cooL!!!!!!!!!!!111
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Whales at play
Check out what the whales are up to on a hot day up in the North Island of NZ
cooL!!!!!!!!!!!111
cooL!!!!!!!!!!!111
Saturday, November 13, 2010
Thanks Megan for kayaking with SKC
Have a read of this article by Megan
http://megankalmoe.com/2010/11/10/wednesday-abel-tasman-national-park/
Megan Kalmoe in the Abel Tasman having some R.R after the world Championships in NZ
Friday, November 12, 2010
The big beach cleanup by Ruth Copeland
Ruth Copeland looks at the new-found enthusiasm for helping clean up the region's coastline.
Good news stories are always welcome, and this one in particular speaks well of the community in which we live.
Next week, on Saturday, November 20, the Department of Conservation is co-ordinating a big beach cleanup and nearly 1000 people have volunteered to help.
The call for community groups to sign up for the job has received overwhelming support and all 50 coastal sections were allocated within about six weeks.
This is the first Tasman Bay Big Beach Cleanup and covers an astounding 291 kilometres of coast from Abel Tasman National Park to Cable Bay.
When the beaches had all been taken but groups still wanted to take part, the community cleaning effort was extended to the region's rivers and streams. Five groups are to clean the banks of waterways including Nelson's Maitai River, Brook Stream, Poorman's Creek and Saltwater Creek, and Reservoir Creek in Richmond.
I spoke to Rudy Tetteroo, of DOC, about the project.
"The idea really came about by thinking about how we could raise the profile of our coastline. People are attracted to this region for its beaches so it made good sense to focus on them," Rudy said.
"We thought that maybe we could motivate people to join us in a pre-Christmas cleanup. It would seem we really struck a chord with people, with the tremendous uptake that we have had.
"Sharing the responsibility of conservation has been identified as a strategic direction by DOC," Rudy told me.
"We have identified that there is so much more work to do than what DOC can handle. There are people in this region who are passionate about our environment and we wanted to harness the enthusiasm and commitment that we find in our everyday connections with people in our community."
The process of getting the cleanup organised has taken about a year since its inception, and has been jointly organised by the Department of Conservation, Tasman District Council, Nelson City Council and Nelmac.
"I was reasonably confident that it would work out well, but as soon as our partners came on board, the project really started to take off," Rudy said.
"It's big picture stuff that inspires us. The coasts are so important to our ecosystems, they are the interface between land and sea. The estuaries we have in Tasman Bay are some of the biggest in New Zealand.
The coast has flat productive land and access to sea transport and that's where we have built our settlements.
As a result of coastal settlement we've already lost a lot of the natural habitats of our wetlands and coastline.
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It's my hope that this Big Beach Cleanup will help draw attention to our precious coastline and assist our efforts to preserve and protect it".
The cleanup not only aims to make our beaches more pleasant for people but also, importantly, will help save marine wildlife from being harmed by our litter.
Carelessly discarded rubbish like plastic bags or rope can have grave consequences for seabirds, marine mammals and other sea life.
It is estimated that more than seven billion tonnes of debris gets into the world's oceans each year, taking a heavy toll on marine life. Much of it comes from the land.
We all enjoy beaches for play and relaxation but for coastal wildlife they are even more essential, being where they live, feed and breed.
Big Beach Cleanup participants will be giving our coast a thorough tidy-up in time for summer but an ongoing effort is needed to keep beaches and the sea litter-free.
* Going Green is a fortnightly column by members of the Nelson Environment Group
Good news stories are always welcome, and this one in particular speaks well of the community in which we live.
Next week, on Saturday, November 20, the Department of Conservation is co-ordinating a big beach cleanup and nearly 1000 people have volunteered to help.
The call for community groups to sign up for the job has received overwhelming support and all 50 coastal sections were allocated within about six weeks.
This is the first Tasman Bay Big Beach Cleanup and covers an astounding 291 kilometres of coast from Abel Tasman National Park to Cable Bay.
When the beaches had all been taken but groups still wanted to take part, the community cleaning effort was extended to the region's rivers and streams. Five groups are to clean the banks of waterways including Nelson's Maitai River, Brook Stream, Poorman's Creek and Saltwater Creek, and Reservoir Creek in Richmond.
I spoke to Rudy Tetteroo, of DOC, about the project.
"The idea really came about by thinking about how we could raise the profile of our coastline. People are attracted to this region for its beaches so it made good sense to focus on them," Rudy said.
"We thought that maybe we could motivate people to join us in a pre-Christmas cleanup. It would seem we really struck a chord with people, with the tremendous uptake that we have had.
"Sharing the responsibility of conservation has been identified as a strategic direction by DOC," Rudy told me.
"We have identified that there is so much more work to do than what DOC can handle. There are people in this region who are passionate about our environment and we wanted to harness the enthusiasm and commitment that we find in our everyday connections with people in our community."
The process of getting the cleanup organised has taken about a year since its inception, and has been jointly organised by the Department of Conservation, Tasman District Council, Nelson City Council and Nelmac.
"I was reasonably confident that it would work out well, but as soon as our partners came on board, the project really started to take off," Rudy said.
"It's big picture stuff that inspires us. The coasts are so important to our ecosystems, they are the interface between land and sea. The estuaries we have in Tasman Bay are some of the biggest in New Zealand.
The coast has flat productive land and access to sea transport and that's where we have built our settlements.
As a result of coastal settlement we've already lost a lot of the natural habitats of our wetlands and coastline.
Ad Feedback
It's my hope that this Big Beach Cleanup will help draw attention to our precious coastline and assist our efforts to preserve and protect it".
The cleanup not only aims to make our beaches more pleasant for people but also, importantly, will help save marine wildlife from being harmed by our litter.
Carelessly discarded rubbish like plastic bags or rope can have grave consequences for seabirds, marine mammals and other sea life.
It is estimated that more than seven billion tonnes of debris gets into the world's oceans each year, taking a heavy toll on marine life. Much of it comes from the land.
We all enjoy beaches for play and relaxation but for coastal wildlife they are even more essential, being where they live, feed and breed.
Big Beach Cleanup participants will be giving our coast a thorough tidy-up in time for summer but an ongoing effort is needed to keep beaches and the sea litter-free.
* Going Green is a fortnightly column by members of the Nelson Environment Group
Starting young as a kayak guide!
If your lucky enough to have a kayak guide as a parent you get to do lots of fun stuff!
Kayak guides start their offspring young
Kayak guides start their offspring young
Friday, November 5, 2010
Nayland college in the Abel Tasman
Paradise
Even the teachers surviving the trip with smiles still on there faces
Fun on the Beach
Picnics on th beach
Campfire sing songs.
And lots of other gorgeous days in between
Nayland college was just so lucky with the weather from the first day!
To the last day
Even the teachers surviving the trip with smiles still on there faces
Fun on the Beach
Picnics on th beach
Campfire sing songs.
And lots of other gorgeous days in between
Nayland college was just so lucky with the weather from the first day!
To the last day
Saturday, October 23, 2010
Project Crimson in the Abel Tasman
Abel Tasman Birdsong Trust volunteers joined staff of the Department of Conservation (DoC) to plant native rata trees around the Pitt Head Loop track in the Abel Tasman National Park, to mark the start of Conservation Week. Most of the trees were northern rata, their crimson flowers once commonly seen during summer along the Abel Tasman Park's coastline.
Saturday, October 9, 2010
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