Newsletter #53
Tēnā koutou,
Welcome to post Covid-19 Level 1, which means that the Braided Rivers Symposium Wednesday 08 July is going ahead. A funding hiccup mid-lockdown means that we will not be able to provide lunch as we have done in past years, but the event is still free of charge and Lincoln University-catered morning and afternoon teas will be included.
As with last year, I’ll ask everyone who has booked to confirm your attendance a few days prior to the event. This is so that we do not over-cater, anyone wait-listed will have the opportunity to attend, and we have a list of names for our records in our Covid Level 1 world. I for one, am looking forward to a break from Zoom meetings, so it will be good to see you there in person!
This year, there will also be a guided morning field trip to the Ashley Rakahuri River Thursday 09 July. You do not need to book for this as there will be no catering.
The next BRaid meeting will also be our AGM, 2pm Thursday 13 August at the DOC offices, Nga Mahi Road, Sockburn. I’ll send another reminder with the next newsletter, which will also contain links to the presentations at the upcoming symposium.
And lastly but certainly not leastly, Congratulations to Karikaas, who produce a line of gold medal cheeses dedicated to braided rivers and contribute a part of the profits to the Ashley Rakahuri Rivercare Group. Once again their deliciousness has been recognised in the 2020 New Zealand specialty cheese awards with gold medals for Maasdam, Pepper, and silver medals for Leyden, Gouda Vintage and Pumahana (my personal all-time favourite cheese…this is their black fronted tern / tarapirohe ‘braided rivers’ version).
Ngā mihi,
Sonny Whitelaw manager@braid.org.nz
Reports, news, and updates
- Don’t forget! The NZ Garden Bird Survey, which lasts a week, starts this Sunday 27 June.
- Aspects of the Ashley Weed Problem: this comprehensive report has some fascinating insights into preferential nesting sites.
- The black-fronted tern and black-billed gull colony nesting report for 2019-2020 from the Ashely River
- Lower Waimakariri River: Braided River Bird Report 2019-2020 Season
- Canterbury farmer thrilled to find rare bat colony on his farm
- Anne Schesselmann and Bruce Robertson’s latest research paper on black-fronted terns shows quite clearly that an upscaling and continuation of conservation management for black-fronted terns is needed (Conserv Genet (2020) 03 May. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10592-020-01277-3 )
- The other 80%: Invertebrate biodiversity and management on braided rivers. This presentation at the 2019 seminar was not released until now; how much we don’t know is alarming…
- …especially in light of this research: Starving grasshoppers? How rising carbon dioxide levels may promote an ‘insect apocalypse’ (open access Science magazine article)
- The pace of biodiversity change in a warming climate (open access paper in Nature journal)
- Temperatures Predict Bird Biodiversity (NASA Earth Observatory)
- The ecosystem restoration conundrum: restore what was there, or make way for incoming endemic species? (open access paper in Nature journal)
- Does predator control allow braided river species to thrive? (Te Manahuna Aoraki)
- The Royal Society has published a themed issue titled ‘Climate change and ecosystems: threats, opportunities and solutions’. The papers, which look at how to merge biodiversity protection with mitigating climate change, are free to download
- The National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management 2020…yes, it’s worth reading
- …and so is this commentary on why it’s another ‘There and Back Again’ story for New Zealand
- Meanwhile, Fish and Game ‘imploding’ as Government plans intervention (somewhat dated, but another great piece of journalism by Charlie Mitchell)
- Water—Rapuhia, kimihia: Quest for knowledge; A new film and podcast series on the vital role water will play in New Zealand’s future.
- And then there’s Todd Muller’s view that irrigation is an environmental aid. “Many see irrigation as a simple extension of dairy farming rather than the valuable production tool and environmental aid it can be.” Can someone please send me the peer-reviewed research to back up the latter claim?
