Forest & Bird Magazine 331 February 2009

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Licence to kill This NZ sea lion pup’s life should not end in a fishing net.

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

PO Box 631, Wellington 6140.

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

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

Tel: (03) 366 4190 Fax: (03) 365 0788 Email: c.todd@forestandbird.org.nz

Number 331 • FEBRUARY 2009 www.forestandbird.org.nz

Regulars 2. Comment

Features 16 • Where have all the frogs gone?

Natasha Wallis looks at the plight of frogs worldwide.

20 • Big birds Marina Skinner reveals what scientists are learning about the moa.

24 • Wetlands: to know them is to love them

Peter Maddison on why we need to work with communities.

50 years ago in Forest & Bird.

5. Letters to the Editor Pest busting, Kapiti remembered, geckos, international efforts, petrels.

6. Soapbox Mike Joy says we need to clean up our act on fresh water.

7. Conservation Briefs

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

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

Janet Hunt falls in love with Waiheke’s wetlands.

Operation Nest Egg, kakapo, monarch butterflies, climate change, braided rivers, kiwi, St James, Vanuatu, Galapagos.

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

Registration No. CC26943.

28 • Licence to kill Helen Bain asks why sea lions continue to be killed in the squid fishery.

41. Rangatahi

33 • ANZANG winners

Editor: Helen Bain PO Box 631, Wellington.

Tel: (04) 801-2763 Fax: (04) 385-7373 h.bain@forestandbird.org.nz Deputy editor: Marina Skinner Tel: (04) 801-2761 Fax: (04) 385-7373 m.skinner@forestandbird.org.nz Designer: Dave Kent/Idiom Studio dave@idiom.co.nz Prepress/Printing: Astra Print Advertising: Vanessa Clegg, Tel: 0275 420 337 Email: vanclegg@xtra.co.nz Karen Condon Tel 0275-420 338 Email: mack.cons@xtra.co.nz Membership & Circulation Tel: 0800 200 064 Fax: (04) 385 7373 membership@forestandbird.org.nz w w w. f o re s t a n d b i rd . o r g . n z

Jenny Lynch meets a young lizard fan.

42. Going Places Marina Skinner visits Lochmara Lodge.

Winning wildlife photos from ANZANG Nature’s annual competition.

46. In the Field

38 • A basket of birdlife

48. Itinerant Ecologist

Tom Marshall visits Lake Ellesmere and discovers its abundant birdlife.

Geoff Park lends a hand weeding . . . totara.

Ann Graeme investigates the private life of seashells.

50. Branching Out COVER: Photographer Rob Suisted took this shot of a young New Zealand sea lion on Enderby Island in the Auckland Islands. The Auckland Islands are the main breeding site of NZ sea lions, but these endemic marine mammals risk being killed as “by-catch” in the southern squid fishery off these subAntarctic islands.

Rob is one of New Zealand’s most respected nature photographers, and has a background in zoology and conservation management. He has a deep love for New Zealand’s wildlife and wild places and is a frequent visitor to our remote back country and the sub-Antarctic.

He has also published numerous photographic books focusing on nature.

You can see more of Rob’s photographs at www.naturespic.com.

Manawatu turns 50, New staff, Endowment fund launched, Mucking about, Tune in to green, Abel Tasman Birdsong Trust, Ruapehu Lodge, KCC meets a kiwi, New Year’s honours.

53. One of Us Meet “Bat Man” Brian Lloyd.

54. Book reviews NZ Journey, A Continent on the Move, Plant Heritage NZ, Light and Landscape, Chatham Islands Heritage and Conservation, Rare Birds Yearbook, Exploring the Hauraki Gulf.

Hochstetter’s frog

Rod Morris

FOREST & BIRD • FEBRUARY 2009

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Comment

50 Years Ago in

Forest&Bird

Plays nicely with others

A

presentation by Kaikoura Coastal Guardians Te Korowai o te Tai o Marokura at Forest & Bird’s South Island regional gathering was inspirational in demonstrating what can be achieved if conservationists gain the support of communities.

In 1992 Forest & Bird had proposed a marine reserve off Kaikoura, but the local runanga blocked it, and the Department of Conservation chose not to push for a marine reserve without the support of the local community. Te Korowai was formed in 2005 in response to this situation and aimed to bring all groups in the community together to reach agreement on management and protection of the marine environment.

The group’s approach is based on community involvement and consensus. It brings together the many threads of the Kaikoura community – Maori, commercial and recreational fishers and conservationists – to seek solutions that can be supported by everyone.

This approach requires some compromise from everyone involved.

No one will get everything they want, but hopefully everyone will get something, and each group’s core principles will be upheld.

Getting everyone involved can also take time, but Te Korowai is making steady progress towards producing a strategic plan for management of the Kaikoura coast and marine environment that will endure, because it has wide support.

Conservation causes can so easily become battlegrounds. As conservationists we are so passionate about what we believe in, it can be hard to accept other points of view. But we need to move the conservation debate beyond the us-versus-them way of thinking.

We need allies and we need the support of the wider community to advance conservation issues. Preaching to the converted is easy, but it doesn’t achieve much.

We need to reach out to other groups and find common ground – we might find that it exists in some surprising places.

For example, while we quite often disagree with the farming community on issues such as the impact of dairy farming on our rivers and lakes, we found it easy to agree with them about the need to use 1080 to control introduced pests.

Our reasons for doing so were quite different: Forest & Bird wanted 1080 to protect our vulnerable wildlife; Federated Farmers wanted it to protect our valuable primary industry from the threat of bovine Tb. But whatever the motivation, the desired outcome was the same – and was achieved with the ERMA decision to approve the continued use of 1080.

We’re yet to win over many in the hunting fraternity on this issue, but who knows?

Compromise doesn’t mean selling out. As the famous zoologist and conservationist Jane Goodall put it: “Lasting change is a series of compromises.

And compromise is all right, as long your values don’t change.”

Peter Maddison Forest & Bird President

T

HE call of the outdoors is universal, but here in New Zealand nature has been

generous in catering for that call.

Blind indeed is he who … has not loved the graceful drooping rimu, the brilliant rata in bloom, the bright puriri berries against the sombre green of the foliage, the marvel of the great kauri trunks with ages compared with which old men are but children, the quaint but so beautiful titoki berries, the cathedral-like groves of karakas, the wonderful fresh green of the new season’s growth on the great beech ridges, or the gorgeous alpine meadows in full bloom.

Blind and deaf is he who … does not love the melodious tui and the bellbird, the cheerful trilling grey warbler, the shining cuckoo, the bush pigeon cooing in the morning sun, even the morepork with its plaintive call, which comes like a puff of thistledown and departs just as quietly ...

One could fill the magazine with further examples, but enough have been given to explain what we mean when we say we aim to preserve our forests and birds for their own sake.

From the Editorial, Forest & Bird, February 1959

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

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

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

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

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

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

2 FOREST & BIRD • FEBRUARY 2009

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Barry Harcourt

Free gift when you join Sustain By becoming a Sustain supporter you will help secure the future of New Zealand’s wildlife – and the first 60 people who join Forest & Bird’s Sustain regular giving programme using this form will also receive a free Forest & Bird 2009 Conservation Diary and Calendar, worth a total of more than $40.

Become a Forest & Bird Sustain Supporter and help secure the future of New Zealand’s unique wildlife.

With so many of New Zealand’s unique native animals, plants and habitats still threatened or at risk we need your support to give them hope for the future.

Through our Sustain regular giving programme your contribution will help fund conservation work to help protect our country’s flora and fauna for you and future generations to enjoy.

Join our Sustain regular giving programme for as little as $20 a month (minimum) and you will receive complimentary membership of Forest & Bird including our acclaimed Forest & Bird quarterly magazine as well as many other benefits.

Please will you help Forest & Bird Sustain our unique wildlife and habitats?

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

Letters may be edited and abridged.

The best contribution will win a copy of Day Walks in New Zealand

by Shaun Barnett (Craig Potton Publishing).

Please send contributions to: Editor, Forest & Bird, PO Box 631, Wellington, or email to h.bain@forestandbird. org.nz. Deadline for contributions is 1 April 2009.

Pest busting

Doug Johansen and Jan Poole, Whangamata

Kapiti remembered I have been visiting Dunedin and came across a copy of your magazine dated May 2003. Inside I read a very interesting article about Kapiti w w w. f o re s t a n d b i rd . o r g . n z

Bruce Crawley, New South Wales

Gecko fan I just wanted to say how much I appreciated my November Forest & Bird magazine, and especially the delightful photograph by Rod Morris of the geckos on the cover. How wonderful to have those two little fellows pop out of my mailbox instead of the usual bills and junk mail!

The magazine is going from strength to strength and I commend everyone involved in its production. It is such a wonderful shop window for our amazing native species and the splendid work our dedicated Forest & Bird members are doing for them. Keep up the good work!

Jill Greaves, Hamilton (This letter is the winner of Lost in New Zealand by Craig Potton)

Petrel heads

Recently I was posted a copy of Forest & Bird magazine by a New Zealand friend and very much enjoyed it, especially the articles about Forest & Bird’s work in other countries. Voyage for the Seabirds by Susan Waugh was a truly inspiring account of the excellent work being done to help endangered seabirds, wherever they may be.

Other stories in the magazine remind your readers how much of your own wildlife remains under serious threat right there at home in New Zealand, but it is important too to remember that all environmentalists are part of a global battle to protect the Earth and its amazing creatures.

Global threats like climate change bring home to us how important it is to work together to face this worldwide environmental catastrophe. We “greenies” here in the United Kingdom are doing our best to contribute our little bit, and I would like to offer my encouragement to Forest & Bird to keep up the fight in New Zealand and abroad.

Your story about brothers Marcus and Ben Richards working with petrels on Mt Maunganui (Midnight on Mauao, November 2008) was a real revelation to me. I lived in Tauranga for a few years, obviously without realising the extent of birdlife in the area.

This new section has highlighted for me how young people and their research are making a positive impact on a species in its natural environment, in this case through the Ornithological Society and Kiwi Conservation Club, the latter ably lead nationallly by Ann Graeme (herself a recipient of a recent award).

Henricus Peters, UK

Winners of the draw to win Rare Wildlife of New Zealand by Alison Ballance and Rod Morris are: J Mawson of Wellington A von Sturmer of Auckland A Patete of Wellington

Bill Holmes, UK

sea sky bush walk Come and experience the beautiful Central Hawke’s Bay on foot with a guided 3 day walk across awesome private farmland.

Visit historic homesteads, enjoy panoramic views of riverlands and vineyards and choose from a variety of accommodation and catering options.

7, 8, 9 March 2009

We were wondering if any readers can tell us if they have found better baits for stoats and ferrets.

We have 20 acres in the Coromandel with half the property in forest and the other half we are planting up and so far have planted approximately 7000 trees and bushes all for the birds, which any Forest & Bird member can come and visit.

We have 80 bait stations and kill traps on the property and have had great success with possums, rats, stoats, ferrets, magpies, hedgehogs and cats.

We are using egg and skinned rabbit meat in the stoat and ferret traps but were wondering if anyone has some other bait they have found to be successful that we can try as well. Also for rats what have people found the best? It is very hard to find information for baiting all our pests – does anybody know where we can access information? Our email is kiwi.dundee@ xtra.co.nz.

Island as a special place. In the 1970s-1980s I was a very keen, active member of the Lower Hutt branch of Forest & Bird and remember leading groups on numerous occasions over to Kapiti, sometimes up to three times a year.

Those were the days and most enjoyable trips were had by all who visited Kapiti. It is reassuring to read (at least up to 2003) trips over to Kapiti were still being organised.

We’re in this together

Phone 0800 200 502 Email: seaskybush@hotmail.com www.seaskybush.co.nz

19617

letters to the editor

All proceeds to Local and International Rotary projects

FOREST & BIRD • FEBRUARY 2009

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soapbox

A wake-up call on water Mike Joy calls for an end to official stagnation when it comes to acting to improve the state of our fresh water.

J

UST how bad does our freshwater crisis have to get before we hit the panic button?

What will shake us out of our smug clean-green-100%-pure complacency? Will it be when all our freshwater fish are extinct? I wonder if even that will do it, given our

record so far.

Maybe it’s like the frog in the pot of boiling water – it’s been happening so gradually we haven’t noticed. Soon, the generation of people who remember seeing clear rivers full of eels and whitebait will be gone, leaving only those who have grown up accustomed to brown, lifeless rivers and lakes – definitely not places where you would go swimming or gather food.

While it may seem like a long time in terms of human lifespan, the rate at which we are destroying ancient and valuable ecological systems is astonishing. Freshwater fish serve as “miners’ canaries” and their rapid decline is telling us in no uncertain terms that we have pushed these freshwater ecosystems that we depend on far beyond their limits.

The signals of acute freshwater degradation are glaring. Two-thirds of New Zealand native freshwater fish are on the threatened species list. It’s not just the obscure species, but our iconic freshwater endemics as well – the longfin eel, the lamprey, and two of the five adult whitebait species (the giant and shortjaw kokopu). Just this year, the freshwater crayfish (koura) and the freshwater mussel (kakahi) joined this list of shame.

In the face of this rapid and frightening degradation can we rely on the central government institutions charged with looking after the environment and biodiversity? Obviously not, their silence is deafening.

The Ministry for the Environment, the Department of Conservation and the Ministry of Fisheries are all complicit by their failure to act decisively and having let things get to this stage. At local government level most council staff are trying hard but are compromised by a lack of resourcing and by the political aspirations of councillors.

To effect change it is crucial that people are made aware of the true state of our freshwater environment and the reality of how the changes we are seeing will inevitably affect them and their children. Once people are truly aware, they can and will apply political force on local and central government to act immediately.

The only positive note on the horizon are the throngs of unpaid dedicated New Zealanders in organisations like Forest & Bird and stream care groups putting in a huge effort to restore streams and trying to stop local authorities treating waterways as convenient drains.

Mike Joy is Senior Lecturer in Environmental Science/Ecology at Massey University

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Hu-pai runs wild

H

u-pai, the 1000th kiwi born under BNZ Operation Nest Egg, has been released back into the wild.

The western brown kiwi was hatched in an incubator at Kiwi Encounter in Rotorua on 17 February last year and was raised in the safety of a kiwi crèche behind the predatorproof fence at Forest & Bird’s Bushy Park reserve.

After nine months she was big enough to fight off stoats and cats – the main predators that threaten kiwi – and was returned to the wild in Waimarino Forest near Whanganui National Park.

BNZ Save the Kiwi Trust executive director Michelle Impey says Hu-pai illustrates the huge effort and resources involved in saving kiwi.

“Thanks to the generosity and resources provided by staff and volunteers through Hu-pai’s birth and development, she now has a 65 per cent chance of survival

compared to just five per cent if she was left unaided as a chick in the wild.”

Operation Nest Egg, which takes kiwi eggs from the wild to incubate and raise chicks in safety till they are large enough to fight off predators, is saving the kiwi one egg at a time, Michelle Impey says.

“Hu-pai could lay up to 100 eggs in her lifetime, so just one adult kiwi kept alive makes a big difference to the future health of kiwi populations.”

The BNZ-sponsored project started in 1994 and hatches more than 150 kiwi each year.

For kiwi populations to grow, at least 15% of chicks must survive to adulthood.

Department of Conservation kiwi recovery group leader, Avi Holzapfel says recovery effort over the last 15 years has allowed some western brown kiwi populations to recover and even grow again.

However, many populations are still without sufficient man-

BNZ Save the Kiwi Trust

conservationbriefs

Hu-pai, ready for release.

agement, meaning that overall numbers of western brown kiwi are still declining each year.

The project plans to spread the recovery effort over more kiwi populations in an effort to reverse the decline.

One hundred years ago, kiwi numbered in the millions,

but today there are less than 100,000 remaining. All kiwi species are endangered and some, like rowi in the South Island’s West Coast with a population of just 300, are critically endangered.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

For a copy of our bequest brochure or to discuss leaving a gift in your Will to Forest & Bird please contact Kerin Welford on Freephone 0800 200 064.

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

Email: k.welford@forestandbird.org.nz www.forestandbird.org.nz FOREST & BIRD • FEBRUARY 2009

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DOC

conservationbriefs

Mike Britton (Forest & Bird), Sue Patterson (DOC) and Paul Hemburrow (Rio Tinto) signing up to save the kakapo.

Kakapo a winner

T

HE kakapo is the winner of Forest & Bird’s 2008 Bird of the Year contest.

The kakapo won the avian electoral race with 578 votes, well ahead of its closest rival, the takahe, which scored 322 votes – a landslide victory for the world’s heaviest parrot.

The 2007 winner, the grey warbler, slumped in popularity, only just making it into the top 10 in 2008, while New Zealand’s national bird, the kiwi, for the first time failed to make the top 10, picking up just 102

votes for 13th place.

While clearly popular with the public, the kakapo has hovered on the brink of extinction and remains critically endangered. In the 1990s only 51 kakapo were left but recovery efforts have since boosted numbers to 90.

The solitary, nocturnal kakapo is unique and it is possibly the world’s longest-lived bird, with a life expectancy of 90 years.

However, this flightless bird is largely defenceless and it is a slow breeder, leaving it vulnerable to introduced predators.

Its prospects will be helped by the signing of a renewed partnership between Rio Tinto Alcan NZ, the Department of Conservation and Forest & Bird.

The partnership programme supports the work of the Kakapo Recovery Group – it is hoped that the group’s work can improve the status of the kakapo from critical to endangered by 2020.

Forest & Bird General Manager Mike Britton says the kakapo is an exceptional bird, and one which we share a responsibility as New Zealanders to protect.

“Today’s signing means the partners are committed to continue support for the vital work of the Kakapo Recovery Group in bringing this unique species back from the brink of extinction.”

The Kakapo Recovery Programme has helped restore numbers by establishing predator-free havens where kakapo can breed on off-shore islands, supplementary feeding to boost breeding success, hand-rearing chicks, conducting research and monitoring, and raising public awareness.

Mike Britton says the partnership demonstrates how the private, voluntary and government sectors can work together effectively to help protect New Zealand’s unique native species.

The top 10 polling birds in Bird of the Year 2008 were: 1. Kakapo 2. Takahe 3. Kokako 4. Tui 5. Rifleman 6. Fantail 7. Morepork 8. Kea 9. Kereru 10. Grey warbler

Taggers sought

Monarch Butterfly Trust

T

8 FOREST & BIRD • FEBRUARY 2009

HE Monarch Butterfly Trust is asking for help tagging and tracking Monarch butterflies in New Zealand.

Monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus) are believed to have self-introduced to New Zealand more than a century ago, with reports of them here from about the 1870s-1880s. As their larvae eat only introduced plants – especially swan plants – they are not known to have any effect on our native butterflies or other native wildlife.

Monarchs have the longestknown migration of any insect – some 250 million of the large, orange and black butterflies undertake epic migrations from the United States and southern Canada to overwinter west of Mexico City.

However, relatively little is known about their migratory or other habits in New Zealand. In Tagged Monarch butterfly the 1960s and 70s New Zealand

researchers tagged 6500 monarch butterflies, of which 1011 were recovered. Only 28 were found to have flown more than 20 kilometres and no pattern of migration was established.

Now it is hoped that further tagging and observation through butterfly transects could increase our knowledge of monarchs in New Zealand.

The monarchs are caught in butterfly nets and – with careful handling – tiny, round identification tags are glued to their wings, and the butterflies are released. The tags weigh just 0.006 grams (an adult monarch weighs about half a gram) and have no effect on the butterfly’s ability to fly.

If you would like to help with butterfly tagging or transects, or to report a monarch butterfly sighting, go to the Monarch Butterfly Trust’s website: www.monarch.org.nz. w w w. f o re s t a n d b i rd . o r g . n z

conservationbriefs

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conservationbriefs

JT Wootton/University of Chicago

Mussels cover this rocky shoreline – but may be under threat from increasing acidity of oceans linked to climate change.

Climate change harming marine life

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corresponded with increasing levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

The study is based on more than 24,000 measurements of ocean acidity levels over eight years in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Washington, and found that acidity increased more than 10 times faster than had been predicted by climate change models and other studies.

The ocean plays a significant

role in global carbon cycles.

When atmospheric carbon dioxide dissolves in water it forms carbonic acid, increasing the acidity of the ocean. Increasingly acidic water harms certain sea animals. Many sea creatures have shells or skeletons made of calcium carbonate, which the acid can dissolve.

The University of Chicago study Dead mussels – possibly symptomatic found that the number of mussels of increasing ocean acidity which can and stalked barnacles fell as acid- harm shellfish and other ocean life.

CA Pfister/University of Chicago

NEW study showing climate change may be increasing the acidity of the world’s oceans 10 times faster than previously thought is a big concern for marine life worldwide, Forest & Bird Marine Advocate Kirstie Knowles says.

A University of Chicago study has found that the ocean is growing more acidic much faster than previously thought – and that increased acidity

ity increased, while populations of smaller shelled species and some types of algae increased.

Kirstie Knowles says the study’s findings have serious implications for the health of oceans worldwide, including in New Zealand waters. Increased ocean acidity could affect many species in New Zealand, such as crayfish and shellfish.

The impact is likely to first affect many smaller ocean plants and animals that form the basis of food chains – if they become less abundant it can have serious effects on other marine species that feed on them. For example if krill becomes less abundant it could affect filter-feeding whales, such as southern right whales and humpbacks, which frequent the southern oceans.

“The potentially disastrous impact of climate change on our marine environment is yet another reason why we need to urgently reduce our carbon emissions,” Kirstie Knowles says.

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Peter Morath

conservationbriefs

Rakaia River, Canterbury

Protecting our braided rivers

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encrusting lichens, mosses, tiny cushion plants, willow herbs and wispy native grasses. With time, these plants form blankets of plant cover and other tussocks and woody shrubs slowly establish.

Braided river ecosystems face a number of threats, particularly through intensification of dairy farming and ever-increasing demand for hydro power development.

Taking of water and damming for hydro-electric power generation or irrigation can greatly reduce the amount and quality of braided river habitat. Dam construction can block the pas-

ering native plants and reducing habitat for native animals.

BRaid – short for “braided river aid” – includes members from Forest & Bird, Environment Canterbury, the Department of Conservation, Christchurch City Council, the Ornithological Society and river-care groups.

The group aims to tackle threats to braided rivers through advocacy, working with communities and agencies, raising public awareness and gathering scientific information.

If you are interested in finding out more about Braid or would like to help contact Jack van Hal (jvanhal@doc.govt.nz) Private Bag 4715, Christchurch Wrybills are among the rare and unique wildlife that depend on braided river habitats.

Jordan Kappely

OREST & Bird is part of a new Canterbury-based group, BRaid, which aims to protect and restore braided rivers.

Braided rivers are one of the best-loved natural features of Canterbury, spilling out of the Southern Alps to form mosaics of river channels, with gravel bars and islands that are constantly dividing, rejoining and shifting.

The combination of rapid tectonic uplift along the Southern Alps, the region’s easily eroded greywacke rocks and high alpine rainfall has created some of the best examples of braided rivers in the world.

Braided rivers support a diverse range of plants and animals, many of them endangered, which have adapted to living in a highly dynamic environment.

Many threatened birds migrate inland to nest, feed and raise their young on braided riverbeds. Some of the most rare and special are blackfronted terns, black stilts, and the wrybill, which has a beak bent sideways to allow it to feed from underneath river stones.

Braided rivers are also important habitat for many native fish and invertebrates.

Despite the apparent sparseness of riverbeds, many native plants species form mosaics of

sage of native fish and eels from inland rivers to the coast where they spawn.

Reduction in river flow can reduce feeding habitat for wading birds, and increases vegetation cover, which destroys open gravel nesting habitat and provides better cover for predators. Water quality is also affected by run-off of nutrients and effluent from dairy farming.

Damage by stock access to riverbeds, and the impact of recreational vehicles in river beds also pose threats – nests in the shingle riverbeds are highly vulnerable to being crushed.

Exotic weeds, such as lupins, broom, willow and gorse, also invade braided riverbeds, smoth-

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conservationbriefs How to stop your dog becoming a kiwi killer

Make sure your dog isn’t a kiwi killer.

• Don’t leave your dog loose so it can wander – keep it on a lead anywhere that kiwi may be living.

• Don’t take dogs into the bush, even on a lead. It only takes a few seconds for a dog to sniff out a kiwi and shake it to death.

BNZ Save the Kiwi Trust

• It is better to book your dog into a kennel rather than take it with you when you go on holiday in wild areas.

Kiwi killed by dogs

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ESEARCH showing dogs are responsible for alarming numbers of kiwi deaths in holiday hot spots are prompting calls to their owners to follow a few simple rules.

Up to 78 per cent of adult kiwi deaths in Northland are caused by dogs, and similar figures are

expected in areas of Coromandel and Taranaki where there are a large number of baches and holiday homes near kiwi habitat.

In December seven monitored kiwi in one area in Northland were killed. It is likely that a single wandering dog has been responsible. Only about 10 per cent of the kiwi population in the area wear transmitters, so many

more kiwi killings probably went undetected.

BNZ Save the Kiwi Trust executive director Michelle Impey says every year kiwi numbers plummet in holiday areas because dog owners don’t keep their pets under control.

“Many dog owners have the ‘my dog wouldn’t do that’ mentality. But in fact any dog can and will kill kiwi, no matter how docile and well trained it may be.”

In 1987 a single dog that was running wild in Waitangi State Forest killed an estimated 8001000 kiwi in just six weeks – half the entire population in the forest – showing how much damage dogs can do.

Artistic nature

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ROCEEDS from an upcoming exhibition by Wellington watercolour artist Janet Andrews will go towards Forest & Bird’s conservation work.

The exhibition of natural history-themed works will be held at

12 FOREST & BIRD • FEBRUARY 2009

• Kiwi living on offshore islands are particularly vulnerable. Don’t let your dog go ashore for toileting.

• Keep dogs inside or tied up at night.

• Ask the Department of Conservation or your regional council if they provide kiwi aversion training for dogs. If your dog gets lost or escapes it will be less likely to be a risk to kiwi.

• Report any dogs you see off the lead or unaccompanied on conservation land.

the St James Theatre Gallery in Wellington in early May. Fifty per cent of the proceeds from the sale of the works will go to Forest & Bird.

Janet trained as a scientist, with a degree in geology and zoology, followed by post-graduate work in Antarctica. Since returning to New Zealand in the mid 1990s after 20 years living in Canada, Janet has taught and has held a number of exhibitions of her work, much of which focuses on the natural world.

Her latest exhibition features a series of works on paper, combining ink drawings that she describes as whimsical variations on traditional botanical or zoological illustrations, and watercolours on an environmental theme. w w w. f o re s t a n d b i rd . o r g . n z

conservationbriefs

St James: a future Waiau National Park?

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hunting and photography. There is also pressure from some to open up the area to off-road vehicles.

The high conservation and recreation values of St James, set amid surrounding protected areas, raises the question of the best conservation status for the area. Forest & Bird believes that before any major decisions are made, a full planning exercise should be carried out, including an analysis under Section 8 of the Conservation Act, to decide whether St James and some of the land surrounding it meets the criteria to become a national park.

Forest & Bird South Island Conservation Manager Chris Todd says national park status would give greater protection to the landscapes, native plants and animals of St James. It would open up tramping opportunities from the Lewis Pass Highway to Nelson Lakes National Park and promote opportunities for kayaking, fishing and mountain-biking.

A Waiau National Park would also be a big draw-card for tourists and a boost for the local economy.

“St James has been won for the public – let’s make sure conservation is also a winner,” Todd says.

Steve Baker

Lake Guyon, winter, Waiau Valley, Canterbury

Trampers cross Waiau River, Canterbury

Sub-alpine plants, Edwards Valley, St James, Canterbury

Shaun Barnett

OREST & Bird and Federated Mountain Clubs campaigned long and hard for the purchase of St James Station in North Canterbury, and the government purchase of the 76,000-hectare property last year is cause for celebration.

The purchase secures an area with very high conservation and recreation values and completes a mosaic of protected areas stretching from coast to coast, from Punakaiki on the West Coast to Kaikoura in the east.

St James covers the upper catchment of the Waiau River and the eastern part of the upper Clarence Rivers. Its boundaries follow the spectacular Spenser Range in the west, the Clarence to the east and the Hanmer Range in the south. Its neighbours are Lewis Pass National Reserve to the west, Nelson Lakes National Park to the north and the giant Molesworth Recreation Reserve to the east.

The area is a transition zone between the wet beech forests of the West Coast and the arid hill country and open shrublands of Molesworth and the St James Range, and contains the best examples of glaciated landforms, and one of the most extensive areas of beech forest in Canterbury. The native vegetation of the grazed valley floors and lower hill slopes are expected to bounce back once cattle are removed within two years.

St James contains important populations of the threatened kaka, kakariki, rock wren, New Zealand falcon (karearea), robin, long-toed skink, native mistletoe, Pittosporum patulum, Hebe saicornoides and other rare plants.

Although detailed fauna surveys are yet to be carried out, it is also likely to be home to blue duck, western weka, bats, great spotted kiwi and yellowhead (mohua).

Lake Guyon, surrounded by high mountains, is a scenic gem, and there is considerable potential for recreation, including climbing, tramping (the St James Walkway is already very popular), mountain-biking, horse-riding,

Shaun Barnett

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Sue Maturin

conservationbriefs

The battle against Vanuatu’s “big leaf”

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ERREMIA peltata – or big leaf, as it is known in Vanuatu, must be one of the world’s worst super creepers.

This invasive plant is capable of growing up and over trees more than 25 metres high, it sends out a vast network of ground-hugging lateral ropes more than a kilometre and can grow nine metres in three months.

At Vatthe Conservation Area on the island of Santo in Vanuatu,

Forest & Bird’s Southern Conservation Officer Sue Maturin and her teams of volunteers have found that big leaf is smothering trees and causing extensive forest collapse in Vanuatu’s prized last remaining intact coastal alluvial forest.

Local landowners, with Forest & Bird and the local Landholders Conservation Initiative, supported by a generous donation from the Aotearoa New Zealand Quakers,

Sue Maturin

Volunteers tackle “big leaf” using herbicide gel.

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“Big leaf” vine smothering forest, Vanuatu.

Peace and Service Committee, are about to embark on an ambitious project to clear the pestilential vine.

Work is planned to start in March/April 2009. The two land-owning communities, from Matantas and Sara Villages, will form work groups, which will each work cutting vines on a forest block. Further funding is being sought to enable the whole forest to be cleared of the vine,

and to carry out further herbicide trials at Vatthe and in another protected area at Nusumetu Tabu Forest.

Trials with full-strength herbicide gels donated by HortResearch NZ, George Mason and Ann and Basil Graeme have shown that the vine can be killed by hand cutting and poisoning the vertical climbing ends of every lateral rope of every plant – but given the extent of the vine’s spread, eradicating it all using this method would be a daunting task.

However because so many trees are being smothered to death, there is an immediate need to clear the vines from the forest canopy while more efficient control methods are developed. Once freed from the vine, the canopy recovers within months and can knit back together to shade out the vines.

Healthy canopies are able to resist rampant vine invasion.

Sue will be leading a paying volunteers’ trip in July 2009.

There will also be time to explore Vatthe, and visit the world’s most accessible active volcano on the Southern Island of Tanna.

If you would like to volunteer (volunteers meet their own costs) contact Sue Maturin, s.maturin@ forestandbird.org.nz, Box 6230 Dunedin. w w w. f o re s t a n d b i rd . o r g . n z

conservationbriefs

Friends of Galapagos NZ

Galapagos hawk

Volunteer in Galapagos The Galapagos Islands are considered to be one of the natural wonders of the world.

The attention of the world was first drawn to them by the publication in 1859 of The Origin of Species by Charles Darwin, who visited the islands and drew on many of his observations there to develop his theory of evolution.

Situated 1000 kilometres west of Ecuador, Galapagos are the largest near-pristine archipelago Galapagos sea lions

in the world, and the islands and the Galapagos Marine Reserve are recognised and protected as World Heritage Sites.

Friends of Galapagos NZ encourages volunteers to visit the islands to use their skills to help conservation efforts.

For more information on the volunteer programme go to www. galapagos.org.nz or contact Friends of Galapagos at info@ galapagos.org.nz.

Vermilion flycatcher

• Day trips • Cafe / Restaurant • Lodge Accommodation • Conservation Projects w w w. f o re s t a n d b i rd . o r g . n z

Friends of Galapagos NZ

RIENDS of Galapagos New Zealand is seeking volunteers to help their conservation work on these fascinating and wildliferich islands.

The organisation was established in 2006 to help conservation efforts in the Galapagos Islands. New Zealand has a long association with Galapagos – and shares many of the same problems of introduced pest species, including goats, pigs, rats and cats.

As world leaders in the eradication of invasive species, Kiwis have been heavily involved in eradication programmes in the Galapagos Islands, and in helping to set up a proper bio-security system to prevent future incursions by pests.

Galapagos and its remaining wildlife are treasures well worth preserving: it boasts towering (and still active) volcanoes, crystal-clear waters, lava lizards, 10-metre-high daisy trees, sea lions, iguanas, bluefooted boobies, the Galapagos albatross, the brilliantly coloured vermilion flycatcher, flamingos, the Galapagos hawk – and probably its best-known ancient inhabitants, the giant Galapagos tortoises.

Daniel Fitter

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• Art galleries • 0800 562 462

FOREST & BIRD • FEBRUARY 2009

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enquiries@lochmaralodge.co.nz www.lochmaralodge.co.nz

Archey’s frog (Leiopelma archeyi) male carrying young froglets.

Our native frogs don’t go through a tadpole stage, hatching as almost fully-formed frogs, but the froglets do have a tadpole-like tail when young.

Where have all the 16

Rod Morris

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Worldwide nearly a third of all frog species are on the brink of extinction – and here in New Zealand we have the single most endangered amphibian on the planet: the Archey’s frog. Natasha Wallis looks at the plight of our frogs.

frogs gone?

SK most people about frogs and they think of slimy creatures that give you warts and turn into princes. But few people realise that the world’s frogs are in peril – and what this could mean for our planet.

Of 6300 species of amphibians around the world 1800 are nearing extinction.

Scientists first realised there was a decline in worldwide frog populations in 1989, and in the last 10 years, 168 species have disappeared from our planet forever.

In New Zealand we once had seven native frog species, but only four are left, and all are endangered. These are the Hochstetter’s, Archey’s, Hamilton’s and Maud Island frogs. Each of our native frogs rate in the top 60 most endangered amphibians in the world.

Archey’s frog is the single most threatened and important species in the world according to the Endangered, Distinct and Globally Endangered (EDGE), global amphibian assessment, while the population of the Hamilton’s frog has dwindled to just 300.

So why are we losing these amphibians that have been around for more than 200 million years – since the dinosaur era?

New Zealand frog expert Phil Bishop has studied frogs for nearly 30 years. Over the last five years, he has been researching an aggressive fungus, chytrid, which has caused a rapid decline in our native species.

“There is a whole load of insults that the frogs have to cope with and because they have very sensitive skin it [chytrid fungus] is the last straw that breaks the camel’s back.

They can’t cope anymore with what we’re throwing at them.”

Chytrid fungus has been the number one reason for a dramatic decline in the Archey’s frog, Bishop says. An alarming 90 per cent of the Archey’s frog population died, making its position extremely precarious.

Native frog ecologist Amanda Haigh leads the Native Frog Recovery Group that is trying to breed Archey’s frog in captivity in order to re-establish the population.

However, captive breeding at Auckland Zoo has proved more challenging than initially thought.

She says frogs have particular microhabitats and micro-climatic needs that are extremely difficult to replicate out of the wild, and last year out of 58 eggs only one successfully hatched.

“It’s one of those things that is two steps forward and one step back.”

The Recovery Group is also looking at FOREST & BIRD • FEBRUARY 2009

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Hochstetter’s frog (Leiopelma hochstetteri) Coromandel

Hamilton’s frog (Leiopelma hamiltoni), Stephens Island 18

Rod Morris

Rob Suisted/Nature’s Pic

how the Archey’s frog is affected by rat control, is surveying the Hochstetter’s frog to see if it is susceptible to chytrid fungus, and advise the Department of Conservation on management and monitoring of frog populations.

Bishop says that habitat destruction has also played a huge part in the extinction of frogs in New Zealand. If one area of habitat is destroyed, frogs are poorly equipped to find new habitat. As they have to stay moist, something like a road is major barrier for a frog to cross to find suitable habitat.

Frogs are an indicative species, which means they can be the first warning sign of problems in the environment. Chemicals and other pollutants easily pass through their extremely sensitive permeable skin and immediately affect them.

“If there’s something going wrong with the frogs you know you’re stuffing up the environment,” Bishop says.

He believes global climate change is also having dire effects on frog populations around the world.

If it is generally warmer, frogs are more likely to breed earlier in the season, when they are more likely to be hit by frosts, which kill eggs and tadpoles, and they are also highly vulnerable to dry spells. “[Frogs] have evolved for millions of years and in a short space of time we’re changing the climate. Frogs just can’t adapt that quickly,” Bishop says.

Frogs may seem inconsequential, but they are actually a crucial link in the ecosystem, and if they disappear the w w w. f o re s t a n d b i rd . o r g . n z

Maud Island frog (Leiopelma pakeka) Maud Island, Marlborough Sounds

Rob Suisted/Nature’s Pic

effects may be disastrous. Frogs eat billions of invertebrates such as mosquitoes, cockroaches, locusts, aphids, flies and sandflies – if we lose frogs we will see an increase in insect-related diseases as they multiply out of control.

Frogs also hold many medicinal purposes which could be lost, Bishop says.

For example, research has revealed that skin secretions in the Australian red-eyed tree frog are active against the HIV virus.

Tadpoles also have potential benefits for human health through their ability to completely regenerate their tails if they are chopped off.

“If we can understand how the tadpole can regenerate bone, muscle and nerves then we stand a very good chance of helping people who have spinal cord damage,” Bishop says.

Bishop says there are huge gaps in what we know about our native frogs, and they have had to compete with “cuddlier” species such as the kakapo or kiwi for public attention and research and conservation efforts, Bishop says.

“In the past amphibians have been neglected from a conservation point of view and they’re now paying for that. People need to be aware of what could happen if we lose all our amphibians throughout the world.”

The year from June 2008 to June 2009 has been named International Year of the Frog in an attempt to raise global awareness of declining frogs. It is hoped that increased awareness will lead to increased efforts – and success – in securing their survival. w w w. f o re s t a n d b i rd . o r g . n z

Frog facts

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EW Zealand frogs (pepeketua) belong to the ancient and primitive genus Leiopelma and have changed very little in 70 million years.

Our native frogs are rare and difficult to spot as they are nocturnal, small, well-camouflaged and few in number. They also don’t croak – but may chirp or yelp if disturbed. Most frogs you see – or hear – are likely to be one of the three loud and brightly coloured introduced species found here.

New Zealand’s frogs are also unusual in that they don’t pass through a tadpole stage – they hatch as almost fully formed frogs.

Fossil records show that frogs were once found throughout the North and South Islands but they have declined sharply in range and numbers due to habitat clearance, introduced predators such as rats and cats, disease, chemicals and pollution.

Archey’s frog (Leiopelma archeyi) – our smallest frog, growing up to 37mm long. They are found only in the Coromandel and at one site near Te Kuiti. The male frog carries his

young on his back for several weeks.

Monitored populations have crashed in recent years and Archey’s frog is listed as critically endangered.

Hochstetter’s frog (L hcohstetteri) – the most widespread of the native frogs, found in the upper half of the North Island and listed as vulnerable.

It grows up to 50mm long, and is mostly dark brown and warty in appearance.

Hamiton’s frog (L hamiltoni) – found only on Stephen’s Island in Cook Strait. It is the most critically endangered of our frogs with only 300 remaining. Adapted to live on rocky ground, its feet are not webbed.

Maud Island frog (L pakeka) – found only on Maud Island in the Marlborough Sounds, but 300 have been transferred to other islands in the sounds to establish additional populations. They are very long-lived – some have been known to live for more than 30 years – and tend to stay in one place, sometimes staying within a five-metre radius for years at a time.

Three native frogs – L auroraensis, L markhami and L waitomoensis – are extinct.

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Big birds If you thought we knew everything there is to know about moa, think again. Marina Skinner looks at what scientists have recently learnt about the extinct birds through the latest biological technologies.

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Moa with kea: crested moa (Pachyornis australis) from Extinct Birds of New Zealand by Alan Tennyson and Paul Martinson (Te Papa Press).

Moa at forest edge: eastern moa (Emeus crassus) from Extinct Birds of New Zealand by Alan Tennyson and Paul Martinson (Te Papa Press).

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The study, funded by a Marsden grant, and finishing at the end of 2010, is looking at four moa species that died in North Canterbury swamps 700-4000 years ago.

Significantly more females than males died

in the swamps, and one theory is that the females became stuck in the swamps during summer while the males were incubating eggs on nests.

Bones found in the swamps are in

The eggs of a stout-legged moa, left, and an upland moa – both found in Otago – compared with a domestic hen egg.

Rod Morris

OA have always made ripping yarns – from the discovery of giant bones

by Europeans in the 19th Century and their identification by English anatomist Richard Owen in 1840 to the myths that a few isolated moa survived until European settlement.

Our understanding of the biggest birds known anywhere on the planet has grown enormously over the last 170 years. Until the past decade most knowledge came from anatomical study of moa fossils. But new technologies of ancient DNA and stable isotope analysis, and radiocarbon dating, offer even more insights into moa.

Sixty-four species of flightless moa have been recorded, but the number of confirmed species has been whittled down to 10 – and new DNA research is about to pare it back to nine. While many people think of all moa as one bird, there was great variety among moa species. The giant moa were tall and slender, while most other moa species were short and stocky with thick legs, and the upland moa was small and athletic.

A breakthrough was made in 2003 when two scientific teams, working independently, sexed the bones of moa by analysing DNA. The work at Massey and Oxford universities led to the discovery that female giant moa were much bigger than males. Previously, the bones of males and females were thought to be from different species. In another taxonomic shake-up, separate North and South Island species of giant moa were identified.

No other birds or mammals show such a vast gender imbalance as the giant moa.

The largest female was two metres tall at the back and able to stretch three metres from the ground, and weighed up to 240 kilograms – about 1.5 times the height and 2.8 times the weight of the largest male.

In 2001 researchers led by expatriate Kiwi Dr Alan Cooper of Oxford University decoded the entire sequence of moa DNA found in the bird’s mitochondria, the microscopic power houses of the cell. It was the first time that the entire strip of mitochondrial DNA of an extinct animal had been sequenced.

Moa specialist and author (with Trevor Worthy) of The Lost World of the Moa, Richard Holdaway, is leading research into whether the moa population was stable or declining when humans hit New Zealand’s shores about AD1280.

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Rod Morris Rod Morris

A palaeontologist uncovering the bones of a South Island giant moa in Honeycomb Caves, Karamea.

The mummified head of an upland moa found near Queenstown during the 1880s and now held at the British Museum.

B. Ahern/DOC

Leg bones of a moa being measured at a site north of Chinaman’s Bluff, Otago.

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good shape considering how long they’ve been buried, and their nuclear DNA is well preserved. The scientists led by Holdaway are studying the genetic variation in each species, and looking at how the moa gene pool changed over time. It is hoped that from the data gathered they will be able to estimate population size, and how far moa moved around the country.

Other researchers are studying the ancient DNA of sediment samples from Pyramid Valley in North Canterbury where the moa bones were found, looking at changes in the area’s ecology – for instance, when Polynesians arrived and began burning vegetation.

Moa evolved from flying birds, though so long ago that they had no wing bones or even a keel on the breast bone, which in flying birds is attached to wing muscles. Moa lived without mammal predators – though they would have learned to look out for attack from the air by the massive Haast’s eagle – and they would have been easy prey for the humans that later arrived. “It is likely that moa and other birds would have simply stood and watched the new arrivals,” Worthy and Holdaway wrote.

Moa were long-lived – 50-80 years – didn’t breed until they were 8-10 years old and had clutches of just one or two eggs.

This made them highly vulnerable when confronted with the dangerous new predator – humans – because it took too long for moa to replace those that were killed.

It is estimated that the first Polynesian settlers took just a century to hunt moa to extinction. On the Coromandel Peninsula, they were probably wiped out within five years of settlement. By AD1420, people had snacked on their last moa drumstick.

A 2005 study investigated how Polynesian moa hunters at the Shag River Mouth in Otago coped with a shrinking larder. After killing all local moa, they had to travel further in search of their prey, and made better use of moa carcasses, breaking the bones to extract marrow and grease.

So why didn’t the Polynesian settlers notice declining moa numbers and stop hunting them? “Subsistence peoples generally have a culture that says when you are hungry you eat something, so when you find potential food you eat it, you don’t contemplate leaving it for tomorrow, let alone next year,” says Worthy, who is now at Adelaide University. He speculates that the moa extinction was a stern conservation lesson for early Maori, who later instituted conservation measures, such as rahui (temporary bans) on gathering shellfish.

Scientists are learning about what moa ate by analysing the fossilised contents of their gizzards and copralites, or fossil dung.

The latest ancient DNA analysis by Jamie

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Wood, a young scientist now at Landcare Research, of fossilised moa dung from Otago shows that some moa ate mostly low shrubs and herbs. Gizzard stones swallowed by moa to grind tough plant fibres have also been studied to deduce their diets. The largest stones found were bigger and heavier than a softball.

It is suggested that New Zealand’s high number of divaricating plants evolved to protect themselves from foraging moa, though other theories suggest the smallleaved, tangled branches evolved as a protection against cold winds.

One recent study suggested that the relatively small brain size of moa meant they had a less complex social system than other birds. Other areas of scientific investigation include fossilised moa footprints, their nesting material and the shells of their eggs.

Apart from the obvious fascination with these unique birds, why put so much effort into studying creatures which are lost forever?

Perhaps the lessons we learn from the extinct moa may help us preserve those native species which are not yet extinct, but are still at risk of going the same way as the moa.

Moa myths – true or false?

1. Moa stood with their necks stretched straight up.

2. Deer and goats have taken the place of moa as browsers in our forests.

3. Moa grazed on grass.

4. Moa were driven into swamps by floods and wildfires.

5. The biggest moa were two metres tall.

6. Moa are still alive.

Answers: 1. False. Their necks stretched forward, with their heads only slightly above the height of their backs.

2. False. Moa fed in different ways from deer, breaking plant stems with their beaks, whereas deer and goats rip plants from the ground. And moa ate many plants that deer and goats avoid.

So their impact on forests is quite different.

3. They might heave eaten some grass. Moa ate a variety of vegetation, including low shrubs and herbs.

4. Probably not. Analysis of the way bones were deposited in South Island swamps shows no evidence of catastrophic events causing death.

5. Correct.

6. Consensus among scientists is pretty much total: they’re extinct. However, some people refuse to accept the bad news: Australian moa hunters Rex and Heather Gilroy make regular trips to the Ureweras searching for the little scrub moa, which they think could be hiding out there.

Buried treasure

B

UILDER Wayne Chaffey found some strange bones on his lifestyle block at Raukawa, south of Hastings, a year ago, dug out of the limestone soil when a water tank was installed.

“Ooh, it could be a moa bone,” he told his wife, Maureen, before phoning Te Papa palaeontologist Alan Tennyson.

The 30 bones – some with three distinctive knuckles where the toe bones were connected – definitely belonged to a moa. It was probably a little bush moa or a Mantell’s moa, though the Chaffeys haven’t yet taken the bones to Te Papa for positive identification.

Wayne has found more moa bones while digging post holes for a bridge and after a flood washed away a bank beside a waterfall.

So keep your eyes open – it is quite possible that fossils from utterly unknown moa species remain to be found.

Kayden Chaffey, 4, with moa bones found on his parents’ Hawke’s Bay property.

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Te Papa palaeontologist Alan Tennyson

FOREST & BIRD • FEBRUARY 2009

23

Wetlands: to know them is to love them Waiheke’s wetlands were a voyage of discovery – or perhaps a romance – for Janet Hunt.

A

LTHOUGH I grew up on the slopes of Mt Taranaki and in retrospect realise that much of our farm was a modified wetland, my first real introduction to these wonderful places was in the summer of 2005 on Waiheke Island where I now live.

That year a dozen or so members of the Hauraki Islands branch of Forest & Bird decided the island’s wetlands needed attention. The public seemed unaware of

Okahuiti tidal lagoon, Waiheke Island

24

them and our swamps were being filled and moved with impunity.

It was time to challenge the mindset that writes them off, or worse, sees them simply as an opportunity to obtain a little more “dryland.” We hoped to show what interesting and worthwhile places wetlands are, and undertake wetland restoration projects.

We formed a wetland sub-group and

named ourselves WIWI, which tends to raise a laugh – the acronym stands for Waiheke Island Wetland Initiative, but wiwi is also the Maori name for the wetland plants, juncus or rushes.

Like the public we aimed to educate, we had only a hazy idea ourselves of what wetlands we had on Waiheke: we needed to tune in.

So we set out to first educate ourselves.

We scaled hills and from their heights traced the paths of tributaries down the creases of valleys, through bush and farmland, to coastal wetland and the sea. We walked the margins of the estuaries and, on one memorable occasion, sank to our thighs in the inky substrate of a lagoon. We followed streams, watched the tides ebb and flow and saw the raupo turn gold in the autumn.

Gradually, the picture came into focus.

We were enchanted, finding wetlands to be places of great beauty. When I think of wetlands now, I think of light reflecting or refracting from the surface of sand, mud or water, from the curve of leaf or a drop on a stem, defining land-form, enhancing colour

and accentuating the texture of sedges, rushes and grasses.

And because wetlands are places where humans mostly do not venture, we found

Janet Hunt

In our long, hot summers, Waiheke depends on a fresh-water aquifer in the rock strata below. It is fed by winter and spring rainfall. Fresh-water streams flow from multi-valleyed catchments to wetlands in every unmodified bay and turn of the coast. On the south side especially, there are raupo swamps and then, where they meet salt-laden sea, saltmarshes, and finally mangrove forests and tidal flats. Each has an accompanying trove of unique marine, plant, invertebrate and bird life.

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Janet Hunt

Wetlands are home to a rich diversity of invertebrates, such as this spiny longhorn beetle.

Janet Hunt

School children have helped monitor Waiheke’s Matuku cockle beds since 2005.

26 FOREST & BIRD • FEBRUARY 2009

them to also be places of remarkable tranquillity. Even when surrounded by roads, from within a wetland there is a sense of apartness and integrity of place that is unguessed-at from outside.

With only a broad knowledge of wetland types, we nevertheless became acquainted with a range of characteristic situations and the plants and living creatures that inhabit each. Most obviously, wetlands are the domain of birds: sea birds, waders, pukeko and on rare occasions, rails, but also of a vast population of invertebrates, fish and water life.

At the same time, we became painfully aware, as we helplessly watched one arm of a wetland progressively filled and obliterated, how fragile and vulnerable these places are, especially when on private land. How easy it is for them to be seen in the way humans have viewed them for centuries, as opportunities for “reclamation,” or, as we now recognise, for turning viable ecosystems into lifeless building sites.

Fortunately, those actions are nowadays met by counter-actions. We have many local heroes, dedicating hours and days to their protection and enhancement — people like the late Don Chapple, who saw a degraded wetland as a cry for restoration rather than elimination; Judy Coutts, a demon for tracking and killing blackberry and mothplant; Ces Thomas, who has patiently transformed the weedy wetland at the bottom of his section into a miniature wonderland; and Tony King-Turner, who has driven the clearance of weeds and planting of the wetland below the local high school.

It’s great too, that we have many wetlands in public ownership or in the care of enlightened private owners. When we recently created a brochure for a Waiheke wetland trail in conjunction with the National Wetland Trust, we were spoiled for choice.

In the end, we selected two wetland areas that are accessible for casual visitors.

The first is the regenerating wetland at Matiatia near the ferry terminal, below Te Atawhai Whenua Forest & Bird reserve. The second is the Okahuiti wetland complex at Ostend. It lies in the middle of a relatively built-up area, yet exhibits a range of wetland types from raupo to saltmarsh, to mangrove and tidal estuary and finally deep water.

We also look forward to developing trails for some of the island’s more out-of-the-way wetlands. One of these is the 690-hectare Te Matuku Marine Reserve, on the south-eastern corner of the island. Since its gazetting in August 2005, it has been a no-take zone – we hope that as the years pass it will become a success comparable to that of Leigh Marine Reserve. It contains a whole range of different zones, from coastal broadleaf forest to deep water, and is a dotterel-breeding area and godwit staging-post. w w w. f o re s t a n d b i rd . o r g . n z

Te Matuku is not very accessible (and that is largely to its benefit) but with the appropriate care, that will gradually change. Since 2005, Waiheke schools have monitored the health of its cocklebeds; in 2008 locals celebrated World Wetlands Day by walking along the shellbank at high tide past the roosting godwits to a point known locally as Crocodile Rock.

A similar forest-to-sea complex forms the western edge of the Auckland Regional Council-owned Whakanewha Regional Park, where dotterels breed on the shellbank in the company of their more common fellows, the stilts and oystercatchers. There is a long swale behind it, where the small, starry flowers and the rushes and sedges of the saltmarsh grow and, at the northern end of the beach, a charming small freshwater wetland flows to the sea.

How could I possibly not have known about them?

Janet Hunt

Janet Hunt is the author of Wetlands of New Zealand, which won the 2008 Montana Medal for Non-Fiction.

Wetlands are havens for birds, such as this dotterel, serving as feeding and breeding grounds and stopover points for migrating birds.

World Wetlands Day World Wetlands Day is held each year on February 2 and aims to raise awareness of the importance of wetlands for our planet’s health.

This year’s theme, Upstream – Downstream, emphasises how interconnected we all are within river basins, and how we can be affected by the activities of those upstream – and how our own activities affect those downstream.

For more information go to www.ramsar.org

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Trips 3 times daily.

Bookings essential. www.oceanwings.co.nz

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

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

Encounter Kaikoura is a Green Globe certified business

FOREST & BIRD • FEBRUARY 2009

27

Licence to kill The New Zealand sea lion is an endemic protected species that is severely depleted and is now officially in decline. Helen Bain asks why the Government has just approved a 40% increase in the number of sea lions the fishing industry is permitted to kill.

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F

Rob Suisted/naturespic.com

OR the last eight years “summer holidays” for Department of Conservation marine mammal scientist Louise Chilvers have been replaced by “a long and chunderous boat ride” about 500km south of New Zealand to the sub-Antarctic Auckland Islands.

There Chilvers is one of a team of six housed in two tiny huts for at least two months on rugged, windswept Enderby Island, where they monitor New Zealand sea lions.

Only 60km long and 44 metres high at its tallest point, and encircled by steep cliffs and covered in dense, tangled vegetation and chest-high tussock, Enderby isn’t exactly easy to roam around.

The nearest neighbours are a couple of albatross researchers on Adams Island, but it’s not like you can just drop in for a visit – the daily radio call to Stewart Island is vital for safety reasons but it is also provides much-needed social contact with the outside world.

The temperature on Enderby averages about eight degrees in summer and the team is rarely out of polypropylene, gumboots and wet weather gear, but Chilvers wouldn’t miss it for anything.

Most of her work centres on Sandy Bay, where New Zealand sea lions congregate in breeding colonies over summer.

Eighty-six per cent of the population of New Zealand sea lions are found at the Auckland Islands, and most of the rest are on Campbell Island. They were once found right around the coastline of mainland New Zealand, but their population was massively reduced in the 1800s, when they were hunted for their blubber.

New Zealand sea lions now number about 12,000 and all live on the subAntarctic islands. There are no established breeding colonies on the mainland – just a handful of sea lions are found off the coast of southern New Zealand.

In the Auckland Islands the females come ashore to give birth in December, and within 10 days have mated and are pregnant again. Their routine alternates between about one day on shore with their pups and two days at sea feeding.

Though the massive male sea lions aggressively defend their territories and harems against rivals – Chilvers compares a fight between large numbers of the males to “a massive pub brawl” – they pose little danger to researchers.

A mother sea lion sniffs her pup for recognition before heading out to sea to feed – where she risks being entangled in squid fishing nets.

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Rob Suisted/naturespic.com

New Zealand sea lions loll in the sun with a backdrop of flowering southern rata (Metrodsideros Umbellata). Enderby Island.

“They are amazingly calm and peaceful animals. Even a fully-grown male is accepting of you being there.”

The much smaller, pale golden females, which are staunchly protective of their pups, pose a greater risk to inquisitive humans and a few unwary researchers have been bitten by over-zealous mums. Sea lion mothers have a very strong bond with their pups, Chilvers says.

“Once we saw a mother, whose pup had died while she was away, sit in the place where her pup had been and call out for it for seven days. It was the most heartbreaking thing I have ever seen.”

Chilvers monitors the sea lions’ movements around the Auckland Islands.

The team throws a net over a sleeping female sea lion, pins her flippers to her sides and anaesthetises her with a gas mask before attaching a satellite transmitter to her fur. The resulting data shows they swim hundreds of kilometres in search of food and dive to incredible depths – as deep as 600m.

The team also monitors sea lion pup numbers, and tags the flippers of the pups to identify them and monitor survival rates. Monitoring has revealed a decline in the number of pups being born in the last decade. In the late 1990s about 3000 pups were born each year on the Auckland 30 FOREST & BIRD • FEBRUARY 2009

Islands but births have fallen to just over 2000 now.

New Zealand sea lions have been classified as threatened since 1997, and last year the World Conservation Union (IUCN) listed them as being in decline – the first time this has been officially recognised.

Disease epidemics in the 1998, 2002 and 2003 breeding seasons in the Auckland Islands wiped out a large percentage of the populations, killing 53, 32 and 21 per cent of pups in those years, and at least 75 adult females in the 1998 epidemic.

Chilvers says such epidemics are believed to be naturally occurring incidents, but because the sea lion population is so low it may lack the genetic diversity which once allowed large populations to withstand such events.

Fisheries also kill sea lions as “by-catch,” mainly in the squid fishery around the Auckland Islands, where an allowable kill quota is set each year. Although the sea lions are fully protected under the Marine Mammals Protection Act the fishing industry is permitted to kill a set number of sea lions as “incidental” by-catch in its trawl nets – once that number is reached the fishery must close.

Given that about 82% of sea lions killed in trawl nets are female, and highly likely to be pregnant and also have a pup on shore,

effectively each sea lion killed in a fishing net equates to three sea lion deaths: the mother, its unborn pup and the pup which then starves to death on shore.

Last year that limit was set at 81, but the fishery is estimated to have killed 46 over the season. For the coming season newlyappointed Fisheries Minister Phil Heatley has increased the sea lion kill quota to 113 – 40% more than last year.

Since 2001 the fishery has used sea lion exclusion devices (or SLEDs) which comprise a metal grid that in theory allows smaller animals like squid to pass through into the nets while allowing sea lions to escape through an opening above the grid.

However, many of those working in marine mammal conservation have doubts about the efficacy of SLEDs – autopsies revealing severe fatal injuries on sea lions which have “escaped” via the SLEDs suggest it is likely that in many cases the sea lions are seriously injured and may not survive after escaping the nets.

In 1995 the sea surrounding the Auckland Islands to 12 nautical miles offshore was declared a marine mammal sanctuary to protect the sea lions, and in 2003 the area was also designated a marine reserve. Trawling is banned within the area but as sea lions forage over a much wider range than the protected area, they still get w w w. f o re s t a n d b i rd . o r g . n z

Rob Suisted/naturespic.com

Pups in forest

Female New Zealand sea lion, Stewart Island. Only a few sea lions remain on the coast of mainland New Zealand, though they were once abundant here.

killed in trawl nets.

Forest & Bird has called for the marine mammal sanctuary to be extended to all waters less than 500m depth around the Auckland Islands, which would protect the sea lions over most of their range.

It is also calling for the sea lion kill quota in the squid fishery to be reduced to zero by 2013 – a 20% reduction each year. Forest & Bird Marine Conservation Advocate Kirstie Knowles says Heatley’s decision to raise the sea lion kill quota is shocking.

“Killing an endemic species that is already severely depleted and in decline is not acceptable,” Knowles says. “This is just giving the green light to the industry to kill more. We don’t condone the killing of whales and dolphins, so why do we set a known kill limit that says ‘OK, you can go out and kill this many sea lions’?”

Trustee of the NZ Sea Lion Trust, Simon Childerhouse, says the trust shares Forest & Bird’s concerns about the impact of fishing by-catch on the sea lion population.

The trust and Forest & Bird have serious reservations about the reliability of the model used to calculate the number of sea lions which the squid fishery is permitted to kill without having an adverse impact on the sea lion population.

“There are real flaws in the model.

We think it estimates a much higher level w w w. f o re s t a n d b i rd . o r g . n z

of ‘sustainable’ by-catch than would be advisable, given that sea lion pup production has declined by 30% in the last decade.

We think they need to use a much more conservative model.”

Fisheries Minister Phil Heatley claims the sea lion kill quota he set was “conservative.”

“I was given a range of options from 87 to 149, so I chose the second most conservative option. I have to consider two things: the effect on the sea lion population and the effect on the commercial fishery.

That’s what I did.”

Heatley (who, incidentally, has never seen a sea lion) also claims he took into consideration the elevated threat status of the sea lions when making his decision, but contends that the higher kill quota “poses quite minimal threat to their vulnerability.”

The minister says the fishing industry is committed to “minimising harm” to the sea lion population, yet, by increasing the kill quota, he has given the industry no incentive to reduce by-catch deaths. In fact, he has done quite the opposite: he has literally given the industry a licence to kill.

Female sea lion with new-born pup, Sandy Bay, Enderby Island.

31

Rob Suisted/naturespic.com

Surrounded by their harems of females, male sea lions fight to hold territories. Enderby Island

What you can do: • Write to Fisheries Minister Phil Heatley (post – no stamp required – to Parliament, Wellington; or email phil.heatley@parliament.govt.nz) to share your concerns about sea lion by-catch, and urge him to set a lower kill quota in future.

• Avoid buying squid until the fishing industry commits to and achieves significant reduction in sea lion by-catch deaths.

Rod Morris

• If visiting beaches in southern New Zealand where sea lions are present keep your distance and do not disturb them.

Sea lion pups wait on shore for their mothers to return from foraging trips to sea.

The pups of sea lions killed in squid fishing nets will slowly starve to death.

32 FOREST & BIRD • FEBRUARY 2009

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ANZANGwinners

Wild shots

ANZANG Nature’s annual photography competition aims to encourage photography of Australasia’s wildlife and nature. We highlight some of the best entries in the 2008 competition.

Overall Photographer of the Year winner Allen Peate crept into a Queensland freshwater billabong before daybreak and waited for several hours to capture his winning image of two egrets fighting. “A fight broke out just in front of me and I was lucky enough to get a series of shots.”

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ANZANGwinners

At first you might think this leafy sea dragon captured by Western Australian photographer Shannon Conway was a piece of floating seaweed – exactly the trick this creature uses to fool predators. Shannon spent a total of 14 hours over five days in the water to get the shot.

34 FOREST & BIRD • FEBRUARY 2009

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ANZANGwinners Overall Portfolio winner Andrew Trowbridge was Highly Commended for his photo of gannets courting at Cape Kidnappers. “The activity is quite overwhelming at times and I kept missing shots because I was constantly changing lenses to capture everything.

I realized I needed to concentrate on one thing. They were very active in their courtship display and I spent more than 30 minutes with them and came away with the image I was after.�

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ANZANGwinners

Overall Portfolio winner Andrew Trowbridge was also the winner of the threatened animals and plants category with this shot of a New Zealand falcon and chick in Southland.

Andrew spent eight weeks establishing a hide within eight metres of the nest before the falcon laid her eggs. He then spent many days watching the pair of falcons incubate and hatch their eggs and feed their two chicks until they fledged.

36 FOREST & BIRD • FEBRUARY 2009

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ANZANGwinners

Ironically Verena and Georg Popp of Austria had to move fast to capture this perfectly still image of Mt Taranaki and its reflection. They had waited a couple of days for a clear view of the mountain and when the clouds finally shifted in the late afternoon they made what was normally a three-hour hike in just half the time to reach their location while it was still light.

ANZANG

Nature and Landscape Photographer of the Year 2009

Tasmania photographer Michael Todd photographed this southern elephant seal pup on Macquarie Island (Highly Commended, Animal Portrait) – that’s Michael you can see reflected in its eyes. “The pups are extremely engaging, cute and curious. They are unafraid of humans, bringing home our responsibility to protect the island and its inhabitants.”

‘Kea preening’, Andy Trowbridge, Christchurch, Winner, ANZANG Portfolio Prize 2008

The ANZANG Nature and Landscape Photography competition is conducted by the South Australian Museum Subjects must be photographed in the bioregion of Australia, New Zealand, Antarctica and New Guinea Entries close April 17th, 2009 For competition rules, entry details and prizes see website; www.anzangnature.com For enquiries contact Anah Guy, +61 8 8207 7426, FAX: +61 8 8203 9805, email: Guy.anah@saugov.sa.gov.au

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FOREST & BIRD • FEBRUARY 2009

37

A basket of birdlife Photos by Tom Marshall

Feeding wrybill Ch

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75

Te Waharoa Lake Ellesmere

a

aro

Ak

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ors

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Juvenile banded dotterel,

Lake Ellesmere, or Te Waihora, was once known as “the fish basket” but these days it is its birdlife which is most abundant, Tom Marshall discovers.

T

E WAIHORA Lake Ellesmere probably wouldn’t be the first choice for the cover of a New Zealand tourist brochure. Standing on its brown muddy shores in a blasting southerly, you could

be forgiven for wanting to close your eyes and whisk yourself to the mirror-calm and postcard perfect lakes of Mackenzie Country or Fiordland. But this unassuming stretch of water just 20 minutes from central Bar-tailed godwit

38

Lake Ellesmere, Kaitorete Spit, Pacific Ocean

Christchurch has a secret.

Within this surprisingly shallow lake (around 1.4 metres at its deepest) there are birds – lots of them. Nearly 100,000 birds are found here at peak times (that’s equivalent numbers to the human population of Dunedin), with up to 168 different species, making Lake Ellesmere the most diverse site for birdlife in New Zealand.

That’s not bad for a tea-coloured pool next to State Highway 75.

At around 200 square kilometres in size, Te Waihora, as it is also known, makes up in breadth for what it lacks in depth. Seasonal fluctuations in water levels and weather can take the lake from raging white-caps one day to the perfectly still “fly-thru” restaurant for arctic wading birds the next. Kilometre after kilometre of muddy spring shores are perfect for feasting wrybills, banded dotterels and visitors such as red knots and bar-tailed godwits.

These same shores regularly attract rarer diners such as curlew sandpipers, rednecked stints and even the occasional black stilt/kaki, whose appearances are relished Caspian terns

among the local birdwatchers.

For local residents like lakeside farmer Colin Hill, the rewards can be even greater.

After 30 years of patiently scouring the lake for that “something special,” his impressive record of birds spotted here now includes stilt sandpiper and greenshank – some of New Zealand’s rarest feathered tourists. Even the casual observer en-route to Akaroa may be rewarded with a group of regal looking royal spoonbills feeding just a few metres offshore.

Although still an inspiring view from nearby Banks Peninsula, the lake is now only about half its historical size: it once stretched to the nearby township of Tai Tapu and much higher upon its seaward spit, Kaitorete, which separates the lake from the Pacific Ocean. Nearly 30km long, the spit is the perfect vantage point to glimpse plungediving gannets, Caspian terns and on calmer days, Hector’s dolphins.

Revered in Maori history as the most bountiful lake in the South Island – it is also known as “Te Kete Ika Rakaihautu” or “the fish basket” – Te Waihora traditionally provided food ranging from eels and

flounder to swamp hen and brown teal.

Fed by dozens of tributaries from local springs to a 270,000-hectare catchment stretching to the Southern Alps, the lake has undergone fundamental change in recent years, mostly due to reduced inflow, extraction and run-off of groundwater across the neighbouring Canterbury Plains.

Added to this depletion, the onceabundant beds of Ruppia grasses at the heart of the lake’s ecosystem were lost in the Wahine storm of 1968. Before the storm, Ruppia stablised the lake bed, provided shelter for small fish and maintained a population of up to 100,000 brown trout.

This lakeside vegetation also provided a home for many wetland birds.

Despite these changes, the lake’s wildlife is hanging in there. A group of those concerned about the lake’s health, including conservation bodies, the Department of Conservation, Ngai Tahu and community groups such as the Waihora Ellesmere Trust (WET) concluded at a recent symposium that the lake was far from death’s door, and confirmed their commitment to measures to Red necked stint

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Red knot

Black stilt

Pied stilts

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restoring its health.

With threatened endemic species such as the wrybill visiting Te Waihora in their hundreds and rare breeding birds such as Australasian bittern found among the reeds, Te Waihora is a site of major importance for birds. Hamish Rennie of WET says it is likely the lake already meets the criteria for recognition under the international Ramsar Convention, which would demonstrate its value to conservation in New Zealand and beyond.

With 10,000 cyclists on the lakeside Little River Rail Trail last year alone, there are also plans to develop visitor facilities at Lake Ellesmere, starting with a research station in partnership with Lincoln University at the end of 2009. “We hope to give many more people the opportunity to appreciate the sense of space and the natural and cultural values of Te Waihora in years to come,� Rennie says.

Securing a healthy future for the lake is at the heart of the local community, with farmers involved in regeneration of vegetation and management of stock along waterways, while community planting days, school visits and international volunteer schemes are all helping to raise awareness of this environmental treasure. Te Waihora certainly has a special place in the hearts of many, from those who live along its shores to those who simply stop to enjoy the sunset along the lakeshore. Although perhaps no longer the bountiful fish basket it once was, Lake Ellesmere deserves a secure future for the thousands of birds who depend on it, and for those visiting New Zealand to enjoy our natural wonders.

With so much to offer, perhaps Te Waihora is front-cover material after all.

Young Forest&Bird

RANGATAHI

Kiwi: Dick Veich, Ruru: Ian Gill/DOC

Looking after our lizards

Jolene gets up close to a Wellington green gecko.

M

OST 13-year-olds could count cats, dogs and the odd bird amongst their pets, but Katikati College student Jolene Anthony can proudly say she looks after 11

different species of native geckos and skinks in her own backyard.

At the age of seven, having always been interested in native animals, Jolene was given a rescued skink by a friend to look after. Her family realised that a permit was needed from the

James Griffiths

By Jenny Lynch Common gecko looking out to sea, Mana Island.

Jolene encourages people to create lizard-friendly gardens and to be aware that their family cat can be a ruthless predator if not kept well fed or shut in at night when many lizards are active.

She enjoys all aspects of her involvement with keeping lizards

Department of Conservation to keep native lizards in captivity

but finds their behaviour and different temperaments the most

– as Jolene was too young to hold a permit herself, her parents

interesting. Her geckos display natural behaviours, like “barking”

got one instead. Jolene joined the New Zealand Herpetological

to challenge perceived threats, being adept at climbing trees and

Society to find out more about keeping lizards and her passion

actively hunting insects within their enclosures.

for the reptiles has grown from there.

With her parents support Jolene has also become involved in

Jolene says breeding and looking after lizards is a big commitment but well worth the effort as the long-term survival of

the Department of Conservation’s captive breeding programme for

the wild populations is very fragile, and she hopes her contribution

two species of gecko, including Duvaucel’s gecko (Hoplodactylus

will help our unique lizard species survive.

duvaucelii), New Zealand’s largest gecko, which is confined to offshore islands off the North Island and in Cook Strait.

For more information about lizards, go to the New Zealand Herpetological Society website: www.reptiles.org.nz.

Jolene is planning to start breeding the rare Otago Skink (Leiolopisma otagense) soon and hopes to eventually add the geckos she has bred to the wild populations through releases

A common skink: Jolene says many people are surprised to learn that we have lizards in New Zealand because they are not often seen.

coordinated by DOC. The passionate lizard fan and her family have also taken their lizards to universities, schools and kindergartens to raise public awareness about how to protect them. “People are surprised to find that we have lizards in New Zealand, because they don’t often see them,” Jolene says. “But people are keen to help conserve them after we tell them about the need to protect their environment.” w w w . f o r e s t a n d b i r d . o r g . n z

FOREST & BIRD • FEBRUARY 2009

41

goingplaces

Lochmara Bay, left, from the trail to Queen Charlotte Track.

Baywatch

S

Sounds lodge where the birds sing the

Marina Skinner

praises of the owners’ pest control.

42 FOREST & BIRD • FEBRUARY 2009

Marina Skinner

TEP off the water taxi, walk the jetty and cross into the slightly magical realm of Lochmara Lodge. A gritty path edged with native grasses rises above the tiny beach and passes black beech trees. Figures carved into hunks of Oamaru stone huddle beside the path, hinting at the quirky character of Lochmara.

To the left is Lochmara’s hub: the restaurant and art gallery, with a large deck above a petanque court. Until a year ago the building was a bunkroom for backpackers but the lodge has moved a few rungs up the price scale and no longer has such cheap accommodation.

The path climbs steeply up the hillside to the chalets. We dump our bags and set off to explore Lochmara’s maze of trails through the 4.5-hectare property. We have a small map to guide us to the Punga People – Maori heads carved into the living trunks of tree ferns. We’re surprised by more carvings – of possums and lizards, too – around each bushy bend. They are the work of a carver with a sense of fun – co-owner Shayne Olsen.

“There’s a lot of inspiration in the environment,” he explains.

We pass aviaries of chattering red-crowned kakariki and their quieter yellow-crowned cousins.

Lochmara has been breeding the yellow-crowned kakariki since the Department of Conservation gave them six birds last autumn. The tally is now 17, and the endangered birds will be released into predator-free areas in the Marlborough Sounds.

More cages contain five species of gecko and tiny whistling tree frogs, which we spot with a torch when we return at night. Marlborough green geckos are being bred for release into the wild.

Chooks wander near the last cage, whose residents are a surprise: two possums. They are there to educate visitors about the damage wrought by these enemies of the forest.

Information boards explain Lochmara’s bait stations and traps, and while we’re reading, a staff member hurries past with a dead possum.

Marina Skinner visits a Marlborough

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

Lochmara Lodge is teeming with bird life, including the kereru, right, snacking on apple tree shoots. Above, endangered yellow-crowned kakariki are being bred for release into the wild. w w w . f o r e s t a n d b i r d . o r g . n z

Marina Skinner

Marina Skinner

Signs about the native plants and animals and Lochmara’s conservation projects are dotted along the trails to educate visitors. School groups come for the day, learning about nature on the entertaining trails. Other visitors come just for the day to explore the property and have lunch or dinner in the café.

Strung between branches are clusters of hammocks, which Olsen made from a bulk lot of unwanted fishing nets.

On a grassy hillside we kick back on a mosaic-upholstered concrete sofa, and on our open-air “TV” watch a yacht glide up the bay. On another bank a giant stone face with a moko – Papatuanuku by Kim Coutts – watches over us.

A gate marks the boundary of Lochmara Lodge territory, and we take the hour-long walk to the Queen Charlotte Track. We follow the gentlyclimbing trail through regenerating native bush and pine trees until we meet the trampers’ highway.

Back on Lochmara land, we wander through the orchard where kereru mooch, nibbling on the apple trees’ young shoots. Sweet-perfumed orange blossom lures us towards the large organic garden where Wwoofers – Willing Workers on Organic Farms – toil. They have their own chalet for sleeping and another one for cooking and lounging.

Lochmara Lodge is a wildlife recovery centre, and the owners – Olsen and partner Louise Bright – have been working with the Department of Conservation for two years, nursing injured weka, kereru, little blue penguins and mollymawks back to health.

In the 15 years that the couple has owned Lochmara Lodge they have worked hard to restore the habitat. They trap and shoot possums and maintain bait stations. Thousands of flax, cabbage trees, coprosmas, koromiko, mikoikoi, lancewoods and kowhai have been planted to attract birds.

Olsen tallies the regular visitors: tui, bellbirds, weka, tomtits, grey warblers, kereru, moreporks, gannets, kingfishers and shags.

FOREST & BIRD • FEBRUARY 2009

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goingplaces Getting there: Lochmara Lodge

Marina Skinner

Lochmara Lodge hosted Marina Skinner, and she travelled to Picton on the Interislander Line.

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Lochmara Bay

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He is slowly clearing the pine trees on DOC land behind the lodge, and so far he’s cleaned up 50 hectares.

Lodge sewage and waste water is treated and sprayed on the bush, and organic waste goes to the garden compost or to the pigs.

Other solid waste is taken to Picton. “Sustainability is our ethos.

When you take from the environment, you have to put something back,” Olsen says. “It’s like fishing – if you keep taking, sooner or later it will run out.”

Lochmara is a hub of artistic activity, with its gallery and many sculptures. It hosts artists in residence, and has summer workshops on subjects including paper making, painting and song writing.

The café has a good range of Marlborough produce on the menu, including mussels and fish, and the food, coffee, wine and service are high quality. My only gripe is that the prices push the lodge out of range for many families and people on tighter budgets, with dinner main courses from $30-$37.

Our timber-lined chalet is essentially one large room, with queen and single beds, a sofa and coffee table. It’s extremely comfortable, with a bathroom and tiny kitchen. But the best feature is the balcony, from where we see boats in the forest-fringed bay. We’re not lucky enough to spot the bottlenose and dusky dolphins and even orca that sometimes pass by.

After dark we take torches up steps to the glow worm grotto through which a creek gurgles. The lights twinkle through the bush, and we can get close enough to the banks to shine our torches on the threads of the fly larvae. Other guests tell us that we should have been on the beach, splashing in the phosphorescent water.

At 5.30am I’m woken by a chorus of tui and bellbirds – boisterous testament to the success of pest control in the area. It’s not quite the raucous dawn chorus that two centuries ago woke Joseph Banks at Ship Cove, but it’s a heartening start to the day.

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A sculptured sentinel looks out over Lochmara Bay from the lodge.

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Marina Skinner

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OR travel on the Interislander from Wellington to Picton, go to www.interislander.co.nz.

Lochmara Lodge is in Lochmara Bay, Queen Charlotte Sound, and can be reached by a 15-minute boat trip from Picton or on foot. Lochmara’s water taxi runs to and from the lodge three times a day. Walkers on the Queen Charlotte Track can make a an hour-long detour to the lodge along a well-marked track.

Rooms range from ensuite double rooms without water views ($85 off peak/$90 peak a night) to luxury chalets with a queen bed, bathroom, kitchenette and lounge ($220/$240). Family units and chalets have two single beds and a queen bed. Peak season rates are from December 24-February 28 and Easter weekend.

Day packages to Lochmara Lodge start at $50 for boat rides to and from Picton and entry to Lochmara trails.

Telephone: 03 573 4554, website: www.lochmaralodge.co.nz

Waikawa

Picton 1

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Art and nature are a good fit at Lochmara Lodge, including Papatuanuku

by Kim Coutts, left, and a mosaic sofa, right.

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Marina Skinner

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Birds at the bar

Wairau Lagoon from the Wither Hills.

HE enthusiasm of our bird-watching guide, Will Parsons, never flags, even when he’s leaping in and out of his four-wheel-drive to unlock farm gates. He has permission from the owners of Vernon Station on the southern edge of Wairau Lagoon, near Blenheim, to cross their birdrich land, and we took the trip as a side-excursion to our stay at Lochmara Lodge.

As we bump along the farm tracks, tall grass rippling in the wind beside us and climb the side of the tawny Wither Hills, brown creepers fly into manuka branches beside the track.

From the top of the hill are extraordinary views of the Boulder Bank and Wairau Bar, where in 1939 schoolboy Jim Eyles discovered a moa hunter burial site, along with Polynesian tools and ornaments.

Returning to sea level, we stop for coffee from Parsons’ thermos near White Bluff, the seaward end of Wither Hills. We scramble down a bank and walk for half an hour in a startlingly narrow, weatherworn chasm, which Parsons jokingly refers to as his crack, since he stumbled on the little-known area.

Back in the vehicle, we cross into DOC land at the start of the Boulder Bank. Today the Wairau Lagoon is a muddy shade as the wind whips up the sediment. Last year Parsons saw a shore plover here – the first seen in the South Island, he says. A pied shag is on a branch poking up from the lagoon, spoonbills are hoovering up small flounder and insects, while kingfishers line up on power cables.

The knowledgeable and friendly Parsons rattles off a long list of the birds he’s spotted on other tours of the area – black stilts, black-fronted terns, godwits, pipits, white-faced herons and more – but they’re staying out of the wind and out of sight today.

Driftwood Eco-Tours are $260-$350 each for an eight-hour guided four-wheel drive tour, including pick-up in Blenheim area and lunch. Telephone: 03 577 7651, website: www. driftwoodecotours.co.nz

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FOREST & BIRD • FEBRUARY 2009

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in the field

The private life of sea shells

by Ann Graeme Illustration by Pamela Robinson Sea shells are the little houses that molluscs build and, like any good house, they are designed to keep out enemies.

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OLLUSCS are plump, soft-bodied creatures and they have plenty of predators: other molluscs, crabs, fish, sea gulls – and people – would like to eat them. The sun and the wind are enemies, too, for they would dry out the soft bodies, so a stout shell is a good investment.

Molluscs are an ancient group, having been around for more than five hundred million years and over the aeons they have evolved a great variety of shells. The most familiar are the spiral shell of the cat’s eye snail and the twin shells of the bivalves, pipi, tuatua and cockle.

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IVALVES have made the shifting sands their kingdom. The bare sand is a dangerous place, bereft of shelter, pummelled by the waves and swept by the currents. Bivalves like the tuatua burrow beneath the sand, putting up snorkels into the danger zone on the surface.

Digging isn’t easy but the tuatua exploits the sand’s peculiar properties. Wet sand is firm but if stirred it becomes runny. The tuatua wriggles its foot to turn the sand to slurry, then plunges its foot down, pauses to let the sand firm up and then drags its shell down after it.

Once buried, the tuatua opens its shells just a crack and pokes its two snorkels (properly called siphons) up to the sand’s surface. Seawater is drawn down one tube

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and passes across the gills. They extract oxygen for breathing and filter out plankton, the tuatua’s food. Then the used water is expelled out the second tube.

By any yardstick, this is a boring life but it has the great advantage that the meals are regular. Plankton is so prolific that it can support vast beds of burrowing bivalves as well as feeding the oysters on the rocks and the rafts of farmed mussels.

Washed up on the beach, the bivalve shells break apart as the muscles holding them together decay. Many of the shells crunching under your feet will be these half shells. They are easy to identify because they are scoop shaped and they always have a hinge.

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IVALVE molluscs have two shells.

Gastropods have a single shell (except for the slugs, which have given up shells entirely). Gastropods crawl on their muscular foot – the same organ that the bivalve has adapted for burrowing.

Like the garden snail, the cat’s eye snail grazes – not on lettuces, but on seaweed.

Every tide brings in seaweed spores and they germinate to carpet the rocks in an invisible fuzz of tiny plants. The cat’s eye crawls slowly along, scraping the tiny plants off the rocks. Within hours a fresh crop will spring up behind it.

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CAT’S eye’s shell is roomy. When it’s knocked off the rock or a seagull pecks it, the cat’s eye retreats into its shell and closes the door with a stopper. But on the exposed rocks where the waves are wild, a bulky shell is just too cumbersome. A flatter shell is safer: a mound like the paua shell or the coolie hat of the limpet. They too are gastropods and if you look carefully you will see the spiral beginning of their shells.

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HE limpet and paua are grazers too, but not all gastropods are so bucolic.

Among the rocks and under the sand lurk carnivorous snails, their siphons sniffing the water currents for food. Some like dead meat, some like their meat alive and some aren’t fussy which they find. A sniff of a sick cockle and the whelks called grey scavengers will surge out of the sand and hurry to be first at the feast.

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HE brown rock whelk is much bigger than the grey scavenger and it tackles bigger, healthy prey. At its approach, a cat’s eye will retreat into its shell and close the stopper. It’s to no avail. The whelk will envelop the cat’s eye and start to bore a hole through the heavy shell, rasping its sandpaper tongue back and forth. It’s a big job and it takes a long time – up to two days – before the whelk can squeeze its thin proboscis through the hole and suck out the snail. But it’s worth the effort – a feed like that will last the whelk several months.

The shells of the sea snails give clues to their owner’s lifestyles. The aperture of a carnivorous snail has a distinctive notch where the snail put out its siphon to smell for food. The aperture of a grazing snail will be perfectly round, for its owner had no need for a siphon to sniff with.

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HE flat-hatted limpet hugs the rock with its broad foot and can survive the buffeting waves. But its shell doesn’t fit so snugly where the rocks are rough. This is where the chitons have an advantage.

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HITONS are a group of molluscs whose shells are made of eight interlocking plates. They can crawl over bumps like caterpillar tractors and dip into the shelter of pits in the rock when the tide goes out, so they can survive pounding waves which would dislodge a limpet. When a chiton dies its shell breaks up and the pieces can be found on the beach as shell “butterflies”.

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VERY walk on the beach is different because every tide brings in fresh offerings.

Sometimes global weather changes bring us exotic shells from far away, but even when the sea is calm and the shells familiar, there is always something to see on the beach.

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Itinerant Ecologist – Geoff Park

Tot ar a We ed

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EITH Chapple’s Kakahi garden beside the Whakapapa River would have been an apposite place from which to lead Forest & Bird. And at times it looks to me as though its busy birds and trees alike took advantage of his presidential years keeping him away from it, to hurry it back to the wild state.

Local wisdom is that the garden, much admired for its beauty, became neglected because of Keith’s injury in an accident, and subsequent death.

The old cottage Keith lived in was originally a trout fisherman’s, positioned on a cliff-top just above the Whakapapa’s union with the Whanganui, so that an eye could be kept on his favourite pool way below. I like to sit in its veranda on spring evenings, keeping my eye on kereru.

Keith is still a palpable presence on the veranda from which he long contemplated the river whose flows the Tongariro Power Scheme sought to control – a plan that he fought, successfully, to halt.

He would have known well its kereru’s straight-line hurtles across the torrents from their last-of-the-sun roosts high in the far bank’s totara and kahikatea, their lifting-a-bit to clear the big cliff, before disappearing low overhead into the great oaks behind the house.

They’re American oaks, planted long before Keith’s time, along with equally huge oaks, beeches and elms of English ancestry. A beautiful woodland of their exotic crowns arcs over rhododendrons and magnolias in its sprawl to the cliff’s edge.

It seems very Old World, a woodland of the kind you see in ancient parks in England and Europe. In its prevailingly pastoral landscape, devoid of wild, native trees, the woodland seems at home. Yet look close inside and you’ll see that the most abundant trees, by far, are wild, native ones. Most of them, by far, are of one species.

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Thousands of totara seedlings, saplings and even pole trees, push skyward, as though they are in the perfect totara nursery.

Their prevailing youth, and the absence of old totara, suggests that something has happened in the landscape in the last few decades for them to get here, and grow, in such abundance. It has, I suspect, more than a little to do with a cessation in Keith Chapple’s weeding.

Keith knew his birds. And he loved his woodland garden, too, by all accounts. But I wonder whether Keith knew what – in ecological terms – the demands of office taking his attention away from woodland garden management, together with pest control and the consequent boom in bird numbers, would be.

I always feel very at home in the oaks’ and beeches’ fine shade – sometimes even more so than I do in the nearby forest. It’s not just me. Psychologists and human geographers who have surveyed the landscape preferences of people in a multitude of cultures and locations around the world have found a strong predilection for woodland vegetation of big, spreading trees like this in proximity to open, pastoral vegetation.

“Wherever humans are given a free choice,” the Harvard ecologist Edward O. Wilson (who gave us the term “biodiversity”) says in his great book Biophilia, “they move to tree-studded land on prominences overlooking water.” Wilson’s contention is that this “savannah” kind of landscape is the one in which most of our species’ evolution has happened, in which the human brain evolved its responses to the rest of nature.

I have seen many examples of birds, kereru in particular, bringing a forest back from farming, but what I see in the woodland of oaks and beeches that Keith Chapple knew as his garden is among the most vivid. I haven’t followed the meanderings of local birds closely enough to be sure, but I suspect the woodland, its

exotic trees notwithstanding, is a key site in the local return of native forest – and in enabling totara’s supremacy in the process.

A forest ecologist would call Kakahi and its environs serious totara country. Totara inhabits almost every kind of land and, wherever you look, it’s taking it back from paddocks in its urge to make the landscape its own again. Hill after farmed hill is possessed of open-grown spreading totara, fast coalescing into forest. Down on the low terrace beside the Whakapapa, almost every long gravelly sweep of former river bed has been replaced by towering closed forest of trees with 20 – 40cm diameter trunks, almost all of them totara. It looks like a pine plantation put there by people, but it is entirely the work of birds.

Every time it rains hard up around the volcanoes, the flooding Whakapapa takes bits of the low terrace away and topples tall totara into the torrent. It’s most unlikely that the river or the farmer of the terrace will let the new forest be. But when totara is left alone, it can live to a great age, as some local trees attest.

In nearby Owhango Forest, a protected area just upriver, there is a massive tree estimated to have lived more than 1000 years. Not far away, as kereru fly, stands the extraordinary Pouakani Totara at the edge of Pureora Forest. Pouakani’s trunk is three-and-a-half metres in diameter, and it is believed, on the basis of comparison with growth on other, felled totara, to be 1800 years old.

Keith Chapple’s Kakahi garden is now in the care of a fine friend of mine, who is determined to keep it a place of great outlooks. She especially favours the late evening view through the great oaks and beeches to the still sunlit pasture beyond. So much so that she has been observed chain-sawing down branches that might close off the beautiful scene, were they to grow further.

But her entire view will soon become impossible if the thousands

of totara seedlings beneath the spreading oaks grow, as I tell her they will, like the totara down on the low terrace would have once grown. So at her gentle behest, I recently spent time felling and pulling out totara in their hundreds, any of which had the potential to be another 1000-year-plus Pouakani.

It was, in a way, nice work. All around me, a constant traffic of birds, native and not, hurtling beneath and between the trees, readying themselves for their very watchable glide from the cliff down and over to their food supply forest across the river, as though they’ve perfected the weaving route in their memories, and do it on auto-pilot.

But by the time we’d lifted out the threats to the scene, I felt more lumberjack than woodland weeder. We cut round after round of totara, hundreds of them, many in the order of 30mm diameter.

Very soon we had enough totara rounds for all of next winter’s fires, and perhaps for half the winter after that, stacked, drying in the sun. But as I sharpened the chain-saw, I pondered the irony that my “weeding” of Kakahi totara was in a break from a restoration project in which I’d been searching a stretch of the Horowhenua coast for totara from which we could source seed for the plantings.

For weeks later, I couldn’t get the hundreds of wee and not-sowee weeded totara out of my mind. They’d been growing as fast as young radiata pines. And not far away, on my friend’s property, was a strip of land where they could still be growing, as a firewood plantation.

I sought out forester friends who might know of anyone in the district, or elsewhere, who had experience of managing totara growth in a woodlot. The next time I weeded under the oaks, as summer arrived, I did so more carefully because plastic planters were waiting on the veranda for any totara I lifted up and away.

Sara McIntyre

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Paul Vandenberg

branchingout

Manawatu Branch founding members Margaret Greenwood and Michael Greenwood (no relation but a great name for conservationists!) cut the cake at the branch’s 50th celebrations in Palmerston North.

Manawatu celebrates 50 Years of Forest & Bird

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OREST & Bird’s Manawatu Branch celebrated its 50th anniversary in December.

Half a century ago, concerns about the devastation of Manawatu’s natural environment led to support for a Manawatu presence of Forest & Bird.

More than 70 people attended a public meeting and heard speakers voice concerns for what a Manawatu Standard reporter of the day described as “New Zealand’s priceless heritage of bush and vegetation and the menace of deer and opossum.”

The national president of Forest & Bird, R. C. Nelson, spoke of the heritage of the wild, and said the early settlers had reduced New Zealand’s stand of bush from 60 million acres [24.3 million hectares] to 14 million acres

[5.7 million hectares].

As a result of the meeting, Manawatu was granted “section” status, and in 1974 was elevated to full branch status.

Today the branch remains deeply involved in preserving and enhancing wildlife habitats, immediate past chairman (and Executive member and longest-serving Manawatu branch member) Donald Kerr says.

He says Manawatu is one of the more degraded areas of New Zealand, particularly through the loss of its lowland forests and the shrinking of once widespread wetlands to the small pockets that remain.

However, the Manawatu branch of Forest and Bird is full of praise for the work being done by environmentally-conscious

land-owners to preserve small pockets of native habitats on their land. This, allied with Forest & Bird’s own efforts, will help ensure that our children and grandchildren will still be able to experience pieces of original – or close to original – native habitat, branch Chairman Brent Barrett says.

As well as efforts to protect and restore native habitats on land, the branch has been active in calling for improvements to water quality in the region’s rivers, streams and wetlands, in particular the Manawatu River catchment.

One of the branch projects is the replanting of rata in the Manawatu Gorge – in conjunction with possum eradication programmes it is hoped that the project will ensure that the green of Manawatu’s hills will again be splashed red with rata blossom.

The branch’s 50th anniversary was marked with the cutting of a cake and the exhibition of a display of photographs at Te Manawa Museum in Palmerston North.

Six of the branch’s 14 former chairpeople and founding members Margaret Greenwood and Michael Greenwood were among the 100 members and supporters who joined the celebration.

After the many stories from 50 years of branch history were told, the gathering considered briefly the conservation challenges ahead, including global climate change, freshwater protection, and an environmentally sustainable economy – more than enough to keep the branch busy for at least another 50 years.

Forest & Bird Endowment Fund launched

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OREST & Bird has set up an Endowment Fund in conjunction with Guardian Trust to help secure the future financial needs of the society.

The establishment of the fund was made possible by a significant donation by committed benefactors.

Forest & Bird Senior Fundraiser Kerin Welford says planning for long-term financial success is key to supporting ongoing financial sustainability and development of any not-for-profit organisation, and the Endowment Fund will

allow Forest & Bird to prepare for the future.

The fund will provide financial stability and also create a buffer against fluctuations in other forms of income from year to year, guaranteeing that Forest & Bird’s vital conservation work can continue.

An endowment fund provides a source of invested capital held in perpetuity and grown – a portion of the interest generated each year will be used by Forest & Bird to fund its work.

All gifts of donations and bequests given by our support-

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ers to the Endowment Fund will be invested as capital in perpetuity to accrue interest – a portion of which will fund vital conservation projects. That way, donors’ gifts make an immediate contribution to conservation, and continue to support conservation causes in perpetuity.

If you would like to make a donation or leave a gift in your will to Forest & Bird’s Endowment Fund please contact Kerin Welford on free phone 0800 200 064 or email k.welford@forestandbird.org.nz.

New staff Erika Toleman joins Forest & Bird as the Society’s lawyer, based in the Wellington office.

Erika has a law degree from Otago University and has previously worked as a solicitor for Kensington Swan, doing resource management work, and as a tutor in Otago University’s law faculty.

She is also a keen scuba diver and environmentalist.

Anna Cameron will be Forest & Bird’s Resource Management Planner, based in the Christchurch office. Anna has a BSc majoring in geography and a Masters degree in regional resource planning from Otago University. She has worked as a resource management consultant in Queenstown, and her many sporting interests include skiing, climbing, mountain biking, netball, volleyball, touch rugby and tennis.

Maj de Poorter is Forest & Bird’s new Ark in the Park Manager, working on this joint project with Auckland Regional Council in the Waitakere Ranges. Maj has many years’ experience in conservation, and most recently worked at Auckland University on the IUCN (World Conservation Union) invasive species programme. She also played a key role in the Antarctic protection campaign during the 1980s and 90s.

Heather Anderson, who has been working as Communications Officer in the Wellington office, has transferred to the Dunedin office, where she will be South Island Communications Officer.

Changes to tax laws make giving easier

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HANGES to tax laws affecting the 2008-2009 financial year mean you may be able to claim back a larger tax rebate on charitable donations.

Previously there was a $630 limit to rebates on charitable donations – now there is no limit on rebates on donations to charities like Forest & Bird.

We hope these changes will help our supporters’ generosity in helping Forest & Bird’s vital conservation work.

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ud, mud, glorious mud, nothing quite like it for …?

For habitat, of course!

Through the years our much-maligned mudflats have been degraded by infilling, road construction, contaminated stormwater and pollution and industrial development, often around ports. While this legacy of degradation lingers on, attitudes in most areas are changing.

One group of young people seeing mudflats in a new light is the Year 5 and 6 pupils in the Future Problem Solving Group of Hampden Street School in Nelson, who are undertaking research on healthy estuaries and waterways.

Forest & Bird Top of the South Field Officer Debs Martin introduced the group to the values of estuaries, and Kiwi Conservation Club co-ordinator and NelsonTasman branch chairperson Helen Campbell led a visit to two estuaries – the highly modified Nelson Haven (Corder Pond) and the nearly pristine Delaware Inlet.

Tune in to green

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ADIO Live host Graeme Hill is a man with a passion for conservation.

“I grew up in Whangarei right next door to a lovely patch of bush, which served as a superb adventure playground for a kid,” Graeme says. “I suppose this instilled me with a love of the bush and its wildlife but I was pretty ignorant of conservation issues.”

Graeme went on to study zoology at Auckland University. To

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Corder Pond is truncated by a major road and a tidal gate had prevented natural water flows, resulting in a virtually stagnant pond occupied only by ducks and rubbish. With the removal of the gates, the health of the area has improved, with white-faced herons seen there on the day of the visit. The mud, however, was hard and stony, containing only dead shells. Mudsnails, a good estuary health indicator, were scarce.

Delaware Inlet was a different story. The sample bores taken contained more and more life – pipis, cockles and univalves – as the group ventured down to the water’s edge. The surface of the mud was alive with scurrying crabs and mudsnails were much in evidence – coils of about 12,000 of their eggs littered the surface.

The mud at Delaware Inlet varied in composition – the top layer contained life, and deeper down the darker ooze (indicating a lack of oxygen) provided great have at least some understanding of ecologies rather than just knowing Latin names for things changed his world view, he says.

“The seashore would never be the same again - the same applies to all our native ecologies when one gets some idea of what is there and why, and how damned special and often fragile the whole lot is.”

Graeme’s broadcasting career began at student radio bFM Auckland, moved on to TVNZ, Radio Sport and Radio Live, where he hosts Saturday morning and Sunday afternoon.

While conservation topics provide a frequent green thread throughout his shows, Graeme’s Environews feature at 11:15am on Saturdays is a showcase of green issues and the eco-heroes (including many Forest & Bird members) involved.

Graeme is a Forest & Bird member himself and has cleared and planted his Auckland section entirely in natives. He is also a budding conservation campaigner, having launched a campaign encouraging people to plant

Debs Martin

Mucking about with nature

Hampden St school pupils

fun – there was lots of slipping and sliding.

The Wakapuaka River is an integral part of the estuary. The group visited after rain and the sediment transported by the river was obvious. Good whitebait runs were not blocked by manmade structures and ‘baiter Charlie showed the group his three-kilogram catch and demonstrated how the net operated.

Upstream the group considered the problems created by oxygen

weed, rock-walling, gravel extraction, quarrying and forestry.

At the Hampden Street School annual gala in November, the Future Problem Solving Group prepared a video for their healthy estuary project display. Their stall raised more than $160 for the Nelson-Tasman branch’s restoration and pest control project at the remnant coastal forest at Paremata Flats, Delaware Inlet.

Thanks heaps Hampden Street – you’re our kids for the future!

native nettles as a food source for native butterflies – and it was Graeme’s PR skills that propelled the humble grey warbler to the number one perch in the 2007 Bird of the Year poll.

But he says the best way he can contribute to conservation is over the airwaves. “With my weekends taken up on air I just try to do my best to raise

awareness of how special New Zealand’s ecology is when and where I can, and the greatest opportunity is when I’m on air.”

Tune in to Radio Live (go to www.radiolive.co.nz to find your local frequency) to hear Graeme’s shows: 10am-2pm Saturday and 1-4pm Sunday.

Environews airs at 11.15am each Saturday.

Putting trust in the birds

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NEW partnership has been set up to protect and enhance biodiversity in New Zealand’s smallest national park.

The Abel Tasman Birdsong Trust aims to bring together commercial tourism operators, the local community, iwi, landowners and the Department of Conservation for the benefit of biodiversity in Abel Tasman National Park.

The park is renowned for its golden beaches, sculptured granite cliffs, estuaries and native forests. But its native plants and animals have been ravaged by fire, farming, logging, invasive weeds and predators.

Without help, wildlife and habitat will continue to be lost.

Trust chairman Bruce Gilkison says the trust is unique in getting all major tourism operators in a national park to contribute a “birdsong fee” – based on a per capita levy for every visitor they bring to the 22,000-hectare national park – to protect the park and its wildlife.

The trust plans to undertake projects to protect and restore the Park’s birdlife, mainly focused on predator control.

To find out more about Abel Tasman Birdsong Trust go to www.abeltasmanbirdsong.co.nz.

FOREST & BIRD • FEBRUARY 2009

51

branchingout

Ruapehu lodge to be rebuilt

F

OREST & Bird hopes to rebuild an eco-lodge to replace its Ruapehu Lodge, which burned down in October.

The lodge, which was built in 1965-66, was destroyed in a fire – the cause is not known but

the blaze was not thought to be suspicious.

Forest & Bird General Manager Mike Britton says the lodge was the perfect location from which to explore Tongariro National Park, and was much

loved by the many Forest & Bird members who had stayed there.

Rebuilding of the lodge is planned, potentially as an “eco-lodge” incorporating environmentally friendly building materials and features such as

solar water heating.

Executive member Jon Wenham, who is leading the team working on rebuilding, says the news of its loss was devastating, particularly to those members, families, and friends who had used the lodge for more than 40 years.

“However, we must accept the loss and make the most of the opportunity to build an attractive, environmentally friendly and energy-efficient building which Forest & Bird can be proud of, and that will encourage further generations to explore and appreciate New Zealand’s first national park.

It is not expected that there will be any problems gaining the Department of Conservation consent needed to rebuild in the national park, and it is hoped that a new lodge will be completed reasonably quickly, allowing for sometimes extreme weather on the mountain site.

Insurance will cover a large part of the cost of a proposed replacement lodge, but fundraising, donations and sponsorship will still be required to complete the project.

Special guest for KCC celebration

T

HE Waikato branch of the Kiwi Conservation Club celebrated KCC’s 20th anniversary with a night walk on Maungatautari Mainland Island and a meeting with a threeweek-old kiwi chick.

The chick, Te Koingo, was being transferred from Kiwi Encounter in Rotorua to Maungatautari and stopped at Matapihi, Maungatautari’s education facility, to meet club members and get its tracking transmitter attached.

“We couldn’t think of a better place to celebrate the club’s 20th anniversary than at the iconic Maungatautari restoration project, KCC Waikato coordinator Chris Eames says.

“Maungatautari is being created for future generations and that is exactly why our organisation was developed – to encourage young people’s interest in conservation.”

When KCC booked its celebration months before the event

organisers had no idea that the visit would include a meeting with a kiwi, Chris says.

“To get up close to Te Koingo was really special for children and parents. It was a wonderful experience and something for our club to treasure.”

Te Koingo, meaning something treasured or yearned for, is Robin and Horokio’s second chick for this season. The chick’s sponsor, Kiwi Camping Company, is keen to contribute to conservation – Marketing Manager Kelly Frederickson says sharing the kiwi experience with KCC was the perfect start to the sponsorship deal.

Following the kiwi experience, wildlife photographer and Maungatautari guide Phil Brown and education coordinator Gemma Green escorted 100 children and parents along the Rata Track in the southern enclosure to see the forest night life. The group climbed the forest canopy viewing tower and

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stopped to say goodnight to the kaka in the aviary before getting up close to weta, kokopu (native fish) and a selection of spiders.

The Kiwi Conservation Club (KCC) is a national organisation run by the Royal Forest and Bird Protection Society. It is unique to New Zealand and aims to help children aged between 5-12 years old enjoy and understand the environment, and to develop a concern for protecting and

conserving it.

The Waikato branch of KCC was formed in the early 1990s and has almost 350 members.

The branch meets once a month for family-oriented weekend activities such as bushwalks, caving, fossil hunting and native plantings.

KCC membership is available to schools, groups and families – go to www.kcc.org.nz.

JS Watson Conservation Trust Applications are invited from individuals or conservation groups for financial assistance for conservation projects for the 20092010 year.

This Trust is administered by Forest & Bird.

Application procedures and forms can be downloaded from our website – www.forestandbird.org.nz.

For further information email office@forestandbird.org.nz or write to: JS Watson Conservation Trust Forest & Bird Preliminary applications close PO Box 631 June 2009 Wellington

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oneofus

Rod Morris

Bat Man to the Rescue

B

RIAN Lloyd’s unofficial job title may be Bat Man, but you’re more likely to find him in tramping gear than a cape and tights.

Based in Forest & Bird’s Nelson office, Brian is undertaking surveys of native bats in the top of the South Island in the hope of finding our more about these elusive nocturnal creatures.

He first became interested in bats while researching kakapo on Codfish and Little Barrier Islands, where his work involved investigating the impact of pest control poisons on non-target species, including bats. He ended up researching bats – and has a PhD in the ecology of the short-tailed bat.

Short-tailed and long-tailed bats have quite different habits: short-tailed bats are found in large populations in their thousands in large areas of old forest, while long-tailed bats occur in much smaller populations and are found in smaller forest areas and surrounding farmland.

Brian says his genetic research suggests there were probably as many as 12 million short-tailed bats in the central

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Southern short-tailed bat, Codfish Island

North Island alone just a century or two ago, and both long-tailed and short-tailed bats have experienced catastrophic population decline since.

No one has tried to put a figure on the present-day longtailed bat population, and Brian estimates there are about 50,000 short-tailed bats. Destruction of forests and predation by introduced species has probably contributed to their decline.

Very few New Zealanders have ever seen a native bat, as they are small, fly very fast (40-60kph) and only come out at night – in the daytime they sleep inside cavities in big, old trees. Even for experts like Brian, tracking down bats can be challenging.

“They are a fascinating animal but they can be very frustrating to work with. You can find a roost of five or six thousand bats, and then the next night they are 10km away. It can be quite a chase to keep up with them.”

Brian and his team of volunteers are using bat detectors, which convert the bats’ high-frequency sounds into an audible frequency, to try to establish where bat populations are located. If successful they

will hopefully then secure funding to keep even closer tabs on bats by attaching transmitters to them. By finding out more about the bats they also hope to learn more about how to most

effectively protect them.

If you would like to help Brian with the bat project, you can contact him at: b.lloyd@forestandbird.org.nz 03 545 8222.

“Bat Man” Brian Lloyd at work.

FOREST & BIRD • FEBRUARY 2009

53

bookreviews

New Zealand Journey

By Verena and Georg Popp, Craig Potton Publishing, $49.99

N

EW Zealand Journey is the result of Vienna-based photographers Georg and Verena Popp’s travels around New Zealand.

It contains well over a hundred full-page colour photographs, mostly of natural landscapes, but also some wildlife shots, taken from all over New Zealand. Apart from the introduction, which will be fairly ho-hum to New Zealand readers, they let the largeformat images in a clean, simple format speak for themselves, to good effect.

Many of their subjects – Franz Josef Glacier, Pancake Rocks, nikau berries and so on - will be well familiar to New Zealand eyes, and many a photographer’s lens. In some cases the photographs fail to bring much that is fresh or new to the familiar sights, but in others they really pack a punch in letting us see things in – sometimes literally – a new light.

The book’s postcard-pretty vistas are impressive, in particular the stunning shot of Mt Taranaki reflected in a mountain tarn, but I found the smaller, simpler images – soft light on river boulders, surf washing over a shingle beach – most effective.

New Zealand Journey is also available in pocket format ($19.99) but you would obviously lose much of the wow factor of the large format.

Helen Bain

Light & Landscape

By Andris Apse, Craig Potton Publishing, $150

A

NDRIS Apse captures heroic expanses of New Zealand – from the nuggety rockscape of Stewart Island to the grass-clad Cape Reinga at first light.

All his photographs are on a grand scale, and the large-format book on heavy paper shows them at their finest.

Don’t be fooled into thinking the images are the result of a serendipitous click of a shutter. The preface reveals that Apse – who lives in Okarito on the West Coast – works hard to capture the scenes, hauling heavy camera gear into remote spots and enduring

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A Continent on the Move: NZ Geoscience into the 21st Century

Plant Heritage New Zealand

Chief Editor Ian Graham, Geological Society of NZ/GNS Science, $50

By Tony Foster, Penguin, $50

T

HERE’S a lot of ground to cover in an overview of New Zealand geoscience.

A Continent on the Move is a colossal, 350-page round-up of what scientists know about our land – what we see and what we can’t see – the tectonic plates that shape the land, and how it’s all changed over many millennia.

Technical information is simplified for the general reader, and small panels highlight gems about, for instance, fossil pollen found in paleo-gardens and the massive Matakitaki landslide triggered by the 1929 Murchison earthquake. Maps, diagrams and graphs flesh out the text further, and a good glossary explains terms used.

History is in the spotlight, whether it’s relatively recent, with recounts of fossil or technological discovery in the past 200 years, or rocks that go back 250 million years. But the present and the future are not overlooked, with illuminating details of what life in a greenhouse may entail.

Dozens of New Zealand geoscientists have written for the book – which marks the 50th anniversary of the Geological Society of New Zealand in 2005 – and it’s a terrific tribute to the pioneering work of their forebears.

Marina Skinner frightful weather. And then there are his feats of endurance as he waits hours or even days for a change in the light or weather.

For a stomach-churning shot of a fishing boat almost being dunked, Apse timed a helicopter ride with a severe storm off the Fiordland coast and persuaded a fisherman to take out his boat.

He probably risked the lives of the fisherman, the pilot and himself – but what a shot!

Cross-country skiers at the top of Fox Glacier gaze at the landscape of snow, rock and cloud. How lucky they were to

T

HIS attractive book looks at the unique characteristics of New Zealand’s plants, and what makes them among the most remarkable in the world. It delves into the origins and evolution of individual plant species, how they have inspired songs, poems and works of art, stories and proverbs, and their many uses as a natural resource.

The book is in two parts: an introduction to New Zealand’s remarkable plants, and the main section of the book, where author Tony Foster describes the features of a selection of indigenous plant species, including conifers, flowering trees, climbers, shrubs, grasses, herbs and ferns.

He lists the plant’s classification, names, botanical description, traditional and modern uses and cultural heritage. The book has a nice design and lay-out, and is beautifully illustrated with the author’s own photos. It is a pity that some spelling mistakes, incorrect captions, use of old plant names that have since changed and instances of sloppy language (for example “bracken is abundantly common”) have slipped through the editing process.

The book has a strong focus on the importance of native plants to Maori, which adds to the uniqueness of the book.

Aalbert Rebergen have been part of the dramatic play of light on landscape that Apse caught.

Marina Skinner

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Fiordland Fiordland Ecology Ecology Holidays Holidays

Walk the West of Ireland “immerse yourself in the landscape, the culture, the cuisine & the character of Ireland”

MASIHAMBE AFRIKA TOURS

www.walkthewestofireland.com Phone: Rachel Ryan 03 545 1071

South Africa, Zambia & Botswana including Victoria Falls August 2009 For full itinerary contact us: info@masihambeafrika.co.nz Cell phone 02102781762

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

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

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

The Ohau Conservation Trust is raising funds to remove wilding trees and other weeds, and plant mountain beech, kowhais and snow tussocks around Lake Ohau, Mackenzie country.

Donations (tax deductible) will reach the Trust at PO Box 102, Twizel 7944.

Even a small sum will help buy some native seedlings.

www.ohau.org.nz

25 DAY WILDLIFE SAFARI

Banks Peninsula Track www.bankstrack.co.nz

Lake Waikaremoana & Tongariro Guided Walks

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

Viewing of nesting colony from October to March.

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South America

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

Southern Alps form a backdrop and Franz Josef approx.

30 kilometres on tarsealed road.

Cost $70 PER FAMILY Extra Adults $10 per night

Patagonia

Further enquiries contact Elspeth Scott, 19 Ngamotu Rd, Taupo 07-378-9390 email: ElspethScott@xtra.co.nz

Small Group Hiking Tour

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

23 days departs 15 Nov 2009 Freephone 0800 874 748 www.southernexposuretours.co.nz

BIORESEARCHES CONSULTING BIOLOGISTS AND ARCHAEOLOGISTS ESTABLISHED 1972

Environmental Impact Studies Surveys of Marine, Freshwater & Terrestrial Habitats Pollution Investigations Resource Consent procedures Archaeological; Historic Places Appraisal bioresearches@bioresearches.co.nz www.bioresearches.co.nz P.O Box 2828 Auckland PH: AUCKLAND 379 9417 Fax (09) 307 6409

2000 Toyota Prius

Generation 2, 4 Door Sedan 1500cc Petrol-Electric Hybrid Engine automatic • 86,000km • light blue in colour • 2 x airbags • abs brakes • factory alloys.

The Toyota Prius is a very economical car with a fuel economy of 4.2 Litres per 100 kilometres.

Also its emissions are 90 percent lower than a conventional car of the same size!!

Help your pocket and the environment and purchase a Toyota Prius Today!!

Price $12,500 with free delivery nationwide • Senna Holdings Limited, RMVT. Phone (027) 594 8200

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www.latinlink.co.nz

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

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

Guided Walks

The Original Kahurangi Guides

N.Z. Kea Art Pottery Bowl

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

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

Bush & Beyond

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

From Comfortable Lodge stay to Off track wilderness backpacking.

Including: Heaphy and Cobb Valley and much more!

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

www.bushandbeyond.co.nz

PHILPROOF

PEST CONTROL PRODUCTS

WIPEOUT: Possums, Rodents, Mustelids, Rabbits Standard & Mini Philproof Bait Stations & Timms Traps Rodent Bait Stations and Block Baits. Rodent Snap Traps Fenn Traps (MK4 & 6), Trap Covers – Double or Single Also available: Monitoring Tunnels & Bird Nesting Chambers Phone/Fax 07 859 2943 Mobile 021 270 5896 PO Box 4385, Hamilton 3247 Website: www.philproof.co.nz Email: philproof.feeders@clear.net.nz

FOREST & BIRD • FEBRUARY 2009

55

bookreviews

Exploring the Hauraki Gulf

Rare Birds Yearbook 2009

By Linda Bercusson and John Walsby, Craig Potton Publishing, $34.99

Edited by Erik Hirschfeld, BirdLife International, £18.95 ($NZ53.50)

E

XPLORING the Hauraki Gulf is both a handy practical guide to the gulf and an interesting source of information about its plants, animals, geography and human history.

The practical information is well-presented and easy to use (in particular the excellent three-dimensional maps and fact box information on how to get to the area’s key attractions) are very useful and will make this guide an essential item to take on any trip in the area.

Just as important, given the potential impact of the fact that more than 40% of New Zealanders live within easy reach of the Hauraki Gulf, the book provides excellent advice on what visitors need to do to make sure they protect the Gulf’s wildlife and wild places.

Given that the authors have had to pack a large amount of information into a relatively small-format book, the layout and design is amazingly uncluttered.

More than 200 colour and historical photographs do justice to the Hauraki Gulf’s splendid scenery and fascinating plant and animal life. Again, the choice of cover shots doesn’t do much to promote the wealth of beautiful images inside.

Helen Bain

T

New Year’s Honours

Dr Michael Floate of the Upper Clutha branch received the QSM for services to conservation and mountaineering. As well as his long service with Forest & Bird, he has been involved with Federated Mountain Clubs, is a member of Otago Conservation Board and is a former Guardian of Lake Wanaka.

S

EVERAL Forest & Bird members were named in this year’s New Year’s Honours.

Christine Henderson, a stalwart of the Southland branch, received the MNZM for services conservation. She has been involved in conservation in Southland for more than 35 years, including being a driving force on campaigns focussing on energy generation and native logging.

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HE 2009 Rare Birds Yearbook is the second edition of this guide to the world’s most threatened birds, and adds more than 130 new photographs, and considerably updates content from the 2008 edition. New Zealand and its offshore territories are represented with nine species.

As a directory, the book’s aim is to include a great amount of detail, so it is is tightly-packed, but nevertheless manages an attractive presentation and some stunning photographs. It is a shame though that the quality of the paper is not better as it doesn’t really do justice to the photographs in particular.

As well as exhaustive information about each species, the yearbook has sections on the organisations working to protect birdlife, and a checklist from birdwatchers so they can tick off everything from your sapphirebellied hummingbird to your Madagascar fish-eagle.

The yearbook is published in association with BirdLife International and £4 from every copy sold goes towards bird conservation.

New Zealand readers can order the yearbook online at www.rarebirdsyearbook.com.

Helen Bain

Fraser Ross, a mainstay of the South Canterbury branch, received the QSM for services to conservation. He has been active in environmental protection for more than

Chatham Islands Heritage and Conservation Edited by Colin Miskelly, Canterbury University Press, $39.95

C

HATHAM Islands Heritage and Conservation was first published in 1996, and this much-revised edition includes two new chapters, 190 new photographs (for technical reasons none of the originals were available) a glossary and previously overlooked species such as fungi, spiders, snails and the Chatham Island skink.

Many of the contributing writers, including Miskelly, have extensive experience working in the Chathams, and are experts in their fields of knowledge, so it is an authoritative account of the islands’ human and natural history. With authors such as historian Michael King on board, it is also an easily approachable read that captures the essence as well as the science of the place.

There are some lovely photographs in the book, which made me wonder why a not particularly inspiring shot was chosen for the cover, but that is a minor quibble about an attractive and informative book.

Helen Bain

40 years, contributing to projects including Arowhenua Bush, Conways Bush, serving on South Canterbury Conservation Trust and helping save the black stilt.

Murray Hoskin, a past winner of Forest & Bird’s Old Blue Award, received the QSO for services to conservation. A former deputy director-general of conservation, he was instrumental in establishing Paparoa and Whanganui National Parks, and establishing marine reserves. w wwww. w f o. fr eo sr et as n t adnbdi rbdi .r o d r. o g r. n g z. n z

FOREST&BIRD number 329 • AUGUST 2008

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

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

Inside: your lift-out election guide

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

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

Membership Details

To give a gift membership complete the recipient’s details here and your details over the page

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Title (please select): Miss / Mr / Mrs / Ms / Other

Fold here

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For Kiwi Conservation Club (Junior) memberships please provide each child’s full name. Attach additional pages if required.

Address Town/City

Postcode

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Phone

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

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

Family memberships Make this a family membership, at no additional cost.

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$ Fold here

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

No. of additional magazine $24 Forest & Bird

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

x

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57

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

Giving a membership as a gift

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

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

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

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

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*Should the membership fee be increased Forest & Bird are authorized to automatically increase this amount.

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

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

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

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

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

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

- The accuracy of information about Direct Debits on bank statements.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Run Wild!

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

Explore our wild places with your local Kiwi Conservation Club.

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

Join us at www.kcc.org.nz

60 FOREST & BIRD • FEBRUARY 2009

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branchdirectory

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

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

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

Tel: (09) 236-9722.

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

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

Tel: (09) 424-7171.

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

Tel: 021 271 2527.

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

Tel: (07) 866-5583.

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

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

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

Tel: (09) 432-7122.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Tel: (07) 886-7456.

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

Tel: (07) 378-5975.

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

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

Tel: (07) 573-7345.

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

Tel: (07) 863-8455.

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

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

Tel: (03) 308-5620.

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

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

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

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

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

Secretary, Lynda Neame, PO Box 896, Blenheim 7240.

Horowhenua Branch: Chairperson, Robert Hirschberg; Tel: (03) 578-2013.

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

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

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

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

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

Tel: 021 0245 7340.

Tel: (04) 970-6457.

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

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

Tel: (03) 686-1494.

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

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

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

9840. Tel: (03) 248-6398.

Rangitikei Branch: Chairperson, Hugh & Diana Upper Clutha Branch: Chairperson, John Turnbull; Stewart; Secretary, Betty Graham, 41 Tutaenui Road, Secretary, Denise Bruns, 4 Stonebrook Drive, Wanaka Marton 4710. Tel: (06) 327-7008.

9305. Tel: (03) 443-5462.

South Taranaki Branch: Chairperson, Dave Digby; West Coast Branch: Chairperson, Kathy Gilbert; Secretary, Lynda Sutherland, 39 High Street, Eltham Secretary, Carolyn Cox, 168 Romilly Street, Westport 4322. Tel: (06) 764-7479.

7825. Tel: (03) 789-5334.

lodgeaccommodation Arethusa Cottage An ideal place from which to explore the Far North.

Near Pukenui in wet-land reserve. 6 bunks, fully equipped kitchen, separate bathroom outside. For information and bookings, contact: John Dawn, Doves Bay Road, RD1, Kerikeri.

Tel: (09) 407-8658, Fax: (09) 407-1401.

Email: johnfd@xnet.co.nz.

minutes from Auckland. Enquiries with stamped addressed envelope to: Robin Griffiths, 125 The Strand, Onetangi, Waiheke Island.

Tel: (09) 372-7662.

William Hartree Memorial Lodge, Hawkes Bay Situated 48km from Napier, 8km past Patoka on the Puketitiri Rd (sealed). The lodge is set amid a 14ha scenic reserve and close to many walks, eg: Kaweka Range, Balls Clearing, hot springs and museum. The Tai Haruru Lodge, Piha, West Auckland lodge accommodates up to 15 people. It has a fully A seaside haven set in a large sheltered garden on the rugged West Coast, 38km on sealed roads from equipped kitchen including stove, refrigerator and microwave plus tile fire, hot showers. Supply your central Auckland. Close to store, bush reserves and own linen, sleeping bags etc. For information and tracks in the beautiful Waitakere Ranges. Double bedroom and 3 singles, plus large lounge with wood bookings please send a stamped addressed envelope burner, dining area and kitchen. Self-contained unit to Mike and Linda Hay, 172 Guppy Road, Taradale, has 4 single beds. Bring food, linen and fuel for fire Napier 4112. Tel: (06) 8444651.

Email: hayhouse@clear.net.nz. and BBQ. Off peak rates apply.

Booking: Jean and Peter King, 10 La Trobe Track, Matiu/Somes Island, Wellington Harbour Karekare, Waitakere City. Tel: (09) 812 8064.

Joint venture accommodation by Lower Hutt Email: hop0018@slingshot.co.nz Forest and Bird with DOC. A modern family Waiheke Island Cottage Located next to our 49ha Wildlife Reserve, 10 mins walk to Onetangi Beach, general stores etc. Sleeps up to 8 in two bedrooms. Lounge, well-equipped kitchen, separate toilet, bathroom, shower, laundry.

Pillows, blankets provided. No pets. Ferries 35 w w w. f o re s t a n d b i rd . o r g . n z

Upper Hutt Branch: Chairperson, Barry Wards; Secretary, Vacant, PO Box 40875, Upper Hutt 5140.

Tel: (04) 97-4266.

Wairarapa Branch: Chairperson, Geoff Doring; Secretary, David Aldersley, 75 Kent Street, Carterton 5713. Tel: (06) 379-7446.

Wanganui Branch: Chairperson, Esther Williams; Secretary, Ray Hutchison, PO Box 4229, Wanganui 4541.

Tel: (06) 345-2651.

Wellington Branch: Chairperson, Donna Sherlock; Secretary, Janet Coburn, PO Box 4183, Wellington 6140.

Tel: (04) 971-8200.

home with kitchen, 3 bedrooms, large lounge and dining room, just 20 mins sailing by ferry from the centre of Wellington or 10 mins from Days Bay. Ideal place to relax in beautiful surroundings, with accommodation for 8. Bring your own food and bedding and a torch. Smoking is banned everywhere

on the island, including the house. For information sheet, send stamped addressed envelope to: Accomodation Officer, PO Box 31-194, Lower Hutt.

Tel: (04) 934-0559 or (04) 569 2542.

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

Tautuku Lodge, Otago State Highway 92, Southeast Otago. Situated on Forest and Bird's 550ha Lenz Reserve 32km south of Owaka. A bush setting, and many lovely beaches nearby provide a wonderful base for exploring the Catlins. The lodge, the Coutts cabin and an A-frame sleep 10, 4 and 2 respectively. No Animals.

For information and rates please send a stamped addressed envelope to the caretaker: Diana Noonan, Mirren St, Papatowai, Owaka, RD2.

Tel: (03) 415-8024, fax (03) 415-8244.

Email: diana.n@clear.net.nz

FOREST & BIRD • FEBRUARY 2009

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Top performers that won’t let you down With each of our stores stocking over 7500 products from 150 different suppliers, we are able to offer the best performers in each category.

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

Exped DownMat 7 Pump

Features: – 700 fill goose down filling dramatically reduces heat loss; foam baffles prevent down escaping through the valves and shifting from one chamber to the next – Laminated, polyester fabric is UV and abrasion resistant, slip proof, and air tight – High-frequency welded construction – Baffled chambers eliminate cold spots – Over twice the insulation of most self inflating mats – Unique integrated pump for rapid intuitive inflation The new Exped DownMat 7 is 178cm long, 52cm wide and a luxurious 7cm thick yet it compacts down to a roll only 24cm long and 14cm in diameter and weighing in at 900gm. A massive R-value* of 5.9 is produced by its 170gm fill weight of 700 loft goose down. $219 RRP *R-value = Relative Warmth. The higher the r-value the more insulating the sleeping mat will be.

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