A Good Week for Conservation

Written By: - Date published: 7:26 am, July 15th, 2019 - 10 comments
Categories: Conservation, Environment, greens - Tags:

Three big, bold moves for conserving nature and expanding our awareness of it were announced inn the last week.

All of them led by Minister Eugenie Sage.

First off, the Hump Ridge Track is going to be upgraded from a two day to three day experience. Those tiny Southland towns like Tuatapere and Riverton will benefit as Te Anau has from the Milford and the Kepler, and Glenorchy has from the Routeburn. And its important that there’s another option for adventurous tourists to book since many of the others are just increasingly Instagrammed out.

Notably, the Minister pointed out that it’s impossible for a walk to be “great” without fulsome local iwi support.

It’s not until you get out on a ridge well above the clouds, the cars, and and the crowds, that you can once again inhale how special this country is; why all those calendars and images crowd the internet about us. I’ve done the Great Walks except Rakiura, and now the challenge of the one will pull my friends and I toward the southern edge of Fiordland.

The support from iwi for the Hump Ridge Track extension was continued in Minister Sage’s second move of the week.

That was the big hairy audacious goal of making the whole of Rakiura Stewart Island completely predator free. Plenty of partners on board for this one both local and governmental.

Predator Free Rakiura will aim to remove rats, possums, feral cats and hedgehogs from the mainland and islands of Rakiura. The islands are already free of stoats, weasels, ferrets, pigs and goats. The predator free concept has been around for some years. The MOU signing is the culmination of several years of substantive discussion and conversation, including the rejection by locals of a predator-proof fence concept around the little settlement.

I would so be in to help out on that one.

The MOU was signed by Awarua Rūnanga, Oraka-Aparima Rūnanga, Waihōpai Rūnanga, Hokonui Rūnanga, Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu, Rakiura Māori Lands Trust, Rakiura Tītī Islands Administering Body, Rakiura Tītī committee, Department of Conservation, Southland District Council, Southland Regional Council, Real Journeys and the New Zealand Deerstalkers’ Association.

The third was announced a few days ago, and it’s happening fast.

That one is the full-on operation to wipe out all pests in Wellington’s Miramar Peninsula – by the end of the year. 3,000 households have already signed up to host a trap or bait station. Predator Free New Zealand and all its thousands of local volunteers intend to have his area rat-free and full of native birds again within 6 months.

Way to be inspired.

10 comments on “A Good Week for Conservation ”

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  1. marty mars 1
    15 July 2019 at 7:47 am

    Yep good work by all concerned. Very deep whānau connections to Whenua Hou and Rakiura so am feeling the love. Thanks for the use of macrons in your post Ad – nice one.

  2. A 2
    15 July 2019 at 8:07 am

    That's an uplifting start to the week…thanks!

  3. Janet 3
    15 July 2019 at 11:37 am

    That is fantastic news re the Hump Ridge Track . so needed .. but also an extra hut is so needed on the Milford track as well so the older NZ ers can enjoy the walk instead of beating a track to the next hut before dark !

    The Stewart Island eradication program needs the latest in pest control technology the automatic and programmable enviroMate 100 TM bait station . It will save thousands of man hours and millions of NZ tax payers money.

  4. greywarshark 4
    15 July 2019 at 11:56 am

    Good news for our Alaskan and Russian tourists from the Arctic and other visitors.

    https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/394390/parts-of-coromandel-to-become-safe-sanctuaries-for-migratory-birds

    Disturbing news about how we are poisoning ourselves from our own pollution replacing proper food for seagulls. What goes round, comes around?

    https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/jul/10/australian-gulls-found-to-carry-antibiotic-resistant-superbugs

  5. Puckish Rogue 5
    15 July 2019 at 2:43 pm

    Good job, Greens doing green stuff is all good 😉

    • Robert Guyton 5.1
      15 July 2019 at 3:00 pm

      When you have Green eyes, everything looks green.

      • Puckish Rogue 5.1.1
        15 July 2019 at 3:07 pm

        I was going to post Green Eyes by Coldplay but then I thought people might think I actually like Coldplay so instead I went with something better



  6. RosieLee 6
    15 July 2019 at 5:21 pm

    So, are they going to make sure no mining companies are given consent to investigate on conservation land? That no fracking will be allowed on Taranaki or any other bits of mainland NZ? That no Chinese companies are allowed to buy rural land for landfill dumps?

  7. michelle 7
    16 July 2019 at 10:20 am

    good work greenies keep it up we need you to get more seats at our next election

    water , recycling, very hot issues

  8. Me Pop Now 8
    16 July 2019 at 12:51 pm

    It is good to see an attempt to make Rakiura pest free being put into an agreement. Something is seriously wrong with such an attempt if it does not include cats and deer. Something else seriously wrong when SIRCET which intensively traps an area around Halfmoon Bay is not included in the agreement.

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