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Archives For 30/11/1999

Kiwis for kiwi spotlight: Michelle Impey – Executive Director

Department of Conservation —  11/10/2013

To celebrate Save Kiwi Week which kicks off next Monday we profile Michelle Impey, Executive Director at Kiwis for kiwi.

At work

Michelle Impey holding a rowi kiwi.

Holding a rowi kiwi

Some things I do in my job include… Kiwis for kiwi is a small two-person team so my role is pretty broad! I am mostly office-bound and my job description includes everything from working with the Trustees to set/deliver the strategic direction for the Trust, managing relationships with stakeholders, fundraising strategy and execution, marketing and fronting media etc.

This helps achieve DOC’s vision by…keeping one of its partnerships ticking along.

The best bit about my job is… I have two favourite bits. I have a saying I like to use: “No one is saving kiwi to get rich”. There are some amazing people around New Zealand who are working hard to protect kiwi, and often with a huge contribution of their own time and money. They are salt-of-the-earth people and it’s really awesome to work alongside them.

And, in a best-of-both-worlds scenario, I feel really fortunate that I get to use my business skills and background but with a way more gratifying outcome than I would have in the corporate world – which is usually about selling more product and/or increasing return to shareholders. In this role, if I do a good job, there is more money for kiwi conservation work and that is hugely rewarding.

The funniest/strangest/loveliest/scariest/awesome-est DOC moment I’ve had so far is… I’ve been in this role eight years so there have been lots of funny, strange, lovely and scary moments, but probably one of my stand-out awesome memories is of a day in Fiordland a few years ago, where I got taken out on a ‘kiwi hunt’ with the DOC team to find a tokoeka that needed a transmitter change. It was a nine-hour day to find and capture that one bird but what an amazing day in the bush! It highlights how hard the work can be, but also how enormously gratifying and rewarding it is.

The DOC (or previous DOC) employee that inspires or enthuses me most is… I have to pick a collection or group rather than singling out one amazing person, and that is the Kiwi Recovery Group. It is led by DOC but is comprised of both DOC and non-DOC people with broad ranging kiwi knowledge and experience that spans decades. I am really privileged to sit on this group because of my role with the Trust, and am constantly amazed at the breadth of knowledge the group possesses and the thoughtful advice that is given out on kiwi issues around the country.

Michelle tramping in the Kaimanawa Ranges.

I love Auckland, but love to get out of it too! Here’s me on a tramping trip in the Kaimanawa Ranges

On a personal note…

Most people don’t know that I… don’t work for DOC, don’t work for BNZ, and prior to this role had not worked in a conservation-related field.

The song that always cheers me up is… um, anything that isn’t country and western, but I have a few faves in the music library at the moment. Can’t usually go wrong with Foo Fighters or Jack Johnson, depending on the mood.

My stomping ground is… the Waitakere Ranges in Auckland. Only a 20 minute drive and you’ve got miles and miles of amazing bush trails for running.

My best ever holiday was… my first trip ever to a completely different country (I’m from Canada) – Thailand. There is something very cool about all of those travel ‘firsts’ – eating who-knows-what from road-side stalls, not speaking the language, discovering new foods, new culture, new landscapes etc.

My greatest sporting moment was when… I crossed the finish line at Ironman Canada for the first time.  It wasn’t a podium finish (by a very long shot) but by far the toughest sporting event I have done to date.

If I could be any New Zealand native species I’d be… any one of them that live on a predator-free offshore island. That’d be the sweet life….

If I wasn’t working at Kiwis for kiwi, I’d like to…be a philanthropist.

Holding a kakapo on Codfish Island.

Life isn’t completely kiwi. It was awesome to do a volunteer stint with the kakapo team on Codfish Island

Deep and meaningful…

My favourite quote is… “I was sad I had no shoes, until I met a man who had no feet”. I don’t know where it originated but it is such a good perspective check for when you think things aren’t going so well.

The best piece of advice I’ve ever been given is… when you don’t know what to do, do something.

In work and life I am motivated by… happiness. I like to do what makes me happy. It’s simple (and it’s hedonistic), but it works.

My conservation advice to New Zealanders is… every little bit really can make a difference.

Michelle skiing in Canada.

Life before New Zealand – in an equally beautiful part of the world – Canada

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Southern Kaipara kiwi are back

Department of Conservation —  27/08/2013

By Gina Williams, Kiwi Ranger, Whangarei.

Kiwi are back in Kaipara after a 50 year absence, and are ready to make their mark on the Mataia Restoration Project.

Pōwhiri at the homestead to welcome the new arrivals.

Pōwhiri at the homestead to welcome the new arrivals

Kevin and Gill Adshead.

Kevin and Gill Adshead

In 2005, Gill and Kevin Adshead set aside 400 hectares of their 1300 hectare farm in the south Kaipara Harbour area, north of Auckland, for ecological restoration purposes—the Mataia Restoration Project.

Planting, controlling pests, and fencing, were just some of the tasks volunteers helped the couple with, to get the land ready for the kiwi.

A vibrant Kaipara community, local iwi, schools, neighbours, Kiwis for Kiwi, the Department of Conservation, and local councils all showed up to help release the kiwi into their new home.

Gill explains that the goodwill of so many people will make the next phase—to increase the pest and predator controlled area into neighbouring properties—much easier; and with roaming dogs the number one threat to the project, community support is key.

Gill and Kevin say the reaction to the birds and the participation of schools and local iwi was wonderful.

Ella Hood and kiwi at the Mataia release.

Ella Hood with a kiwi at the Mataia release

With radio transmitters attached to their legs the kiwi can be monitored. The restoration area is easy terrain to work with and half the birds signals can be detected from the deck of the farm house.

Ultimately the couple plan to release a total of 40 birds at Mataia over the next few years.

Pete Graham changes the transmitter on a bird under the watchful eye of a child.

Pete Graham changes the transmitter on a bird under a watchful eye

Visit the Nature Space website to read diary updates on the kiwi, access the latest newsletters and track the travels of the kiwi.

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Kiwi crèche made safe by trust

Rebecca Wilson —  10/06/2013

Thanks to the efforts of the Pomona Island Charitable Trust the island’s Haast tokoeka kiwi are kept safe from predators.

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Photo of the week: Rowi chick success on Blumine Island

Department of Conservation —  29/05/2013

This week’s photo was shared on Facebook by DOC West Coast. It shows Rein the kiwi dog checking in on Norman and Stealth, two rare rowi kiwi, on Blumine Island/Oruawairua. After years of breeding problems Norman and Stealth have finally become parents to a new kiwi chick.

Rowi breeding success on Blumine Island – we’re stoked about it!

rowi-rare-breeding

The photo was taken by Iain Graham, an Operation Nest Egg Ranger in DOC’s Franz Josef – Waiau Area Office.

To hear the romantic story of Norman and Stealth listen to this report on Radio New Zealand.

Send us your photos

If you have a great, conservation related photo you want to share with the world (or at least the readers of this blog) send it through to us at socialmedia@doc.govt.nz.

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Cicadas buzzing at Omaru Hut

Department of Conservation —  26/03/2013

Kaye Coe from DOC’s Taranaki Area Office shares with us a recent hut experience in the Matemateāonga Range.

It’s dusk. Warm still hazy air. Cicadas buzzing. My 7 year son and I are sitting on the deck of Omaru Hut, Matemateāonga Track. I am loving the peace and quiet of the moment. My son is putting up with his mum’s need for the quiet moment.

Omaru Hut, Matemateāonga Track.

Omaru Hut, Matemateāonga Track

I hear a shrill bird like cry, a quiet pause, then another, closer, then another. I whisper “kiwi“. We hold our breath, closer, louder, any moment the kiwi was going to burst out of the bush beside us. Another whistle a few metres away. We sit, still as frightened mice, not making a breath of sound. There’s a pause then, far away, we hear another call. The closer kiwi replies and turns from us. The kiwi call to each other, slowly sounding further and further away.

North Island Brown Kiwi.

A few metres away, a kiwi

Four days tramping on the Matemateāonga Range, just us and nobody else except a few kiwi, possibly a kokako or two, some morepork and a few old goats. The best Christmas a mum could wish for.

Swing bridge on the Matemateāonga Range.

Four days tramping on the Matemateāonga Range

The Matemateāonga Track

The Matemateāonga Track is one of the two major tramping opportunities available in Whanganui National Park. Using an old Maori trail and settlers’ dray road you are able to penetrate deep into the wilderness of the park.

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