Business and conservation are a winning combination

 —  18/10/2010

There are around 4500 businesses operating in New Zealand’s public conservation areas. A lot of them take on projects to enhance the natural environment that they rely on, as part of their day-to-day business operations and they’re making a real difference to conservation efforts in New Zealand.

One business that’s giving back is the Lochmara Lodge Wildlife Recovery and Arts Centre based in the Marlborough Sounds. We got to acknowledge their efforts last week by presenting them with the DOC Conservation-in-Action Award at the 2010 Tourism Industry Awards.

 

Al Morrison presents the DOC Conservation-in-Action Award to Louise Bright and Shayne Olsen. Photo: Tourism Industry Association/Murray Lloyd.

Our Director-General, Al Morrison, presents the DOC Conservation-in-Action Award to Louise Bright and Shayne Olsen from Lochmara Lodge. Photo: Tourism Industry Association/Murray Lloyd

Lochmara Lodge Wildlife Recovery and Arts Centre is a tourist lodge which combines accommodation with wildlife recovery programmes and art galleries. The centre runs breeding programmes for kakariki and Marlborough green gecko. It also has a sculpture trail, artists’ retreat and four hectares of native bush.

Lochmara Lodge Wildlife Recovery and Arts Centre is nestled in the beautiful Marlborough Sounds. Photo: Lochmara Lodge.

Lochmara Lodge Wildlife Recovery and Arts Centre is nestled in the beautiful Marlborough Sounds. Photo: Lochmara Lodge.

The DOC Conservation-in-Action Award recognises the innovation behind the lodge’s Wildlife Recovery Centre, which is funded through sales at the Arts Centre and visitor entry fees.

 

Kakariki at Lochmara Lodge Wildlife Recovery and Arts Centre. Photo: Lochmara Lodge.

Kakariki at Lochmara Lodge Wildlife Recovery and Arts Centre. Photo: Lochmara Lodge.

Lochmara co-manager Louise Bright said: “We are still wowed by what we have done at Lochmara, but we’re so happy that the judges were wowed by it too.”

Fellow co-manager Shayne Olsen said: “The opportunity for us as members of the public to work alongside the Department of Conservation is great. We think that Lochmara is an example of the progress that can be made when private groups are able to support the work of DOC and be involved actively in conservation and restoration work.”

Other finalists for this year’s DOC Conservation-in-Action Award were Black Cat Cruises and Explore NZ.

In Native animals, Nelson/Marlborough
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Tracking Haast tokoeka kiwi

Rebecca Wilson —  14/10/2010

Is there anybody out there…?

Down in deepest South Westland lives a kiwi called the Haast tokoeka. It was named for its oversized beak, and translated from Te Reo tokoeka means bird (weka) with a walking stick (toko).

 

Haast tokoeka kiwi footprints.

Haast tokoeka kiwi footprints

 

Tokoeka are under attack from introduced predators, particularly stoats, so their home between the Arawata and Waiatoto rivers is protected, as the Haast Tokoeka Sanctuary. The Sanctuary has been blitzed with intensive stoat trapping since 2001.

 

Kath Morris scans for breeding pairs of kiwi.

Kath Morris scans for breeding pairs of kiwi

 

Dedicated Haast tokoeka kiwi rangers follow the lives and loves of about one hundred pairs of adult tokoeka wearing radio-transmitters on their legs. That way they can protect the young birds through BNZ funded Operation Nest Egg.

 

Haast tokoeka egg removed from the sanctuary for captive incubation.

Haast tokoeka egg removed from the sanctuary for captive incubation

 

 

Haast tokoeka chick hatched at Willowbank Wildlife Reserve.

Haast tokoeka chick hatched at Willowbank Wildlife Reserve

 

The Sanctuary protects a stronghold of tokoeka in South Westland, but they are not alone in the world. Anecdotal accounts from hunters and locals led DOC to investigate further up the Arawata River and another population was found. Now the kiwi team wants to find and monitor more of these Sanctuary neighbours, so they can increase the gene pool for tokoeka conservation and extend their distribution in case of environmental disasters.

After all it’s better not to keep all your tokoeka eggs in one basket!

Instruments of detection

The extraordinary sensory perception of dogs’ shnozzes has been used for years to sniff out kiwi. Here in Haast our own Blair Hoult and kiwi-dog Tussock have found six new tokoeka together.

 

Blair & Tussock with a newly discovered kiwi.

Blair & Tussock add a newly discovered tokoeka to the monitoring regime

 

Both these methods are very labour intensive and it is helpful to know if there are tokoeka about before sending in the rangers. DOC’s Research and Development Team have developed a new device for recording bird calls, which has the potential to find new tokoeka with minimal time in the field.

Trainee Ranger Chris Bowen recently set off to test this new technology in the wilds of South Westland.

To test the reliability of recorders in the field Chris and Blair pulled on their beanies at dusk for a cold night listening beside a recorder set high up in the alpine tussock of the Sanctuary. Analysing the acoustic recording back in the office Chris found that it had picked up 78% of the calls he and Blair heard sitting on the mountain.

 

Chris Bowen with the new acoustic recorder.

Chris Bowen trials the new acoustic recorder

 

Next Chris used the recorders to search for new tokoeka outside the sanctuary. When he got them back in the office he was excited to find that one of the recorders had picked up a new pair serenading each other. Three days later Blair and contractor Chris Rickard headed into the same area with Chris’ kiwi dog. They caught and put a transmitter on a new adult female, which has been named Downpour Torrent after a nearby creek (it rains a lot here!).

Demonstrating that these recorders work well in the field is great news for managers trying to make savings. Whereas, staff time for one hundred hours of call listening costs DOC around $2000, an acoustic recorder will listen for one hundred hours for the price of four AA batteries.

The acoustic recorders are continuing to be trialled on various bird monitoring projects around New Zealand and will really improve efficiency. Technological advances in species monitoring free up valuable time and resources for DOC to protect more vulnerable species.

Links

In Kiwi, Southland
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My mates at DOC win awards for conservation!

Sirocco the Spokesbird —  12/10/2010

Skraark! Sirocco the Kakapo here. Humble and unassuming as I may be, I’m always happy when someone tells me how fantastic I am… But this time it’s my turn to pass on the praise, because those nice folk at DOC have been picking up a few awards so I wanted to tell you all about it!

Up near Auckland (I’ve been there) are a couple of islands called Rangitoto and Motutapu. DOC has been clearing the islands of pests – I mean the small furry pests that eat native birds, not pests like me who jump on people’s heads – so that all my lovely birdy cousins can live there safely.

 

Motutapu Island as seen from the summit of Rangitoto Island, Hauraki Gulf Maritime Park.

Motutapu Island as seen from the summit of Rangitoto Island

 

Now the islands are clear, all sorts of native birds are going back – kakariki, bellbird, pateke, and maybe kiwi and takahe in the future. Who knows, maybe some of my lot might end up there! Anyway, this project picked up an award from a group called the Parks Forum which has members all over the world, so it’s good to know that the work being done here is as famous internationally as… well, as me!

 

Kakariki.

Kakariki return to Rangitoto and Motutapu islands

 

The Parks Forum people also gave DOC an award for helping create the fantastic Otago Central Rail Trail. Apparently this is for bicycles, not for trains, and as I’m not very good at peddling I’ve not been there. But 20,000 of you lovely people use it each year and it’s helped transform the area. So good on you guys, what a great way of taking something old and bringing it up to date (there are a couple of rangers I know who could use the same treatment)!

 

Otago Central Rail Trail. Photo: J Edginton.

Otago Central Rail Trail

 

Finally, I heard this from one of my lovely friends on Facebook. A new book* about conservation says this:

“The prevention of the Kakapo’s extinction & the relatively rosy future it now faces represent one of the great achievements in global bird conservation. New Zealand has been at the forefront of… developing & implementing conservation solutions for species on the brink of extinction since the pioneering efforts of Richard Henry… The country’s conservation agencies, helped enormously by a steady stream of volunteers & donors, who have invested so much time, money & effort in trying to prevent the extinction of the Kakapo & many other extraordinary birds, have earned the enduring respect of the international conservation community.”

They’ve certainly got my respect, which is why I get up close and personal with them at any opportunity! So a big wings-up to all the DOC team, the volunteers, and the lovely folk at Rio Tinto who are paying for most of this… okay enough, it’s starting to sound like an Oscar acceptance speech!

An Oscar? Hmm, that’s something I haven’t done yet…

Links:

Rangitoto and Motutapu islands restoration project

Rangitoto and Motutapu restoration project wins international honours, media release

Native birds

Parks Forum

DOC wins international honours for conservation

Otago Central Rail Trail

*Facing Extinction – the World’s rarest birds and the race to save them. Paul Donald, Nigel Collar, Stuart Marsden, Debbie Pain. A&C Black publishers.

In Animal pests, Auckland, Native animals, Otago, Recreation, Sirocco the kakapo, Southland
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Race to hatch for the first Haast tokoeka kiwi chicks

Rebecca Wilson —  09/10/2010

Last month we heard the good news that all the kiwi eggs at Willowbank Wildlife Reserve had survived the Christchurch quake and that little Richter the Rowi had hatched safely. Now at the start of October we’ve seen the happy arrival of the first Haast tokoeka chicks of the season.Haast tokoeka eggs are lifted from their parents’ nests every breeding season, as part of Bank of New Zealand funded Operation Nest Egg (ONE), so they can’t be munched by stoats.

Haast kiwi ranger Kath Morris up to her armpits in a tokoeka nest. Photo: Haast Tokoeka Kiwi Team.

Haast kiwi ranger Kath Morris up to her armpits in a tokoeka nest.

They travel all the way from Haast in South Westland to Christchurch where Corry-Ann Langford and a team of husbandry rangers at Willowbank care for them.

Shaun Horan weighs a tokoeka egg at Willowbank. Photo: Corry-Ann Langford.

Shaun Horan weighs a tokoeka egg at Willowbank

Last Thursday Corry-Ann told me that two of the eggs in her care IT#1 and BC#1 were in a race to be the first of this season’s tokoeka to break into the world. When the husbandry team left work for the day both chicks had started to hatch using their long beaks and strong feet to break the shell. Corry-Ann’s not sure who was first to the finish line, but it was very close and both little chicks were waiting for them when they got to work on Friday morning.

Two Haast tokoeka chicks. Photo: Corry-Ann Langford.

The chicks’ IDs come from their parents names. In Tune pair (named for nearby Tuning Fork Creek) has been providing eggs for ONE since 2004, but it’s the first year for Brewer Creek pair, as the male has only just been found again after dropping his transmitter. Kiwi team rangers Kath Morris and Blair Hoult lifted IT#1 and BC#1 out of the Haast Tokoeka Sanctuary back in August and they arrived safely at Willowbank on the Friday 13th! Apparently it is lucky for some.

It’s a real relief that these guys made it to hatch as they were alongside fifteen other tokoeka and rowi eggs that narrowly escaped being scrambled in the quake. Corry-Ann says they are absolutely adorable and funding partners the New Zealand Conservation Trust are thrilled with the great start to the season. Sixty five Haast tokoeka chicks have escaped the jaws of stoats and hatched safely at Willowbank since 2005.

Shaun Horan checks on brooding chicks. Photo Corry-Ann Langford.

Shaun Horan checks on brooding chicks

All the chicks hatched in captivity are either returned to the Sanctuary when they’re big enough to fight off stoats or transferred to insurance populations on predator free islands.

Since IT#1 and BC#1 made it out three more tokoeka chicks have hatched and the remaining seven are well on their way… but the season’s not over yet and the kiwi team in Haast are busy in the field lifting more eggs. IT#1 and BC#1 could have little brothers or sisters on the way, as their parents started early and the kiwi team are hoping both pairs will lay a second clutch.

In Canterbury, Kiwi, Native animals, West Coast
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