Category: ngutuparore / wrybill

The great New Zealand lupin debate and why it matters

First we need to talk about the lupin’s favoured environment being mainily the braided rivers which drain the Southern Alps – rivers that find it impossible to run in a straight line, and be anything other than dynamic. When in flood braided rivers carry sediment from the ever rising mountains [geologically speaking] and landslides that… Continue reading The great New Zealand lupin debate and why it matters

Makarora Braided River – an under estimated biodiversity hotspot

From the headwaters of the Makarora on the eastern flanks of the Southern Alps near the Haast Pass in Mt Aspiring National Park. The Makarora River flows south west and is joined by the Blue and the Young Rivers, then extending its braid plain further meeting its confluence with the Wilkin River before dissipating its… Continue reading Makarora Braided River – an under estimated biodiversity hotspot

Today’s News: New Zealand native birds in a desperate situation, says Environment Commissioner

The takahē was once thought to be extinct, but in 1948 it was rediscovered by Dr. Geoffrey Orbell, [who incidentally I remember meeting as a child, when he was the next-door-neighbour of my grandparents]. He found it high in the tussock grasslands of the remote Murchison Mountains, Fiordland. Currently there are just over 300 left in the world - approx. half in the wild. photo Southern Light

Today a very timely report was released by Parliamentary Commissioner for the environment. Dr Jan Wright. It follows on from a very succinct series of non political reports including the use of 1080 poison to help our birds: In a new report, the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment says New Zealand’s native birds are in a desperate situation.… Continue reading Today’s News: New Zealand native birds in a desperate situation, says Environment Commissioner