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Archives For 30/11/1999

Surplus & Creativity at Conservation House

 —  25/11/2009

In a first for DOC, we are currently holding an exhibition in the foyer of Conservation House: Surplus & Creativity. This is an exhibition of design/art installation, recycle-wear, different ways of using familiar items, and all including a healthy dose of kiwi ingenuity.

Surplus & Creativity. All photos by Sam O'Leary.

Everything in the exhibition has been re-created by University staff, Masters students from the Institute of Design for Industry and Environment at Massey University’s College of Creative Arts, and Industry associates from AFFECT, the Centre for Affective Design Research at Massey University  The thing that sets this exhibition apart from others, is that everything is made from surplus materials – Everything here has effectively been recycled.

There is a range of works on show, from hot-water-bottle/watering cans to a computer/chicken coop, to a beanbag-bench made from a sack and a saw-horse. The students brief was to: Recontextualise surplus or discarded objects and things to produce a new vision of use, understanding or comment.

The exhibition is a snug fit at Conservation House. The building here has many recycled aspects to it, from the black floor tiles on the staircase (recycled tractor tyres), to the green partitions which separate our level 4 conference room and cafe (recycled milk bottles). As Rodney Adank (one of the organisers) put it, “Conservation House is a great place for this exhibition, this building itself has recently been recontextualised with the new and the old, and this is obviously reflected in the works on show here, it seems like corporate design is all about ‘designing landfill’ these days and we want to show, that it doesn’t need to be like that”

The foyer at Conservation House, viewed from the 4th floor landing.

Staff at National Office have been seeing Surplus & Creativity every day at work, and here’s what they and the organisers have had to say about it:

“It’s a wonderful use of public space, and I hope we follow it up with further exhibitions. It would be a real plus if it inspires us to exercise our own creativity on the first, second and third floors!” Al Morrison – Director General, DOC

“Design and the Readymade is a great strategy for engaging new ideas and concepts, because it forces the viewer to re-think what they had previously understood to be an interruption of an object or product. It makes us reconsider our interruptions.” Rodney Adank, Acting Director at AFFECT

“This is brilliant!. It’s a space that is generally empty-ish, and good for DOC to be attracting visitors and lifting staff  in an innovative way yet linked to conservation/sustainability . I assume it is supporting the art community as well. Make it regular!!” – Allan Ross – Manager, Ecosystem and Species Unit, DOC

“Could we put a sandwich board on the pavement advertising this and other exhibits? It seems to me that it would be a wonderful opportunity to increase walk-ins..” Louise Hoather – Social Science Advisor, DOC

Conservation House is located on Manners Street in Wellington, across the road from Subway and the ASB Bank (map below the gallery). Come on in and take a gander if you’re in the locale, it might spark some ideas!

Map:

In Wellington/Kapiti , , , , , , , ,
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Team effort on Tuhua – Tauranga’s treasure island

Katrina Knill —  23/11/2009

This has got to be the best office in the world!!!!

The sunrise view of South East Bay from my bunk

I’ve just spent a week with 14 other staff, four volunteers and two owners on Tuhua (Mayor) Island.  Whilst the view of the sunrise from my bunk each morning was a great way to start each day, it was certainly no holiday. 

Each day we loaded our gear and set off on a range of tasks all over the island, returning at the end of day to eat and fall into bed, exhausted but excited to have made a dent in the long list of jobs we had to complete.

Our hard work was rewarded by regular sightings of rare birds, plants, lizards and marine mammals.  Here are just a few of the locals that we saw.

We’ve been working in partnership with the owners (Tuhua Trust Board) for many years to restore the pest-free island and now we’re helping them to make it more accessible for people to enjoy.

I spent three days with our botanist and weed specialists spraying and searching for weeds all over the island, including one day of wading through a wetland, pushing through head-high walls of vegetation in search of the invasive royal fern.  

Spray unit loaded and off to spray weeds

The wetland we waded through

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My last day was spent helping to fix the floor of the caretakers cottage and shifting firewood.

Eveyone’s skills and expertise were used around the island – upgrading buildings, tracks, water supply, removing massive fallen pohutukawa logs from where they had fallen on top of buildings, cleaning up the ammentity areas, killing weeds, patrolling the Marine Reserve, searching for springs in preparation for our orange-front parakeet transfer coming up in December and checking on the pateke (brown teal) and kiwi that have been released on the island.

Rope & chainsaw skills got put to the test

Dave checked out a cliffside kiwi nest

Chris and John fixed the floor

Tawara cleared the track

Dean & Alastair built a huge firewood pile

As inviting as the water looked, I only managed one swim – the cool water and 2m shark we saw swimming in the bay on our first evening were a little off-putting.  But when I did get wet, I took mask & snorkel with me and got to see some beautiful kelp beds, big angel fish and incredibly glossy obsidian.

Click here to find out how you could visit Tuhua – Tauranga’s piece of paradise.

In Bay of Plenty, Islands, Marine, Volunteers, Weeds , , , , , ,
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Tramping nappies – a sign of the times?

 —  19/11/2009
Some of you may have come across this story from the Southland Times last week about imitation DOC signs being placed on the Routeburn Track in Southland.

I had a bit of a laugh, and (aside from its content), thought the sign followed our Outdoor Sign Manual rather well! But as well as being a bit of a joke, there is some seriousness to the matter. One of the fake signs directed people towards an “effluent station” up a steep bluff, and as DOC Wakatipu programme manager Richard Kennett pointed out, this could be dangerous for those visitors who don’t have a strong grasp of English, or also for those who don’t visit the outdoors very often.

One of the fake signs spotted on the Routeburn Track. Photo: Southland Times

DOC uses signage to provide visitors with all kinds of information: directions on how to get to places, on-site orientation, hazard, safety and regulatory messages, all of which are intended to help visitors enjoy the vast array of great DOC-managed areas around the country. 

Signs come in all shapes and sizes. Photos: Nick Fisentzidis and Fiona Colquhoun

DOC signs are very easily spotted with their green and gold colourings and distinctive logo. So although they may seem like a harmless joke, the consequences of fake signs like the ones on the Routeburn may end up being more than just a laugh.

Fake sign, real issue: getting rid of waste.

From the ‘minimising your impact’ side of things, in the past rubbish was either burnt in hut fireplaces or buried in rubbish pits near huts. Thankfully these practices have been abandoned, and now visitors must follow the mantra ‘pack it in-pack it out’. 

And rather than using ‘tramping nappies’, check out the poo pots developed in Aoraki/Mt Cook National Park for all your outdoor sanitary needs.

So next time you’re bashing around in the hills, take a moment to read the signs you come across, and if they mention anything about bodily functions in the backcountry, maybe take them with a grain of salt.

Which is a better way to get your point across? A fake sign or this… Photo: Sue Wilkins

In National parks, Recreation, Southland
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Come and enjoy conservation in Wairarapa

 —  17/11/2009
Wairarapa – famous for vineyards, good food and great weather!  It also is home to three forest parks, hundreds of kms of coast including Castlepoint and some amazing places to visit!
Aerial view of corner creek

Wairarapa - Lower North Island's conservation secret

One of my major tasks for 2008/09 was to develop a brochure for Wairarapa day visitors and families.

Over the years Wellington Conservancy has shifted the majority of its publications away from printed material.  Some feedback I received early in 2008 was that there was demand from visitors for printed guides to look around the large amount of recreation and visitor opportunities that DOC Wairarapa manages.  The boss agreed and my work began.

It was a great exercise as a new migrant to Wairarapa and to DOC.  I gathered destination information from various sources including long-time ranger Joe Hansen’s head and started to pull it together into a booklet.  Originally thinking it would be around 30 pages the final product has 72 pages and is full of useful stuff and beautiful photos (some shown here).

Hunting up Waiohine River

Hunting up Waiohine River

The normal stuff in a brochure are included like track and hut information but I decided to engage with our local iwi and got them to write a section on sites of importance on DOC land (and slightly beyond).  I love to read about stories about the local area as it gives me a different perspective so figured others would too.  I’m glad they’ve allowed us to capture this because conservation doesn’t stop with species and places and we must conserve our cultural history as well.

Other cool sections in the brochure includes a section on bird watching and other interesting fauna, botany and tonnes of awesome photos including our front cover shot of the Waiohine Valley with the suspension bridge taken by the designer Mikis van Geffen.

Cross Creek Rimutaka

Rimutaka Rail Trail ends in historic Cross Creek

You can have a look at our brochure on our website or contact a few different places to buy a printed copy for the bargin price of $3 (it’s the perfect size to fit in the glovebox of your car).  These include:

  • DOC Wellington Visitor’s Centre
  • Carterton Information Centre
  • Masterton Information Centre
  • DOC Wairarapa Area Office

Let me know what you think as I’m always looking to improve!

In Wairarapa
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Pest success

 —  11/11/2009

Stoat trapping and occasional use of biodegradable 1080 poison has boosted the population of endangered mohua in the Landsborough Valley.

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In Animal pests, Native animals, West Coast , ,
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