Out of places deep on Great Barrier Island The Pestival Every Kiwi knows that New Zealand has a tough problem of introduced species wreaking havoc on forests and other native habitats, birds and invertebrates. The situation is so controversial that not even everyone agrees that something ought to be done to try to reverse the trend, and those who agree on that disagree vehemently on what it is that ought to be done. The arguments, motivations and conflicts of interest over 1080, brodifacoum, glyphosphate and other biocides vs trapping alone have raged the entire 22 years we’ve been in New Zealand, and no doubt did long before that and will into the future. “Predator Free NZ 2050” sounds like a an indisputable common goal, but it’s a minefield. Though Great Barrier Island is two-thirds protected land, mostly bush, and not one possum, stoat, ferret, weasel, wild goat, deer, horse or thar can be found here, it has serious woes with rats, feral cats and pigs, rabbits and plague skinks (not to mention invasive introduced plants, ants and other insects, as well as serious plant diseases). Everyone is concerned, except those who want to let the seemingly losing battle amongst the native and the introduced run its course, come what may. A full house gathered for the Pestival at the Claris Conference Centre to find out how other New Zealand communities and projects are tackling their pest problems to protect native wildlife. Some samples below. Stewart Island Around Half Moon Bay on Stewart Island, a trust is trying to stay on top of possums, rats and feral cats in a 210-hectare open sanctuary. Just like on the Barrier, the work is done mostly by volunteers who trap, trap, trap, and trap some more. They also weed, revegetate and monitor birds. Half Moon Bay, Oban, Stewart Island Bay of Islands Project Island Song is the Bay of Islands’ wildlife sanctuary. Thanks to a partnership between community conservation group Guardians of the Bay of Islands, tangata whenua and the Department of Conservation, the seven main islands in the eastern Bay of Islands have been pest-mammal free since 2009, and natural ecosystems are being restored. The presenter, BJ Black, we learned after his talk, was rather modest about his role. In fact he’s been working almost fanatically for years to set, monitor and reset traps and coordinate volunteers over 3000 hectares! Other facets of the project are a biosecurity awareness campaign, weeding and revegetation, education and tours, and reintroduction of native species. Cacaphony Project to the rescue! As we know and heard, trapping as it’s done now can be frustratingly slow, difficult and labour intensive. The non-trading, not-for-profit Cacaphony Project are a group of inventors and high-techies who are passionate about radically improving the situation. In collaboration with others equally keen, they’re developing a set of open-source IT gear they believe will increase trapping efficiency by many tens of thousands of times. Thermal cameras, speakers and sensors placed in the bush use light, sound and scent to lure predators into traps, with room for several predators in each trap! AI identifies them and the invasives are “eliminated”, and all the while bird song is monitored to measure the impact of the interventions. To achieve their goal of a 100 percent predator-free New Zealand as quickly as possible, the Cacaphony Project is partnering with businesses better placed to offer the tools to councils and conservation groups, rather than trying to do everything themselves Meanwhile, Great Barrier Island has been awarded $3 million from Predator Free 2050 to support a pest control project over much of the island – but should poison be part of the plan? Alas, the rancour has already begun. The Killing Nation Coincidentally with all of that, one Sunday the phone rang at Aotea FM when I was doing my show. The backstory! In truth I often throw in comments that are at best less than neutral about what’s going on in the world. I was talking about the book Count Down, that is, sperm count. Sorry to say, but these most necessary counts have decreased 60 percent since 1973 and are continuing to decline. If they continue on their current path, sperm counts may well reach zero by 2045. Human vitality is weakened by all sorts of assaults these days, but the blame for this endgame decline mostly lies with PFAs – fluoride-laden chemicals that until recently were the basis of products like Scotchgard and Teflon. Same story, corporations hid the truth for decades. I went on to say that many other equally life-destroying substances are out there but it’s near impossible to link specific cause with specific effect, so they continue to be produced and unsuspecting people continue to buy them. ETC!! The phone rang during the next song (it was either Steve Forbert’s “Good Planets are Hard to Find” or James Taylor’s “Gaia”). It was someone listening from the upper Coromandel. No surprise that she asked if I’d be happy to share information about 1080 drops planned for the coming months and ask listeners if they’d email their opposition to the Waikato District Health Board. Of course I was, but instead I interviewed her the following Sunday. COME TO FIND OUT!!! My caller was Reihana Robinson, tireless though disheartened researcher and activist for economic, social and environmental justice and the author of books whose titles I knew! She’s also an organic farmer, poet and artist: reihanarobinson.co.nz Now we’re email friends. She shares her ongoing work for the greater good, and other information of interest, and as I do with several friends, we muse over where the world is going and what is our most sane and ethical response. Reihana took these photos of the Barrier seen from the Coromandel. New fruits Gerald of Okiwi Passion has a wonderful habit of delighting us with surprises of unusual fruits planted decades ago by his father that he and Caity don’t usually sell. This is an inga bean! When Gerald was in South America, he saw children eating them and climbing high in the trees to collect more. We can understand why – the fluff around the seeds feels like cotton candy (candy floss) and tastes as sweet. They’re also called ice cream beans, but I think that’s a stretch! These trees are high indeed – up to 30 metres! They’re grown up and down the Amazon region not only for the tasty snacks within the pods, but also for protein from the cooked beans (more than 10 percent); medicine from the leaves, seeds and bark that treats a big range of ills from eye problems to headaches, coughs, digestive issues, rheumatism and even bad moods; and fermenting into an alcoholic drink. The copious shade of the trees protects under-crops of coffee, tea and cacao. The wood is used for small building projects and fuel. It’s a model permaculture plant! And these are lucuma. Marsha and I wrote about lucuma in the Wholefoods Handbook, but only in the abstract as an exotic superfood powder from Peru. I can tell you there’s no comparison with the real thing! Our lucuma entry says “Its sweet fruit, with rich, creamy, orange and yellow pulp – the ‘Gold of the Incas’ – has been cultivated since ancient times. Its delicious maple syrup flavour is a favourite for many South Americans, especially for ice cream!” Gerald and Caity can vouch for the bliss of the ice cream and all of us love it in our smoothies! Beachcombing There’s always something different waiting to be found on our walks on Kaitoke Beach. The waves and tides fascinate infinitely, of course, and the sand also offers visual delights and wonder. Sometimes it’s patterns. Wee ridges covered much of the beach after a strong northeasterly. Shells distributed all over the beach had protected the sand on their leeward side, so ridges formed. Sometimes it’s dotterels or oystercatchers ... … whose tracks may go in unfathomable directions. Like, what the heck happened here? Occasionally, pumice. That’s here, we think, because we live nearly in the shadow of an extinct volcano, Te Ahumata, and the life of pumice begins in a volcanic eruption. When an ultra-heated, highly pressurised rock is violently ejected, suddenly it’s no longer ultra-hot and pressurised, but cooled and depressurised. It’s foamy-ish because depressurisation creates bubbles like those of the carbon dioxide created when you open a bottle of ginger beer or kombucha. All of a sudden the gases, and water, that were “dis”-solved in the lava “ex”-solve and form bubbles that are trapped within the transformed rock. New Zealand and the ocean around it have a volcanic history. Te Ahumata (photo) is one of three extinct volcanoes on the Barrier that are part of the Coromandel Volcanic Zone, and White Island isn’t far away, but the origin of the pumice on Kaitoke Beach does remain an open question. For a few days, it was sponges on the beach! We found all these different kinds on one walk. Why on this day a conglomeration of sponges? What are sponges anyway, how do they hold so much water, and can you really use them to wipe off your benchtops? Research and learn! A sponge is a marine animal so simple it has no organs! Instead, its huge surface area does the job of absorbing oxygen and nutrients and ridding it of waste. It reproduces by budding – sending out extensions that develop new wee sponges at their tips that eventually detach. A sponge is basically a flexible skeleton, a labyrinth of narrow channels and cul-de-sacs that slow down water and hold it within. Squeeze a sponge, the channels compress and the pressure pushes out the water. Synthetic sponges are similar, except they’re made of plastic and once discarded break down into Mermaid’s Tears – the microplastic particles that are relentlessly permeating the Earth’s air, land and sea. If they’re “antibacterial” or “anti-odour”, they probably contain the toxic pesticide triclosan, which is not only linked to health problems but doesn’t break down in the environment and is one of the most common human-made chemicals found in waterways. A home-grown solution is at hand! Bree posted this on Barrier Chitchat. “We love to try and grow new things in our garden – especially trying things that can replace items in our household. “This past year we loved growing our first crop of luffa sponges! So fun! This is just our partial crop - we got at least 40 off of 10 plants, plus they multiply when you cut them to a useable size." “Luffas are an excellent replacement for shower and dish sponges. We can honestly say it's the best dish brush we've ever used, plus it's fully compostable when you're through. How great!” From Out of Places Deep Thanks to great teamwork amongst the author, his partner, his editor (me!) and his designer, the awesome poetry book of my friend in the UK is ready for publishing! He’s offering Wonderground free in “an attempt to stimulate, entertain, inform and inspire the introspective nature of the reader.” In the preface he writes: Poetry is personal ... Best silently construed And pondered by the feeling eye Of heart where none intrude It gifts to you alone What you alone perceive therein Best read subdued in quietude To glean what lies within Early on in the process I wrote to him: "With your writing, one must use one’s brain for its intended purpose, and flex one’s vocabulary muscles, and consult one's dictionary! Then the rewards are many.” Keep that in mind as you peruse what lies within!
- - - - - - - - Down to the Wharf by Mike Scott I’m a part-time Barrier carrier Bays and bays fill my gaze and make for wonderful days Load empty stock, head down to the dock, watching the clock Johnny Blackwell has an awkward load, but he’ll tie it down, make it gel. He’s an expert, you can tell. Trucks and forklifts. Two Waynes, plenty of brains. There’s Jacquie. She’s in control, got things to roll. This place has got soul. Dave’s got a massive load. Planks and pallets. Plaster and pipes. He’ll make sure it’s carefully stowed. Farewell to the ferry. Wind’s blowing, going to be hairy. Downright scary. Glad I’m staying. Pity the passengers. There’s no delaying, soon they’ll be praying. Off around the bays again, eyes on the road, keen as a harrier. Lucky to be a part-time Barrier carrier. Bays and bays fill my gaze. Barrier people make for wonderful days. Mike’s not only a poet! He gave us a copy of this sweet book he wrote and illustrated, all puns about banded rails, the endearing roadrunner-like native birds. A few pages…. The wonder plant In early winter a seedling sprouted in our tulsi pot that we thought was a cayenne pepper, which occasionally pop up in the garden. As it grew we realised it was a capsicum, one of the GIANT Marconi Red variety that Caity and Gerald grow. Ro moved the wee plant to a pot of its own, where it shot up so fast we could just about watch it grow. It was very happy in the bright warmth behind the north-facing ranch slider, where it was lavished with attention and admiration from us and our visitors. Before long the pot seemed more like a thimble and Ro moved the plant to a container five times as big. It relished its roomy new home. Blossoms emerged! Soon three baby peppers were growing. By now they’re nearly full size. It’s been a real joy to observe it at close range and cheer it on, and we're looking forward to this come spring! Glimpses of the past from Barrier Chitchat Antique hide and seek “This is our grandson Jay hiding in a milk churn from the 1920s and 1930s, from the Cave Farm in Shoal Bay. .The original farmhouse burnt down and the churn was gifted to us. It’s been reconditioned and now sits in our apartment in Mount Eden.” Tryphena Hall, then and now Now it’s the office of the Aotea Family Support Group Clotheslines don’t change much "Hopefully you can see the Tilley lamps we had to use and the saws for firewood.” Date: the good old days! Flying to and from Auckland in those good old days ... “… when you could catch the plane from Mulberry Grove beach to town. Sea Bee Air's Grumman Goose ZK-DFCX was often also the emergency transport off the island.” [Barrierites call Auckland “town”. We found that amusing after Takaka was “town” for 16 years. Some here even call the mainland “New Zealand”!] “Capt. Fred Ladd was a real character. He used to get in the plane, which was full of excited passengers, sit at the controls and say out loud, 'Now, what did I do last time?’" And the present – look out for drones A drone came within 30 m of a Barrier Air flight into Auckland Airport one late afternoon in April, causing a temporary suspension of international and domestic flights. North Barrier Coop Gerald collects the Ceres Organics coop order from Tryphena wharf, to be split by members at Okiwi Passion’s great big shed the following day and picked up by other members or delivered by the splitters. Coop membership grew so much since we joined in 2015 that it split into North Barrier and Aotea South coops. Perhaps it will split again, into North, Central and South! Giant parsnips from Gerald and Caity Wildebeest in a bag Ruapehu, taken by friends on their way south North Barrier beauty by Bree Kaikoura Island Kākā Kererū and tūī at Windy Canyon Whangapoua estuary Rakitu Island, 4 km off Whangapoua Beach Tide pool Far end of Whangapoua Beach, through the gap at low tide to the next bay Port Fitzroy sunset
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