September Update No Images? Click here An update from Lou SansonTēnā koutou, Welcome to my regular update, where I share conservation stories to give you an inside look at DOC's work, as well as the efforts of others contributing to conservation. Women of InfluenceI would like to congratulate DOC’s Elaine Murphy on being a finalist for the 2019 Innovation, Science & Health Women of Influence Awards. Elaine has been with DOC since 1991, and as part of her current role she works with Zero Invasive Predators (ZIP). Elaine is one of New Zealand’s leading animal ecologists and has specialised in predator control research. In particular, her work on stoats has helped New Zealanders change the way we treat this species. She has raised awareness of the significant impacts they have on our natural biodiversity and worked on new control techniques to lessen those impacts. Beckie Clements (ZIP) and Elaine Murphy with the heights New Zealand predators can get over a fence. Photo: DOC Acting DD-G Corporate Services GroupI am pleased to advise that Rachel Bruce will be joining the DOC Senior Leadership Team on secondment from 17 September as our acting Deputy Director-General, Corporate Services. Rachel will be joining us for up to six months from the State Services Commission (SSC), where she is presently the Deputy Commissioner, Corporate Services as well as SSC Deputy Chief Executive. Rachel Bruce. Photo: Rachel Bruce Tahr programme reaches targetsCongratulations to the DOC tahr team led by Ben Reddiex and James Holborow who have met targets to control 10,000 Himalayan tahr on public conservation land. This is a fantastic result that will help protect threatened native plants such as the world’s largest buttercup, the Mount Cook buttercup, and tall snow tussock which tahr feed on. DOC has worked closely with recreational and commercial hunters to achieve this target. The tahr programme is truly cross-functional and includes DOC staff from three regions and ten districts. Staff from various teams, including Biodiversity, Electronics, GIS, Communications, Permissions and National Operations have played a key role in the project’s success. The number of tahr controlled in some operations have been verified for the first time as part of a pilot. The verification equipment used was designed by DOC’s Electronics Lab. It consists of a shock sensor fixed to the firearm, which connects wirelessly to a high-resolution camera in housing attached to the helicopter. Each shot fired triggers the camera to take a series of photos which verify the target controlled. This camera technology, developed by the electronics team, really shows DOC innovation at its very best! It’s not over yet, the tahr team is already preparing for ongoing control this spring. DOC is working with the recreational and commercial hunting sectors to over time reduce the population to within the limits of the Himalayan Thar Control Plan 1993. Further control and long-term planning will take place over the next ten months. Juvenile tahr on the West Coast. Photo: Dylan Higgison DOC is in it for good/whai painga roaThree videos for the ‘in it for good/whai painga roa’ series are out now, giving a glimpse into the lives of some of our team. Four short videos will feature some of DOC’s inspirational staff members, who tell their conservation story and why they do what they do. Mithuna was the joyful face of the campaign launch alongside her Whio Species Detection Dog in training, Max. Last week Tim’s story went live to show just how challenging, remote and rugged DOC work can be. This week Rob gives us insight into his connection with nature. You can watch his video below. This short series gives a taste of DOC’s hard-working and genuine people, bringing to life the great qualities of our staff in the context of protecting New Zealand’s native taonga. Keep an eye on our website to see more in it for good/whai painga roa stories. 1080 info on DOC’s websiteDOC has a goal to maintain its website as an accessible and helpful source of truth about use of 1080. We progressively refresh, update and create new content to address key concerns people may have about the use of 1080. In the past month we have added new pages to our website, that address why we use 1080 and how it’s use is regulated, linking to the agencies outside of DOC with responsibility for policy, standards setting and monitoring. Three new pages have also been created to address some specific areas where people have concerns including 1080 and drinking water, 1080 and rivers, lakes and streams and 1080 and trout. Check out the new webpages and keep well informed on how DOC ensures 1080 is a safe tool in protecting our native wildlife. Helicopter delivering 1080. Photo: Mike Hawes | © Aoraki/Mount Cook National ParkI was fortunate to get some incredible weather and sky at Plateau Hut recently, and ski-tour both the Grant Plateau and Tasman Glacier. Plateau Hut. Photo: DOC This is our premier alpine hut, built in 2005 and it is in fantastic condition. With climate change the climbing season has shifted to pre-Christmas as the icefields become too crevassed to climb many of New Zealand’s largest peaks from January onwards. It is fantastic to see the job our DOC staff do at Aoraki/Mt Cook to keep so many people safe in the mountains with excellent forecasting, hut servicing, and search and rescue responses. Hugh Logan, Tasman Glacier. Photo: DOC Kea Conservation Trust – Our most successful year!While staying at Wyn Irwin Hut at Aoraki I met one of our Kea Conservation Trust volunteers, Cam Mulvey. He had been working for Tamsin Orr-Walker in Aspiring and Fiordland. Their story is remarkable. With the masting event we have had a bumper season for kea:
Kea, Lake Greaney, Arawhata River. Photo: DOC Key to this recovery has been predator control and the real benefits of community conservation starting to emerge. It also demonstrates the critical role that Tiakina Ngā Manu plays in restoring biodiversity on a landscape scale. We will now watch this year’s breeding season with real interest (and trepidation), knowing the true effects of the mast year are still to emerge. Kea, Lake Greaney, Arawhata River. Photo: DOC Hauraki Gulf IslandsI visited Tiritiri Matangi, Motutapu and Motuihe islands with Scott Antcliff (Auckland Inner Islands Operations Manager) and Dave Smith (Improvement Manager). Scott has recently joined us from Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service. Karl Fisher, Supervisor Rangitoto/Motutapu and Scott Antcliff. Photo: DOC I saw on Tiritiri Matangi the phenomenal work of our island rangers in producing 250 fledged hīhī chicks last year, 20 tieke chicks and 10 kōkākō chicks, which are being used to expand to new populations of the birds across New Zealand. Tiritiri Matangi remains in the top two Auckland attractions on Trip Advisor for four years in a row, with 30,000 people visiting per year. Katarina Tamaki and Emma Dunning, Tiritiri Matangi Island. Photo: DOC Environmental Defence Society (EDS) conference AucklandIt was great to spend two days at the EDS Conference in Auckland. The highlight of the conference was a presentation by Graeme Atkins, a Biodiversity Ranger in Ruatoria, who spoke alongside Dame Anne Salmond. Graeme spoke of forest decline in the Raukumara Forest. Working with our Treaty Partner, Graeme’s taken them in to some of the most remote parts of the forest to see the extent of the decline, and the plan needed to restore the forest with both Ngā Whenua Rāhui and DOC. Graeme gave an incredibly passionate speech about his ancestral lands and why the restoration of these forests is so important. Iwi and DOC leadership group viewing the damage. Group includes CEs of both Ngāti Porou and Te Whānau ā Apanui rūnanga, plus Mike Slater and Reg Kemper of DOC and other local leaders. Photo: Graeme Atkins Stunned at the widespread devastation. Photo: Graeme Atkins Birds of a feather – Cardrona Kārearea ProjectI spoke at the annual Real Journeys Birds of a Feather Ball in Queenstown, which has raised almost $340,000 for conservation initiatives over the past four years, especially for the Cooper Island Restoration Project, the Kākāpō Recovery Programme and predator traps. The event raised a further $54,000 for the Cardrona Kārearea Conservation Project team to close a significant knowledge gap in the scientific understanding of kārearea in the South Island high country environment of the Cardrona Valley. The programme involves an advocacy and interpretation programme, a new trap network to control introduced predators and a set of wildlife cameras to monitor nesting success. Richard Lauder (CEO Wayfare and Real Journeys), Di lauder and Dr Victoria Smith and Hera the kārearea from the Marlborough Falcon Trust. Photo: DOC There are fewer than 5,000 kārearea pairs across New Zealand. Kārearea are the top of the bird food chain and are a key indicator species of healthy natural ecosystems. Kārearea numbers increase when the predators that kill adult kārearea and eat their eggs and nestlings are controlled. Kārearea also benefit when there are more birds for them to prey on. Hera the kārearea. Photo: DOC Wairarapa District – at the heart of our largest landscape scale conservation projectKaren Jones and I visited the Wairarapa team at the Whakaoriori / Masterton Office. The office has an incredible commitment to health, safety and wellbeing and 13 different rangers took us through their safety mental models and their role of leading these as a team – it was a real joy to experience. We were also briefed on the proposed 660,000 hectare Pukaha to Palliser community driven landscape scale conservation project which aims to restore freshwater, create biodiversity corridors and pursue Predator Free 2050 across the entire Wairarapa catchment, from Pūkaha/Mt Bruce to Cape Palliser. This will be done by joining together all the local farming, conservation and landcare groups into one overarching plan of landscape restoration. A huge vision we are now working with Greater Wellington Regional Council, MPI and MfE on funding for. The Wairarapa team at the Whakaoriori / Masterton Office. Photo: DOC Hector’s and Māui Dolphins Threat Management PlanIt was great to see so many people engaged on the threats to Hector’s and Māui dolphins. Consultation on the review of the Threat Management Plan closed on 19 August and more than 13,000 submissions were received, along with a petition of around 76,000 signatures that was handed into Parliament. Hector’s and Māui dolphins are among the world’s rarest dolphins. They face a range of human-induced threats, including fishing, seismic surveying and the disease toxoplasmosis. I’m aware it has taken a real team effort right across the Department to successfully support the public meetings around the country. We are now working with Fisheries New Zealand to analyse the submissions and provide advice to Ministers on which measures to take. Adult and juvenile Māui dolphins. Photo: Martin Stanley (DOC) Conservation Week 14–22 SeptemberI was excited to see the Conservation Week window vinyl go up on the Wellington Visitor Centre window. With less than a week to go until Conservation Week our message that ‘Nature needs us’ has been popping up all over the country and the internet. This year’s Conservation Week window decal design at the Pōneke Visitor Centre. Photo: Kath Inwood (DOC) This 50th anniversary of Conservation Week is a good opportunity to acknowledge the great work that so many people have done for conservation over the past 50 years, and give a real push for everyone to pull together for the future. I would like to encourage everyone to get involved. We are asking the community to take action for conservation – not only is it easy and fun , by taking action we can make a difference for the future of our nature and our people. I will be attending stakeholder functions in Auckland, New Plymouth, Christchurch and Invercargill. I am looking forward to meeting with our communities and partners, hearing more about what they have been doing for conservation across Aotearoa, and looking at ways we can work together for enhanced outcomes. Let’s make Conservation Week 2019 the best yet. DOC on FacebookBe sure to follow DOC on our new Facebook page, on Twitter, Instagram and more. My team have set up a hub for my social media activity on the DOC website. #DOCBoss shows all my news, views and adventures in one place. Take a look and let me know your feedback by emailing Director-General@doc.govt.nz. Hei konei rā, Lou Sanson |