May Update No images? Click here An update from Lou SansonTēnā koutou, Now that we are in Alert level 2, we are able to participate in nature more and do more of the activities we all love. Alert level 2 also broadly means our staff are able to resume fieldwork, when and where they can do so safely. Our office staff continue to work from home if they can, with very limited numbers back in our office buildings to maintain COVID-19 safe practice. As we increasingly move out of lockdown restrictions we will be using what we learnt to make Te Papa Atawhai a much more sustainable organisation in how we operate and face an equally if not greater challenge in the years ahead - Climate Change and its impact on the loss of biodiversity. In this update it gives me great pleasure to share our conservation stories from during lockdown and give you an inside look at DOC's work, as well as the efforts of others contributing to the important work of conservation. Life at Alert Level 2I personally valued the opportunity to get back out into the hills and do a bike ride beyond the 5km radius of our house as we finished lockdown. I was rapt to head up to Kime Hut with NZ Trade and Enterprise CEO Peter Chrisp and Hamish Midgley, Head of Business Development at Rabobank, on the first weekend and put up COVID-19 safety signs in Field and Kime huts. The car park at Otaki Forks was at capacity and I was thrilled to see so many people out enjoying nature. Left: Putting up COVID-19 safety sign at Field Hut. Right: With Peter Chrisp on the Kime ridge. Photos: supplied by Lou Sanson This weekend we did the Remutaka cycle trail to see the brand-new Siberia Gully cycle bridge near Summit Station on the Fell Mountain Railway. Again, car parks were full, and I had never seen so many mountain bikes. The bridge is a really impressive piece of our engineering, built to cope with 100 knot winds that frequently buffet the high Remutaka Ranges. One of the most important things I have seen, both during lockdown and now, is thousands of New Zealanders rediscovering nature and what it represents in their own backyards. We must all feel profoundly privileged to be enabling these incredible experiences, be it in Predator Free places, incredible visitor facilities like I experienced on the Remutaka Cycleway and at Kime Hut, or just knowing there is a patch of bush out the back Iooked after by Te Papa Atawhai that must be visited soon. Nature is one of the most healing environments for what we have all been through and will go through in the months ahead. Hamish Midgley at Kime Hut. Photo: Lou Sanson White weka in Abel Tasman National ParkProject Janszoon /DOC rangers are back in the park checking traps. Ranger Fay McKenzie spotted a white weka near Wainui on Monday last week. Its colouring is caused by leucism - a condition similar to albinism, where just the feathers lack pigmentation. White birds do not usually fare well with predators as they are so easy to see, so it is a good sign that trapping in the park is having a positive impact. The white weka spotted by Fay McKenzie in Abel Tasman National Park. Photo: Fay McKenzie Lockdown actionOnce the lockdown was announced on Monday 23 March, we had to move fast to make sure our staff in the remotest parts of the country (and the world) could get back home. Raoul Island staff evacuationA special thanks to our incredible partners, the New Zealand Defence Force, which sent HMNZS Canterbury to Raoul Island to bring back our six rangers based there. The crew of HMNZS Canterbury, having just completed a trip to Campbell and Auckland islands for us on 9 - 20 March, were not permitted to disembark the ship in Auckland due to the risk of contracting COVID-19. Our ‘Raoulies’ all bright and chipper the Friday morning before evacuation, ready to pack and up and leave in the coming days. Top row from left: Hamish McInnes, Aidan Moyle, Allen Parsons, Lou Hubbard. Bottom row from left: Keith Townsend, Laura Parks. Photo: Matiu Mataira The ‘Raoulies’ (as we call our staff on Raoul Island) returned to Auckland’s Devonport Naval Base on 29 March and were able to travel home. Raoul Island is closed down for the first time in the history of Te Papa Atawhai, with extra security measures being put in place while DOC is absent. Bringing other DOC whānau home from remote cornersWe were able to bring Partnerships Manager Phil Tisch back home in the nick of time after his cruise ship Ortelius - travelling from Bluff to Ushuaia in Argentina via New Zealand sub-Antarctic islands and Antarctica – became gridlocked with South American port closures to all cruise ships. Phil had been onboard for 45 days since it left Bluff, working for MFAT and DOC as the ship’s Government representative. He was able to catch one of the last flights from Montevideo to Santiago then Auckland. It was a huge relief to get him back. Phil Tisch at Auckland Islands, holding a diving petrel. Photo: Phil Tisch Seawork’s boat Tranquil Image brought back Graeme Elliott and Kath Walker from Antipodes Island. They had been deploying GPS satellite trackers on our endangered Antipodean albatross. The project was funded by our America’s Cup yachties Peter Burling and Blair Tuke’s “Live Ocean” save our albatross campaign. The satellite tags will enable us to track the movements of the birds and look for overlap with fisheries. This will in turn enable bycatch mitigation efforts domestically and internationally to be better targeted. Graeme and Kath deployed 40 albatross GPS transmitters in two weeks of really windy subantarctic weather before they had to return home - a big achievement. Graeme Elliott and crew of Seaworks vessel Tranquil on Antipodes Island. Photo: DOC Rakiura rescueI would like to acknowledge the work of the Rakiura team, who helped in Search and Rescue operation for a missing hunter on Rakiura as the country was heading into lockdown. Dunedin man, Eli Smith, was out hunting in a party of 13 when he was separated from the rest of the group. He headed off in what he thought was the right direction, unaware that his knife was affecting the accuracy of his compass. That was on Monday 23rd March – the day the Prime Minister moved us into Alert Level 3 and announced that we would move to Alert Level 4 on the Wednesday night. It was also the day that the Rakiura team started evacuating around 70 walkers from the Rakiura Great Walk while Operations Manager Ren Leppens and three other Rakiura staff were already in self-isolation. The following day, Tuesday, the team needed to organise evacuation of around 20 hunters from across the island, close the office and relocate all staff to work from home. That was when the call came to set up a Search and Rescue operation for the missing hunter. Rakiura DOC staff Dan Lee (team leader), Rachael Sagar, Jake Osborne and Alasdair Burns, along with high school student Angus Kenny, were the first team on the ground at the last place the hunter was seen. They tracked him as far as they could over 3 days, and 2 nights. DOC Ranger Michael Douglass worked as skipper, ferrying search parties to different parts of the Lords River search area. Rec/Historic Supervisor Andrew King was DOC’s lead in the IMT, along with Police, and SAR teams from Dunedin, Invercargill and Stewart Island. It was another two days before Eli Smith was located and picked up by helicopter on a beach at Chew Tobacco Bay. He was hungry, thirsty, sore and extremely happy to be found. From left to right: Search team Rachael Sagar, Jake Osborne, Angus Kenny and Dan Lee. Photo: Alasdair Burns I would like to personally acknowledge the fantastic work of the Rakiura team in response to so many challenges. I also would like to recognise the great relationship that the team has with the local Police and other agencies. As noted by Stewart Newton, Constable for Halfmoon Bay: “I thank and am proud of your team - its contribution to this successful operation and the asset you all are to the community of Rakiura Stewart Island”. Remember in these challenging times, the great teamwork and relationships that we have built in ordinary times are our greatest assets. Te Papa Atawhai helping our Treaty PartnerDuring lockdown, the Te Arawa Whānau Ora COVID-19 Hub packed and distributed hygiene packs to vulnerable whānau with the support of DOC staff from the Rotorua Office. The packs included personal hygiene items, such as disposable gloves, toilet paper, tissues, handwash and soap being delivered to families across their network. Te Arawa Whānau Ora Healthy Families Rotorua Manager, Mapihi Raharuhi said the packs went to families in Rotorua, Te Kaha, Opotiki, Whakatane, Tauranga, Taupō and Turangi. “These packs helped support whānau to respond to the Ministry of Health guidelines around maintaining safety within their bubble. Most whānau allocateded one person to shop for the entire family, so the disposable gloves helped that person go out and return to their bubble while maintaining the safety for everyone within that bubble.” Paul Warbrick, Pou Tairangahau for CNI says they packed about 1100 boxes a day. “It’s great to get in with local Iwi to support this. While this was not direct conservation work, we were working with and for the wider whānau, hapū and Iwi. I’m really fortunate where I have a job, and if I can help any families who are not in the same position, it’s a privilege.” Community Ranger Catherine Noble agrees. “It’s great to see local Operations and distributed staff work together. The working group for Te Arawa Whānau Ora was small and working tirelessly, so it has been good to step in and help. We are all in this together. It’s been exhausting, but such good work.” The DOC staff helped with putting together the packs to load on to pallets. They were transported across the wider Waiāriki region and delivered by commissioned agencies in their respective towns. Packing goods for distribution. Photo: Mariana Te Rangi (former DOC staff member – Supervisor, Biodiversity) Chathams German wasp incursionA big thanks to Kerri Moir and Rob Seymour from Environment Canterbury who used such incredible innovation to attempt to eradicate the Chathams first ever established wasp population. They tied cotton to the bodies of the wasps in the hope that the wasps would fly in a direct line to their nest. They located a nest above Waitangi Port and in early April Air Chathams flew Vespex from Christchurch to complete the eradication. Doing this during the lockdown has saved our threatened species on Chathams from a potentially wicked environmental catastrophe. Brilliant work ECAN! German Mission House – West Waitangi. Photo: Lou Sanson Translocation in lockdown - the shore plover/tūturuatuA huge thank you to Air New Zealand and Isaac’s Conservation and Wildlife Trust for their generous efforts in the recent translocation of shore plover/tūturuatu juveniles from their Christchurch captive breeding facility to pest-free Mana Island off the Wellington coast. The translocation took place on Saturday 11 April during lockdown and was classified as essential work for the welfare of these critically threatened birds. The operation involved the highest level of biosecurity standards for people and birds. With a total population of just 250 birds, these juveniles are critical to the Mana Island population becoming the fourth self-sustaining population on predator-free offshore islands. Read the Guardian article about the translocation I received an update afterwards from Mana Island, “We let the birds out of the aviary and it was lovely to see them take their first flight – and then land back on the island! We spotted one of the five this morning and will be heading out later today for a closer look. It seems there are four birds from the first two transfers still residing here so hopefully all (or at least some) of these five will join them.” Nick Fisentzidis and son Theo check shore plover/tūturuatu. Photo: DOC Let Nature InIt is fantastic to see the new Let Nature In campaign gaining traction. The Let Nature In programme of work has been developed as part of DOC’s COVID-19 NZ response to engage New Zealanders with nature, to support wellbeing during the lockdown period and the ensuing recovery. It provides entertaining activities and education resources for Kiwis at home during the lockdown, and we are now expanding the scope of how people can let nature into their lives at Alert Level 2 and beyond. I encourage you all to share the Let Nature In webpage and content with your families and networks to help us, help New Zealanders to enhance their wellbeing. Join me and start using the hashtag too. #Letnaturein Let Nature In campaign. Image: DOC Partners doing incredible work during lockdownOver the past few weeks, I have been contacting some of our key conservation partners as they face their own COVID-19 business challenges. What has emerged are some amazing stories of resilience and hope:
We will continue to work closely with all our Treaty Partner, business and community partners in the weeks and months ahead, to ensure the whole New Zealand conservation strategy of working in partnership with others continues to reverse New Zealand’s biodiversity decline. Their continued success is Te Papa Atawhai’s success. Cultural competency to support quality iwi partnerships in Tāmaki MakaurauDOC staff in Tāmaki Makaurau have embarked on a programme of Cultural Competency lead by a small team from within the rohe. The programme has been designed to enable DOC staff to engage confidently with our Treaty Partner. From pronunciation to protocols, waiata to Tiriti o Waitangi, the 45-minute opt-in classes are run on MS Teams and are extremely well attended. The programme was launched in the second week of lockdown, which was an unexpected benefit as a higher number of people than usual have been able to engage in the twice-weekly sessions. These are supplemented by weekly te Reo and waiata lessons. All carried out on MS Teams. Iwi and community-led work on Waiheke continuesWaiheke Island’s iwi and community-led land and sea restoration projects have managed to stay buoyant thanks to innovative use of technology. The projects, Te Korowai o Waiheke (stoat and rat eradication) and Waiheke Marine Project, involve mana whenua, a number of agencies and community working together to transform Waiheke Island into a thriving natural environment. Project milestones (like stoat trap operation and running a 3-day 80-person event) have had to be postponed, yet the iwi and community (assisted by partners like DOC) have been resilient and found innovative ways to maintain project momentum. Ngāti Paoa, multiple layers of the Waiheke community, Auckland Council, DOC and funding supporters have turned their collective might to a seamless shift to digital connection.
These examples of ongoing momentum give hope that even with the dramatic impact of COVID-19 on business (Waiheke is a tourism hot spot), there is commitment that with improved nature outcomes there will be improved social outcomes. Partners in the Waiheke projects are committed to keeping up the conservation work. One participant has shared their thoughts which reflect the community as a whole, “We are an essential service to those precious endemic species that we have worked so hard to protect.” DOC and Waiheke Marine Project hosting a Virtual Reality session (courtesy of NZ-VR) for understanding marine issues Photo: Miranda O’Connell Locked down on Tiritiri MatangiHere is DOC ranger, Emma Dunning, talking about her 67-day lockdown on the Tiritiri Matangi. Project Janszoon partnershipWe have partnered with the Project Janszoon Trust and the Abel Tasman Birdsong Trust for the last eight years on an incredible journey of nature restoration within Abel Tasman National Park. Over this time, we have completed extensive wilding conifer control together, spanning the full extent of the park. We’ve established one of the comprehensive ground and aerial based predator control programmes for rats, stoats and possums on mainland New Zealand and, much to the delight of locals and visitors, reintroduced South Island kākā to Wainui and the lowland forests of Bark Bay, and pāteke to the waterways of Awaroa. Probably the most rewarding aspect has been doing this together with iwi, community, business, the Trusts and our remarkable staff who have worked tirelessly to delivery this landscape scale programme alongside our partners. For those of you who can’t get your daily fix of Aotearoa’s fantastic birdsong and the dawn chorus, check out this cool weblink to listen live to the birds on Adele Island! The dawn chorus is especially good. (note: this works best in Chrome browser) Also take a look at this video about the return of kākā to the Abel Tasman Coast. If there is anything you wish to discuss, please feel free to contact me directly on Director-General@doc.govt.nz. Also, you can follow updates and DOC news at your own pace by following me on social media #DOCBoss . Hei konei rā, Lou Sanson DOC on FacebookBe sure to follow DOC on our new Facebook page, on Twitter, Instagram and more. |