Conservation Minister, Kate Wilkinson’s dismal decision to reject the application for a 530 ha. marine reserve inside Akaroa Harbour highlights once again the current Government’s callous attitude to nature conservation.
The reserve application was lodged by the Akaroa Harbour Marine Protection Society (AHMPS) in 1996. It survived for 14 years through government processes, at least six Ministers of Conservation and consideration by the Maori Land Court only to be rejected by the Minister because of her perception of undue adverse effects on recreational fishers.
This is ignoring public opinion given that 2334 (73%) of the 3043 submissions which DoC received supported the marine reserve.
On Monday, we rolled into wind-lashed Raoul island – an anvil-shaped volcanic island at the northern edge of the Kermadec ridge.
The island has poor anchorage and setting foot on the island was further complicated by the fact our dinghy’s motor was now defunct .
Under the watchful gaze of three Galapagos sharks, we sent a flippered crew member ashore with a line, lowered our dinghy into the water, and used the line as a guide.
We then climbed into the mule (all terrain vehicle) and headed round to the DOC base on the north side of the island.
Energy and Resources Minister Gerry Brownlee still seems to be suffering from gold fever despite having to swallow a bitter pill when public opinion sank his plans to mine Schedule 4 protected conservation land.
The government’s backdown over Schedule 4 was a great victory for the conservation cause but we need to realise the fight to save some of our great landscapes and endangered animals and plants is far from over.
The government — and Gerry Brownlee in particular — is setting the scene for a further assault on our wild places by claiming the public consultation over removing Schedule 4 protection secured a mandate for mining on non-Schedule 4 conservation land.
The minister has said the mandate to mine more non-Schedule 4 conservation land was made clear in TV polls but such a question was never asked. He also said the same mandate came through during the public consultation but again, the question was not asked.
Ahoy thereI I am coming to you from the rollicking, rolling hull of the SV FalconGT.
Karen at the helm
This whole typing business is a one handed affair because I need the other hand to clutch the table while gripping the side of the seat with my thigh!
We are on our fourth day at sea and we’re just short of Raoul island - the Kermadec’s largest and northernmost island.
On Monday we were blown from the mainland and quickly found ourselves flanked by a cavalcade of 12-15 commons dolphins – a cracking good omen.
Later avian chaperones saw us on our way - white fronted and Caspian terns wheeled overhead, grey-faced petrel skittered past and even an albatross swooped in to pay us a visit.
Blogger: Forest & Bird’s Lower North Island Field Officer Aalbert Rebergen
Avian citizenry in this country is a mind-boggling, byzantine thing - something that is given and then snatched away at the whim of government based on fickle, flimsy criteria.
Rook, photo: creative commons
Take for example – the rook – an introduced bird that was brought here to control insects and remind settlers of home.
It comes from a family of hooligans - such as jays and crows – and shares their hoarse cry and plucky demeanour.
Reviled by many, this bird has been the target of much persecution, and many would like to see it wiped from the face of New Zealand care of a few humanely-aimed bullets.
I’m part of a group of five scientists and conservationists departing Whangarei on ‘SV FalconGT’ this Sunday to listen out for whale chatter near the Kermadec trench – a deep trench to the far, far north-east of New Zealand.
Physically, the Kermadec trench is defined by an extensive, volcanic and highly active submarine arc extending from White Island to Tonga.
In the 1800s American whalers killed hauled in great numbers of sperm and right whales around this deep-sea trench and it is well-known migratory route for humpback whales, so it hoped the ocean will be alive with whale-conversation!
One species we’re especially interested in is a group of more enigmatic cetaceans – beaked whales.
Blogger: North Island Conservation Manager Mark Bellingham
Pimping your pavement, guerrilla gardens, nature deficit disorder - everywhere you look there’s a new buzz word to describe city-goers desire to bring the wilds back into their cities.
Hundertwasser House, Vienna
All cities evolve in different ways depending on aesthetic and economic imperatives but sadly across the board, wildlife has been given the heave-ho.
One man that tried to bring nature back into our cities resided right here in his twilight years - the Austrian architect Friedensreich Hundertwasser.
As a kid he dreamed of cities covered in garden rooftops and living breathing buildings that changed their colours with the seasons.
Blogger: Forest & Bird’s Conservation Advocate Nic Vallance
What an exciting twenty-four hours it has been!!! When the news broke last night I was so shocked and then excited I shed a few happy tears!
First let me say a huge THANK YOU and CONGRATULATIONS to all of you who submitted, signed, wrote, shouted, and marched on the government’s proposal to open up our most precious public conservation lands to mining. Your grandchildren will thank you for it!
It is a monumental day for the protection of our most precious places and native wildlife today - and it is great to see that the Government has listened.
From my personal point of view – it’s a huge relief, and also it has made me extremely proud to have been a part of this campaign.
Blogger: VUW Research Fellow and West Coast Committee Member, Brian Anderson
Recently, I attended a renewable energy strategy meeting for the West Coast, on behalf of Forest and Bird.
The meeting was sponsored by Development West Coast and came after statements last year from West Coast Regional Council CEO Chris Ingle that council should “explicitly promote the West Coast” as a power exporter and lobby the Government to change the Conservation Act to enable more use of conservation land. So it was with some trepidation that I went along.
I was pleasantly surprised then, when the energy users and suppliers, district council staff, conservation groups and recreationalists, pretty much all agreed that the West Coast should aim to be self sufficient in electricity, not a net exporter. This would mean only modest amounts of additional generation are required.
