Forest & Bird

We love the enthusiasm of our budding young conservationists – both for our native manu, and building traps to protect them!   Last week on the Whangaparāoa Peninsula, @Pest Free Hibiscus Coast's Jenny Hanwell and Charlie Thomas visited @Gulf Harbour School, the closest school to Shakespear Open Sanctuary.   The year 5 and 6 tamariki enjoyed a special #BirdOfTheYear assembly where they learned about native birds and the threat of introduced predators, voted for their favourite bird, and held their breath as one of their teachers demonstrated a rat trap using “Simon” the sock rat!   Each class joined volunteers Derek and Julian and built their own wooden rat trap boxes. Parents could register to take the finished rat traps home and set them up alongside the other 2,000 Hibiscus Coast residents who are part of the backyard rat trap project.    Tamariki also filled in their Bird of the Year “tell us your why” speech bubbles and worked on persuasive writing about the importance of predator control – both of which the PFHC team enjoyed reading.   FYI – when the votes came in, it was a close call between the tūturiwhatu northern dotterel and the kōtare kingfisher (PFHC’s bird of choice this year!) It’s not too late! Make sure your Bird of the Year vote is counted – go to www.birdoftheyear.org.nz and pick your fave five manu. Voting closes this Sunday 15 September at 5pm.

Forest & Bird has been sharing the wonders of nature with New Zealanders through its magazines for 100 years. The Forest & Bird magazine turns 100 this month (September 2024) making it one of the longest-running magazines in the country. Containing a treasure trove of environmental and social history, Forest & Bird is working with the National Library of New Zealand to digitise all 100 years of the magazine. You can see the first 50 years here https://lnkd.in/gG2xjnGg. The remaining 50 years should be online by the middle of 2025. For our 100th birthday issue: 🌿We celebrate the power of hope and action in conservation as embodied by Dr Jane Goodall 🌿Jo Tilson explains how a Forest & Bird branch has been working for three decades to save mohua in the Makarora Valley 🌿Our freshwater advocate Tom Kay explains how the local community came together to stop Lake Taupō becoming polluted in the 1990s. 🌿Professor Steve Trewick talks about his exciting discovery of a new genus of cave wētā on the Denniston Plateau during a Forest & Bird bioblitz. 🌿Conservation ecologist Dr Manu Davison PhD and our regional manager Dr. Chantal Pagel explain why protecting nature’s diversity is vital for human wellbeing. 🌿Meet new president Kate Graeme. 🌿And read about DNA detectives, an ode to alpine flowers, forest bathing, steampunk penguins, and our 2024 Forest & Bird award winners. All this and much more in our Spring issue! 💚 Join Forest & Bird today and receive a free copy of the Spring issue, together we can Fight for Nature. https://lnkd.in/fRFM5Vb

BREAKING: In a major political earthquake the lead has once again changed in #BirdOfTheYear. The karure has lost its top spot to the hoiho yellow-eyed penguin. And the ruru and kākāpō have snuck up the leader board as well. We haven't had a race this close in years folks! It's going to be a close one so get your votes in before 5pm this Sunday at www.birdoftheyear.org.nz

Cantabrians are galvanised for action, after hearing how the Fast-track Approvals Bill is about transferring power from mana whenua and communities to commercial interests – and how this will harm the people and places we love. At the Forest & Bird organised meeting in Ōtautahi Christchurch last night, more than 200 concerned Kiwis heard how the Coalition government is being evasive as it fast-tracks this insidious piece of legislation - and how this bill is one huge welcoming mat for the climate-destructive coal industry. The impassioned speakers at the Forest & Bird organised event last night were: Nicola Toki, Chief Executive, Forest & Bird. Sally Gepp KC, KC and barrister specialising in resource management. Marnie Prickett, Research Fellow (Otago University) and freshwater policy campaigner. Suzanne Hills, Chair of Forest & Bird’s West Coast branch. Jessica Lamb, Forest & Bird Youth Director. We look forward to sharing a video of the night’s highlights soon. Te taiao is in New Zealanders DNA and defines who we are. Join us in our fight against the War on Nature. https://lnkd.in/gjvYkmp6 #WarOnNature #FightForNature #WrongTrack #GivingNatureAVoice

There was a massive turnout at Forest & Bird's Fight for Nature fast-track public in Christchurch tonight. Cantabrians are rightfully concerned about the lack of transparency, and the subversion of our democratic process in order to push through projects that will destroy the places and critters we love. #waronnature #wrongtrack #fightfornature

Like a walk in the native bush! 🌿 This gorgeous tee from Little Yellow Bird Ltd in olive green features iconic species – kiwi, takahē and tuatara – with some kawakawa and fern sprinkled in between 💚 Adults' and kids' sizing available. Or... need more birds in your life? (Who doesn't?!) You can also purchase a design covered with some more of our favourite manu, including kea, kererū and tūī. Available in grey marle or teal and unisex fit. 20% of the proceeds from each sale is donated to Forest & Bird. These tees go easy on nature too, with both designs made from 180 GSM, 100% Organic Rain-Fed Cotton. They can be recycled with Little Yellow Bird at the end of their life ♻️ Pick up your tees today: https://lnkd.in/g7HwSuKv

Still haven't voted for #BirdOfTheYear yet? Perhaps, consider an underbird as part of your vote...? 🧐 Watch Nicola Toki highlight the birds that came back of the flock in last year's competition: https://lnkd.in/gEz8zRDu Read more here: https://lnkd.in/g5vhecMb Cast your vote: https://lnkd.in/gcwMKDg

When the Environmental Protection Agency rejected an application for mining phosphate from the sea floor of the Chatham Rise, off New Zealand’s east coast, it was because “the mining would cause significant and permanent adverse effects on the seabed environment.”     Home to deep-sea corals and unique marine life, this area is also an internationally significant region for its diversity and abundance of seabirds.    But this year Chatham Rock Phosphate announced it had been invited to apply for the coalition Government’s Fast-track Approvals Bill, a new law that would allow companies to bypass past decisions, environmental laws, and scientific evidence.     We’re working to stop the Fast-track Approvals Bill, and to keep protections for our natural environment. New Zealand already has the highest proportion of threatened species in the world. Overriding environmental protections would lead to worse outcomes for nature.    Birds like the Chatham Island tāiko, one of the rarest seabirds in the world, deserve better. They deserve to be protected from mining which could threaten their feeding grounds. Future generations of New Zealanders deserve to experience the wonders of our magnificent seabirds.    Help us stop this War on Nature and bin the Fast-track Approvals Bill.      If you’re in Canterbury, you can find out more by coming along to Forest & Bird's Fight for Nature special public meeting tonight at 7pm. Featuring community leaders and experts in the field, this is a chance to find out how you can help stop the fast-track bill.      You can still register here: https://lnkd.in/gSvU7p9z #WarOnNature #WrongTrack #GivingNatureAVoice #FightForNature    📷: satellite image / NASA, Norman Kuring, Ocean Color Team; coral / NIWA; tāiko / Dave Boyle. 

Barrytown Flats is a special place, recognised as one of the top 10 coastal roads in the world. It’s also home to the tāiko Westland petrel, a species that breeds only on the forested slopes above the flats.     A controversial proposal to mine mineral sands was rejected two years ago, and the Coast Road resilience group and Forest & Bird have appealed resource consents granted to a renewed application for 50 years of mining. Environment Court processes mean evidence, impacts, and conditions the company would have to abide by are all carefully weighed up and considered.    But if the company abandons this process, and instead goes for consents under the coalition Government’s Fast-track Approvals Bill, none of that matters – not the community opposition, scientific evidence, or impacts on endangered species.      Instead, the bill overrides environmental bottom lines to allow development, no matter how environmentally damaging it is.    It’s anti-democratic and will lead to more destruction of the natural landscapes and wildlife that New Zealanders care deeply about and rely on. This Government’s #WarOnNature is taking us down the wrong path. The Fast-track Approvals Bill should be scrapped to protect nature, our communities, and our future.    If you’re in Canterbury, you can find out more by coming along to Forest & Bird's Fight for Nature special public meeting tomorrow - 10 September. Featuring community leaders and experts in the field, this is a chance to find out how you can help stop the fast-track bill.      Please remember to register for this event here: https://lnkd.in/gSvU7p9z   #WarOnNature #WrongTrack #GivingNatureAVoice #FightForNature 📷: Barrytown flats / Neil Silverwood. 

This year, Forest & Bird celebrated a significant victory when the Environment Court stopped offshore sand mining at Pākiri Beach. Scientists were worried the mining operations – sucking up huge swathes of sand from the seafloor – were degrading fisheries spawning grounds, and the adjacent beach and dunes which is crucial habitat for the critically endangered tara iti fairy tern. This win was possible thanks to the efforts of many groups, including the Department of Conservation, mana whenua, community organisations, and environmental NGOs.  But under the Government’s new Fast-track Approvals Bill, victories like this could become impossible. The most extreme attack on nature we’ve seen in decades, this anti-democratic bill overrides environmental bottom lines to allow environmentally damaging development, without needing input from community or scientific experts. The voices of those who care most about our environment – like Forest & Bird or Friends of Pākiri Beach – could be completely ignored. New Zealand’s natural environment is already at breaking point. We have the highest proportion of threatened species in the world, and overriding key conservation and environmental laws like the Conservation Act will only lead to more destruction of important habitats, like that of the tara iti fairy tern. That’s why this bill is really part of a War on Nature, which takes New Zealand down the wrong track. Join us in standing up for New Zealand’s environment and calling to scrap the Fast-track Approvals Bill.    If you’re in Canterbury, you can find out more by coming along to Forest & Bird's Fight for Nature special public meeting on Tuesday 10 September. Featuring community leaders and experts in the field, this is a chance to find out how you can help stop the fast-track bill.      Don't forget to register for this event here: https://lnkd.in/gSvU7p9z   #WarOnNature #WrongTrack #GivingNatureAVoice #FightForNature  📷: fairy tern / Rex Williams.