Kiwi conservationists 'Love New Zealand'
01 Sep 2010
Conservation Week 2010
12 - 19 September, 2010
Love is in the air for Conservation Week 2010 - themed ‘Love New Zealand’ - and conservation’s noisiest spokesperson is busy tweeting out the message.
Sirocco - New Zealand’s television star kakapo - is taking his conservation spokesbird role very seriously with regular tweets about Conservation Week on Twitter, as well as updates on his Facebook page with offers of help to event organisers.
Sirroco is one of only a handful of his species - a large flightless parrot that’s endemic to New Zealand.
Love Aotearoa
During Conservation Week, Kiwis and fans of New Zealand have been invited to show how much they love Aotearoa New Zealand by learning about the country’s unique natural features and wildlife, and taking part in conservation efforts.
Environmentally-aware locals and visitors are also invited to come up with creative ways to make New Zealand greener and more sustainable for future generations.
Conservation Week - instigated by New Zealand’s Department of Conservation (DOC) - is a long-standing tradition in New Zealand, with towns and cities all over the country coordinating a huge variety of conservation activities and events.
Devonport celebrates anniversary
Devonport - Auckland's historic village by the sea, will celebrate the 125th anniversary of its barracks building at the summit of Maungauika / North Head with day-long family festivities. The celebration will kick off with a performance by the millitary band followed by the firing of North Head's famous 'disappearing gun'.
North Head is a famous attraction of Devonport and the location of the WWII caves that are found in the suburb. Devonport, located at the southern tip of Auckland's North Shore City, was one of the earliest areas to be settled in the region.
The area was considered the perfect site for pa / fortified settlements as it had fertile soil to grow kumara / sweet potatoes. European settlers started farming Devonport from the mid-1800s. The settlement was named 'Devonport' after an English naval town.
North Head, where the millitary barracks are located, was used extensively for defence of the town and still has the patterns of a Maori pa, as well as 19th and 20th century army bunkers and ammunition storage tunnels, which can be explored by the public. A set of guns are aimed out over the harbour entrance.
Giant weta on display
New Zealand’s coolest native bug - the wetapunga, or giant weta, will be on display at Auckland’s Butterfly Creek zoological attraction.
The ‘Greenfingers Bugs About’ exhibit at Butterfly Creek features the only display of the mighty wetapunga - an endangered giant insect species that can grow to the size of a sparrow. It is only found on Little Barrier Island.
The exhibit supports DOC’s ‘rear and release’ captive programme for the unique bugs. Close to 200 hatchlings emerged in February and March 2010, and about 50 young weta are being prepared for release to the island sanctuaries of Motoura and Tiri Tiri Matangi.
Communities get behind NZ
From classes on soil management to lectures on sustainable whitebaiting in the West Coast of the South Island, communities are banding together to share their love for New Zealand.
Many towns and cities are planning big beach clean-ups in preparation for summer, as well as family events and movie nights. Auckland Zoo will have a celebration on 12 September, with zoo keepers and DOC rangers available to answer questions from the public about the latest conservation projects.
In Rotorua, visitors can choose to gather Māori medicine at Jubilee Track, enter a wildfoods cooking competition, walk up to the summit of Mokoia Island in the middle of Lake Rotorua, and attend a black-tie cocktail party in support of the kiwi.
South Islanders can participate in tree planting and weed control projects in and around Dunedin, help check pest control lines at Stewart Island or check out a multimedia conservation installation by local artist Andi Regan in Wanaka.
More information
Sirocco appointed ‘spokesbird’ for conservation
New Zealand bird sanctuaries
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