Newsletter #47
Tēnā koutou,
The next BRaid meeting will be Friday 06 September at the DOC offices, Nga Mahi Rd., Sockburn. This will include the AGM, which begins at 2.00pm, followed by a GM. You do not have to be a member to attend, but you do need to be a member to vote at the AGM, and we would love to see you there. I\’ll be sending the agendas to members in a few days.
Also, members\’ subs of $20/annum are due that same day, 06 September!
BRaid website upgrade
The new website is now operational. just in case someone forgets the name, the following domain names all link to the same secure site (and apologies the first one wasn\’t operational for 24 hours).
As I have completely redesigned and re-written much of the content, and updated links and references, in spite of checking everything several times, I\’m bound to have made errors including typos, links that glitch, etc. I would appreciate it if you can let me know of errors by copying the page URL (at the top of the browser window) and emailing me a few words explaining. The site is over 200 pages, so I need a bit of a clue what to look for and where.
Also, please remember to send me links and references to reports you\’ve written/published and/or content that can be added, as we want to keep the site as up-to-date and relevant as possible.
Dog laws
Now that birds are arriving on rivers and estuaries REGARDLESS of any local bylaws, under the Dog Control Act and the Wildlife Act it is unlawful to disturb protected wildlife and that includes allowing a dog at-large near protected wildlife. If the dog is on a leash you actually have to be holding the leash at all times. If not, the fine is up to $3000 + the dog could be destroyed.
As our rivers are now hosting protected wildlife that\’s returned to start nesting, and our estuaries and hapua are filled with protected wildlife all year round, please share this if you know someone who walks their dog along rivers, estuaries and hapua.
Ngā mihi,
Sonny Whitelaw manager@braid.org.nz
Recently released reports
- NIWA\’s reports (read more like a plot for a disaster movie. Alas, all too real): National flood risks & climate change: Exposure to Coastal Flooding | Exposure to River Flooding. The $billion figures are eye-watering. The second report (rivers) made it to the front page of the North Canterbury News last week, alas without proper context.
- Draft Biodiversity Strategy now open for review. Expert reaction is here. The Hurunui District Mayor has used the local newspaper to challenge what \’biodiversity\’ means (page 6). I will be attending a workshop on this tomorrow and I strongly recommend that if you care about protecting the biodiversity of braided rivers (or anything, really) you join the conversation and make a submission. (If you are reading this online, the video is at the bottom of this page)
Other news
- ECan councillor says proposed plan change doesn\’t go far enough to protect drinking water (Stuff)
- A $229 million water clean-up plan sounds impressive but it’s left many scratching their heads (NZ Herald)
- Mike Joy\’s opinion piece in the New York Times \’ The Incontinent Cows of Middle-earth\’
- …and Stuff\’s report on Mike Joy\’s article with farmers calling it \’economic treason\’
- Baby birds communicate with each other from unhatched eggs (Science Alert)
- Predator Free NZ: dream or reality? (Radio NZ)
- Protecting the high country from invasive weeds: 3 year project in the Dobson Valley
- Nitrates in drinking water may cost US$8 billion a year (Stuff)
- The Last March of the Hedgehogs: great short video from Routeburn Track Wildlife Trust addressing the problem of how hedgehogs are regarded
- The Ashley Rakahuri Rivercare group have not been letting the grass (or lupins, gorse, broom etc) grow under their feet this winter. Instead, volunteers in the community have been pulling weeds on the river
- The group have also been experimenting with \’ripping\’ weeds on islands.
- Why the RSPCA capture, neuter and release policy doesn’t work; how a single cat wiped out an entire colony of fairy terns inside a protected bird sanctuary
- DOC’s Kakī Recovery Programme and Te Manahuna Aoraki released 45 kakī/black stilt in the Godley
- Accolades if you can report sightings of Chilean mayten in Canterbury!
- Crayfisher beach ban permanent as bird concerns trump business (Stuff)
- West Coast whitebaiters can\’t keep \’head in the sand\’ but fishing won\’t be banned – MP (Stuff)
- The first wrybills (including \’BW-BW\’) have returned to the Ashley River
- Great video of the other wrybills still up in the Thames estuary, packing their bellies before flying down our way
- Misconceptions about willows and plantation forestry along rivers…oh dear.
