#nz wildlife

[ellaandtheocean]

STOP THE NZ GOVERNMENT'S WAR ON NATURE

Just when you thought they'd hit rock bottom, the National/Act/NZ First coalition government keeps digging. The fast-track approvals bill was released last month and forms the latest part of the government's war on nature. This would allow major infrastructure and industry projects such as mining, road construction and large-scale aquaculture to be fast-tracked if they are considered to be regionally or nationally significant. While I completely agree that the current Resource Management Act consenting process is not fit for purpose, its regulations are stringent for a reason - to protect our climate, our indigenous biodiversity and our whenua. We need development in New Zealand to be sustainable, and to focus more on nature-based solutions. This legislation is taking our country in the wrong direction. It's not the fast-track it's the wrong track!

Lack of consideration for environmental damage: This project requires the economic benefits of a project to be considered above all else. In the midst of intersecting climate and biodiversity crises, we should prioritize protecting the habitats we have left and supporting efforts to restore ecosystems.

Lack of regulation against negative human health impacts: Even if you're not a nature lover like me, we can probably all agree that exposure to carcinogenic chemicals and other toxins, dangerous pollution in outdoor recreation areas such as rivers and beaches, and air pollution are things that no New Zealander wants. This bill does not exclude projects and activities that will have a negative impact on human health.

Lack of transparency: There are already many projects earmarked for fast tracking under Schedule 2A of this bill, but this list has not been published, meaning a fast-tracked project could be coming to a place near you soon, and you'd have no idea until after the bill has passed. Details about the process for project selection and review are scarce.

Undemocratic: Rather than going through the full submission process, projects are sent straight to a panel to be reviewed. This means that local people and conservation groups won't get to have their say on projects that will directly affect them and the work they do. This is a blatant overreach of central government into local affairs, from a government who criticized Three Waters because they thought it took too much decision-making ability away from the regions.

Risks of corruption and conflict of interest: The expert panels do not get the final say of which projects are approved; they can be overridden by any of these three ministers: Simeon Brown (Minister for Energy and Transport), Chris Bishop (Minister for Infrastructure) and Shane Jones (Minister for Oceans & Fisheries, Resources and Regional Development). Having one person make these calls presents a much greater risk of conflicts of interest occurring (and let's be honest, this is quite a risk).

Submissions on this bill are open until April 19th, and there are templates online you can use to make a submission if you're pressed for time. My favourites are from the Forest & Bird (the organization I volunteer with) and the Environmental Defence Society (linked below). You can also write to your local MP and let them know you DO NOT support this bill.

More information and submission templates:

STOP the War on Nature | Forest and Bird

Make a submission on the Fast-track Approvals Bill using EDS’s template | EDS

[fishsfailureson]

Day 14- Prehistoric animal from your home country.

I picked the Saint Bathans Heron AKA Mataku otagoense, this was quite challenging to do since I don't really draw birds often and there were barely any resources- I couldn't even find a single reconstruction.

Prompts

[rupertbbare]

Majestic

blogging

[hindbodes]

New Zealand hedgehogs need a job.

[52paddlesblog]

a clip from my seal encounter yesterday! it swam under and around about a dozen times before it got bored 🦭🦭🦭

[rupertbbare]

I love Kereru, there used to be heaps near the house I grew up in.

They're so heavy their wings make a woosh sound of as the struggle to stay air-bourne, and yet they seem unaware of this, landing on a tiny branch and being shocked to find it won't support their weight

Gulmp.

[atarial]

november’s animal done, an nz fur seal :D

one more to go and i’ll have drawn one animal a month 

[fishsfailureson]

The South Island kōkako (Callaeas cinerus) is/was a species of songbird native to Aotearoa (New Zealand). It was declared extinct in 2008, with the last official sighting being in 1967. There were several other sightings since then, with the most notable one being in 2007. This caused the bird to be reclassified by DoC (department of conservation) from extinct to data deficient and there is an ongoing search. Even if the bird is still extant, which would make it yet another Lazarus taxon, it is unlikely that there are many of them left.

(Apologies for my inability to write blurbs, please correct me and provide sources if I made a factual error)

[Image ID: Art of a bird, the South Island kōkako perched on a branch in a forest. The bird is a blue-grey colour with a black mask, grey legs and beak, brown eyes and orange wattles. The background is blurry, and there are no distinct shapes aside from a few branches]

(also apologies for my inability to write image descriptions)

[rupertbbare]

Now available in Blue Raspberry!

Indigo Velvet Worm aka Ngaokeoke (Peripatus indigo)

Puerto Rican velvet worm, Peripatus juanensis, Peripatidae

Photographed in Puerto Rico by wesgapp

[thiswillnotdo]

2022_11_01

[mhen-photography]

caught this tui having a feed

[aucklandexpat]

Blue penguin, New Zealand #bluepenguin #penguin #wildlife #wildlifephotography #naturephotography #nature #nz #newzealand #newzealandbirds #newzealandlife #newzealandguide #newzealandnatural #newzealandpics #newzealandtravel #newzealandphotography #travel #travelphotography #birds #littlebluepenguin #feathers #plumage #swimmer #waddle #beak https://www.instagram.com/p/CpGdFr1SjRy/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[rupertbbare]

Wait, is that a Kea?

I imagine they do swear a lot actually

[azashenya]

This is my best photo (so far) of a piwakawaka (NZ fantail). I'm immensely fond of them, they are an inquisitive bird that will come to see if any passing humans might be kicking up something interesting to eat, so there is always a good chance to see them when walking somewhere you know they are (like one of our native bush reserves) but they flit around so rapidly that I gave up on catching them with my cell phone camera.

This was my first walk in Riccarton Bush (a managed predator free native bush section in Christchurch) with my DSLR camera. There were a few piwakawaka taunting me from in the trees but only one came close enough to the path for me to try and photograph them, and they still hid in the trees.

It's going to take much more practice before I manage to get what feels like a good photo of one and I'm tempted to make this a running gag...

[cllnsllvn]

M&M visit C in C (part 3)

On Sunday, we went to Willowbank Wildlife Reserve. It’s a huge property full of tons of animals, many we had never seen before. It was broken up into three sections; farmland, exotic, and native New Zealand.

We especially loved feeding animals in the farmland section, and spotting animals we’d never seen before. Perhaps the most famous animal at the park was the kiwi; a native NZ bird. Kiwis are nocturnal so we only got to see them in a dark room, but we did spot a few.

Our next stop was the Airforce Museum. While the NZ Airforce hasn’t had any major conflicts, they have assisted in several UK and USA campaigns. The NZ Airforce was particularly active during WWII.

The museum is mostly a large hanger that features planes that have been decommissioned and preserved over the past century. There are tidbits about particular kiwi pilots and airmen, as well as antique equipment and interactive displays.

That evening, on the way home, we stopped for a walk in the Travis Wetlands. It's a nice flat walk around the wetlands with a scenic overlook point to stop and take pictures.

Finally, we stopped at Bottle Lake Forest, a place I go nearly every week for a walk with a Meetup group. We have walked through these fairy houses before, but I have never stopped and actually looked at them.

I dragged Meghan along to look at a few, but Megan was a bit spent so she stayed behind.

[ur-mag]

Air guitar-playing kangaroo named funniest wildlife photo of 2023

A musical kangaroo (a roo-sical?) has been named the funniest wildlife photo of 2023. The air guitar-playing western grey kangaroo snapped by photographer Jason Moore in the outer suburbs of Perth defeated more than 5300 entries from 85 countries to hop off with the overall prize at this year’s Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards. Air guitar-playing kangaroo named funniest wildlife photo of…