Wednesday, May 18, 2011

In honour of New Zealand music month...

And because of course I am such a nature nerd... please enjoy this surprisingly funky little gem from Fatcat and Fishface  who make music for kids, often based on our wonderful native wildife.  "Nightclub" is a catchy little hit about our nocturnal native birds, with some very cool animation. Have a listen!

DOC have also decided to make the most of NZ Music Month by holding a contest for the best 'remix' of native bird calls, championed by their Spokesbird, Sirocco (who i've been subject to... errrr... some of his more intimate shenanigans, and for whom I used to handle all his many PR requests  - mostly as a result of said shenanigans. Glad DOC are continuing to use his profile in a positive way, quite proud really).

Sirocco the kakapo skaaarks it up for NZ Music Month. Photo: DOC

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Farmers as kaitiaki...

While we're on the topic of freshwater.

It would be easy to lump all farming in the same boat, point the finger and say that all farming was causing the decline in our freshwater quality and quantity in New Zealand. 

That's simply not true, and not fair on the farming community. My family come from a farming background, and most New Zealanders have a connection to farming in some way.  I know there are many many farmers trying to make a living and do the right thing, and they are to be celebrated.

I met one this weekend, at the excellent Reel Earth Environmental Film Festival in Palmerston North.  His name is Grant, but he is known as River Dog.  Grant is the star of a film made by his son James, and James' film partner Oscar Daniel Hunter.

River Dog is the story of a farmer trying to do the right thing by planting his river banks with native trees and desperately trying to keep the neighbours' cattle off the river, since they (the cattle) are destroying the quality of the water and the native vegetation.  Despite having the rules on his side, the council take no action, so Grant and his farmdogs spend their days chasing the cattle off his 'patch' of the river.  River Dog went on to win three awards including best New Zealand film.
We know that fencing and planting our rivers can protect them from pollution. We should be supporting farmers like Grant, not ignoring them!

Farmers have a tangible connection to the land, they themselves consider themselves stewards or guardians. That is a hefty responsibility, and one that should be celebrated when such stewardship is undertaken, but they should be made responsible when the environment is ignored, or worse, exploited.

Grant Muir, Wairarapa farmer, and River Dog. Photo: James Muir.
Oh and if you haven't seen River Dog  yet - make sure you do, it's highly recommended viewing.

Freshwater, or is it?...

The past week has been one that keeps rearing the ugly head of freshwater in New Zealand and the shocking state it's in.

First, the BBC caught our Prime Minister out, when Hardtalk's Stephen Sackur asked him how we could market ourselves as 100% Pure, when 90% of our lowland rivers were too polluted to swim, drink or fish from;
To which our nation's leader replied that the science behind those shocking pollution statistics was just "one man's opinion." This casual dismissal of scientific fact of the state of our freshwater, the key to our nation's social, environmental and economic wellbeing (if you don't believe that, try thinking of life in NZ without it), gave me quite a fright.

Then Nick Smith, Minister for the Environment, released the long-awaited National Policy Statement of Freshwater. This is a big deal. Despite the RMA requiring National Policy Statements so that councils can make plans that protect the values outlined in an NPS, we've never had one on freshwater in NZ.  It took 18 months, and more than 50 representatives from groups as widely diverse as Forest & Bird and Dairy NZ to get it into shape. Good stuff all around for these parties to agree to some tough measures to protect water. Except... well the policy wonks at MFE must have decided it was all a bit risque, and what was released was a watered-down version of what all of those parties agreed to. It gives councils no national standards to stick to, and puts incredibly long time-frames in place. NZ economist, Rod Oram believes it lacks teeth.

The NPS also promises huge amounts of funding for irrigation projects in NZ, despite the fact that intensification of farming and agribusiness has contributed significantly to the destruction of our waterways.

The NIWA (National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research) website says, “There is no doubt that our declining river water quality over the last 20 years is associated with intensification of pastoral farming and the conversion of drystock farmland to dairy farming, particularly in Waikato, Southland, and Canterbury."

So why are we paying people to pollute our freshwater?

Cattle damage (beef) in the iconic Mackenzie basin... and there's a big push to irrigate that golden 'Speight's' country, turning it forever a lurid green. Never mind what might happen to the relatively pristine lakes and rivers there...

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Backyard chookies...

(NB:  I wrote this originally as a comment on an excellent post on Pundit, which was about the new proposed welfare standards for battery hens... but I've borrowed it here to introduce you to our girls... three ex-battery hens, brown shavers, good layers (mostly - more on that later...), and both our pride and the sometimes scourge of our garden.  I've had requests to write stories about the chooks - so this shall be your introduction to them, I have plenty more chooky tales to tell!)

As someone who  names all of her cars, I have yet to name my chickens... they are 'the chooks', and I am at once fascinated by them and exasperated by them.

We got the chickens days before the September 4th earthquake last year. The quake must have shaken the eggs out of them, because they began laying the very next day! 
The bloke has had to be very creative to come up with ways to keep these chooks out of our vege patch. This girl is standing on what was a pallet for fruit and veg, and various trips to the beach to collect driftwood have helped with the fence behind - they are super 'breakers and enterers' though... constant vigilance is required!
Once we got around fencing off various bits of the garden to keep them out (we have re-engineered the classic 'taranaki gate', to a series of 'taranaki fences' in our suburban backyard), I find the chooks to be a daily source of interest and amusement.

The bloke reckons they are like the chickens in a Gary Larson cartoon, somewhat sinister, and always appearing to be planning something. The dog takes this suspicion one step further and simply refuses to set foot in the backyard if they are out of the chookhouse.  Somewhat embarrassed by Nemo's sookiness over chookiness (perhaps not helped by his wussy name!), i once left him out there as an experiment. To my astonishment, I watched all three chooks work in formation, to appear one from each side of him, and one (the smallest and gutsiest) in th front, fluffing up her feathers and stomping towards his face while kicking her claws up in front of him. Needless to say, I don't subject Nemo to this kind of trauma anymore!
This is Nemo's usual stance when he has to have anything to do with the chickens... he's also afraid of sheep.

Despite their vegetable snatching, dog-terrorising tactics, I do love our chooks. I love the simple pleasure of watching them scratch and peck their way around the garden, and I too am amazed by the sight of a hen turning herself almost inside out in a dust bowl she has spent the morning meticulously creating. 

I have only purchased freerange eggs for some years now (even as a broke student), and moving to having your own home-grown eggs is something that you can't put a price on. The taste is incredible, the deep orange yolks are divine just to look at.  That said, I reckon they've saved us quite a bit of dosh.
Happy eggs indeed. The richness and quality of our chooks' eggs, makes all the 'eggsasperation' worth it...
To my chookies, you drive me crazy, and the bloke too, but we love the energy you bring to our place.