Tuesday 14th to Thursday 16th August - Sanctuaries of New Zealand Workshop

Tuesday 14^th August – Day 1 of the SONZI workshop – The Science Talks

We all found today to be pretty hard going. Don’t get me wrong, it was interesting in the most part, but try getting a room full of people who prefer being outside to sit still and concentrate on ELEVEN speakers in ONE day and you may struggle!

The introduction was given by a very knowledgeable chap called John Innes who explained the schedule for the next few days. Then it was on to the science! A talk about native amphibians was followed by a lady from Landcare Research who really got everyone’s attention. Mostly because she had analysed data provided by most of the sanctuaries that were represented in the audience. She made everyone’s day by exhibiting to us, by way of clear graphs and other graphics, how successful everyone’s work had been in increasing biodiversity in Sanctuaries!  The graphics plotted the numbers of some at-risk bird species against time, along with the level of predator control that had been achieved. All the lines were sloping in the right direction so there was a sense of smugness in the room.

I had started the day taking some notes about the content of the talks, but it rapidly dissolved into me just making a list of places that I hadn’t heard of before but now needed to see! 

I really enjoyed the presentation from Clare Browne of Waikato University about the possibility of using conservation dogs to identify invasive fish. Sounds random I know, but I’ll explain! They’re in the early stages of the research, but it was fascinating to see videos showing pet dogs that have been trained to identify whether or not water samples have contained koi carp.  Wagging their tails constantly, the dogs work in a room alone with samples rotating behind a nose-sized hole from which the dogs sniff their sample. In no time at all, they can correctly identify a negative sample and touch a lever to move on to the next sample or, if a positive sample is detected, they hold their nose in the hole for 5 seconds and are rewarded with a tasty treat! Dogs are so clever. And what an amazing field to be involved in – combining conservation with working with dogs, ideal! 

Apart from people nipping out to use the facilities, the rest of us had stayed put for the first five speakers with not even a tea break to speak of. Thank goodness it was lunch time! And what a lunch. I had by-passed the breakfast pastries on our arrival as I’d only recently had breakfast, but it seems that the food for the next few days is going to be excellent. A very tasty mix of hot food was served up. Lunch time was an excellent opportunity for some networking. The room contained some of the most knowledgeable conservation minds in the entire country. 

Then it was back into the conference room for our next four University speakers back to back. The subjects in this section included securing the future of sanctuaries, restoration of NZ landscape on a national scale and protection of wildlife in relation to the law and planning. 

We got a break for afternoon tea and cookies before the last two talks of the day. They’d planned some of the more controversial topics for the end of the day, probably a strategy for keeping everyone alert! The first speakers highlighted some off the issues in the Northland where kiwi are doing so well at recovering in number that there is conflict between conservationists and dog owners. Dogs are one of the major causes of kiwi deaths so there are certain residential areas where the council ban homeowners from having dogs and cats.  People are very attached to their pets, so you can imagine the backlash from residents. Whilst on the conservationists’ side there is the belief in the importance of kiwi as the national native bird and that anyone who allows their dog to stray and attack a kiwi should rightly have the book thrown at them. It sounds like there is a lot of tension between parties.

The last talk of the day was by a student of Massey University who had studied the sustainability of anti-coagulant-based rodent control.  This was a shock to everyone.  Most of the sanctuaries, Hunua included, rely on anti-coagulant poisons to control rats and possums. I won’t go into too much detail, but the essence of the study was that the most toxic and advanced bait currently available on the market might have a limited lifespan. Some rats that she captured showed resistance to the effects of the poison and were able to survive in low numbers.  Whatever the future holds, the possibility that the pests can overcome the most powerful weapon we have against them left everyone feeling somewhat gloomy. Food for thought.

Talking of food, there was a dinner at the Gardens starting at 6pm and the bar was open straight after close of play to tide us over until the tasty buffet came out. We got chatting to a very interesting couple who are wardens responsible for a reserve on Great Barrier Island. Another place to add to the list and the potential to go volunteering there for a week or so if I still haven’t heard back about Tiritiri Matangi Island soon (I’ll explain later). The food was amazing yet again and there was plenty of it to go around so, yes, I did have seconds AND dessert!

Wednesday 15^th August – Day 2 - Field trip day

The morning began with the AGM of Sanctuaries of New Zealand Incorporated. We figured that we’d turn up while it was going on and mingle in the other room with a cup of tea until it finished. However, it turned out that tea this morning was in the same room as the AGM so we had no choice but to get involved! We were handed the accounts summary for the previous year which made me concerned that this was going to be heavy. Imagine my relief when, after only a couple of minutes, the accounts were agreed by all present, we moved on to ‘other business’ of which there was none and then it was tea time! Timed to perfection…

The rest of the morning was dedicated to soap box sessions, giving everyone present the opportunity to have (a very strictly enforced) eight minutes to talk about the progress of their particular project or sanctuary. This was very interesting, especially when Willow stood up to talk about the projects in the Hunuas.  When we turn up to volunteer each week we are just tasked and sent out into the bush to get on with it. It’s challenging and you know that you’re contributing in some way, but to hear the statistics and see the progress made in graphics format made me proud. And I’ve only been involved since this April! The core of the voluntary group has been involved for many years. Hearing the low percentage of rats they have kept the numbers down to and the sharp increase in the number of kokako present in the ranges was brilliant. And I clearly wasn’t alone. Other groups were impressed with the stats and were keen to ask questions about how this had been achieved.  Suddenly, everyone in the audience knew where everyone else was from and what they were trying to achieve, making it much easier to get into conversation during breaks in the program. 

Once everyone had had their say it was time for our field trip. Having collected our packed lunch supplied by the same café that was catering the whole event we filed onto buses and hit the road.  The first stop was Waiwhakareke Heritage Park (pronounced ‘Why-fack-a-reekie’). A relatively new collaboration between local conservationists and Hamilton council that is not yet open to the general public.  There have been a series of intensive tree planting events at the park to gradually build up the flora in carefully organised groups and locations. The park is in a relatively urban setting to the North West of Hamilton with the aim of getting local communities involved and tempting some of the native animal species back into the area.  The sky looked potentially threatening during the whole visit and we experienced a couple of downpours, but it was a relief to be out stretching our legs after the last day and a half of sitting in the conference room. 

We were then transferred to the south side of Hamilton to Rotopiko Wetland Reserve where I saw predator- proof fencing (or predator-resistant may be the preferred term I now understand!) for the first time.

Ooooh, fancy fencing

Entry was gained through double doors (above) to prevent any pesky predators getting back in. 

The reserve is well managed with the aim of building a national wetland centre to bring back rare native plants and animals. It also has a discovery trail to engage families and younger visitors with nine activity stations dispersed throughout the reserve (left). 

Eels and ladders - an example of one of the games on the discovery trail

A section of boardwalk around the lake, below

We walked the trail, ending in the forest of Kahikatea (white pine – left). These trees can live to be 500 years old and are one of NZ’s tallest trees (along with the Kauri of course).

The trees are well-adapted to swampy conditions, having buttress root systems for stability to enable growth in soft muddy conditions.

An example of the prominent buttress roots of a Kahikatea

We remained in the reserve as dusk approached for a stark reminder of the consequences of human interference. Yes, the fencing keeps out the ground predators to increase the safety to the bird population within, but word had clearly got out about this fantastic safe spot for roosting! From all directions flew thousands upon thousands of sparrows and starlings, into the Kahikatea forest to find their spot for the night. Even above the sound of the main road, the noise was deafening:

The ranger was keen to hear from anyone who had suggestions on how to decrease the number of these flocks which come in every night and defecate all over the boardwalks and into the swamp…. which is meant to be a ‘low-nutrient environment’! Oh dear…. Nature finds a way, it just may not be the type of nature that was wished for!

We were returned to the gardens at the end of the tour and headed back to Keith’s house. Jeanette had made a vegan creation for us for dinner as Willow is a non-meat, non-dairy kind of person and I was happy to take a night off from being a carnivore. It was tasty. Another two-portion dinner for me. This is getting to be a habit, but it would be rude to have let it go to waste!

Thursday 16^th August – Sanctuaries of New Zealand – Day 3 Work shop 

Today it was time to get political.  With the over-arching topic being ‘Collaboration for conservation: How do community-led sanctuaries work with others for common gain?’ Five speakers were given roughly 20-minutes to give a presentation followed by taking questions from the floor.  

A representative from the Department of Conservation (DOC) talked about the government’s direction for conservation, explaining that there has been an $181.6 million increase in funding for DOC from the current administration.  He also discussed the reality of the Predator Free 2050 (PF2050) vision, admitting that we don’t currently have the technology to achieve this and pretty much placing the responsibility on the regions to consider what they are doing to try and work towards this goal over the next four to five years.

A guy from local government in Southland explained the role of regional councils in encouraging biodiversity values on private land and how they need a coherent strategy between the 16 regions. The rest of his talk was what I would describe as ‘stating the bleeding obvious’, so I’ll spare you!

Other topics covered included how to align the aims and hopes of everyone in the conservation ‘tree’ from DOC and the regional councils at the top down to the volunteer sector. One controversial subject seemed to be the process for making funding applications which sounds incredibly complex and time-consuming and differs depending on which council area you are making the application in.

Ed Chignell, the CEO of PF2050 Ltd, gave some insight into the vision of the project over the next 5 years. The main focus being on control of stoats, possums and rats stating a scary figure that these three animal groups are responsible for the deaths of 68,000 birds a night in NZ. They are investing $103 million into seven projects over five years, including the aim of making Wellington the first predator-free Capital City in the World.

I snuck out into the Gardens at lunchtime to take a look at some of the themed gardens

A recurring theme throughout this workshop seemed to be that everyone wants similar things but there is a lot of cross over between projects and confusion about who is responsible for what. As an immigrant with an interest in conservation I have experienced this overlap online. There are almost too many different agencies and groups involved that you get swamped with information and wonder who to place your allegiance with.  There is a lack of cohesion and communication between all these different groups, when shared information about processes, research and ideas would be invaluable in moving everyone forward.

I thoroughly enjoyed the conference. As a newcomer it was a privilege to spend time with so many like-minded people and I do still feel like pinching myself about just being here.  I’ve always dreamt of getting involved in conservation on an island with unique animals, somewhere like Madagascar or the Galapagos. So why didn’t I consider New Zealand? Why don’t people speak in the same breath about these places? Is it because here in NZ the threatened species consist of birds, reptiles and amphibians that aren’t as media-friendly or ‘cute’ as lemurs or orangutans? I’ve found myself on an island nation in the South Pacific where more than 80% of bird species are threatened and the government and public are rising to the challenge of doing something about it. I say, bring it on!

Having returned to Keith’s to grab our stuff and have another cuppa it was time to head back home, my mind buzzing with potential opportunities.  To top my week off I checked my emails to find something that I have been waiting for for a month or two – I have been allocated a week’s volunteering on Tiritiri Matangi Island in September. This is a small predator-free island north of Auckland reachable by ferry and a major tourist attraction because you are guaranteed to see some of those most threatened bird species flourishing.  Whilst slightly nervous about heading off for a week on my own and being capable of the tasks they ask of me, it is an exciting prospect, and everyone keeps telling me how much I will love it there.