Why do we need a National Policy Statement for Indigenous Biodiversity (NPSIB)? The 2018 State of the Environment report identified we had over 4000 plants and animals in New Zealand at risk of extinction. And despite some doing better under intensive management, many are still quietly slipping away. Our approach needs to change. The Resource […]
Crawling out of my tent at dusk, I noticed the erratic flight of a long-tailed bat high above the kahikatea trees surrounding the Pelorus Bridge Campground. That sighting led not only to five years of surveys for these elusive creatures across the top of the South Island, but also the instigation of a pest control […]
Euphoria often takes a while to sink in. Shock. Disbelief. They’re the emotions that come first. And so with the Mokihinui. A river I know intimately, having been tossed into it from a raft at the whim of a wave. On Tuesday, Meridian Energy announced its withdrawal from plans to dam the Mokihinui, the mighty […]
Blogger: Forest & Bird’s South Island Field Officer, Debs Martin My first visit to the Stockton and Denniston Plateaux was in January 2006 when I went with a crew of Forest & Birders to support the commencement of the 3 year long occupation of Happy Valley to stop a planned extension of Solid Energy’s opencast […]
Blogger: Forest & Bird’s South Island Field Officer, Debs Martin. It’s a crisp winter’s Sunday morning – no cloud and not a breath of wind – and I’m loaded into a car with three outdoors-type men getting ready to achieve our G.O.A.L. – Get Outtatheoffice And Live; or Grub Oldmansbeard and Annihilate with Loppers (I […]
Blogger: Top of the South Field Officer, Debs Martin At dusk on a warm November evening in 2005, I was crawling into my tent for a bite of dark rich warming chocolate and spotted the erratic flight path of what looked like a swallow above the giant kahikatea trees encircling the Pelorus campground. The ‘bird’s’ crazy […]
Blogger: Top of the South Conservation Advocate, Debs Martin “You’ve got it lucky”, a West Coaster said in reference to the weather forecast. And indeed we had. This river receives 6 metres of rainfall a year –half of this usually falls in the month of October. Labour Weekend – and we were set for […]
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 […]
Last year, on a dusty hot summer’s day, I decided to take the slow road from Blenheim to Christchurch. Armed with my trusty little 4WD, a tent, lots of snack foods, a large swimming towel, binoculars, and a camera; I felt well prepared to enter the vast tawny landscapes of South Marlborough and explore the […]