Awana Catchment Trust newsletter Autumn 2009
Kia Ora and welcome to the Awana Catchment Trust Newsletter
for Autumn 2009.
The focus of the Awana Catchment Trust over this period has been on
the Awana Education Gateway and wrapping up the final report for the Department
of Conservation’s
Biodiversity Condition Funding.
With funding low at the moment there is a temporary hold on wildlife and pest
monitoring; hopefully we will see this pick up in the New Year as the Trust
team investigates other funding opportunities.
Department of Conservation Funding
This Autumn saw the end of the Biodiversity Condition Funding with the Department
of Conservation that has been supporting pest trapping and wildlife monitoring
in Awana Bay for the past three years. Over this time various fieldworkers,
led by Maaka, have worked to educate visitors to the bay and improve community
recognition of the natural diversity of the catchment, experiencing many
successes. In particular, the Brown Teal population has been maintained
during the pest
eradication work, and Awana Catchment remains one of the few areas where
their numbers are not declining.
With the issuing of the final funding report in August, Awana Catchment Trust
received acknowledgement of their efforts from DoC, who congratulated the
Trust for their real contribution in protecting biodiversity.
Click
here to view
the letter.
Many thanks to the Department of Conservation for their funding
and
support of the Trust, and also to the wider community who all helped to make
the protection
of the Awana Catchment a possibility.
Awana Education Gateway
As mentioned briefly in the Awana Newsletter – Summer 09, the Awana Education
Gateway (AEG) is an Education Initiative designed to stimulate environmental
education using the existing resources on Great Barrier Island. Subject to
the availability of funds, the Trust hopes to see implementation of the AEG
in 2010.
The Awana Catchment Trust is in a position to utilise this unique opportunity
to implement training and education on Great Barrier Island, taking advantage
of existing conservation knowledge and the Barrier’s close proximity
to New Zealand’s largest city. A three staged approach is proposed
to put into effect to meet the AEG objectives. In the first instance, a year
long initiation phase will be undertaken, focussing on consolidation of the
existing
knowledge and infrastructure resources on the Barrier. Following on from
this, a series of programmes will be developed that will focus on training
in the
area of conservation. Some examples of educational programmes may include:
- Vegetation and bird monitoring
- Pest management
- Restoration planting
- Marine and coastal studies
- Weed control
The AEG is still in early phases of development and the programmes may evolve,
depending on the information gathered in the first year.
The Trust is hopeful that once these programmes are established on the
Barrier,
the AEG will look to offer this knowledge of nature education
to wider groups
on a national and international level. We will keep you all updated on
the AEG
as it develops, although as mentioned above, this will be dependent
on
available funding.
Great Barrier Island State of Environment Report
2010
A Great Barrier Island State of Environment Report has been produced
by Professor John Ogden and Liz Westbrooke, introducing the geographical,
human and biodiversity environments of Great Barrier Island.
This informative and comprehensive
report is available for viewing here
Thanks to the community of Awana Catchment and the Department of
Conservation for their assistance over the Autumn and Winter of 2009.
We look forward
to the Summer and new opportunities for the Awana Bay.
The Awana Catchment Trust
Great Barrier Island
Dec 2009
Past Newsletters
|
ACT has continued to remove feral predators and monitor wildlife in
the Awana area on
Great Barrier Island.
Click below to find out more
Awana News
more
The Awana Catchment Trust relies on the goodwill and generosity of public and private donors. If you would
like to make a donation please contact us
(info@awana.co.nz).
These days you're only likely to spot the Brown Teal in parts of Auckland
and Northland. And
Great Barrier Island is
the only place where
their
numbers are
not declining!
more
|
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