End Games

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Actively supporting NZ’s endangered wetland birds

 With the NZTA now beginning to move against our dune lake, it is time to do a recap on how this all came about. So if the policy and politics of environmental activism brings you out in hives then please bear with us. Meanwhile here's a new video to sooth your way.

This expressway project, fast-tracked as a project of national significance was sent to a Board of Inquiry, effectively  bypassing  Enviornmental legislation. This Board was set up to look like a judicial body, but acted as a mediating forum. Its members were appointed by the Minister for the Environment – Amy Adams, but no-one of  credible environmental experience sat on it. This was a clear indication of the  Government’s intentions. She is now set upon repealing the RMA -the laws that govern New Zealand’s wider environmental safety. 

The NZTA, charged with building the expressway, employed private ecologists to assess the local environment. These were led by Matiu Park whose expertise is in policy development and environmental research, not endangered species management. There were many problems with the evidence this group presented to the Inquiry. Here are a few of them, related to the dune lake…

None of this team seemed to have had experience working in dune land areas or understood that these areas were adapted -rather like alpine areas-  to extreme climate conditions. The avian ecologist spent 30 minutes assessing this dune lake, then submitted this as a scientific appraisal. After reviewing the area for a year she failed to observe 30% of our native waterbirds. There was no mention in  her reports of the critically endangered parera. 

Mr Park would not concede that this was a wetland – referring to it as 'seasonally wet pasture'. Towards the end of the hearings he produced an aerial photograph purporting to prove that the wetland was formed by council stop-banks along the wharemauku creek. What this actually proved was his unfamiliarity with the area. The land is sloping the wrong way for water to flow into the banks in  this way. He nevertheless adjudged this non-wetland to be  1.8 hectares. It is actually 5-7 hecatares as can be seen from recent NZTA excavations. This underestimation accords with Regional and District Council findings which argued that the NZTA had systemically underestimated the area of wetland disturbance by a factor of three. 

 

Top of the dune lake showing recent NZTA excavations

The NZTA is required by the conditions of approval  to work with local people and groups on its environmental response. The project manager assured us this would happen. It hasn’t. It is also required to keep out of areas where endangered species are located  during the breeding season. This also hasn’t happened. 

Road being cleared from town into wetland  (centre right)

 The breeding season is now underway. Mr Park took trained dogs into this area to look for parera nests, intending to place an exclusion zone around any nesting pair. This indicates his lack of experience in endangered species management. Female parera have been known to destroy their own eggs on discovery. The day after he announced  the area to be parera free, we photographed a male parera at the lake. Then another at the back of the airport. 

Royal Spoonbill standing around the centre of the planned expressway -January 28 2014

You’re probably not going to get a better example of how to orchestrate an environmental shambles.

In helping us to see the funny side of all this we have called in Lonny Donegan, washboard and all  - Does your chewing gum lose its flavour on the bed post overnight...

 Oh-me, oh-my, oh-you
Whatever shall I do
Hallelujah, the question is peculiar
I'd give a lot of dough
If only I could know
The answer to my question
Is it yes or is it no

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