Newsletter #30
Greetings,
Hopefully, you’ve all survived the recent weather events without developing cabin fever. On the upside, foothill-fed rivers that were showing serious signs of vanishing altogether, are now receiving decent flushing. Nick has been keeping a particularly close eye on the effect on weeds on the Ashley Rakahuri, which you can read about here, and the Selwyn River even rejoined Lake Ellesmere.
Thanks to Colin O’Donnell, DOC’s Management and Research Priorities for New Zealand Braided Rivers is now available. This is an immensely important document relative to the long-term future health of our braided rivers. Along with Nick, I would like to congratulate the authors on collating it. It’s set out in key sections, so if you are too time-pressed to read all 50 pages, I would strongly encourage you to look over those sections relevant to your work (eg., predator or weed control) so that we are all working from the same song-sheet, as it were.
Cheers,
Sonny Whitelaw
Manager
Also out now is the Prime Minister’s Chief Science Advisor, Sir Peter Gluckman’s report: New Zealand’s fresh waters: Values, state, trends and human impacts.
Braided Rivers Seminar 2017: Like the 2016 Workshop, this is a free, full-day event including lunch – over 100 seats have now been taken, so do book if you intend to come. (Presenters, please do not book).
- Click here if you would like to present
- Click here to reserve a seat (no need to do so if you are also presenting)
#TheFlockNZ: If you are working with schools or community/art groups, now is the time to be thinking about creating a bigger and better (and more robust if we can get more people using wooden birds) Flock for the next season. All of the resources necessary, from templates to a PDF teaching resource tied to the curriculum, are available here. BRaid’s role is to support and help empower groups and people working to help braided rivers and braided river birds, so we’re delighted when groups such as the Twizel contingent take an idea like #TheFlockNZ and run with it in a direction that’s best suited to their situation. To this end, we’re also pleased to announce:
From the Rivers to the Sea Exhibition + Flyways Print Exchange (an international project that echoes the flight of migratory birds through artwork.) This 5-week combined exhibition by Arts in Oxford also features a community arts project inviting people to create members of #TheFlockNZ, and display them in the gallery and around town.
World Migratory Bird Day 10 May – short 4-minute film celebrating migratory birds.
Funding
- Fonterra Grass Roots now open; closes 31 August
- Rata Foundation: in any one financial year, you can apply anytime, but only once
- Lottery Grants: you will need to set up a user name to login and find the dates
Publicise your event!
Don’t forget to publicise your event on BRaid’s online calendar of events If you remind me a week or so ahead, I’ll also promote it through our social media network. This is FREE publicity, so take advantage of it!
Other news and stories:
- State of New Zealand Rivers: a useful resource for educators
- http://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2017/02/special-report-how-polluted-are-new-zealand-s-rivers.html
- http://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2017/02/special-investigation-what-is-being-done-to-save-new-zealand-s-rivers.html
- http://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2017/03/special-report-will-climate-change-kill-off-nz-s-rivers.html
- Birds don’t need exercise to stay fit for epic flights (Science : DOI: 10.1126/science.355.6321.121)
- Sick of rain and flooding? Well there appears to be no upper limit how far it can go: The peak structure and future changes of the relationships between extreme precipitation and temperature (Nature doi:10.1038/nclimate3239)
- Groundwater Recharge – are the models getting it wrong? Under-estimated recharge (Nature doi:10.1038/nclimate3266)
- Twelve months ago I reported on the coral bleaching event on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef. It’s happened again, leading to the declaration that the Reef is now ‘terminal’. It’s a shocking conclusion with implications for New Zealand seabirds that can’t be ignored.
- Too much farming in the McKenzie Basin? A judge thinks so: Stuff
- What happens to a braided river when a glacier retreats?: University of Washington
- Where braided river gravels originate: if it wasn’t for erosion, the Southern Alps would be about six times their present height: Stuff
BRaid’s next meeting: Friday 1.00pm 14 July at the DOC offices, 31 Ngai Mahi Road, Sockburn.
Membership Renewal is due September each year. If you are not already a member of BRaid, you can join as a General, Casual, or Representative member. General Membership is a modest $20/annum, giving you voting rights and the opportunity to have a say in BRaid’s activities.
Thanks to those who have contributed to this newsletter. Please keep news items coming.
PS: Several people keep asking me for the links to the drone footage that Cody shot over Iceland. If you’re interested in flying very low over glaciers, around icebergs, and through the chasm where tectonic plates are splitting apart, these were shot in 4K high definition, best enjoyed with your Youtube setting at high def (it could take some time to load). Enjoy.
- The Colours of Ice: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x0vCeWve3mM
- Where Continents Divide: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ut05AIsT_f4&feature=youtu.be
