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News from Project Janszoon - October 2015

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Issue 9 includes - Wild kaka checking out the aviary birds; 2016 beech mast possible; When good plants go bad; International award surprises; It's all in a name - Canaan; Wi Fi happenings; 7 things about Marika Kingan; Updates on education programme, Hadfield planting and more.......
KAKA CALLING IN THE SUITORS                             
Wild kaka have been heard near the Wainui aviary where four female birds are awaiting release into the Park.  The female kaka were transferred to the Park from Te Anau on 30 September.  They were accompanied on their trip to the Abel Tasman by a representative of Ngai Tahu and welcomed in a moving powhiri at Onetahua Marae.
 
The powhiri was an opportunity for the three iwi of Manawhenua ki Mohua, Ngati Tama, Ngati Rarua and Te Atiawa to accept guardianship of the manu (birds) and welcome them home.
 
The female kaka come from existing captive populations and have been raised in Te Anau, Dunedin and Invercargill.  When they are released they will join the few remaining wild kaka in the Park that are thought to be all male.


Project Janszoon aviculturist Rosemary Vander Lee says volunteers have been visiting the kaka daily to ensure they have enough food as they acclimatise.  “We have noticed one of the birds appears to be a bit of a loner, not mingling with the other birds, but she is eating well and the plan is to monitor her closely after release.  What is really exciting is that a wild kaka was heard above the aviary and the females responded by croaking back so the males are showing an interest,” she says.
 
The birds will be released into the wild early in November and it is hoped they will breed with the remaining wild kaka and begin to re-establish a kaka population in the Park.  This will be the first of a number of kaka releases over the next few years.
For more images of kaka release and powhiri click here 
                                                  Photo Dave Buckton / Photo New Zealand

International gong for Janszoon

 
Project Janszoon and its partners’ work in the Abel Tasman was recognised internationally this month when we were named the worldwide Gold Winner in the Conservation, Habitat and Diversity section of the Green World Environment Awards.
 
The awards organisers said Project Janszoon’s scale, and partnership between philanthropic funders, wildlife organisations and DOC made it stand out.  We were up against more than 500 other nominations from countries as diverse as the United Kingdom, Poland, Malaysia and Korea.
Director Devon McLean says it was wonderful to get international recognition and this is an opportunity to make the project more obvious on the world stage.
 
Over 20 years the Green World Awards and associated Green Apple Awards have become established as the UK’s major recognition for international environmental endeavour amongst countries, companies and communities. 
DOC's Jan Hania, Abel Tasman Birdsong Trust's Pam Holyoake, Devon McLean, Green Organisation's Roger Wolens, and Janszoon Trustee Dr Geoff Harley at the awards ceremony
Check out this footage of the kaka at the Wainui Hut aviary
 
Kakariki on move
 
We have had a credible report of kakariki being heard at Cleopatra’s Pool so the birds are obviously spending some time in the lower reaches of the Park which is exciting.
 
Potential for another beech mast this year
 
DOC’s climate prediction models are indicating there may be heavy beech seeding again in many beech forests next year.  Flowering is starting to be observed but it is too early to know whether this will lead to seed setting.
 
At this stage it looks possible that it will have an impact on the Abel Tasman again and the Janszoon team and DOC are preparing to respond in the spring of 2016 if necessary.   DOC scientists are now monitoring the beech forest for flowering this spring and will be watching for seed setting in the late summer.
 
Beech seeding appears to be triggered by the difference in temperature between two consecutive summers.  On average beech trees in an area will seed or mast once every 3-4 years.  However masting or partial masting can occur in beech forests more frequently.

Wi Fi update 


A recent survey of bach owners at Awaroa and Torrent Bay found over 80% of respondents were keen to be able to access the Wi Fi network for their own use.  Groundtruth, who set up the network, is now looking to provide some hotspot access for residents over the summer which will work in a similar way to hotspots at hotels or airports.  This photo shows Bruce Geddes checking out a potential relay spot at Awaroa.
 
The next step will be to investigate providing more permanent access to bach owners who have indicated they are interested.  This is likely to happen in 2016.  If you want to talk to us about getting Wi Fi access please
let us know

When good plants go bad
 
 
Work to remove cotoneaster from Tinline has shown just how quickly a common garden plant can spread into the Park.
 
Cotoneaster is an ornamental shrub common in New Zealand gardens, with 26 species currently known to be growing here, mostly originating from the Chinese Himalaya region.  However, their fruit is easily spread by birds meaning they can become troublesome weeds in an environment like the Park.
 
The marks on the map below show how far a couple of old trees planted by settlers had spread in the Tinline area.  The original cotoneaster were removed in 2013 as part of the Abel Tasman Birdsong Trust’s weed control programme, but hundreds of seedlings are now being found in the area and will require on-going control.
 
Project Janszoon Operations Manager, Andrew Macalister, says it is a wake-up call about how easily plants can escape from garden plantings into the Park.
 
“We have seen the same problem at Torrent Bay, with the common garden plant Grevillea rosemarinifolia spreading up to 2km back into the bush, along with cotoneaster and gumdigger’s soap, and at Awaroa we are now starting to find holly plants that have spread from the Meadowbank area. We appreciate the co-operation we are receiving from bach owners to nip these problems in the bud before they get out of control.”
 
Please get in touch with
Andrew if you have questions about plants in your garden.   
Cotoneaster (left) is easily spread by birds.  The green dots on the map show how far cotoneaster has spread from the original plantings

Wetland bird survey underway 


A survey of wetland birds in the Park is currently underway to get a snapshot of the birds that are present, and how we can better help them to flourish.

Conservation biologist Ingrid Hutzler and her team of volunteers are surveying ten wetlands over about six weeks. As well as looking for footprints, and listening for the birds, they are using acoustic recorders which are put out at each site for a total of six hours over sunset and sunrise.  These recorders will be analysed to get more of a picture of the presence, or lack of, wetland birds.

"The birds are most active after spring high tides, and we can only see footprints as the tide goes out in the morning so it involves a lot of late nights and early mornings.  It will be exciting to pull all the information together and start thinking how we can manage these wetland areas to provide better habitats for the birds," says Ingrid.
Ingrid measuring banded rail prints
Volunteer Mike Crawford with a boombox 
Education programme bringing students to the Park
 
Our “adopt a section” partner schools have been busy over the last few months getting into the Park and even organising community events in their sections.
 
Golden Bay’s Motupipi Primary took the entire school into their area of the Park at Taupo Point for a visit in August (pictured top). Classes spread out in different areas of their section, from the sandspit out to Taupo Point.  Students looked for evidence of pests and made observations about plant and animal life and one class did some orienteering in preparation for a geocaching project (watch this space).
 
Both Motueka High School and Golden Bay High School student advisory board members organised open days at the Park for family and friends to learn more about what they are doing with DOC and Project Janszoon.
 
Project Janszoon’s education advisor Wendy Reeve says both the events were completely organised by the students from the planned activities and inviting guests to publicity and transport.  "It was an opportunity for the students to put leadership into action, and they really stepped up," she says.
 
Motueka High's Partners for the Park day at Anchorage (below left) involved three different speakers, and the students even provided a sausage sizzle and baking.  The group stopped near Adele Island on the way to talk about the work being done there by the Abel Tasman Birdsong Trust.  There was also some planting at Anchorage and expert-led tours to see the work being done to restore the area. 
 
The Golden Bay High School family day was at Hadfield Clearing where they explored the area and the remaining kahikatea forest, and did nature and history walks (below right).  This was the first ever family day held at Hadfield Clearing and participants also did some tree planting.  The students were excited to hear from Gordon Hadfield who gave them an insight of the Hadfield's story with the area.

Thousands of trees for Hadfield Clearing


The second year of our re-forestation project at Hadfield Clearing has seen many groups help plant over the last few months.  The hard labour by students and families from Golden Bay High School, Forest and Bird, Pacific Discovery (pictured) and volunteers and contractors means 25,000 plants have been planted over two years.
 
The plan is to plant around 12,500 plants every year for ten years to extend the existing 10 hectares of kahikatea forest at Hadfield Clearing behind the Awaroa Inlet.

 

New eco tour donating to wildlife recovery 

 
Thanks to Abel Tasman Eco Tours (formerly Abel Tasman Golden Future), who are donating $5 to Project Janszoon’s Wildlife Recovery Programme for every client that does its new walking tour into the Upper Wainui valley area.  It is a similar scheme to the one where $5 is donated to the Abel Tasman Birdsong Trust for clients doing its’ Abel Tasman Coastline tour.  Stew Robertson and Guide Fay Mackenzie recently “picked the brains” of Janszoon trustee, botanist and author Phillip Simpson and ornithologist Pete Gaze on a research trip into the upper reaches of the Park (pictured).  
 
For more info go to
abeltasmanecotours.co.nz.
 
People of the Park
 
After five years as the volunteer co-ordinator  for the Abel Tasman Birdsong Trust Tom Horn handed over the role a couple of months ago.  Tom’s dedication and hard work has helped build a network of trap lines in the Park, and created a team of about 30 keen volunteers.  He says while he’s bowing out as co-ordinator he’ll still be on the trapping coal face.
 
“I couldn’t go cold turkey but it is time to scale down, have less responsibility and get more in the field.  I will continue to be involved as line leader and checking the traps,” says Tom.
 
Tom’s relationship with the Abel Tasman goes back to the mid 1980’s when he began one of the first kayak businesses.  He remembers moving from Wanaka sitting on the beach with a couple of kayaks offering them to rent.  At the time he wondered whether it was worth doubling the fleet to four, and if there would be enough people interested.  “By the late 80’s kayak rentals really took off and we knew we had a tiger by the tail,” he says.
 
In 2007 the Abel Tasman Birdsong Trust was formed in collaboration with DOC and the concessionaires with the aim of returning birdsong to the Park.
Tom had sold the kayak business in 2002 and in 2010 he was tapped on the shoulder by DOC’s Rudy Tettero to help the Trust.
 
Tom says at the time Torrent Bay residents were already doing some trapping and DOC was trapping around the huts.  What the team from the Birdsong Trust did was set up a systematic trapping programme in the soutern end of the Park.  “My forte was I was well connected in the Park and lived in the area, I knew people who wanted to contribute like I did.  We brought people together and DOC provided the logistical and scientific support”.
 
DOC’s Motueka Conservation Services Manager Chris Golding says along  the way Tom has developed a great trapping skill set. “Volunteering is a tall order and to do it month in, month out is a significant commitment, Tom deserves thanks for all the energy he has put in,” says Chris.
 
Tom says he is really impressed with the calibre and dedication of the people at the helm of the Birdsong Trust.  “They have given me so much encouragement and support and are extremely professional and dedicated.  With the complementary relationship with Project Janszon, and the ongoing support of watertaxi companies there are some great opportunities to help restore the national park,” he says. 
 
One of Tom’s highlights has been collecting saddleback for transfer to Adele Island with Project Janszoon’s ornithologist, Pete Gaze.  Next month, he will take part in the wetland bird survey so his passion and energy for the Park’s flora and fauna continues. 
IT'S ALL IN A NAME - CANAAN                                                                                                               
 
As part of his research into place names, Project Janszoon Trustee and author Dr Philip Simpson takes a look at the origins of Canaan.
 
Canaan Scenic Reserve is situated adjacent to the Park but is part of the Project Janszoon area.  It is a complete contrast to the coastal region, with its rolling meadows, stands of silver beech trees and interesting rock formations.
 
In 1874 a well known Maori landowner from Wainui, Paramena Haereiti, sometimes locally known as Prumau, went gold prospecting with a colleague up the Wainui River.  They found a basin that contained an area of grassland, and later they ‘promised’ friends (members of the Manson and Packard families, who still live in the bay) that there was grazing land in the interior. It became known as ‘the promised land’ and after several expeditions, the Pattie brothers, Tom and Robert, eventually found it in 1877 by climbing the adjacent peak.  They presumably translated the ‘promise’ into the biblical namesake, ‘Canaan’.
 
Continuing the biblical theme the Pisgah Peak (1096m), is strategically important, overlooking the Canaan basin.  In the Old Testament, Moses climbed Mt Nebo, part of the Pisgah Mountains, and viewed the promised land of Canaan. The surveyor for the New Zealand Company, George Murray, named the peak Pisgah as a similar viewing place for the Canaan of the Pikikirunga interior.
Canaan Scenic Reserve has been farmed for over 100 years and still has a temporary grazing concession 

7 things you may not know about Marika Kingan



Marika is our fantastic executive assistant.  Here are a few things you might not know about her.
 
  • She used to play the piano, trombone and euphonium
  • She loves colouring in, and just bought her own colouring in book but her kids stole her pencils
  • When she first moved here from South Africa in 2002 she was so cold she had to buy thermals in October – people thought she was crazy
  • She has ridden a camel and quad biked in Namibia
  • Her other job is working for the Nelson Tasman Cycle Trails Trust
  • She has climbed Lions Head in Cape Town, which is 669m above sea level
  • Some of the favourite places she has been are Brussels, Bruges, Amsterdam, Paris, Bangkok, Singapore and Australia
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