Welcome

to ecoNet Newsletter.

Keep sending us info for promoting your environmental events and causes. And pass on news of ecoNet Newsletter and our subscription address: eventdiary@environment.org.nz to others you think may find it interesting/useful.

Here's a further selection of news and articles and bits and pieces of interest from around and about, and here and there, eg:

from here

http://www.heritageweek.co.nz/ Heritage Week 17-27 October. Theme - RETROspective: Christchurch life, architecture and design 1940s - 1970s

Govt purchases 78,196 ha St James Station. Completes South Island coast to coast: Seaward Kaikouras through to Pancake Rocks...(8 October, DOC). Congratulations from Forest and Bird.

All national parks now protected from mining. (9 October, DOC).

New doco on NZ and its economic future: Paul callaghan's Beyond the Farm and the Theme Park. Premiers on TVNZ's Channel 7, 9.10 pm, 4 November.

Canterbury biodiversity site launched: http://www.canterburybiodiversity.org.nz/ (7 October, ECan).

Christchurch City Council to introduce a new three-bin Kerbside Collection service for domestic waste from February-March 2009. More here. (8 October, CCC).

ECan 2008 Resource Management Awards – Finalists. (6 October, Scoop).

Following a review, decision reached: vehicle access to South Canterbury's Lake Heron. (10 October, DOC).

Got your emergency checklist, plan and get away kit sussed? Seen about the competition for 10 - 16 year old kids? This week (5 - 11 October) is National Disaster Awareness Week. (ECan/Canterbury Civil Defence Emergency Group).

Group to study under-representation of women in science, engineering. (9 October, University of Canterbury).

Dairy farmer of the year convicted: $65,000 for river of sludge. Regional council says close to one in four dairy farmers breaching the effluent rules. (9 October, Northern Advocate).

Change to rules governing Lake Tekapo's water levels. (10 October, Timaru Herald).

Strong support for Nevis River dams appeal. (9 October, Otago Daily Times).

Winning science educator (Kudos Awards) says sharing science with community ‘a real buzz’. (6 October, Scoop).

NZ & US collaborate to build world's most southerly windfarm. (6 October, NZ Herald).

What drives evolution? Research on Antarctic penguins: Genetic change not necessarily reflected in appearance. (7 October, Scoop).

Kauri die-back disease: Phytophthora taxon Agathis is a microscopic "fungus-like" plant pathogen. It only affects kauri. So far there is no resistance to the disease and it kills trees of all ages and sizes, from saplings to long lived trees. (29 September, Auckland Regional Council).

NZ marine mammals join critical list. (8 October, NZ Herald).

5 star luxury accommodation: Hotel's weta sanctuary . (6 October, NZ Herald).

Info here for Sir Peter Blake Environmental Leader Award for secondary school students Years 9-10. (6 October, Enviroschools).

Now open: 2009-10 Sustainable Management Fund. (Ministry for the Environment).

Support the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples: Background info here. (www.converge.org.nz).

Re-linked awards, submissions, consultations etc:

• Vote with your wheels: Vote cycling! CAN's pro-cycling election campaign 2008. (23 September, Cycling Advocacy Network).
  
  
• The Global Education Fund (GEF): targeted and contestable funding for Global Education activities - ie small projects to develop awareness and understanding of global perspectives among New Zealanders, to encourage them to become responsible global citizens, and to create a safe and just world. More info here. Applications close 31 October.

• Council’s Community Waste Minimisation Fund: Up to $10,000. Individuals, groups or community organisations can apply. Applications close 30 October. More info here.
  
  
• Free trade deal with the US - who wins? Also: Danger ahead - US deal threatens all remaining foreign investment rules. (Bill Rosenberg, NZ Not for Sale).
  
  
• Walking and Cycling Micro-Fund: provides $1000 grants. Apply now – close 17 October.
  
  
• Government intends to prepare a national policy statement for renewable electricity generation. Submissions close 31 October.(Ministry for the Environment).

• Photo competition: based on history of Christchurch during the post-war period. Entries close 22 October. (16 September, CCC).
  
  
• Information for submissions to ERMA to oppose Agresearch applications for GE animals. Before 31 October.
  

• Greenpeace: red fish list. (greenpeace.org).
  
  
• Canterbury organic horticulture course starts 20 October. (Organic Pathways). More here: www.bhu.co.nz.
  

• Nominations (till end of October) for this year's Roger Award:
  Organised by CAFCA. info here.   
  
  

& from there

• EU countries: may use economic crisis to ditch climate change commitments. (9 October, The Guardian).
  
  
• China: Beijing to force 800,000 cars off the road daily. (7 October, Treehugger).
  
  
• China’s long march to modernisation. A reflection on the nature, extent, need of changes in China and on its evolving status in the wider world. (8 October, Open Democracy).
  
  
• US: Housing: Nearly 1 in 6 owners 'under water'. (8 October, Wall Street Journal).
  
  
• UK: New (Green) Deal: People are coming to the realisation that the system of globalised markets - unregulated, unpoliced and unguided - is fatally flawed. Caroline Lucas, Leader of the Green Party & Green MEP. (8 October, The Guardian).
  
  
• US: All Fall Down. Blog on current events, James Kunstler. (6 October, Clusterfuck Nation). See also: Far From Normal: US may be only months away from going bankrupt. (written in May). (10 October, Life After the Oil Crash).
  
  
• US: When faith in the dollar runs out: For any problem, I find it’s always helpful (for me at least) to formulate a “to do list”... (8 October, Energy Bulletin).
  
  
• US: Tough times may force saner lifestyle choices. (4 October, San Francisco Chronicle).
  
  
• UK: End use of fossil fuels in 20 years, UK warned. (7 october, The Gaurdian).
  
  
• UK: GM: Prince Charles, in India, gives the Sir Albert Howard Memorial lecture: "The reason I keep sticking my 60-year-old head above an increasingly dangerous parapet is not because it is good for my health but precisely because ... unless we work with nature, we will fail to restore the equilibrium we need in order to survive on this planet." (5 October, The Independent).
  
  
• The crash course: http://www.chrismartenson.com/crashcourse(suggestion/recommendation from reader Chrys H who says: one of the most cogent, chilling and well put together series of presentations about sustainability I've ever seen/ heard. ...was completely gripped by the way he wove together all the different strands - current economic crisis, upcoming social change, depleted resources, peak oil and its implications and climate change.  Well worth looking through the whole thing despite the 2-3 hours it takes).
  
  
• The future proofers: On a rooftop in Brixton, a back garden in Totnes, a village hall in Ambridge, they’re preparing for a post-oil future. So is Transition Towns busting out of the eco-niche and into the mainstream? (19 September, Greenfutures).
  
  
• UN: Rural communities best equipped to deal with climate change. (7 October, The Guardian).
  
  
• UK: blog on the IUCN Red-List of threatenened species: Climate focus 'good news for species'. Russell Mittermeier, President of Conservation International. (7 October, Viewpoint BBC).
  
  
• Peru: It's the International Year of the Potato... but warming Andes stymies Peruvian potato farmers. (5 October, San Francisco Chronicle).
  
  
• Australia: Sydneysiders moving veggie plots from the backyard to the street verge, and converting formerly fallow public land into mini-market gardens. (7 October, Sydney Morning Herald).
  
  
• New Solar technology:
  Tubular solar panels slash costs, boost efficiency. (7 October, ecoGeek).
  Shrunken cells - new kind of thin film PV.(7 October, ecoGeek).
  Australia: New iJet solar cell as easy to make as pizza. (5 October, CleanTechnica).
  Powering the planet with sun-harnessing balloons. (19 September, Discover Magazine).
  
  
• MIT student: Trees power wireless networks. (8 October, Greenbang).
  
  
• Los Angeles: Bicycle kitchen: Food for thought...a recipe for Christchurch?
  
  
• Himalayas: were once sun-kissed isles glistening in a now-vanished sea. (29 September, USA Today).
  
  
• Australia: Quirk of nature protects reef from climate change. (26 September, Cosmosmagazine.com).
  
  
• China: Survival of species relies on elderly couple. (She's 80, he's 100). (6 October, NZ Herald).
  
  
• Sao Paolo, Brazil: displaced penguins released into Brazilian ocean. (7 October, NZ Herald).
  
  
• Antarctica: Penguins feel heat as Antarctic warms. (10 October, NZ Herald).
  
  
• Meltdown: a global warming travelogue. (includes 3.50 min video clip). (8 October, CNN.com).
  
  
• Consumer culture turns into murals of trash. (29 September, SFGate).
  
  
• Neanderthals: Cave cuisine. (29 September, Slow Food).
  

• Saving the wildlife of Madagascar: perhaps the highest level of biodiversity per capita in the world. (25 September, Time).
  
  
• The world's best bird watching spots. 16 pictures. (The Guardian).

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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.

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Disclaimer: whilst every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of details, NZAEE - Christchurch Branch accepts no responsibility for errors or omissions. Opinions printed herein are not those of NZAEE - Christchurch Branch.

 

• Opawa car sharing group: interested in cutting the costs of personal transport? Contact Caroline 980 9113 or Dave 366 0628 or email mailto:tranportmatters@paradise.net.nz
  
  

• Weed removal: Boneseed.

  Where: Barnett Park, Redcliffs.
  When: 9.30 – 12.00 pm Saturday, 11 October.
  Bring: work clothes, sturdy footwear, sunscreen, gardening gloves and if possible, saws or loppers.
  Postponement date: Sunday, 18 October.
  More info: Gemma Bradfield 364 9860.
  Info on Boneseed here (ECan).
  

• Spring Market Day:

  Plants & Produce, Seeds, Pickles & Preserves, Baking, Craft.
  When: 10.00 - 1.00 pm Saturday, 11 October.
  Where: Strickland St Community Gardens,
  188 Strickland St.
  Lucky visitor prize draw. Sign up for next free home composting workshop.
  
  

• Clarevale Reserve Weeders

  When: 1.00 – 4.00 pm Sunday, October 12.
  Where: Clarevale Reserve, Travis Wetland. (near QE II Park).
  What: mostly blackberry, gorse, grey willow, convolvulus, broom & introduced grasses. Part of  a scientific study (been going 8 years) on the restoration of kahikatea forest.
  Bring: Working clothes and gumboots; gloves and tools provided.
  
  

• Talk: From Kai to Kiwi kitchen: cookery in the colonial era.

  Tracing the development of NZ’s culinary traditions.
  Speaker: Prof Helen Leach, Archaeology Department, University of Otago.
  When: 2.00 – 4.00 pm Sunday, 12 October.
  Where: Carter Auditorium, Christchurch Art Gallery.
  (University of Canterbury’s 2008 Macmillan Brown Lecture series). More info here.
  
  

• Sustainable Living: seven evening classes:

  Energy, water, gardening, travel, shopping, waste...
  When: 7.00 - 9.00 pm. (starts Monday 13 October).
  Tutors: Paul and Jocelyn.
  Where: Hagley Community College, Hagley Avenue.
  Register: College Enrolment Office ph 364 5156 or hy@hagley.school.nz
  
  

• Election forum on sustainability: questions for politicians: Labour, National, Green Party, Act, Progressives, United Future.

  MC: Melissa Clark-Reynolds, Al Gore Climate Change Ambassador.
  When: 7.00 pm Tuesday, 14 October.
  Where: Knox Presbytarian Church,
  Corner Bealey Ave & Victoria St.
  (more info here: SOC).
  
  

• Talk: Cyber schools of the future?

  The evolution of virtual education.
  Speaker: Prof Niki Davis.
  When: 6.00 - 7.00 pm Tuesday, 14 October.
  Where: Christchurch Art Gallery Auditorium.
  (First in the 2008 Universtiy of Canterbury in the City lecture series).
  more info here.
  
  

• Gardening Course: Grow organics in your own backyard/garden.

  Tutor: Bettina Evans
  When: 6.00 – 8.00 pm starting Tuesday, 14 October: (3 sessions, 1 week break, 3 sessions).
  Where: First session  Lyttelton Community Garden, then Project Lyttelton’s Opawa Garden, cnr Hassels Lane and York Street, Opawa.
  Cost: $25.
  Contact: Sue-Ellen Sandilands 328 9243 or office@lyttelton.net.nz
  
  

• Lyttelton course: Discovering your community leadership skills.

  Tutor: Margaret Jeffries, chair of Project Lyttelton.
  When: 7.00 – 9.00 pm Wednesdays, 15 October to 17 December.
  Where: Community building, 54a Oxford St. Lyttelton.
  Fee: $35.
  More info: Sue-Ellen Sandilands 328 9243 or office@lyttelton.net.nz
  
  

• Seminar: Cookbooks and cultural identity in the twentieth century.

  Speaker: Prof Helen Leach, Archaeology Department, Otago University.
  When: 7.00 - 9.00 pm Thursday, 16 october.
  Where: Carter Auditorium, Christchurch Art Gallery.
  Contact: Moana Matthes mailto:mbcps@canterbury.ac.nz?Subject=Cookbooks and cultural identity in the 20th Century or 03 3642 957. More info here.
  

  (Part of the 2008 Macmillan Brown Lecture Series).
  
  

• Planting day: Lake Alexandrina Conservation Trust.

  When: 9.00 - 2.00 pm Saturday, 18 October.
  Where: Lake Alexandrina, South Canterbury (at top end, planting sedges (Carex secta) along west bank of Scotts Creek to protect against erosion).
  Bring: waders, crowbars, spades, stout shoes, clothing, gloves, eye wear (vs briar thorns), loppers.
  Reward: Sausage sizzle and a few drinks of various kinds.
  Contact: Mary Wallace  (03) 6861690 or 021 979497 evenings.
  
  

• Course: Sustainable living.

  Discover, discuss & practise ways to reduce your impact. Meet others interested to live sustainably. 
  Tutors: Janet Jenkins & Lesley Pawley.
  When: 1.00 – 3.00 pm,  starting 23 October. (5 Thursdays).
  Where: WEA, 59 Gloucester St.
  Cost: $38. (Detailed notes included).
  More info: 366 0285 or cwea (item 10).
  
  

• Tramp: Guided tour of Happy Valley:

  beautiful West Coast red tussock wetland.
  (help save it from Solid Energy's proposed coal mine). 
  When: Saturday 18 - Sunday 19 October. (Meet in Westport).
  Contact: frances.mountier@gmail.com
  
  
  

• EARTHWISE, Plains FM 96.9

  Each Monday & Wednesday at 10 pm.
  Conservation, environment and peace with justice.
  This week's interview: Dr Leanne O'Brien, Canterbury Mudfish: endemic, fascinating and threatened. 
  Presenters: Martin and Lois Griffiths.
  
  

Coming up:

• Heritage Week: Theme - RETROspective: Christchurch life, architecture and design 1940s - 1970s.

  When: 17 - 27 October.
  More info: http://www.heritageweek.co.nz/.
  
  

• 1940s: The War Years at Godley Head

  When: 10.30 am - 3.30 pm Sunday, 19 October.
  Where: Awaroa/Godley Head, Godley Head Road, Sumner.
  Gold coin entry.
  
  

• AGM: Travis Wetland Trust.
  Also: Talks on the prospective re-introduction of Canterbury Mudfish & other aquatic natives to the Travis Wetland.

  Speakers: Anita Spencer, Biodiversity Ranger, DOC, on the posssibility of Canterbury Mudfish into Travis: & Dr Bob McDowall, NIWA, on translocating giant Kokupu to Travis.
  When: 7.00 pm Tuesday, 21 October.
  Where: Beach Road Education Centre.
  Background info: http://www.traviswetland.org.nz/
  
  

• Canterbury Transition Communities Forum.

  When: 12.00 - 2.00 pm Wednesday, 21 October.
  Where: St Albans Community Centre, 1047 Colombo Street.
  

• Talk: Current Affairs:

  Do the news media determine the winner of election campaigns?
  Speaker: Mike Yardley.
  When: 1.30 - 2.30 pm, Wednesday, 22 October. (First in a weekly series of 8).
  Where: WEA, 59 Gloucester St.
  more info: cwea (item 5) or 366 2085.
  
  

• Talk: Teaching in Aboriginal communities.

  Speaker: Allan Schroeder.
  When: 11.00 – 12.00 pm Thursday, 23 October.
  Where: WEA, 59 Gloucester St.
  
  

• Course: Amnesty International NZ series:

  Human Rights & community; Human Rights and law; Human Rights and the environment - esp. in the face of climate change.
  When: 7.30 - 9.00 pm Tuesday, 28 October - 11 November. (3 evening weekly sessions).
  Fee: $10.
  More info & registration here. (Community Education, University of Canterbury).
  Contact: 364 2470 or uco@canterbury.ac.nz.
  
  

• Talk: Climate change and its impact on the environment.

  Speaker: Dr Sue Worner, Lincoln University.
  When: 2.00 pm Thursday, 30 October.
  Where: Canterbury Horticultural Society, Riccarton Ave.
  Cost: $5.00. (members $3.00).
  

Reminders:

• Governors Bay Landcare Group: Old Man's Beard Control Project.

  When: every Tuesday morning.
  Tools provided, but wear sturdy footwear, warm clothing. 
  More info: Dick Tripp 329 9752, or sdtripp@xtra.co.nz
  
  

• Free Home Composting Workshops:

  (Bokashi, Hot Compost, and Worm Farms).
  

  Where: 1: Opawa Community Gardens, 176 Opawa Rd (at Aynsley Terrace).
  When: 1.00 pm 18, 21 October. (1st & 3rd Saturday each month & 1st & 3rd Tuesday).
  2: Okeover Community Gardens, University of Canterbury.
  When: 12.00 - 1:30 pm, 11, 22 October. (2nd & 4th Saturday each month, 2nd & 4th Wednesday). How: Just turn up.
  More info: Annmarie Banchy 021 190 4559, or 942 7190 (evening), abanchy@paradise.net.nz.
  Sponsored by CCC.
  
  

• Bike trailer - one month's free trial:

  See how easy it is to carry loads without a car.
  Contact: Steven Muir: 365 8238 or
  thepope@cyclingchurch.org.nz.