1080, our best mainland pest management tool

Toxin use to control pest species for biodiversity protection is a fairly hot topic in NZ. It’s possibly more of a hot topic than it should be because as conservationists we’re just not very good at arguing against those motivated by agendas rather than cold, hard data. Graeme, in typically simple and modest terms describes some recent results of bird monitoring pre and post toxin applications:

and yet some groups and individuals will still claim reality is contrary to the results, which goes to show how successful and sustainable conservation rests as much on our ability to shift our position in the public consciousness as it does on the good science needed to underpin it.

Conservation Week 2011 – Meet the Locals meets some very generous kiwis

It hardly seems like a few months, let alone a whole year since the last Conservation Week Special. Amazing to think that in the intervening year not only were another 12 episodes of the show filmed but quite a few conservation challenges were met too.

Sunset colours they sky at the mouth of Doubtful Sound

Now more than ever conservation needs to be both understood and valued by the public. Whilst New Zealand’s economy is relatively insulated from the unfolding global financial crisis we are unfortunately not immune. The result is a sea-change in the political view of the economy and a shifting economic view of conservation investment, the result: a shrinking baseline. These tough times mean that now more than ever conservation is looking to individuals and businesses for support and so the perspective and values of those generous individuals and companies count.  The ‘Disneyfication’ of nature in the eyes of the general public (http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/comment/5334136/Few-happy-feet-in-our-forests) means that we risk the fundamental strategy necessary to see competent and far-sighted conservation measures if resource management allows itself to be driven by superficial perceptions and marketing psychology.

Luckily for New Zealand, the majority of those with even a moderate interest in the environment comprehend the need to tackle the real issues – protecting habitat, controlling and eradicating invasive pest species and managing the interests of our precious fauna and flora. So against this stressful backdrop this years’ Conservation Week Special focuses on the contribution made by some very special private individuals to the greatest cause on earth, trying to protect something of what we have now, to pass on to the next generation.

Rock wren, hanging on in our alpine ecosystems

So this years programme focuses on the generosity, vision and commitment of three individuals and their businesses. We start off with John Steffens of the Fiordland Lobster Company  who have supported the ambitious project to return kokako to the forest of Fiordland through reintroducing North Island birds back into the habitat of their now extinct southern cousins. We then see the fabulous contribution the Liz Colins, founder of the leading environmentally and ethically sound designer clothing company Chalkydigits to restoring the fauna to the remote and pest eradicated Chalky Island. Finally we meet with Greg Hay of Peregrine Wines  who’s personal passion, as with our other guests, has lead him to support and become thoroughly involved in the conservation of a number of our most threatened bird species through his relationship with the Fiordland Conservation Trust.

If you think businesses supporting conservation is nothing more than ‘greenwashing’ or a cynical marketing ploy then please take a look at this: CWS2011

Meet the Locals Conservation Week Special episode now available

The full half hour programme is now available to view. I hope you enjoy the exciting wildlife and breathtaking scenery. I’m so glad we got the Archey’s frogs into the show because they have a remarkable story to tell, and whizzing about after takahe shows just how exciting being a wildlife biologist can be but as we could have predicted, the kakapo stole the show, and Manu, who we filmed was an absolute star aided by beautiful Anchor Island and a stunning afternoons worth of weather.

There isn’t a YouTube version yet but you can download straight from the TVNZ website through this link: http://tvnz.co.nz/meet-the-locals/meetthelocals-s2010-conservationweek-video-3782678

Thanks also for all the very kind and positive feedback, it’s really great to know that the programme had impact and that the message came across loud and clear: we are only going to have those wildplaces and species that we look after and we need public (and private sector) support to make that happen.

Meet the Locals – Conservation Week 2010

The promo is now out for the show and is hopefully hooking a good audience.  Of course it’s totally cringe-worthy to see yourself prancing about on-screen but hopefully the message is delivered sufficiently clearly to the public to make any sense of a loss of personal dignity entirely worth it.

I’m heading to Auckland Zoo this Sunday for the promotion of the show and to get the ball rolling for a week of events that make up Conservation Week 2010. My heart goes tight at the thought of being in front of the public, it’s much easier to be relaxed about your enthusiasm when somewhere remote with only a small film crew. Fortunately I’m extremely busy with other conservation projects so I don’t have too much time to dwell.

You can also see the video promo and more information about conservation week and TVNZ’s activities at: http://tvnz.co.nz/meet-the-locals

Conservation Week ~ filming ‘Meet the Locals’

Ever year the Department of Conservation and the broadcaster TVNZ come together to celebrate and promote conservation in New Zealand. This year the task fell to me to help out writing and presenting the message.

An Auckland TV crew slightly out of their usual environment

With global economics pushing environmental management ever further from the priority list of governments, now more than ever it’s critical that the public be informed of how vital their support of environmental care and investment is. We in the world of conservation also have to make more of an effort to communicate the relevance of the environment to those that live an urban lifestyle and for whom biodiversity and ecosystems are a distant concept at best. So with this in mind I’ve invested my best efforts in helping to craft a programme that will engage those with an interest but also communicates that it’s not our job alone! We conservation biologists and managers can only do the work if the public wants it done.

Anchor Island Kakapo shoot

So the team and I all have our fingers crossed that we’ve crafted a clear and strong message that viewers will understand and be engaged by. It’s a hard balance, especially when broadcasters, thanks to the ratings wars, will always feel obliged to cater for the lowest common denominator, but I’ve faith that the viewing public is usually smarter than they are given credit for.

The TVNZ crew enjoying island life, DOC ranger style

Once finished we’ll link the TVNZ Meet the Locals page to a downloadable version of the programme and I’ll link it to this site.

a presenters eye view

Emerald Gems, the green widlife secrets of Whenua Hou

Codfish Island, or Whenua Hou as it’s known in Te Rao, truly is a gem in New Zealand’s environmental crown. The island sits just of the coast of Stewart Island, far enough to be out of range of most swimming pests and as such has been free of the introduced mammals that plague mainland New Zealand for more than 12 years.

Approaching Codfish Island

Our reason for heading to the island was not only to continue the care of kakapo, our most threatened and dare I say charismatic species but to also investigate a potentially new species of gecko.  A number of sightings had been made of a bright green gecko on the island, and given the high degree of endemism amongst the lizard species on Stewart Island, there was a good chance that the animals in question might be new to science. A tiny biopsy was collected and measurements taken – we now await news.

A track name speaks a thousand words

DOC scientist, Dr. Hitchmough emerging from the Pakahe

We were also trialing some new reptile detection devices – lizards and especially geckos are extremely hard to observe in the deep south of New Zealand.

Herpetologists attaching cover object to tree

Night searching became a focus of our survey, and meant we also delighted in seeing may of the other nocturnal forest wildlife of this beautiful island. Not least the main focus of the islands management: kakapo. Whilst quietly working through the forest it was simply magical to come across kakapo quietly going about their nocturnal business of exploring the forest for food. Their quiet and delicate movements are a privilege to observe and allow a real appreciation of how perfectly evolved they are for a life in temperate rainforest.

Silent and delicate, a kakapo explores it's environment

Finally our surveying for geckos paid off and we located a green gecko (Naultinus sp.)! Over 200hrs of searching was required but what a prize! These geckos are nearly invisible until you well and truly ‘have your eye in’.

A Naultinus gecko, invisible in it's shrub home

With the job done we had to leave this amazing island and return to the office to write reports – but not before jamming more people and gear into a helicopter than most would think possible!

In windy conditions the only way off the island is by chopper

Rugged Islands

Amazing timescapes of Fiordland

These fabulous time-lapse were put together by my good friend Luke Padgett, who worked with our alpine herps team on a number of expeditions in Fiordland.

If you can't see the link below go to: http://vimeo.com/9664385

Fiordland Thaw from Luke Padgett on Vimeo.

It's so hard to capture the grandeur of this environment but this little sequence goes a long way to conveying the sense of wonder we all feel when working in this magnificent landscape.