a Forest & Bird jewellery collection and donate 10% of sales to help fund our vital conservation work. New Zealand-based jewellery company Evolve has announced a fundraising initiative to support the efforts of Forest & Bird in protecting our native forests and birdlife. The Evolve Forest and Bird Collection launched nationwide in September, with 10% of sales being donated to New Zealand’s leading independent conservation organisation. “Here at Evolve, we feel very passionate about preserving the environment and native species for future generations to enjoy,” says co-founder Louise Laing. “Both Tim and I grew up on farms and have a great love for the outdoors and New Zealand. “My grandmother has always had a special interest in the Forest & Bird organisation. She reads the Forest & Bird magazine regularly and often tells me of the wonderful work you are doing for our native environment.” The Evolve Forest and Bird Collection features beautiful enamel charms, handcrafted from solid sterling silver, depicting native birds, pōhutukawa flowers, ferns, and kauri trees. It has proved popular, raising nearly $10,000 for Forest & Bird in the first two months after launch. Louise and her husband and co-founder Tim, who are based in Tauranga, are worried about the current biodiversity crisis.
“When we travelled the South Island recently, we really noticed how few kea there are now, which is a real shame,” says Louise. “Our native forests and birdlife are so magical, and it would be wonderful if our fundraising efforts through this beautiful new collection could help increase the success of future wildlife initiatives. “We would like our children and eventually our grandchildren to enjoy seeing these New Zealand treasures forever,” adds Louise. *Check out Evolve’s Forest and Bird charm collection, which offers something for everyone. See www.evolvejewellery.co.nz.
READER COMPETITION: We have an Evolve Signature Bracelet and one Forest and Bird charm (of your choice) to give away to one lucky reader. The prize is valued at $178 in total. To enter, email your entry to draw@forestandbird.org.nz, put EVOLVE in the subject line, and include your name and address in the email. Or write your name and address on the back of an envelope and post to EVOLVE draw, Forest & Bird, PO Box 631, Wellington 6140. Don’t forget to include your choice of charm. Entries close 1 February 2019.
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In the field AgResearch’s “super grass” being trialled in America.
SHOULD WE ALLOW GENETIC MODIFICATION? Ann Graeme calls for a national debate on gene editing and its potential to tackle climate change, wilding pines, and introduced predators. We are living on the cusp of change, when our future – and all life on Earth – is facing threats never experienced before. And the problems are of our own making. If we humans are to protect our planet, we need new tools and we need to weigh up the risks of using them. Genetic engineering is a controversial tool, one that New Zealand has eschewed in the past. We pride ourselves on being “GE free” – we do not grow GE crops in New Zealand, nor permit GE in our livestock. This is because, despite the benefits it can bring, genetically engineered organisms can pose risks to natural biodiversity, harm economies, and destroy livelihoods. Often these risks are unforeseen, and New Zealand is no stranger to such consequences. Just think of introducing stoats to control rabbits. New Zealand has a popular aversion to genetic engineering, and this is reflected in our current laws. They were written when fear about genetic modification was at its height. Now technology has moved on and many, including the Royal Society and the Prime Minister’s former science advisor, Sir Peter Gluckman, want to start a new national conversation. In Sir Peter’s words, “It is time for New Zealand to restart the debate on genetic modification.” Genetic engineering now uses a quicker and more precise technique called gene editing, which is a bit like editing a book. Imagine that genes are arranged along chromosomes like words in a sentence. Gene editing snips out a word (gene), or rearranges a phrase, so it alters the meaning of the sentence. Editing can insert new words (or genes), taken from other species. It can also work entirely with the organism’s own script – its own genes – in a way that mimics mutation or artificial selection. Here is an example of gene editing within a cow’s genes. One in every 50 children suffers from food allergies, most commonly caused by cows’ milk. In a new study, 48
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AgResearch scientists snipped the genes for a major allergen from the genomes of calf embryos. Subsequently, the calves, born to surrogate mother cows, have grown up to produce milk free of that allergen. Tests show the milk is safe to drink, but would it taint our GE-free image and harm our marketing if we take these cows out of quarantine and on to farms? That is a real risk. New Zealand trades on its “naturalness”. Being GE-free gives us entry into the high-priced niche markets of the world, and these markets don’t want genetically engineered food. Yet despite the risks, genetic engineering could help tackle some intractable problems unique to our country. Take climate change. Our biggest product, cows and sheep, is also the biggest single source of our greenhouse gas emissions. Less burping in our bovines would reduce these emissions and make a real contribution to slowing climate change. New Zealand scientists from AgResearch are working on developing a “super grass”, a genetically modified
The Royal Society is seeking public feedback on a discussion paper called “The Use of Gene Editing in the Primary Industries”.
rye grass. Its gene editing introduces foreign genes. The resulting grass grows faster and uses less water and less fertiliser than ordinary rye grass, and the cattle that consume it produce 23% less greenhouse gases. Again, we would have to weigh the benefits of super rye grass on global warming against the impacts it could make on New Zealand’s image and marketing and on the potential for unanticipated consequences. Maybe the grass will become an aggressive weed in natural environments? Maybe it will suppress pasture plants like clover? What could become of clover honey? Would bees displaced from clover then displace native insects in native forests? Getting rid of introduced pests is a problem close to our hearts. Gene editing could make pest species infertile so that they could be humanely eliminated. But could a change to an animal’s genetic make-up be inhumane? Might the genetic change get back to native populations that are endangered? And again, there is our GE-free status to consider. The Royal Commission on genetic modification
The Myosotis australis collection site at Cooks Horn, Kaweka Ranges. Note the numerous lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta) surrounding the forget-me-knots. Photo by Heidi Meudt, courtesy Te Papa
The case for sterilising plantation conifers Plantation pine and Douglas fir are conifer trees that provide Aotearoa’s major source of timber. They are grown from tissue cultures. To the forester, their windblown pollen and seeds are useless, but they grow into the giant weeds of the high country – wilding pines and fir trees. Like an advancing army, they spread across native grassland and shrublands, overwhelming native plants and the communities they support. Controlling wilding conifers is arduous and expensive and, in some places, is a losing battle. The government is committed to planting a billion trees. Many of these will be pines or firs. Sterility would prevent them adding to the wilding threat. Gene editing can create sterile trees by preventing cones developing, so there would be neither pollen nor fertile seeds. Would there be any environmental risk? No cones would mean no seeds to grow into wildings and no pollen to contaminate other plants. By its very nature, sterility would be confined to the forests of
concluded in 2001 that we should “proceed with caution but not close the door to the opportunities offered by the new technology”. At present, the door is very firmly closed. Politicians shy like frightened horses and the Green Party is adamantly opposed to any gene modification. Much of this opposition stems from the fear of economic costs and a natural aversion to “mucking about” with living things. But some stems from ignorance or bias in weighing up the competing risks. Every proposal for genetic modification should be considered on a case-by-case basis. It may be that the wider benefits of mitigating climate change, controlling pests, or improving health are so great that, after we have minimised the risk as best we can, we accept the costs and the possibility of unintended consequences. Life on Earth faces the looming crises of runaway climate change and mass extinction. Genetic modification by gene editing is a tool that could help. We should not reject it out of hand. I think it’s a conversation we need to have.
gene-edited trees. It would result in less expensive and time-consuming weed control, recreation and tourism would benefit, less water would be lost from catchments, and less pollen would blow about and afflict allergy sufferers. This sounds like a good outcome, but what other barriers or unintended consequences might there be? First the regulator, the Environmental Protection Authority, would need to approve the sterilisation of plantation conifers. New Zealand’s GE-free status would be lost or degraded, which might have flow-on effects to selling the timber. The country could lose its status for having sustainable, plantation-grown timber. Currently, certification bodies like the Forest Stewardship Council prohibit GE trees in their certified forests. However, an exception could be sought on environmental grounds, as we have for the use of 1080. Last year, the Ministry of Primary Industries sought to include the planting of GE trees in the new Environmental Standards for Plantation Forestry. After massive opposition from nearly 16,000 submissions and the Māori Party, the clause was removed. Now the Royal Society Te Apārangi plans to re-open the debate. It is seeking public feedback on a discussion paper called “The Use of Gene Editing in the Primary Industries”. This might be a place to start your own conversation about this new technology – see www.royalsociety.org.nz.
Forget-me-knot flower Myosotis australis. Photo: Philip Garnock-Jones
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Forest & Bird project
Fairy tern removing an empty egg shell from its nest last season. Photo: DOC
First fairy tern eggs One of Aotearoa’s rarest birds, the New Zealand fairy tern has surprised Department of Conservation rangers by producing eggs in October. With a total population of about 40 birds, the New Zealand fairy tern is critically endangered and has teetered on the brink of extinction since the 1970s. Once widespread around the North Island and on the eastern South Island, the New Zealand fairy tern now breeds at only four nesting sites, found at Papakanui Spit, Pakiri Beach, Waipu, and Mangawhai sandspits. “Our fairy tern team has been preparing for the breeding season for a few months, and we are thrilled to have eggs in nests. One of the earlier nests was lost early on, but three remain. We are hopeful the nests will be successful, and the chicks will fledge by Christmas,” says DOC fairy tern team ranger Ayla Wiles. Meanwhile, at Forest & Bird’s fairy tern project site on Kaipara Harbour, two birds have been spotted on the project’s CCTV cameras checking out potential nesting areas, leading us to hope they will breed there this summer – for the first time since the project began. In 2012, Forest & Bird identified a suitable 15ha breeding site on the Kaipara Harbour. It had been a nesting area in the 1930s but was abandoned as the number of fairy terns plummeted. However, it remained a roosting site on the eastern shore of the harbour until 2000. Thanks to funding from Foundation North, Forest & Bird prepared the site to attract fairy terns. We brought in several tonnes of shell by helicopter and deployed decoys and sound anchors to attract birds. We also sprayed weeds on an area that will provide a high tide roost for wading birds. Fairy terns nest on shell and sand banks just above high tide, which leaves them vulnerable to introduced mammalian predators and disturbance by people, 4WD 50
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vehicles, and dogs. They are also at risk from stormy weather and very high tides. Forest & Bird’s Fairy Tern Project manager Nick Beveridge said: “The problem to date has been insufficient females to go around. However, we’re hoping that this breeding season some more females that have fledged over recent years will be looking to set up shop at our nesting ground in the Kaipara Harbour. “We were excited to see one fairy tern flying past and another landing on the site. We have been working hard for several years on this project and are hopeful this summer we will see some breeding activity. “It’s extremely sad that these fairy terns are in such big trouble. They are teetering on the edge of extinction for many reasons and are just so vulnerable. Unfortunately, it’s come to the point where there are only 40 of these special birds left on Earth. “We are part of DOC’s attempt to save this species, but we don’t know if it’s going to be possible. We can only hope and do our very best to give them the help they need to breed and recover.” DOC works closely with Forest & Bird, Patuharakeke, Te Arai and Mangawhai Shorebirds Trust, the NZ Fairy Tern Charitable Trust, About Tern, Birds NZ, Armourguard, the Waipu Trapping Group, and Te Uri O Hau to help protect the New Zealand fairy tern. If you would like to support Forest & Bird’s fairy tern protection work, please contact Jess Winchester on j.winchester@forestandbird.org.nz or call 0800 200 064.
Biodiversity crisis
LIZARD LOVE New Zealand’s diverse lizards are highly desirable to private collectors, with green geckos most at risk of being illegally taken from the wild and smugged overseas. New Zealand native reptiles are unique by world standards, and green geckos (Naultinus) in particular differ markedly from other geckos as they are brightly coloured, diurnal, and exhibit unusual life history traits (they are live-bearing and long-lived). Furthermore, many of our taxa are rare, and all these factors make New Zealand’s reptiles particularly interesting and desirable to private collectors overseas. Small numbers of native reptiles, including tuatara and probably four species of geckos, were previously exported legally. Their limited availability in the international pet trade has meant that private international keepers receive high prices for these taxa. But the low numbers overseas and the animals’ slow reproductive rates mean that traders are unable to satisfy the huge demand. This has resulted in the illegal collection of New Zealand’s wild reptiles for smuggling. Illegal collection from the wild is a serious problem for many of New Zealand’s native lizard taxa because it can compromise the long-term viability of populations, particularly of those taxa that occur in small accessible populations or are naturally in decline. Illegal collection may even lead to the extinction of sub-populations. Many of New Zealand’s lizards are targeted, but those taxa with attractive markings – such as the jewelled gecko (N. gemmeus) – are prioritised for collection. High pressure from smugglers has resulted in all Naultinus taxa being listed under Appendix 2 of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), which aims to manage trade by making it illegal to trade these reptiles without official CITES documents. But even this level of protection does not deter poachers, and animals continue to leave the country each year. New Zealand wildlife investigators monitor international trade, and investigate and intercept poaching whenever possible, and smugglers who are caught are prosecuted. Public reporting of any suspicious activity to the Department of Conservation is important.
Aupouri gecko Naultinus “North Cape” is only found in the Aupouri Peninsula in the far north of Northland.
*Extracted courtesy of Reptiles and Amphibians of New Zealand: A Field Guide by Dylan van Winkel, Marleen Baling, and Rod Hitchmough. This new book features more than 400 extraordinary photos and informative text. It’s the definitive field guide to New Zealand’s tuatara, geckos, skins, frogs, marine turtles, and marine snakes. Published by Auckland University Press, RRP $49.99.
DIVERSITY DIVAS New Zealand is often recognised as a land of birds, especially as a centre of diversity for seabirds, but New Zealand’s herpetofauna – reptiles and frogs – are the most diverse of all our native terrestrial vertebrate groups. Our varied natural landscapes also support one of the most diverse lizard faunas of any temperate region in the world, including the sole surviving member of ancient order Rhynchocephalia (tuatara), a genus of archaic frogs (Leiopelma) and the world’s largest group of long-lived and live-bearing lizards (geckos and skinks) In our cover story “Tautuku treasures”, we feature the Tautuku “southern forest” gecko, which is only found in the deep south, from the Catlins to south-east Otago. Meanwhile, the beautiful Mokohinau gecko on our front cover is only found in the Mokohinau Islands, off eastern Auckland, and the Aupouri gecko pictured above lives on one peninsula in Northland. Three gorgeous geckos in one issue, let’s hear the love for our lizards!
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Going places
Pryce’s Rāhui reserve.
Forest & Bird’s old-growth forest reserves in Rangitīkei are a great place to visit if you want to avoid the crowds this summer. Hidden gems in the heart of farming country, five of Forest & Bird’s 38 bush reserves can be found in the Rangitīkei, about halfway between Lake Taupo and Wellington. The reserves feature old-growth native forest that used to cloak all the hillsides in this area before they were cleared for farming. Full of birdlife, the reserves comprise about 108ha and are a treasured taonga of the Forest & Bird’s Rangitīkei branch. Pryce’s Rāhui is on the banks of the Rangitīkei river just off State Highway 54, while Laird’s Bush, Sutherland’s Mangahoe, Sutherland’s Puriri, and Macpherson’s Bush are located in the Turakina Valley area west of Hunterville. They all have an interesting history, all were created by bequests from farmers, and two were saved from logging during World War Two (see below). Tree and plant life abound, including kahikatea, rimu, tōtara, mātai, and miro. Hīnau and rewarewa poke above the tawa canopy in places. The tree ferns, yellow-flowering kōwhai, and enormous trunks on the tī kōuka cabbage trees are like you’ve never seen. The forest understorey is rich and diverse, with a curious array of small-leaved plants – for example, coprosma grandiflora and coprosma areolata to name a few. Native fauna is also abundant. Apart from forest birds like tūī, bellbirds, grey warbler, and shining cuckoo, look out for kākā and New Zealand falcons at Sutherland’s. They were discovered there only in September 2016. Flocks of sulphur-crested cockatoos numbering in their hundreds were in the area in the 70s, but their numbers have been significantly reduced by trapping, allowing kākā to return. Horizons Regional Council works in partnership with Forest & Bird’s Rangitīkei branch to help preserve and 52
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enhance these important bush remnants. Horizons biodiversity adviser Neil Gallagher is on hand with resources and advice for controlling pests, including possums and old man’s beard. “It’s difficult to comprehend today that this native forest was the natural cover before the arrival of Europeans to the district,” says Neil. “Horizons region has only about 23% of its original forest cover remaining, so the importance of maintaining what is left is very important. The great thing about these bush remnants is they are open to the public 12 months of the year and offer a chance to get up close and personal with nature. “Any of the signed walks create a sense of adventure. It’s like a walk back in time, scrambling around tree roots and crossing small streams as you wind your way through a kind of prehistoric world.” Horizons Regional Council views the protection and active management of these native sites as crucial to maintaining indigenous biological diversity in the region. The five Forest & Bird sites are classified as threatened habitat and qualify for council assistance. Neil joined the council’s biodiversity team in 2015, and after inspecting all five bush blocks immediately recognised their ecological value. But he noticed the entrance signage was in poor condition and didn’t reflect the treasures that lay beyond. During 2016, Neil worked with the reserves manager Hugh Stewart and the wider Rangitīkei branch membership, who were invited to have input to what they would like to see in the way of signage. All five bush blocks now proudly sport smart entrance way signs welcoming visitors.
Here is Neil Gallagher’s guide to the five Rangitīkei reserves: At 60ha, Sutherland’s Puriri is the largest of the five reserves. It is a pristine native forest that was gifted, along with Sutherland’s Mangahoe, by Archie Sunderland in 1967. Branch members have achieved a lot here, with removal of exotic trees and replanting the northern face above the road with natives. Sutherland’s Puriri contains some interesting cultural history. A 15-minute walk from the entrance on the yellow track, there are five enormous food storage pits high on a hill overlooking the Mangahoe and Turakina streams. These pits were used by Māori living at Matatera Pa and Kaungaroa Pa on the Whangaehu River to store kūmara and potatoes grown on the surrounding flats. Dry fern fronds were laid 30cm thick on the bottom of the pits and over food so they would draw the moisture out of it so it wouldn’t sweat. It looks like a large landslide has come down in the north-western corner of Sutherland’s Mangahoe. It’s here that 18m-tall kahikatea and rimu appear to the eye like a “pine forest”. The trees are close together and of a similar era, so they appear to be competing for light with one another. Lake Ngaruru, a few kilometres to the north, has submerged trees still standing metres below the lake’s surface. They were carbon dated back to when Lake Waikaremoana was formed 2000 years ago. It is thought that the face of tall trees at Sutherland’s Mangahoe was formed by the same earthquake. Laird’s Bush occupies a shady slope with a number of springs that feed a small tributary to the Mangahoe Stream. The 25ha reserve is pretty much in original condition, with virtually no mature trees removed from the area. While Mr Laird wasn’t a member of Forest & Bird, he was friends with other members and decided to leave this bush remnant to the Society during the 60s. Visitors coming by road wind their way up through farmland (owned today by descendants of the Laird family) before dropping down into the forest and its towering trees. It’s only inside the forest that you really appreciate the enormity of these trees. Pryce’s Rahui is a 20ha bush remnant located very close to the Rangitīkei River. It’s special because it’s located on a riverine flood plain – all similar flood plain areas in the vicinity have been cleared of forest. Secondly, it was saved from logging in 1941 during World War
Laird’s Bush.
Two, when neighbouring landowner, a Mr Atkins, was approached by a local milling operator who announced he could get milling rights under the war regulations at the time. Wishing to save the forest, Mr Atkins immediately negotiated with Mr Pryce to pass ownership to the Rangitīkei Scenery Preservation and Tree Planting Society, and then to Forest & Bird in 1961. Macpherson’s Bush, 23ha in the Turakina Valley, was destined for a similar fate but was saved from logging after both owners discussed the impending fate of their forest blocks. Ownership of both sites was passed to Forest & Bird on 18 March 1941, and the Society entered into a deed of trust to manage the reserves from then on.
Getting there Pryce’s Rāhui is located 8km east of Rata, on Putorino Road off SH1, near Marton. There are three walking tracks within the reserve, varying in length from 20 minutes to 1 hour. The other four reserves are located in the Turakina Valley, west of Hunterville. For details how to get there and the walking tracks available in the reserves, see www.forestandbird.org.nz.
Sutherlands Puriri • • Sutherlands Mangahoe • Macphersons Bush
Lairds Bush • HUNTERVILLE 1
WHANGANUI • PALMERSTON NORTH •
Rangitikei branch members Graeme Smith and Hugh Stewart at Sutherland’s Mangahoe.
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Pryces Rahui •
Birdlife International
SETTING THE GLOBAL AGENDA Forest & Bird’s chief executive Kevin Hague has been elected to Birdlife’s Global Council as one of two representatives for the Pacific region.
K
evin was one of more than 200 delegates from 117 Birdlife Partner organisations who met in Belgium in September to discuss a plan for the next five years of threatened species conservation. Held every five years, these landmark partnership meetings see Birdlife representatives from around the world gather to elect the organisation’s government and review its conservation strategy. Across the world, nature is collapsing under the pressure of human-made factors such as habitat loss, climate change, and deforestation, and the delegates agreed urgent action was needed to reverse the damage humans have made. Birdlife is set to work on a “compelling narrative” that will drive social demand for change and put pressure on governments to act now. As part of this, a Birdlife partners’ Task Team will be established to work with the Secretariat to shape its approach. Forest & Bird is set to help with two important work streams: • Preventing extinctions: Forest & Bird (Birdlife in New Zealand) will prepare a proposal to the Birdlife Council to co-ordinate an Invasive Alien Species programme. This workstream is being led by our chief conservation advisor Kevin Hackwell. • Marine: Recognising global concern about marine plastics, the Partnership supports the exploration of Forest & Bird taking on a coordinating role as it looks to step up our work on this key issue. The next General Partnership Meeting is scheduled for 2022, and will form part of Birdlife International’s 100th anniversary celebrations.
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Fishing win The Court of Appeal in the Cook Islands has upheld the claim by conservationists over an agreement with the European Union on purse seine fishing in Cook Islands waters. The court found the Cook Islands government breached its domestic and international legal obligations by failing to conduct an environmental impact assessment (EIA) before extending the purse seine fishery. It also found the government did not properly consider the impact on bycatch species such as bigeye tuna and on local fishers. The court was particularly concerned about the complete lack of consultation with local fishers before the decision was made. Ian Karika, Patron of Te Ipukarea Society, which is Birdlife’s representative in the Cook Islands, said he was pleased that the society’s claim had been successful. The court directed the government to obtain, examine, and consider an EIA for the purse seine fishery within 12 months, in accordance with the Environment Act and international law.
Fantastic flyways The Avon-Heathcote Ihutai Estuary has become part of the East AsianAustralasian Flyway network of wetland areas. Every September, tens of thousands of godwits make the trip from Alaska to Christchurch for the non-breeding season. More than 100 other wetlands from 20 countries make up Birdlife’s flyway network, which started in 2006.
First bird extinction Spix’s macaw heads the list of the first bird extinctions confirmed this decade, according to Birdlife. Eight bird species, including two species of macaw, look set to have their extinctions confirmed following a robust new assessment of critically endangered species. The findings reveal a worrying new trend – for the first time, mainland extinctions are outpacing island extinctions.
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Forest & Bird
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Community
Kaptivating
kākā
Jimmy and Tahonga get friendly outside their new home. Photo: Anja Kohler
Prisoners have built a new home for two cheeky kākā, Jimmy and Tahonga – and their efforts are attracting attention from conservationists. It’s one of two bird houses designed and built by prisoners at Otago Corrections Facility for the Department of Conservation’s (DOC’s) four kākā residing at Te Anau Bird Sanctuary. “It is very rewarding for prisoners and staff to see their products helping protect and preserve our environment and our precious native birdlife,” says Mike Howson, Acting Prison Director, Otago Corrections’ Facility. “The men are gaining employable carpentry trade skills and qualifications while designing and building these products, so it’s a win-win-win for the community, the prisoners, and the birds.” Prisoners at Otago Corrections Facility have created a wide range of products for conservation over the past three years. These include bird transportation and breeding boxes, pest traps, grebe rafts, weta houses, and, most recently, a bivy restored for the endangered whio duck programme in Fiordland. “Their efforts are invaluable to conservation in
the region,” says Susan Streatfield, Department of Conservation Partnerships Development Advisor. “The bird house has been a hit with the kākā. The photo of them beak-to-beak is very intimate as it mimics feeding of young, so there is a good chance that the boxes will see chicks this summer.” Kākā used to be commonly heard in forested areas in the North and South Islands. Now it is classified as at risk (recovering) in the North Island, while it’s nationally vulnerable in the South Island and extinct in the Chatham Islands. Juvenile kākā born at Te Anau Bird Sanctuary are sent to two locations depending on their sex. Females are sent to Abel Tasman National Park and males to Orakanui Sanctuary near Dunedin. The prisoners’ breeding boxes support the national kākā recovery project, which aims to maintain a viable population of South Island kākā in the beech honeydew forests of the northern South Island.
Clear skies at Ruapehu Forest & Bird’s Ruapehu Lodge offers warm, comfortable accommodation a short drive from the Whakapapa ski field. You can find interesting and varied day tramps in the area. To make a booking, contact National Office 0800 200 064 and we will be delighted to help. Members receive subsidised rates. Photo: Bryce McQuillan
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Parting shot
Claire and Raewyn
Raewyn Wood managed to capture this incredible photo of a kōtuku catching a fantail for its lunch. She took a series of pictures showing the white heron grabbing the pīwakawaka in a tree before swooping down to the water to eat it. Her image was nominated for Parting Shot by Claire Newcombe, who explained how it came to be taken: “Raewyn lives beside the Mapua Estuary and spends a lot of time watching and photographing the birds. In May this year, she was taking photos of some pied stilts when she noticed the white heron fly to the top of a poplar tree about 50 metres away. “It caught the fantail there and then flew down to the water before swallowing it. Raewyn’s camera was on continuous shoot, so she was incredibly lucky to get a series of images of the scene. I hadn’t realised the kōtuku took small birds, but I suppose it is fairly obvious really, if the opportunity presents.”
The best entry to our Parting Shot nature photo competition will be published in the next issue of Forest & Bird magazine. Share your photos of native birds, trees, flowers, insects, lizards, marine mammals, fish, and natural landscapes, such as rivers and lakes, and you could be in to win. To enter, post your image on the Forest & Bird New Zealand Nature Group page on Flickr.com. Alternatively, send your high res digital file (maximum 7mb) and brief details about your photo to Caroline Wood at editor@forestandbird.org.nz.
THE PRIZE This issue’s winner will receive a Gasmate Voyager Portable Barbecue with Gasmate Comfort Grip 3 Piece BBQ Tool Set (Total RRP $224). The Voyager is quick and easy to set up, ideal for picnics, camping, or at home. It is highly durable with a reversible heavy-duty cast-iron hotplate, stainless steel burner, vitreous enamel firebox, and stainless steel legs. The piezo ignition ensures easy lighting. Removable legs and handy carry case make transport/storage a breeze. The tool set includes a fork, tongs, and spatula, all with comfort grip handles to be easy on your hands. The prize is courtesy of Gasmate. For more details, see www.gasmate.co.nz.
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