from here

Canterbury & South Island news:

Consultation: CCC Open Space Strategy for Christchurch and Banks Peninsula. How the Council plans to manage the provision of public open space for the next 30 years. The Draft Strategy is now out for consultation, and CCC is keen to hear communities’ views (due by 22 January). All the information can be found on the website: www.ccc. govt.nz/openspace. You can make a submission on the form available at all Service Centres, Libraries and Recreation centres, or online at: http://www.ccc.govt.nz/haveyoursay.

Former Arts Centre trustee unhappy with policy direction. (3 December, Stuff/The Press).
Also:
CCC won't let public see 'critical report' on Christchurch music school. (1 December, Stuff/The Press).

School to double community courses - flying in the face of major Government cutbacks. (2 December, The Press/Stuff).

River warnings for toxic algae: assume all waterways may have Phormidium present and check for obvious signs before swimming or letting dogs off the lead. (27 November, ECan).

Forum to explore social and environmental accounting: the eighth Australasian Conference on Social and Environmental Accounting Research (CSEAR) takes place this weekend. (3 December, University of Canterbury).

Ellerslie designer asks NZers to help create 2010 garden: “What can we do to make the world a better place?”.

Edgeware pool site listed for tender on internet. (1 December, Stuff/The Press).

Banks Peninsula: Farmer wants weka on the menu. (3 December, Stuff/The Press).

Lincoln: 'No foul play' over breach on plants that tests show were genetically modified. MAF Biosecurity NZ is investigating the second possible breach in a year of strict GM containment rules by the Crown Research Institute. (3 December, Stuff/The Press).

Kaikoura: Whale watch fears effects of oil search. (2 December, The Press/Stuff).

Upper Moutere: F'N'Chipa's menu - features organic potatoes, spray-free tomatoes, fresh fish, organic batter and bread buns, and local produce. Gluten free and vegan sausages coming up. (2 December, Stuff/The Press).

Wairau River: Hydro plans akin to 'shooting the last tiger'. (2 December, Marlborough Express/Stuff).
Also:
Expert witness under scrutiny. TrustPower's proposed hydro scheme hearing. (26 November, Marlborough Express/Stuff).

Marlborough: Rabbit control 'inequitable'. Doesn't encourage effective management by farmers - MAF. (3 December, Marlborough Express/Stuff).

Marlborough: Fish company fined for poisoning workers. (3 December, Marlborough Express/Stuff).

Ashburton: Renowned bird conservation and education centre may be forced to close. (1 December, Ashburton Guardian).

Timaru coast: Ship drills for climate change secrets. (2 December, Timaru Herald/Stuff).

Timaru: Plea for South Canterbury to be more sustainable. (2 December, Timaru Herald/Stuff).

Lower Waitaki River: Fish & Game ponders setting up a salmon hatchery. (2 December, Timaru Herald/Stuff).

Otago: NZ's rarest fish being given a freshwater start. (3 December, Otago Daily Times).

Waipahi River, South Otago: River levels worry Fish & Game. (2 December, Otago Daily Times).

Queenstown: Fertiliser from people's poo option touted. Could be worth $200,000 a year. (3 December, Southland Times/Stuff).

North Island & national:

Key to attend Copenhagen climate change summit. (3 December, NZ Herald).

Massey University's Professor of Sustainable Energy: NZ climate policy is too weak. NZ's thinking on climate change lags far behind the rest of the world... Under the previous Labour-led government, NZ was seen as a world leader. (1 December, Manawatu Standard/Stuff).

Greens tip short life for ETS. (26 November, NBR).

Plant forests, create jobs, save climate - Launch of Greens' latest economic plan. (2 December, NZPA/Stuff).

Leaked report: recommends mining option for Mt Aspiring National Park. (1 December, NZ Herald).
Also:
Is mining compatible with managing conservation land areas? Readers' views. (1 December, NZ Herald).

NZ the 7th fattest country - latest obesity report from the World Health Organisation. (3 December, Dominion Post/Stuff).

New scheme aims to shield children from violence. Last year police dealt with 50,000 reports of family violence across the country. (3 December, NZ Herald).

Education: Standards delay for Maori schools. The Government's flagship national standards education policy will not be fully set up in Maori-language schools for three years, despite new figures showing Maori are far behind their Pakeha classmates. (2 December, Stuff/The Press).
Also:
Labour plans to scrap national education standards - Mallard. (3 December, The Press/Stuff).

Tasman migration hits te reo at home. Use of the Maori language increased in Australia but declined in New Zealand in the five years to 2006. (2 December, NZ Herald).

NZ scientists honoured with medals and awards: Annual RSNZ science awards. (18 November, RSNZ).

Auckland: What about the walkers? Take a hike you pesky walkers. Blueprint for the $1 billion a year Auckland Transport Agency unveiled. Brian Rudman. (27 November, NZ Herald).

Wellington: Plans to protect best of the region's scenery. The lifestyle property boom and big wind farm projects are about to be slapped with stringent controls. (3 December, Dominion Post/Stuff).

Wellington: Kids hang their hopes on climate change. New exhibition at Te Papa. (3 December, Dominion Post/Stuff).

Manawatu River: Farmers in pain for rivers' gain. (26 November, Dominion Post/Stuff).
Also:
Green groups seek urgent river clean up. (27 November, Dominion Post/Stuff).
Also:
Water fight begins at hearing. Many farmers are concerned the One Plan would limit their ability to apply fertiliser and fear it could lead to a cut in cow numbers, making their farms uneconomic. (2 December, Manawatu Standard/Stuff).

Foxton: Officiating Board chairman burns a photo of them, mixes the ashes with water and throws it ... but couple vow to continue green fight. (2 December, Manawatu Standard/Stuff).

Stratford, New Plymouth: Farm case widens protection - within the judge's decision a warning for anyone farming near conservation land. (27 November,Taranaki Daily News/Stuff).

New Plymouth: Kauri trees taking medicine. New treatment technique. (3 December, Taranaki Daily News/Stuff).

Coromandel: Board votes to ban 1080. (2 December, NZ Herald).

Never ending battle against plant pests. "The weed invasion of New Zealand has only just begun." NZ is host to at least 25,000 and possibly up to 40,000 exotic plant species and only 2500 indigenous species. (26 November, Taranaki News/Stuff).

Warnings as Moko keeps up his fish deliveries. (28 November, Stuff).
Also:
DOC concerned warnings not being heeded. (2 December, Gisborne Herald).

Jeanette Fitzsimons launches website: Good farm stories. “There are great things going on and it’s time more of these good farm stories got told. Some farmers are proving that we can have a healthy farming sector and a healthy environment. Video clip introduction here. (1.40 min). (26 November, Greens.org.nz).

OURS on TV6: Emma Heke, creator of OURS dvd, a NZ nature documentary for young children, has made a television adaptation which will screen three times daily from 14 December 2009 to 18 April 2010 on TVNZ6 Freeview/Sky Digital 16. These will be 4 minute 'shorts' at 7.20am, 11.20am and 3.20pm. Visit www.oursdvd.co.nz for more details. An opportunity to get the message of conservation and sustainable living to ever more children.

Plea to protect longfin eels from fishing. (2 December, Dominion Post/Stuff).
Sign the petition: here. Campaign supported by Manaaki Tuna (Massey University Tuna Research and Restoration group), Forest & Bird, Greenpeace, Environment and Conservation Organizations (ECO), and a growing number of  iwi groups. (source: Forest & Bird).

Re-linked awards, submissions, consultations etc:

• Nominations wanted: for the Prime Minister's Science Teacher Prize - given in recognition of an outstanding teacher of Science in a New Zealand primary or secondary school. The prize is worth $150,000 - the recipient receives $50,000 & the recipient's school $100,000. Nominations close 4pm Friday, 18 December.
  More information: www.pmscienceprizes.org.nz.
  
  
• Submissions wanted: Work has started on a new strategy to manage Canterbury’s transport system - the Canterbury Regional Land Transport Strategy 2011–2041. Community views welcomed. Until 9 December. (20 November, ECan).
  
  

• Help improve DOC's website: DOC is redeveloping the 'Getting Involved' section of its website to include more information for individuals and community groups who want to get involved/are involved in conservation work. They want your ideas for this section. There's an online exercise (15 minutes max).  Participants go in a draw for a prize. To participate: click here.
  

• CCC's cycling website www.seasonofcycling.co.nz.
  
  
• Lincoln Envirotown Trust 2010 native biodiversity calendar. $10.00 for a good cause. Produced jointly by LET & Lincoln University. Profits go to LET. Available from Lincoln township library, LET caravan (Sat. mornings), Lincoln University book shop and many other outlets in Lincoln or from Sue 03 329 5858, or sue.jarvis@orcon.net.nz.
  
  
• Sign on: There's no planet B. Sign On (More than 180,000 NZers so far). (www.signon.org.nz).
  
  
• Have your say: current CCC consultations.

& from there

• Copenhagen: Climate change talks must fail, says top scientist, James Hansen. "The whole approach is so fundamentally wrong that it is better to reassess the situation." Hansen, in repeated appearances before Congress beginning in 1989, has done more than any other scientist to educate politicians about the causes of global warming and to prod them into action to avoid its most catastrophic consequences. (3 December, The Guardian).
  
  
• Copenhagen: Emission impossible. Two of the top thinkers on climate change explain why the most important political gathering of our time will succeed or fail. Nicholas Stern & George Monbiot. (30 November, The Guardian).
  
  
• Greenpeace: Impossible odds? Copenhagen - when confronting challenges on this scale, it's good to remind one's self what's come before. So here's a little morning inspiration for all on 'Copenhagen eve'. (Youtube clip, 4.24 min). (2 December, www.greenpeace.org.uk).
  
  
• Singapore: Saving forests: While nations bicker over the size of emissions cuts and climate funds, saving forests has turned out to be among the least contentious issues in U.N. climate talks and has achieved the most progress. (1 December, Reuters).
  
  
• UK: Soil carbon - a blind spot in the debate on carbon. Organic farming has a major part to play in a low-carbon world. Emma Hockridge. (30 November, Grist).
  
  
• Cold Comfort: The psychology of climate denial. (2 December, Sydney Morning Herald).
  
  
• Canada: Canada's image lies in tatters. It is now to climate what Japan is to whaling. ...Here I am, watching the astonishing spectacle of a beautiful, cultured nation turning itself into a corrupt petro-state. George Monbiot. (30 November, The Guardian).
  
  
• Dubai: The debt, excess and exploitation is not Dubai's alone. We've all been at it. The glitzy Gulf state is a parable for a world living on tick. Jonathon Freedland. (1 December,The Guardian).
  
  
• India: Bhopal water still toxic after 25 years. (1 December, The Guardian).
  
  
• UK: The 'by-catch' downed by industrial fishing. While conservationists' fears have so far focused on seabirds in the Southern Ocean, especially albatrosses, there is mounting alarm over the numbers of northern species, such as shearwaters and petrels, falling victim to large-scale industrialised fishing methods. (27 November, The Independent).
  
  
• Australia: Why do climate deniers hold sway in Australia? If it doesn't silence sceptics and reduce emissions there is a real risk of the nation becoming uninhabitable. Fred Pearce. (1 December, The Guardian).
  
  
• Australia: Trickle treat in a town just 8 hours from running dry. ''As soon as you hit that big hill on the other side of the Great Dividing Range, it's dry. We're the head waters of the Murray-Darling system, and there's no water in the Murray-Darling.'' (3 December, Sydney Morning Herald).
  
  
• Australia: Landmark project deploying traditional Indigenous fire management techniques - hailed as a model with vast global potential in the fights against climate change and biodiversity loss, and for protecting Indigenous lands and cultures. (1 December, Science Daily).
  
  
• UK: Low carbon future: we can afford to go green. (2 December, New Scientist).
  
  
• Top ten green living myths. (26 November, The Guardian).
  
  
• US: The most inspiring climate and energy books of 2009. (28 November, Grist).
  
  
• UK: Top chef serves up gourmet food: Pupils (aged 11 to 16) at a Cornish comprehensive school not only eat the best school dinners in the UK, they take classes in butchery and foraging, and grow their own potatoes. (30 November, Daily Mail).
  
  
• US: Should we eat bugs? High in protein, low in fat, delicious, ubiquitous: why not? (no date, More Intelligent Life.com/The Economist).

Technology:

• Prototype solar plane's first 'hop' - 350 metres at a height of 1 metre. (3 December, BBC).
  
  
• UK: Solar panel costs set to fall. (30 November, BBC).
  Also:
  
• UK: Solar power technology takes it next step. (23 November, BBC).
  Also:
• Germany: Catching rays + cutting emissions. The German feed-in tariff system is as simple as it is successful – which is probably why Germany produces as much solar power as the rest of the world combined. (27 November, Reuters).
  
  
• US: Good guide scanner makes healthy food shopping point & click. (28 November, Grist).
  
  
• Holland: Soggy pork: scientists grow 'meat' in a laboratory - & hope that people will one day want to eat it. (29 November, Telegraph.co.uk).

Natural world:

• Antarctica: Major sea level rise as Antarctic melts. (1 December, BBC).
  Also:
  
• Antarctica turns green. Climate change brings more plants to Antarctica's formerly frozen shores. (1 December, Sydney Morning Herald).
  
  
• Ocean acidification causing some shells to grow thicker. (2 December, Treehugger).
  
  
• Japan: Giant Echizen jellyfish off Japan coast. (30 November, BBC).
  
  
• How did flowering plants evolve to dominate earth? To Charles Darwin it was an 'abominable mystery' and it is a question that has continued to vex evolutionists to this day. A new study reveals the evolutionary trigger. (1 December, Science Daily).
  
  
• Ecuador: Smallest orchid in the world found. 2.1mm across. (30 November, The Independent).
  
  

Using ecoNet

Is easy. Just send in to the editor information about an event, activity or submission you want to share and it will go in ecoNet....as long as it's appropriate of course.

ecoNet is put out (Fridays) by Christchurch Branch of NZAEE (NZ Association for Environmental Education), a non-profit, national organisation of people working to promote and support environmental education, lifelong learning and sustainable behaviour throughout New Zealand/Aotearoa.

How do I contribute?

Use the links below to:

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• Event: Sign On for the next generation.

  A fun, family fair with bouncy castle, games, speakers & spot prizes to support John Key doing the right thing at the Copenhagen climate talks.
  When: 10.30 – 1.30 pm Saturday, Dec 5.
  Where: Hagley Community College, 510 Hagley Avenue.
  
  

• Talk: ComBio 2009 Public Lecture: Energy and Life.

  How life owes its existence to tiny “molecular turbines” in the cell.
  Speaker: Professor Sir John Walker, FRS (Nobel Prize, 1997), director, Dunn Mitochondrial Biology Unit, Cambridge University.
  When: 7.00 pm Sunday, 6 December.
  Where: James Hay Theatre, Christchurch Town Hall.
  More info: here (www.canterbury.ac.nz).
  Sponsored by: University of Canterbury, Royal Society of NZ, & the British Biochemical Society.
  
  

• Work day: Quail Island Restoration Trust.

  When: Sunday, 6 December.
  (Ferry leaves Lyttelton 9.20 am and returns 3.30 pm).
  Booking essential.
  Contact: Ian McLennan ph 384 5338 or id.mclennan@xtra.co.nz.
  Background info: www.quailisland.org.nz
  
  

• Talk: Fifty years of the Antarctic Treaty:

  Revisiting a success story.
  Speaker: Dr Manfred Reinke, Executive Secretary, Antarctic Treaty Secretariat, Buenos Aires.
  When: 7.00 - 8.00 pm Monday, 7 Dec.
  Where: North Arts Lecture theatre A3, , University of Canterbury. (map here).
  Organised by: Gateway Antarctica.
  
  

• DOC wants helpers: Lopping lupins.

  Tree lupin’s nitrogen-fixing ability, height, habit of forming dense shelter are death to native species specially adapted to the harsh weather and mobile sandy dunes of Kaitorete Spit. (Can’t spray because of risk of damage to native species).  A great opportunity to see the largest area of pingao left in NZ and also prostrate broom in flower.
  When:   Tuesday, 8 December.
  Where: Meet 9.00 am, cnr of SH75 & Birdlings Flat turn-off.
  Bring:  gloves, loppers, secateurs, or pruning saw; drink, lunch, snacks; sunhat/sunscreen, sturdy footwear.
  RSVP: (by 3 Dec) to Joy: jburt@doc.govt.nz or 371 3770.
  
  

• Transition Forum: Share thoughts, ideas, actions for community resilience.

  When: 12.30pm Tuesday, 8 December. (12.00pm for lunch & socialising).
  Where: St Albans Community Centre, 1047 Colombo St.
  Contact: 374 2465.
  
  

• Roadshow: Local tsunami hazards & planning:

  How the community can respond to a tsunami. 
  Speakers: Helen Grant, ECan hazard analyst; representatives from NZ Fire Service, Police, Rural Fire and Civil Defence.
  When: 7.30 - 9.00 pm Tuesday, 8 Dec.
  Where: Waikuku Community Hall.
  
  

• Amnesty International Write for Rights:

  Global letter writing marathon.
  5 - 12 December. (Based around International Human Rights Day, 10 December.
  Info here. (www.amnesty.org.nz).
  
  

• College of Education public seminar: A global approach to dyslexia.

  From assessment to intervention for children with dyslexia.
  Speaker: Prof John Evarett, School of Literacies & Arts in Education, College of Education.
  When: 6.00 - 8.00 pm Thursday, 10 Dec.
  Where: Central lecture theatre, C1.
  RSVP (for catering for drinks & nibbles afterwards): Lyn Larsen 343 7724 or lyn.larsen@canterbury.ac.nz.
  
  

• Meurky Walk: Guided botanical tour:

  Saltmarsh & coastal vegetation, wetlands & restoration plantings: South New Brighton & lower Avon river to Cockayne Reserve; to Lake Kate Sheppard; along Corsers Stream to southern border of Travis wetland.
  Guide: Colin Meurk, botanist, Landcare Research/Manaaki Whenua.
  When: 9.00 - c 2.00 pm Saturday, 12 Dec.
  Where: Meet corner Estuary Rd & Ebbtide St, ie where Estuary Rd (the main western road down through South Brighton) meets the Avon-Heathcote Estuary.
  Bring: lunch, drink, sturdy footwear, all weather clothing, hat, sunscreen maybe, money for shutttlebus return to start.
  Contact: Anna-Marie: reesey@xtra.co.nz.
  
  

• Vigil: for a real deal on climate change.

  Part of the world wide call for a fair, ambitious and binding treaty in Copenhagen.
  When: 5.30 pm Saturday, 12 December.
  Where: outside the cathedral, Cathedral Square.
  Bring: candles.
  Background info: Here. (www.avaaz.org).
  
  

• Rolleston Envirotown Market:

  Vegetables, fruit, watercress, herbs, free range eggs, free range pork, Limousin beef, smoked salmon, plants, cards, crafts ... much more.
  When: 10.00 - 1.00 pm Sun., 13 December. Where: Rolleston Square, Rolleston.
  Contact/more info: ph 347 8240 or tonicermu@gmail.com.
  
  

• EARTHWISE, Plains FM 96.9

  Each Monday & Wednesday at 9.00 pm.
  Conservation, environment and peace with justice.
  This week: Michael Ferner, US, member of "Veterans for Peace": organisation that opposes current US policies, including drone warfare, escalation in Afghanistan and the School of the Americas.
  Presenters: Martin and Lois Griffiths.
  NB: Listen again to Earthwise programmes on archive.
  

Coming up:

• Public lecture: Cracking the Einstein Code.

  Speaker: Emeritus Professor Roy Kerr, University of Canterbury; Adjunct Professor, International Centre for Relativistic Astrophysics, Italy.
  When: 7.30 pm Wednesday, 16 December.
  Where: C3 Central lecture theatre, University of Canterbury.
  In association with: 5th Australasian conference on general relativity and gravitation.
  Background info: here(www.timeshighereducation.co.uk), also here (wikipedia).
  
  

• Event: Enviroschools Summer Jam:

  80+ young people from around NZ (ages 15-25). Come & be a part of the sustainability movement - 5 days of inspiration, action, speakers, workshops, and chillaxing with like minded youth.
  When: 10 -15 January.
  Where: Living Springs, Lyttelton Harbour.
  More information/contact: Jen at Enviroschools Canterbury: Jen.rodgers@enviroschools.org.nz
  or 3746328 (Mon to Thurs).
  
  

• Wellington event: Camp for climate action: Team up, get trained, take action.

  Seeks to address the real causes of climate change & build a people's movement that can and will stop disastrous climate change.
  When: 16 - 21 December, 2009.
  Where: Wellington.
  More info/contact: www.climatecamp.org.nz.
  
  

• Waihopai spy base protest:

  When: January 22 - 24.
  Where: Waihopai, Blenheim.
  More info/register: www.converge.org.nz.
  Organised by: Anti-Bases Campaign.
  
  

• NZAEE Biennial Conference: Te Ahu Whakamua - Taking the next steps.

  When: 19 - 22 January 2010.
  Where: Hawkes Bay.
  Much more info/contact/registrations: here. (www.nzaeeconference2010.co.nz).
  NZAEE: NZ Association for Environmental Education.

Reminders:

• Wanted: collectors for SAFE Appeal for Animals.

  SAFE wants over 300 collectors in Christchurch
  to hit the streets and collect donations for SAFE to help animals. Everyone who registers to collect goes in the draw for a $500 cruelty
  free hamper.
  When: Friday 18 & Saturday 19 December.
  More info/contact:
  http://safe.org.nz/Street-Appeal/
  
  

• Free home composting workshops:

  Hot composting of kitchen scraps & garden waste, Bokashi and worm farms. All methods demonstrated.
  1. Seven Oaks Education Centre, 35 Hassals Lane. 1.00 - 2.30 pm each Saturday.
  2. Lyttelton Community Garden, 54A Oxford Street, 10.30 – 12.00 pm each Saturday.
  More info/contact: Annmarie 021 190 4559 or 942 7190 (evenings).
  Supported by CCC.
  
  

• Gardening courses: starting a garden, seed saving, composting, pickling & preserving, etc.

  Where: Strickland Street Community Garden, 188 Strickland Street, Spreydon. 
  When: for times & dates see their website www.sscommunitygardens.net.nz.
  Further info/contact: 942 6630.
  Supported by CCC.
  
  

• Free bike trailer hire:

  Try out a bike trailer for a month for free. See how much fun and how easy it is to carry loads without a car. Groceries, ladders, fruit, kayaks, windsurfers, kite surfers, library books, bikes, musical instruments, pets,  tools, billboards, garage sale treasures, pinecones, white bait nets, firewood, etc.
  Contact: Steven Muir: steve@cycletrailers.co.nz or 365 8238.
  
  

• Exhibition: A-Z of Canterbury Birds – a photographic ornithological odyssey.

  We hear them, sometimes notice them, tend to take them for granted - even common backyard birds are fascinating when captured in detail through discerning lenses.
  Photographs by a group of Christchurch photographers.
  When: 24 November - 9 January. (Hours:  Monday - Saturday, 10.00 – 4.00 pm).
  Where:  Our City O-Tautahi, cnr Oxford Tce & Worcester Blvd.
  Free admission.
  
  

• Exhibition: Finding New Zealand – how maps show the exploration and development of New Zealand.

  18th & early 19th century maps of the whole of New Zealand show how early explorers ‘filled in the gaps’ and increased their accuracy after Cook’s 1772 chart; 19th century maps of Canterbury show the development and settlement of the Plains including early runs.
  Selected maps available for sale.
  When: 24 November - 9 January. (Hours: Monday - Saturday, 10.00 – 4.00 pm).
  Where: Our City O-Tautahi, cnr Oxford Tce & Worcester Blvd.
  Free admission.
  
  

• Exhibition: Contemporary Maori cloaks.

  Colour, texture and pattern.
  Craftsperson: Roka Ngarimu-Cameron.
  When: 21 November – 21 March.
  Where: Special Exhibition Hall, Canterbury museum.
  
  
• Give good gifts this Christmas: www.tradeaid.org.nz.