Blogger: Mandy Herrick, Web Manager for Forest & Bird
The march of pivot irrigators through some of our most iconic landscapes continues unabated. New territorities are being sought everyday - and drylands are being dressed up in lush pasture and filled with cows.
Several applications to green our russet brown McKenzie country are currently before Environment Canterbury. In order to see what we’d be losing, we travelled through this stunning downy landscape and spoke to people about how they felt about the impending transformation of the Mckenzie.
Please note: This video is a whole eight minutes long - if you’re strapped for time, then please watch this 4 minute vid.
P.S I’d like to pass on my thanks to some of the people who helped in the making of this video - Anne from Alpine Recreation, Karl Z, Julie Barry, Natasha Turner and Garth. All the photos featured in the piece were taken by Gottlieb Braun Elwert.
Three local product designers who created the world’s first multi-kill trap are now on the brink of unveiling a whole new suite to pest-killing devices.
Named after pioneering conservationist and kakapo lover, Richard Henry, the tree mounted trap delivers a blow to the head of stoats using a CO2 powered piston, and then re-sets itself.
Our re-homed Hutton’s Shearwaters will soon be enjoying top notch security.
The splinter population was successfully transplanted to this seaside spot over the last few years by DOC and Forest & Bird after concerns were raised about the precarious nature of their two predator prone mountainside colonies.
Now, local conservationists are swiftly moving into stage two – creating a gated community.
Department of Conservation ranger, Matt Sidaway, has mastered the art of speaking like a bird. And not just one bird, he’s fluent in bellbird, fantail, robin (the north island dialect) and parakeet. In this video, he shows you how to whistle your way into a feathered friendship.
Guest Blogger: Forest & Bird Field Officer, Debs Martin
Hey, do you remember the first time you plunged into a cold mountain stream and resurfaced, your breath shocked from you, your body quivering with the cold and the excitement of the water. If you’re like most New Zealanders, you’ll have a favourite river hidden not too far from home.
Line fishing, for many of us, is an imaginative exercise.
And if you’re anything like me, before you drop your line into the water, you’ll press your nose almost against the water’s glassy surface, and peer into its inky depths in an attempt to see what bounteous life it contains.
These days if you’re lucky the tug of your line will help to answer this question. If not, your imagination is left to fill the gap, so to speak.
The statistics will leave your imagination reeling.
The UN has estimated that 70% of the world’s fisheries are now exploited to their limits, over-exploited or depleted. In this year’s Best Fish Guide , several types of fish have slipped in our rankings. Two of them are types of tuna (bigeye and yellowfin).
Guest Bloggers: Campaign Manager for the Welcome Swallow, Phoebe Borwick & Haddon Smith
The Welcome Swallow is a newcomer on the New Zealand native bird scene. Winging it from Australia in the ’20s, it has made a big impression in its short time on these shores. A welcome addition, it is thought to have come to NZ when its annual migration from the Australian mainland to Tasmania was lead astray by a storm. It is a beautiful bird with dark coat of black and brown and a fiery red underbelly - indicative of it’s deep powerful presence and burning passion for its new home.
Guest Blogger: Campaign Manager for the Saddleback, Emma Gilkison
Attention! Before you rush off to the polls to vote for the most charming bird in the world - the saddleback - I’d like to thank a few people who helped me put this campaign video together. Can we have a round of applause please for musos Dan Yeabsley & Sam Auger, illustrator Kieran Reinhart and video editor/cameraman Davey Boy! Nice one.
