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Archives For 30/11/1999

Greening the rubble

Sarah Mankelow —  22/08/2013

Most of my strongest childhood memories are of free, unstructured play in wild places near my home—building huts out of fern fronds, playing explorers by wading down a stream in the Kaimais, collecting tadpoles, and waving toi toi flags.

A stream in the Kaimais. Photo: Dennis Kuhn/flickr (cc)

Childhood memories of exploring streams in the Kaimais. Photo: Dennis Kuhn

These experiences were a huge influence on the adult I am today—someone who believes conservation is vital.

I’m trying to do the same for my own kids—but in this increasingly urban and tech-driven world it’s getting pretty hard. There are less “wild places” in cities. I’m competing with the TV, the computer, gaming devices… for their attention—and not always winning. Homework, sports and structured extra-curricular activities makes for busy lives.

We need to help families that are struggling to find time to reconnect with these wild places. Here in Christchurch DOC has partnered with the Greening the Rubble Trust to create a nature-play park in central Christchurch.

A small Greening the rubble garden in Christchurch.

Greening the rubble in Christchurch. Photo: Christchurch City Libraries

The park will encourage families to discover—through free play—what is special about Canterbury plants and wildlife, and how they can make conservation part of their urban lives as they recover from the devastating earthquakes.

It will be interactive and exploratory, allowing for fun and learning. It will be a key drawcard to engage children and young families within Christchurch’s regenerating CBD.

We hope the site will be well-visited and part of any trip to Central Christchurch, and we plan to run several events and activities here over the coming year—starting with an opening ceremony as part of the Open Streets event on Saturday 29 September.

Greening the rubble site. Photo: Fiona Oliphant.

Turning the sod at the new nature-play park. Photo: Fiona Oliphant

We have a lot of work ahead of us to create this space, and it’s projects like this that make you realise that it’s people that bring the magic. Without a whole lot of people happy to help and donate time or materials, this park will not happen. I’m looking forward to getting stuck in!

Related links

In Canterbury, Native plants, Recreation , , , , ,
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Young campers at Piripiri campsite

Department of Conservation —  18/02/2013

By Angeline Barnes, Community Outreach Coordinator

DOC's Piripiri campsite sign.

Welcome to Piripiri campsite

Last week, while out with DOC’s Manawatu Area team, I met a young girl named Hannah. She had planned and arranged a camping trip for her group of friends and they were camping at Piripiri, a free DOC campsite, along the Pohangina River.

Cooking on the campfire at Piripiri campsite.

Cooking on the campfire

Along with a little bit of help from her mum she had organised the camping trip. She had developed invitations, food plans, budgets, travel plans, sleeping plans and more.

The kids made gifts from natural materials at the Piripiri campsite.

Making gifts from natural materials

To make it happen they allowed one adult to come, purely for health and safety reasons! But the adult’s attendance (in the form of Hannah’s mother) came with rules – she had to sleep in her own tent ‘outside’ of the campsite territory, which was marked with colourful bunting spread amongst the trees.

The campsite was so lovely – a young girl’s dream  – nature as the backdrop, colourful bunting, tents, friends and lots of giggling.

Making chocolate damper dough leads to messy hands.

Chocolate damper dough hands!

Hannah’s mum was allowed to accompany them to the river where they swam (beautiful swimming spot), jumped off a ledge and had a fabulous time. I went and had a chat to them and they were all so happy – creating their childhood memories.

Crowding around the campfire.

Crowding around the campfire

In Camping , , , , ,
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Kiwi: the real story book giveaway

Department of Conservation —  17/12/2012

UPDATE: The competition has now ended. 

Kiwi: the real story made it onto the Listener’s 50 Best Children’s Books of 2012 list, and it’s not hard to see why.  The combination of verse, factual text and beautifully luminous pictures, offers a spellbinding glimpse into the secret night-world of our amazing iconic kiwi bird.

Kiwi: the real story would be an amazing Christmas present for any lucky kiwi kid and, thanks to New Holland Publishers, we’ve got three copies to give away here on the Conservation Blog.

Kiwi: the real story

“Muckracker, stem-shaker
nosy parker, mud-larker, dashing darter
cricket-cruncher, mantis-muncher
eavesdropper, clodhopper, show-stopper!”

Kiwi the eavesdropper.

“These feisty birds have a life and spirit of their own and Kiwi: the real story will be the book to inspire your children to love and protect kiwi long into their lifetimes, ensuring that they will still be in the ‘backyards’ of our grandchildren in years to come.”

Kiwi the snail snatcher and beetle battler.

To be in to win a copy, leave a comment on this post before 12 noon, Thursday 20 December 2012, telling us why you want the book. Three winners will be selected at random and contacted by email.

The giveaway is open to everyone, except employees of the Department of Conservation, New Holland Publishers, and their immediate families; however, we can only ship to New Zealand addresses.

Good luck!

Kiwi: the real story is valued at $29.99 and will be available from good bookstores nationwide.

In Giveaways, Kiwi, Native animals , , , , , , ,
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Meet our forest families free fun day at Riccarton Bush, Christchurch

Sarah Mankelow —  15/09/2011
William and Josie Webb meet our forest friends in Riccarton Bush.

William and Josie Webb meet our forest friends in Riccarton Bush

Come to Riccarton Bush, Christchurch this coming Sunday
To our meet the forest families, at our free family fun day

We’ve got guided walks and games, crafts and treats
And some forest creatures we’d love you to meet 

Kiwi chicks are hiding – you won’t see them this Sunday
But we’ll have a kiwi egg hunt – come join in the play! 

Weta; S Parkkali.

Weta is waiting to meet you!

Five wētā are hidden in the kahikatea tree
With a word to spell out – what will it be? 

Geckos are great – with coats grey, brown or green
Check out some photos of geckos we’ve seen

 Piwakawaka is friendly and might flit by
As we walk through the forest, don’t forget to say hi!

These forest friends want you to come out and play
At Riccarton Bush, Christchurch, at our free family day!

But if Christchurch is too far away for you to roam
Look below in this blog for stuff to do at home!

Sunday 18 September, 10am–4pm
Riccarton Bush, Ngahere Street entrance
Christchurch, South Island

To find out more and go into the draw for a fun pack, visit www.doc.govt.nz/forestfamilies

 ‘My heart is like a forest’ things to make

On the Conservation Week website there are some things to make and do at home, including six of our fabulous forest creatures.

Cut and colour pages. Print out the A4 pages, colour in the heart-shaped pieces, cut them out then put them back together! 

Kaleidocycle

Make this kaleidocycle for Conservation Week

Kaleidocycle. Ever heard of a kaleidocycle? Download the A3 instruction sheet to make one for yourself!

Face masks. Become a bird for a day! Print off one of these A3 sheets, colour them in and cut them out to create your very own bird mask!

In Canterbury , , , ,
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Love New Zealand

Department of Conservation —  13/09/2011

There's lots to love about New Zealand!

Why do you love New Zealand? 

What Now and DOC put this question to kids around the country, with the chance to be a mini DOC ranger up for grabs.

10 days later, over 500 kids had sent in their answers in, and the results indicate that the next generation of DOC rangers have the same appreciation and love for our favourite places and wildlife that we do.

What the kids had to say…

Hayden, 11, from West Harbour says:

Hayden Mills and his little brother on a family walk through their local Waitakere Ranges

“I love New Zealand because it is beautiful, natural and full of awesome things to see and do. My favourite native New Zealand bird is the pukeko, I wish I could have them at my house to look after them.

“The photo is of me and my little brother on a family walk through our local Waitakere Ranges on 2nd Jan 2011. Me and my family love going on bush walks and looking at all the beauty our Ranges have to show us.”

A strong message from Manakau’s Molly:

Molly loves New Zealand's natural beauty

“I love New Zealand because of its natural beauty and we can all keep it that way by recycling and NOT littering. GO RECYCLING!!!”

A future DOC sustainability champion perhaps?

Jayden from Taupo reckons New Zealand’s pretty cool:

“I love New Zealand because it is fun, small, green, clean and you don’t need to fly everywhere in the country.

Jayden enjoys fishing and hunting

“I want to learn more about New Zealand bushes and about Auckland. If you look at my pic you can see I like fishing. I also enjoy hunting.”

The winner:

But DOC and the What Now team decided there was one stand out entry — Louis from Christchurch, who’d put an enormous effort into his video (the only video entry).

Louis has wanted to be a DOC ranger his whole life, so we’re sure he’ll love the experience he has won!

Check out Louis’ winning entry:

Louis’ prize involves a trip to Auckland’s pest-free islands (Rangitoto and Motutapu), checking for any sneaky stoats or rascal rats, tracking takahē, and staying the night to fall asleep to native bird sounds. Louis called it his “ultimate DOC experience”.

Get involved in Conservation Week

‘Love New Zealand’ is the theme for Conservation Week 2011, which began on 11 September and runs until 18 September.

There are heaps of ways you can get involved. Find out about events happening in your area by visiting the Conservation Week website and encourage your friends and family to get along and show their support too!

What Now Conservation Week special

If you were up in time and tuned in to TV2 on Sunday morning, you would have seen our special conservation-themed episode of What Now. If you missed it there’s still time to catch it online on the TVNZ website.

Tell us why you love New Zealand

If you didn’t/couldn’t enter the What Now competition, now’s your chance to tell us why you Love New Zealand. Leave a reply to this post and tell us. We’ll blog the best replies next week.

In Old Conservation Week posts , , , , ,
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