Come behind the scenes and into the jobs, the challenges, the highlights, and the personalities of the people who work at the Department of Conservation (DOC).

Today we profile the Web Team based in National Office.

The Team

DOC’s Web Team

Laura Honey: loves to get behind the camera and has made several short documentaries. She also worked on a few TV sets – the strangest would have to be Kiwi Pro Wrestling.

Bev Bacon spends most of her annual leave cycle touring. She’s explored New Zealand, France, the USA and Norway on two wheels, and heads to Iceland this year.

Benhi Dixon’s name comes from the Vietnamese words ‘be’ and ‘nhi’ – together meaning ‘little baby’. Her brother, three years old at the time she was born, kept calling her that and it stuck.

Melissa Reid doesn’t get into the great outdoors very often – she’s more of a city girl and has just visited Tokyo and Seoul. But somehow she’s agreed to walk the Routeburn Track this summer.

Ligs Hoffman loves getting away to her bach at Waitarere Beach for walks, bike rides and attempts at catching dinner. The marine team can sleep safely though as she rarely catches anything.

What are your team’s favourite things?

We love satisfied website users, DOC staff who are committed to the website, plain English, gorgeous imagery and video.

Bev on Sognefjellsvegen – the highest mountain road in Norway

Hard at work

What’s your team’s role at DOC?

We manage the DOC website and help DOC staff communicate effectively to the 4.9 million people who visit the site each year.

Our role is to create a site that inspires people to plan their next adventure, discover our places, species and history and learn how they can make a difference. It’s about telling DOC stories.

Laura filming for a doco in Marlborough Sounds

How does this help DOC achieve its goals?

The website is DOC’s primary point of contact with the public. We have a huge reach which we can use to help inform, engage and educate.

The website is critical for connecting people to conservation. People go online to find news, what’s important and the issues they should care about. We can reach new audiences through our web and social media channels.

Constraint drives creativity – true in our jobs and also when needing egg cups in a campervan

What guides you in your work?

DOC’s organisation goals and feedback from our users. We’re also guided by the New Zealand Government Web Standards.

What’s the best part of your job?

Making content come to life and sharing with the outside world. Our ultimate aim is creating a great user experience. This is ongoing because a website is a living thing – it’s never ‘finished’. We love looking for ways to improve the site every day.

DOC is full of treasures, our people, places and stories. We get a huge amount of joy spreading the word about them online.

DOC Ranger Caraline Abbott discusses dogs and their impact on conservation in the Rotorua District.

Dogs have a significant impact on conservation. We coo over the tales of Pai and Piri – two well loved and hard working conservation dogs.

Fin Buchanan and rat detecting dog Jack are ready to help with biosecurity at Mokoia Island Wildlife Refuge.

Specifically trained dogs play a major role in the conservation of species such as kākāpō, kiwi, whio, pāteke and takahē. While these dogs are trained to help protect our native species, other four legged-friends (or four-legged fiends) can be detrimental to our efforts.

Chatting to hunters, dogs are man’s best friend. A well trained dog can easily sniff out ecological pests like deer, pigs and possums. Hunting companions can be helpful, and for this reason a Rotorua District hunting permit allows for two dogs per hunter. Unfortunately, the down side to using dogs as hunting companions is the tendency of some to attack native and threatened species like our kiwi.

Reports of a dog killing nesting gulls reached our Rotorua office last week. Black –billed gulls are considered the world’s most threatened gull species and have just started nesting around the Sulphur Bay Wildlife Refuge. Sadly, this is the second dog-related incident affecting threatened gulls in the last twelve months.  Earlier this year, a Rotorua man was prosecuted when dogs under his control attacked and killed two red-billed gulls.

The black billed gull is the most threatened gull species in the world. Photo: Andrew Walmsley.

Instances like these (and the legislation guiding our work) has led us to deny dogs at our local conservation campsites. Although dogs are no longer allowed in these areas, we still support man’s best friend in other ways.

Support for dog owners

We continue to support the use of well trained hunting dogs by responsible hunters. This includes facilitating kiwi aversion training. We are even looking into ways to make this training more effective.We are also continuing to support the conservation dogs programme and use dogs as a tool in our biosecurity work to help restore and protect New Zealand’s Heritage.

We’ll use our website to keep the community up to date with dog related issues including dog access on conservation land in the Rotorua District. Any pest control methods used by DOC in conservation areas that may affect dogs will be listed in our pesticide summary so owners know not to take their animals into these places.

Lake Okareka campsite in Rotorua is now dog free.

Education, training and effective management of dogs will hopefully allow our campsites and threatened species to thrive in the future.

By Peter de Lange, Principal Science Advisor

Rātā moehau is now New Zealand’s most threatened tree, but DNA data is providing a glimmer of hope for the species’ survival.

Rātā moehau is the only tree rata species that has white flowers

The late John Bartlett discovered rātā moehau/Bartlett’s rātā in 1975 at Te Paki, a biodiversity hotspot perched at the tip of the North Island. Bartlett was looking for liverworts but instead found a completely new species of rātā.

By 1990 ten trees had been found across two Te Paki sites—Radar Bush and Kohuronaki. A year later, a number of colleagues and I stumbled upon another population in the Muriwhenua Incorporation’s Unuwhao Forest near Spirits Bay.

Rātā moehau grows to be a large tree

34 wild trees were documented by 1992, which still isn’t many, but it was much better than the 10 we previously believed existed. Sadly, in 2007 DOC staff found that seven trees at Unuwhao had died from possum browse and several more were seriously defoliated. New Zealand’s tree rātā are self-incompatible (individuals that breed with close genetic relatives will not produce good seed), and there were fears for the loss of genetic diversity. Genetic variation was already very limited; therefore it was crucial that any losses were avoided.

To manage the species effectively, we needed to understand the genetics of all living rātā moehau, including plants that had been propagated and grown in cultivation from those early discoveries.

Following consultation with Ngāti Kuri, Te Aupouri and the Muriwhenua Trust, DOC staff undertook a field survey and DNA sampling of rātā moehau in April 2015. Our purpose was to determine the status of the species in the wild, collect material for DNA analysis, and collect seed for the New Zealand Seed Bank. The DNA profiles of wild plants would be compared with the DNA of cultivated specimens.

DNA samples were obtained from helicopter by human sling operator Brad Lett. Aside from the known trees at Radar Bush and Kohuronaki, our survey found only one tree in the original Unuwhao Forest stand of 16, but we discovered three more in a nearby catchment. Samples were sent to Landcare Research, where Dr Gary Houliston and his team profiled them using two DNA fingerprinting techniques.

The DNA results are alarming. Of the 14 trees in the wild, there are only five distinct genotypes and three of them are known only from Unuwhao. Further, there is no Unuwhao stock in cultivation; all cultivated plants derive from two trees: one from Radar Bush and the other from Kohuronaki. Rātā moehau is now one of the most threatened plants in the world.

Rātā moehau at Te Paki

Although the results are far worse than we’d anticipated, the DNA data provides some hope for saving the species. We now know where the immediate priorities are, and we are working closely with iwi, Muriwhenua Incorporation and Ngā Whenua Rāhui to protect the trees at Unuwhao.

Saving the species will involve other partners initially (such as botanic gardens and Project Crimson) to raise genetically viable plants in cultivation.

The process will involve bringing together the five lineages and hand pollinating these to produce more genetically fit plants to restore to the wild.

Today’s photo of the week is a whio starting its journey to a new home.

Ranger Max getting ready to transport a whio to Mount Aspiring National Park. Photo by Ros Cole (DOC)

In early January, Real Journeys sponsored the transfer of whio from Fiordland National Park, to the Rock Burn in Mount Aspiring National Park. Ranger Max (and conservation dog Oska in the background) are pictured here, putting a whio into a transfer box to begin the journey.

The project was supported by Genesis Energy and Air New Zealand. Other images from the transfer can be found on the Department of Conservation Fiordland Facebook page.

Rod Hitchmough, DOC Science Advisor, tells us about efforts to recover the extremely rare Chesterfield skink from the verge of extinction.

The Chesterfield skink is an extremely rare lizard found only on the West Coast in an area of less than one hectare. It’s listed as ‘Nationally Critical’ and is perhaps the most colourful skink in New Zealand.

Chesterfield skink

The species was discovered in 1994, but it wasn’t confirmed as a distinct species until 2008 by which time it was around seven years since the last one was seen.

All previous sightings of this species were located in a one kilometre radius area north of Hokitika. However in the nineties intensive dairy pasture replaced this rough farmland that had once been suitable for skinks.

In response two separate surveys were undertaken by different herpetologists. Trent Bell’s 2009 survey failed to find any skinks. The second survey by Marieke Lettink in 2013 located just two individuals. Despite the search covering a wide area, they were found in exactly the same area as in the nineties. Discovering two skinks at least confirmed some were left, so we could begin planning towards the eventual goal of recovering the species.

The Chesterfield skink has a very distinctive colour pattern on the underside of its tail however if it loses and re-grows its tail, it loses this pattern

A project to formalise the recognition of the species and give it a scientific name is currently underway and is being led by Sabine Meltzer and Geoff Patterson, supported by Trent Bell of Ecogecko, and myself.

DOC’s Lizard Technical Advice Group, led by Lynn Adams, discussed the species with Hokitika DOC Ranger Mark Martini and Biodiversity Planner Helen Otley. As a result, requests were made for support to assess the state of the skink population and offer advice on recovery options.

A team was established (led by myself, Les Morgan, and Lynn Adams) and we have made four trips to the skink’s limited habitat area since the start of 2015. During the first three trips, impressive trapping efforts resulted in 19 captures of 17 individual skinks. Our trip in November resulted in 52 captures, including 24 new skinks.

Chesterfield skink from the January 2015 survey

It seems likely that the population of Chesterfield skinks totals about 40-50. None have been found away from the original site. Other suitable areas have been searched repeatedly and public reports of skink sightings are being followed up but other species of skinks are widespread in the area.

We are currently working on options for habitat restoration and predator control in the area.

Come behind the scenes and into the jobs, the challenges, the highlights, and the personalities of the people who work at the Department of Conservation (DOC).

Today we profile Jose Watson, Communications Advisor in Hokitika.

At work

Some things I do in my job include: 

I do all sorts of communications related tasks. Some days I’m busy responding to enquiries from the media or putting together blog posts about work DOC is involved with. Other days I’m working on a communications plans and writing media releases. I work on communications projects that tell both internal and external audiences about what we are doing, through a variety of formats.

At my cousins wedding in Baja, slapping on a hat in the sun.

This helps achieve DOC’s vision by:

I work with a small team of people that help tell our stories to New Zealand and the world and keep people on the inside well connected. Because we are a government organisation and are accountable to the public, we need to tell people what we are up to and what we are achieving. There are lots of great conservation stories out there that inspire people to get involved and also demonstrate that looking after our nature is the normal thing to do.

The best bit about my job is:

The variety. I’m involved in a diverse range of work with all sorts of different people. DOC is full of really smart people (from scientists to the people who build and plan tracks) and there is knowledge and expertise everywhere. From translocations to track building, it’s all go!

Off to paint a hut with Ranger Liz Ridley

The loveliest awesome-est DOC moment I’ve had so far is:

In my first year at DOC I headed out with the Franz Josef Kiwi Team to Motuara Island. We had a great time catching juvenile rowi kiwi, weighing them, re-banding them and staying out of the way of the dive bombing resident falcon. The island is pest free and completely overrun with native birds, which is amazing. We’d eat outside as the bivvy on the island is tiny. Robins were everywhere, including all over the table stealing our food. I saw my first ever kākāriki up there and heard kiwi at night. It really made me realise what a big impact rats, stoats and possums have on the mainland.

The DOC (or previous DOC) employee that inspires or enthuses me most is:

There are a number of them! A whole bunch! I can’t pick one! But the older and wiser ones are worth listening to. They’ve been around the block a few times and really know their stuff.   

Deep and meaningful

When not at work, I’ll likely be found somewhere near a horse

My favourite quote is:

It’s hard to pick a favourite, but this week I like this one… “I’ve seen how you can’t learn anything when you’re trying to look like the smartest person in the room.”
–  Barbara Kingsolver, The Poisonwood Bible

The best piece of advice I’ve ever been given:

Again, I’ve had lots of good advice, but “you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar” springs to mind!

In work and life I am motivated by:

Awesome people. There are some real ‘pearlers’ out there. Even the grumpy ones have good bits. I also love our native birds and the amazing places we look after. Spending time in nature inspires me to get back to work doing my bit to care for it. 

My conservation advice to New Zealanders is:

1. Reduce, reuse, recycle!

2. Look after your patch and all the critters in it.

3. Plant a native tree, it’s very rewarding to watch one grow. About six years ago my Dad gave me a tiny northern rata that is almost above my 1.5 metre high fence now.

4. Support pest control however you can, it really works and it’s getting better all the time.

By Nicola Toki, Threatened Species Ambassador

Happy New Year everyone!

I hope you enjoyed the break over the holidays. I spent Christmas in the Deep South with family, and the weather was beautiful.

Seeing a stoat in Nana’s garage in the Catlins was concerning, especially as it was the second stoat I saw within one afternoon. It has made me more determined than ever to encourage everyone to start pest-trapping at home. Are you trapping at home? I’d love to hear about it.

The stoat that ran into my Nana’s garage in the Catlins. I am very disappointed to say I wasn’t able to catch him (not for lack of trying, though). I will be sending my grandparents a trap for sure.

Pest control is important in non-rural areas too; I have two traps in my backyard. Kelvin Hastie, a Wellington local, convinced 200 of his Crofton Downs neighbours to trap pests. The result was a zero percent detection of rats when DOC checked the area last year. You can listen to an interview with Kelvin about his mission to trap pests on Radio NZ here.

Threatened species over the ditch! 

In December I spent a couple of days in Melbourne with my Australian counterpart, Threatened Species Commissioner (TSC) Gregory Andrews, who took me on a whirlwind tour. I encountered some of Australia’s threatened species and the people pulling out all the stops to protect them.

I couldn’t resist a cuddle with this ‘common’ wombat named Jojo

Just like my role, the Aussie TSC is relatively new (although Gregory has had 18 months to settle in). It was great to share stories and swap knowledge on our various threatened species initiatives. We visited Healesville Sanctuary, where we met the Zoo director and got a glimpse behind the scenes of their impressive conservation programmes, including the mountain pygmy possum captive breeding programme.  Getting close to a possum (even a tiny one) that is protected was a strange experience indeed for me as a New Zealander.

I got to see a huge variety of Australian native wildlife, and some awesome conservation schemes, such as the endangered orange bellied parrots, and the helmeted honey-eaters (which reminded me of our hihi back home).  I was really impressed with the Healesville Sanctuary team’s dedication to working alongside Gregory and his team to protect native wildlife (through captive breeding populations and release to the wild).

The critically endangered helmeted honeyeater

In the evening, Gregory and I joined Josh and Andrew Weeks from platypusSPOT for a spot of platypus catching. PlatypusSPOT is a local citizen science programme focused on educating the public about platypus in urban areas in Melbourne. They had set nets throughout the Healesville rural area to monitor the local population, and we helped check the nets. Monitoring throughout the night also ensured the wellbeing of any platypus that might be caught.

Josh Griffiths of platypusSPOT, with the platypus nets

By 1am, we had caught a turtle, a mother duck and her ducklings (twice) and a freshwater crayfish (complete with her baby crayfish tucked underneath her tail). At that point, Gregory and I packed it in to catch a few hours sleep. However, we were still eager to see a platypus, and we promised Josh and Andrew we’d get up if they caught one. At 6am I woke to loud hammering on my door by my esteemed Aussie colleague, who was yelling, “they’ve got one, we need to be there in five minutes!”

Barely awake after a deep sleep and still in my ‘jarmies’, I did a clothing change that would make Superman proud, and we drove out to the site. Sure enough there was a platypus, and I helped with weighing, measuring and microchipping, and then released it back into the creek.

Me brushing up on my field work skills, helping to measure the male juvenile platypus we found

What an exciting opportunity! I was chuffed to take part. I was also cautious because male platypuses (and yes, its platypuses, NOT platypi – Josh and Andrew said it was the question they were asked most!) have a poisonous spur on the back of their rear foot.  The poison is so strong that if a human is spiked, morphine (or any opiates) won’t work to relieve the pain; only a nerve blocker can. So I was very careful to avoid being spiked by this unassuming animal which is weirdly cute, yet extremely poisonous!

Platypus barb

Canine guardians  

Refuelling took quite a lot of coffee, especially for Josh from platypusSPOT who’d done the hard work and been up all night. Gregory and I made our way to Werribee Open Range Zoo that afternoon, along with our Conservation Minister Maggie Barry. The zoo is developing a very cool new programme to protect eastern barred bandicoots from predation, in partnership with the Australian government.

An Eastern barred bandicoot

Eastern barred bandicoots are now extinct in the wild on mainland Australia due to predation. Werribee and the Threatened Species team are developing an innovative scheme to train Italian Shepherd dogs, the Maremma Sheepdog, to guard bandicoots (and other wildlife in range).The team at Werribee have a pilot programme underway to train a handful of maremma.

So how does it work? The maremma, beautiful, big, white, retriever-looking dogs, have been used as shepherds for flocks of sheep in Italy for 3000 years.  These dogs are being raised with their own flock of sheep, but they are being raised in proximity to an eastern barred bandicoot enclosure.  The dogs and bandicoots can hear, smell, even see each other through windows in the enclosure; the idea is when the dogs are in the wild, they will protect the sheep flock and bandicoots from cats and foxes that will avoid going near the dog’s territory.

It’s a fascinating project, something brave and innovative, reliant on the long history these dogs have as guardians. I was reminded of our amazing Conservation Dogs programme back home, and it made me proud that we too have looked to our history and relationship with dogs to try and protect the native wildlife we hold so dear.

Minister Maggie Barry, Threatened Species Commissioner Gregory Andrews and I with Albus, the Maremma sheepdog ambassador

Introduced predators are a massive problem in Australia, with feral cats and foxes decimating populations of native mammals. In fact, the Australian Threatened Species Strategy has a target of eliminating two million feral cats by 2020 because of their affect on native wildlife.

Australia has so many mammals to protect (including possums, which are a nightmare for us) while New Zealand is the ‘land of birds’ (and reptiles, invertebrates, bats, marine mammals, fish, plants and fungi of course). However, despite the many differences between our threatened species, we have a lot in common. The most obvious thing we share is a growing awareness of the need to pull out all the stops to protect our nature, and recognition of all of those who are already engaged in the battle.

I am also glad to have found a new friend and colleague in the fight against extinction. Cheers cobber!

By Lou Sanson, Director-General

I hope everyone has had a great Christmas break enjoying time with friends and family.

Steph and Georgia Sanson, Christmas Eve, Otira Valley

We’ve had one of our busiest ever tourist seasons this year, with the likes of 1,000 vehicles a day at locations like Milford Sound. Throughout the season I’ve been impressed to see the standards of maintenance and the care our staff have taken to provide visitors with a high quality experience.

I travelled widely through Canterbury, West Coast, Otago and Southland during my holiday and talked to many visitors who gave great feedback on our tracks and campsites. One area that particularly impressed me was Otira Valley where our staff had gone to so much trouble to clear the track and allow all the Mt Cook lilies to grow through. Very impressive!

Talking to staff in our South Island visitor centres

I had the opportunity to talk to staff in some of our visitor centres while travelling the South Island.

At Haast, I met Michele Manera and Lynda Horne, who together have worked at the visitor centre for 17 years, with 120,000 visitors a year coming through the door – up to 500 a day in peak season.

In Dunedin I talked to Karen Connor and Mike Morrison who just moved our visitor centre in with the Dunedin i-Site. The new location opened in October and our sales have doubled while operating costs have lowered. We are expecting to increase our visitor numbers from 5,000 to 200,000 per year and Karen is now included on the Dunedin City Council’s roster for the site.

We have also just moved into the new visitor centre at Franz Josef which is a partnership between Ngai Tahu and the local i-Site. It will be opened shortly.

Operations Manager Wayne Costello outside our new Franz Josef Visitor Centre

Owaka is 150 years old

Just before Christmas I shared Christmas drinks with staff at our Owaka base in the Catlins, where the community has just celebrated the settlement’s 150th anniversary.

Owaka is at the core of our Battle for our Birds programme with 30,000 hectares of 1080 control put in place in the Catlins Coastal Rainforest Park over the last 15 years.

Owaka staff Nick Kelly, Paul Bull, Chris Bennett, Ray Shanks and Cheryl Pullar

10,000 hectares of this is done with TBfree New Zealand and we can now celebrate the largest density of mohua in New Zealand with 3,000-4,000 birds in a project first started by Graeme Loh and Graeme Elliott.

They‘ve also had a large increase in visitors with 100,000 visiting Nugget Point and 70,000 at Purakaunui Falls.

A visit to Te Nohoaka o Tukiauau – Sinclair Wetlands

While in Dunedin I was hosted by Ngāi Tahu and Rosemary Clucas at Te Nohoaka Wetlands 50 kilometres south of the city.

Te Nohoaka/Sinclair Wetlands

Last year the DOC Community Fund supplemented the $1 million invested by Ngāi Tahu in the area, which is the largest privately owned wetland in the country.

They currently have 3,500 volunteer hours a year and planted 5,000 native plants last year.

With intensive predator control, they are getting fernbirds and bitterns back and the plan is for a complete restoration for Mahinga Kai, conservation, education and recreation.

Listening to the community on Stewart Island/Rakiura

Just before the break I met with members of the Stewart Island community to talk about their concerns around shark cage diving tourism.

Feelings are running high on both sides of the debate, but it was a constructive meeting where we were able to listen to the community’s concerns.

We’ll be setting up a working group with WorkSafe NZ, Maritime NZ and the Ministry for Primary Industries in February to work through some of the issues.

On Rakiura I also visited the Dancing Star Foundation’s private enclosure which is now for sale. The property backs on to Rakiura National Park and has had considerable work done with species transfer by DOC.

Visit to Rakiura/Stewart Island

New predators target southern New Zealand dotterel

On Rakiura, one of our biodiversity rangers, Kevin Carter, briefed me on the southern New Zealand dotterel programme. The population hit a low of 62 birds in 1992 and has been moved up slowly to 260 birds through cat control in one of most remote and exposed environments in New Zealand – the Tin Range mountain tops.

Sadly, by using new camera techology to monitor nests, we’ve become aware of new predation by black backed gulls, spur-winged plover and even whitetail deer eating dotterel eggs.

We have seen a three year decline to a population of 179 birds today. This bird could become as rare as kakapo if we do not solve the emerging predation issues here.

Tourism numbers increasing rapidly

Over my holiday, I walked the Routeburn and Caples tracks and talked to hut wardens about the increasing issues they are facing with illegal campers and huts at capacity on our Great Walks.

I was also able to drive through to Milford with operations manager Greg Lind and ranger Ken Bradley and see how they are managing our busiest ever season in Milford Sound. We expect 600,000 visitors there and 90% are international.

Greg Lind and Afrika McNall, who’s responsible for cleaning the 28 toilets provided for campers along Milford Road

Currently, peak days are 1,000 vehicles at Milford Sound and peaks of 140 vehicles with 500 people camping overnight at Milford road campsites like Cascade Creek.

We have put in 28 toilets and have already had 18,000 campers in the Eglinton. The biggest single cost to our Great Walks and Milford campsites operation is human waste. Ken estimates we will need to shift 40 tonnes of human waste at a cost of $100,000 by end of the season.

Last year the Milford campsites hosted 36,000 campers. We expect this year to go above that.

Keeping up with and ahead of the increasing use of conservation land for tourism will be a key focus this year.

Ron and Maureen Cooper with Ken Bradley in their third year as volunteer campsite hosts at Cascade Creek

Bringing the highlands to Fiordland

Clive Rule is our longest serving hut warden, now completing his 24th year at Lake Mackenzie in northern Fiordland.

I overnighted with him as he was also handling nine illegal campers pitching tents behind the rocks right in front of his hut warden’s quarters.

Clive Rule at Lake Mackenzie Hut in Northern Fiordland

At the same time as looking after a hut that’s booked out till April, Clive is legendary for his hut talks and the Highland Games he organises at Lake Mackenzie.

TVNZ did a story about this year’s event, which is so popular people walk in from other tracks to experience it.

Watch the TVNZ story on the Lake Mackenzie Highland Games.

Former PM enjoys a Great Walk

I bumped into Helen Clark and one of our Queenstown rangers, Mark Mawhinney, on the Routeburn Track. Helen has agreed to be patron of the Routeburn Dart Wildlife Trust and was having a great time walking the track with Mark and some of the trustees.

Mark Mawhinney and Helen Clark on the Routeburn

This project is focused on recovery of whio, mohua, kaka and rock wren. They now have 32,000 hectares of land under sustained predator control and a wonderful relationship with Air New Zealand as our key sponsor for Great Walks.

Today’s photo was taken during a recent walk along the Hooker Valley Track in Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park.

This popular track through the Hooker Valley is surrounded by a diverse range of native plants and wildflowers, including celmisia and the Mount Cook lily.

The track finishes at Mueller Glacier Lake, where there are amazing views to be had of Aoraki/Mount Cook, Hooker Glacier and the Southern Alps.

Photo by DOC Deputy Director-General Mervyn English.

DOC employee Sarah Cox discovers the Opepe Historic Bush Walk near Taupo during the summer holiday with her family.

Staying in Taupo for a couple of days in early January, the family were keen to do a bit of exploring around the region.  After a quick visit to www.doc.govt.nz/shortwalks we chose one of the easiest possible nearby options – Opepe Historic Bush Walk.

Getting there – The loop track was pretty easy to find, about 17km out of Taupo towards Napier, there are track options on both sides of SH5.

There was the obligatory family photo by the DOC sign then we set off.  My husband and seventy year old parents were keen as mustard but the four year old wasn’t so convinced; about 2 minutes into the walk we hear a little voice saying “I’m not really sure that this is a good idea …”

She soon warmed up to a bit of exercise and we started discovering some monstrous totara, rimu, matai, miro and kahikatea (this is the only remaining virgin forest in the Taupo region); the canopy provided much needed shelter on a sweltering day.

From about half way we were accompanied by an inquisitive bird in the canopy, but couldn’t determine the species, maybe a grey warbler/riroriro, described on the DOC website as “inconspicuous with a call that permeates the forest” – sounds a spot on description.

Granddad offered a piggyback for the home straight.

We highly recommend this walk, a great trip for young and old.

Trip tip: Take the kids they’ll find they love it.

Find a short walk near you. Head to doc.govt.nz/shortwalks, take your pick and get outdoors this summer!

Come behind the scenes and into the jobs, the challenges, the highlights, and the personalities of the people who work at the Department of Conservation (DOC).

Today we profile Peter Hiemstra, Geospatial Business Analyst in National Office.

At work

Peter Hiemstra

Some things I do in my job include:

My role is currently divided between business analysis and my usual technical work in the geospatial space. The Geospatial Team’s work is spread across all business functions throughout the country and the vast majority of what DOC does has a spatial component. I essentially help clients understand their spatial requirements and translate these into a suitable technical solution.

This helps achieve DOC’s vision by:

Enabling our staff and the public to engage with DOC’s spatial data in meaningful and productive ways.

The best bit about my job is:

Seeing the benefits of our geospatial work throughout the Department, and feeling like I’ve contributed in some way to conserving New Zealand’s natural heritage most days.

With an ‘imp of darkness’ (Darwin’s words) aka marine iguana in Galápagos

On a personal note…

Most people don’t know that:

I grew up speaking three languages, although my Frisian is ‘net sa goed’ as my Dutch. Frysk (West Frisian) is spoken by about 500,000 people in the province of Friesland (roughly the size of the Auckland region) and is one of the languages that English originated from. A rhyme illustrating some of the similarities between the two languages is “Rye bread, butter and green cheese is good English and good Fries”, which sounds similar to “Brea, bûter en griene tsiis is goed Ingelsk en goed Frysk”.

My happy place is:

Anywhere outdoors, preferably out in the wild, come rain (usually) or shine.

At Gouland Downs Hut on the Heaphy Track

Whanganui River Journey

At the Great Walks Street View imagery launch

Deep and meaningful…

My favourite quote is:

“Do not seek to follow in the footsteps of men of old; seek what they sought.” ― Matsuo Bashō.

The best piece of advice I’ve ever been given is:

“Beware of the roads in Central America”. I bought a car in LA with this in mind and became an expert pot-hole dodger. Thankfully I only drove off the road twice during the six months I was there.

Photographing wildlife (caimans in this case), is a passion of mine

In work and life I am motivated by:

Doing my bit for the planet while exploring as much of it as I can; good wine and good times.

My conservation advice to New Zealanders is:

Try not to break things more than they already are, and get amongst it by lending a hand where you can.

By Victoria Ward, Communications Intern

DOC’s summer interns embarked on a two-day adventure in December, taking the ferry across Wellington Harbour to learn about conservation efforts on Matiu/Somes Island.

Spectacular vantage from one of the lookouts

Part of our time here at DOC involves learning about conservation on the ground (as well as working in our own areas of interest) and this escapade was an opportunity for us to be educated about the special island called Matiu/Somes.

Arriving at Wellington’s waterfront dock on Monday morning, our group was on cloud nine. The day boasted stunning weather already and we eagerly anticipated the adventure.

Mike Rumble, Eastbourne Forest Ranger, took us on a tour once we docked and had been through the necessary biosecurity checks. His knowledge of the histories of the island, conservation work and species was invaluable.

Looking across Wellington Harbour

We learnt about historical sites, such as the WWII gun emplacements and the lighthouse. Mike also shared details about the fluttering shearwater re-establishment project. A sound system playing fluttering shearwater calls was installed on the island in 2006, only to be relocated several years later, and ever since the colony has been prospering. One healthy chick was discovered in a burrow in December, in the same burrow (and parents) where a chick was raised and fledged in 2014.

Historic photos of the island illustrate the extensive replanting of native flora and fauna that has taken place since 1980. The Department of Agriculture began replanting in 1981 to reintroduce and restore nature on the island. Pioneering species, such as taupata, ngaio, and harakeke, were first planted, followed by species like totara, rata, and kahikatea. Revegetation efforts are currently in the second stage, with a focus on secondary and tertiary plantings.

Trip highlights after nightfall were watching little blue penguins returning from the shore to their nests, and trekking around the tracks to the tuatara habitat area. The penguins were highly entertaining, especially the way they would wait for a long time before gaining the courage to make a quick dash up the hill. They tag-teamed and only three or so would scurry home at once.

We also walked past tuatara basking on the pathway and observed their prehistoric brilliance at close range which was remarkable.

Tuatara

The next day we explored the edges of the island further and ventured to the trig at the peak. Visiting the maximum security animal quarantine facility (closed since 1995) transported us back in time; it was interesting to take a look through the station that protected New Zealand’s economy for almost a century.

After a one-night stay on Matiu/Somes, we all ferried home knowing exactly why the island has been tagged one of the ‘jewels in the harbour’. The people, the place and the species are special and it reminded us of just how amazing our home is – New Zealand truly is the greatest living space on earth.

(Clockwise from top left) Wellington harbour from the waterfront, view from Matiu/Somes, a fern frond in one of the seedling gardens, and dusk on the island.

We would all like to extend our gratitude to Carolyn Hawe – thank you for making this trip possible through superb planning and organisation. Also thank you to Emma Dunning (Matiu/Somes Ranger) and Mike Rumble (our wonderful tour guide) for sharing your time, knowledge and passion for conservation with us!

You can find out more about the island on the Matiu Somes Island Charitable Trust website.

DOC Summer Partnerships Ranger Sian Moffitt shares her story about new chicks at the Wairakei Golf + Sanctuary near Taupo.

After just six years as a predator free sanctuary, Wairakei Golf + Sanctuary’s birdlife is flourishing with eight new chicks now onsite, three of them hatching within the sanctuary itself.

The most exciting of the chicks is perhaps the unexpected arrival of Sammy the takahē. The parents Matariki and Hauhanga, who arrived from Maungatautiri mid 2015, have come out of retirement thanks to the abundance of food, space and native bush within the five kilometre predator-proof fence around the international golf course.

I visited Sammy at two months old, and he/she was just starting to become more confident and come out into the open more often. Now coming up on three months old, the chick’s feather colouring has appeared and it now looks more like an adult takahē . Prior to Wairakei the pair had produced six chicks over nine years.

Along with the new takahē chick, there are also two kārearea (New Zealand falcon) chicks. The kārearea pair started coming to the area several years ago and have recently made Wairakei Sanctuary their home. Previously they had laid their eggs just outside of the predator-proof fence, now they are nesting just off the ninth tee making the most of the predator free environment for raising their young and hunting.

Wairakei Sanctuary has also been a crèche facility for kiwi chicks since 2013. This season there are five young kiwi chicks living on the grounds. These chicks are released back into the wild after they reach 1200g which ensures they have a fighting chance of survival. I was lucky to meet two of these chicks in December before their release onto the golf course.

The predator proof fence has meant that many of the housed endangered New Zealand species can breed successfully without the issue of predation at an early stage in life.

The birdlife is now booming at Wairakei Golf + Sanctuary and we are excited to see what the future brings for our birds!

Today’s photo of the week is of a northern royal albatross dad and it’s 5-day-old chick at Pukekura/Taiaroa Head near Dunedin.

Stars of the #RoyalCam: Northern royal albatross dad and chick.

The pair are stars of the Department of Conservation’s #RoyalCam live stream launched yesterday. You can tune in and watch the live video of the albatross family below.

The parents take turns at guarding and feeding the chick for the first five or six weeks. Chicks are then left unguarded, except for feeding visits, until they fledge at about eight months old.

More information about the #RoyalCam, and the northern royal albatross can be found on the DOC website.

By DOC Policy Manager Spencer Clubb.

I like to get into the wilderness for days at a time. I have also been discovering some amazing scenery much closer to civilisation. These are three of my favourite places.

The Oparara Basin – Karamea

The Oparara Basin is on the West Coast some 20 minutes drive from Karamea up a steep and windy gravel road. We took a guide but you can drive yourself. The basin is home to a number of natural limestone arches, as well as caves, sinkholes and other karst landscapes. There is also terrific bush, particularly near the top area where the caves are.

Top tip: Walk the Heaphy Track and build in an extra day to visit the Oparara Basin before you head home.

Oparara Basin.

Ruakuri Walk – Waitomo

Just minutes out of Waitomo and right off the main road, a short walking track loops through stunning limestone scenery. This has to be one of the best short walks in New Zealand with caves, tunnels, arches, holes and crazy paving everywhere!

Top tip: Enjoy this free walk, then splash out on some black water rafting at the nearby Waitomo Caves – you won’t regret it!

Ruakuri Walk.

Totara Walk – Pureora

This walk is in Pureora Forest Park and starts close to the visitor centre. It contains some of the best podocarp forest in New Zealand. The sheer size, density and variety of podocarp trees is incredible. The experience is completed by the number and variety of bird life that can be seen and heard all along the track. If you want to experience the best of New Zealand bush, this walk is second to none. It is amazing to think that this forest was saved from the brink of logging destruction – with miles and miles of cleared farmland just metres away from these forest giants.

Totara Walk.

Top tip: The Timber Trail starts from the same place and offers one of the best introductory multi-day mountain bike rides in New Zealand.

Do you have a favourite short walk to recommend? Comment below.

Come behind the scenes and into the jobs, the challenges, the highlights, and the personalities of the people who work at the Department of Conservation (DOC).

Today it’s a family affair as we profile the the Dorrians, a family who started out in the New Zealand Forest Service before going on to work for DOC.

My husband Henry and I met… when he was forest foreman on the North West Ruahines negotiating access through my family’s farm to the Kawhatau Base camp. He was in charge of deer culling teams and track cutters in this area until DOC was established. Running major possum poisoning operations around central and lower North Island was also part of his work.

Henry and I at Lake Colenso Hut around 2005

I was kept busy during this time… raising our family of three girls and three boys, while supporting Henry in his job. Our house was part family home and part Forest Service Office. The public came into our kitchen for hut and track information and hunting permits. Dinner was often put on hold until the maps could be cleared from the dining room table. Our family grew to include all of the young men who worked under Henry’s guidance, some of whom have remained very close friends.

Other family members joined us… in our work in the Ruahines. Henry’s brother Pat came out from Australia and also married a Kiwi girl. Our families grew up together with the boys often joining their dads in the hills.

Ruahine Forest Park

My conservation journey started when…I was employed by the Forest Service when Henry went to Raoul Island on goat culling operations. He was away for three months the first time, and enjoyed it so much that he spent a further six weeks there the next season. Trainee rangers were left in charge of the Ruahines on these occasions and I helped with public enquiries, permits and the transport of workers.

Following in our footsteps, our children… began working to conserve and protect the environment. As school leavers, our middle son Hugh (known as Ted) and Pat’s son Nigel worked in the Rangitikei area helping with the fight against old man’s beard. Ted learned to navigate the Rangitikei River by jet boat while carrying out weed spraying. Later, he helped in the final possum eradication on Kapiti Island. Neil, our eldest son, also worked for the Forestry Service, in production rather than protection. He helped plant pines on the hills behind Robson Lodge at Kuripapango.

Ted Dorrian, hunting for DOC

Our involvement with DOC began… in 1987 when it was formed. The New Zealand Forest Service was one of the departments that made up the Department of Conservation, along with the Wildlife Service, and Lands and Survey. By then, our association with the conservation of the Ruahines and surrounding bush lands was already over twenty years in the making, and involved five or six family members directly. Becoming part of DOC led to us continuing our conservation work, but our roles were no longer in the Ruahines.

After DOC was formed, we helped set up… a DOC office in Mangaweka in the early to mid 1980s and continued to work for conservation around the Rangitikei area, carrying out weed and possum control in the many small reserves in the area. We were also involved in the Paengaroa Mainland Island.

Bill Dorrian hunting goats for DOC

Our family’s involvement with conservation continued as… Ted and our youngest son Bill went on to become DOC hunters, culling feral goats in Taranaki, Waikato, King Country, Whanganui River and the Coromandel. Ted started hunting on Mount Taranaki in 1989 on temporary contracts, and Bill started in around 2001 in the Waikato. They were both heavily involved with training hunting dogs when the dog protocol was being developed. The new emphasis was on dog obedience and control and things such as kiwi aversion training. Bill left DOC to further his interest in working with dogs as a shepherd, but Ted continued to hunt in Taranaki as well as maintain and improve huts and tracks in the area.  He was also a much respected member of the DOC fire crew.

Henry retired from DOC in 2004, and I retired in 2014, though I can still sometimes be found in the Mangaweka office writing contracts or poison consent applications.

By DOC Media Advisor Leigh-Anne Wiig.

I’ve always wondered what the fuss was about at the tip of the North Island. Turns out it’s pretty stunning.

Te Rerenga Wairua (Cape Reinga) sits in the DOC-managed Te Paki Recreational Reserve. The cape is a spiritual place for Māori, said to be the departure point for spirits as they make their final journey back to the ancestral homeland of Hawaiiki.

Looking from Cape Reinga towards Cape Maria van Diemen.

It is certainly a great place for the soul. There are enough spectacular short or longer walks to fill the senses. The Te Araroa Trail also starts here (or finishes, depending on which way you go).

Cape Reinga lighthouse.

Our family did a day trip from the Far North’s Doubtless Bay. During the drive up we were interested to see wetlands, sand dunes, emu farms and even a wild pig running crazily near the road.

Stopping for lunch at Tapotupoto Bay was glorious with its white sand, wild beach and exciting rocks to explore. I was thrilled to spot dotterels scurrying around on the beach, but careful not to get too close to disturb their nesting. Mental note: DOC has a couple of campsites here next time I’m up this way.

Cape Reinga blew us away, (figuratively, as well as literally, as it was quite windy the day of our visit). Climbing to the top of the hill was a blast with panoramic views. The short walk down to the lighthouse was gentler, lined with flowering flax bushes.

Even the kids – usually difficult to impress – were amazed at the point where the Tasman Sea and the Pacific Ocean meet. The confluence forms a permanent triangle sail-shape in the water.

After taking in our fill of fresh air and scenery we headed to the Te Paki sand dunes for a dose of body boarding fun before returning to Doubtless Bay via Ninety Mile Beach.

To celebrate World Wetlands Day DOC’s Jackie van Hal reflects on the status of New Zealand’s protected wetlands…

World Wetlands Day is held on 2 February each year to commemorate the 1971 signing of the Convention on Wetlands in the Iranian city of Ramsar. This year’s theme is sustainable livelihoods.

Te Waihou Springs, where clear blue waters bubble out of the ground

What progress has been made in wetland protection?

Wetlands are complex and diverse ecosystems. Prior to human settlement, over two million hectares of New Zealand’s landscape was covered with some form of wetland. Over time, many wetlands have been drained to make way for land development. As a result only 10% of New Zealand’s original wetland area now remains.

We now recognise that wetlands help improve water quality, reduce flooding impacts, provide habitat for flora and fauna, offer recreational and education opportunities, and are important areas culturally.

How well are wetlands protected in conservation reserves and parks in New Zealand?

Progress in wetland protection was reported in a recent journal article prepared by Freshwater Science Advisor Hugh Robertson.

The article showed that of the approximately 250,000 hectares of freshwater wetlands remaining in New Zealand, almost two thirds (63% or 157,000 hectares) are located within protected areas.

Between 1990–2013, an additional 29,000 hectares of wetlands were legally protected within DOC-administered conservation land – an increase from 48% of existing wetlands in 1990 to 60% in 2013.

South Island wetlands contributed the most to this increase, due to the tenure review of high country land, or land purchases such as Hakatere Conservation Park in the Ashburton Basin.

Important additions to wetland reserves have also been made by other conservation initiatives such as QEII National Trust covenants, which have contributed in excess of 5,000 hectares.

The study looked into whether or not there were biases in protecting specific wetland types over others. Positively, there was an increase in legal protection for all wetland types on DOC administered land since 1990 with Pakihi/Gumland wetlands (11,000 hectares) and swamps (7,500 hectares), exhibiting the greatest increases. Rain-fed bogs, fens and marsh wetland types presented lower levels of protection.

But despite the increase in swamps in protected areas, swamp and marsh wetland types remain the most poorly represented in New Zealand compared to their historic extent.

Where should protection efforts be focused now?

Conservation of smaller (less than 100 hectare) lowland wetlands is a priority. These wetlands are often on private land and opportunities for changes in land tenure aren’t always available. Therefore, it is important to work in partnership with private landowners, community groups, Iwi, and trusts to formally protect these special places.

To find out more read the full review article: Wetland reserves in New Zealand: the status of protected areas between 1990 and 2013.

A kayak trail on the Kaituna wetland

What can I do?

Take the opportunity where you can to raise awareness about the importance of wetlands and wise use, or perhaps visit one of the many accessible wetlands around the country.

Do you have a favourite wetland in New Zealand? Tell us in the comments below.

Today’s photo is a sunset shot from Ahuriri Estuary situated north of Napier in the sunny Hawke’s Bay.

This narrow estuary with its wide range of fresh to salty, shallow to deep, and sandy to muddy habitats supports an extremely diverse range of birds, fish, invertebrates and plant life.

Yesterday the DOC Marine Ecosystems Team launched a new web resource aimed at helping people explore and protect New Zealand’s estuaries.

The resource has three interactive maps, which show places of interest as well as sites where local estuary groups are active. You can explore the web resource at www.doc.govt.nz/estuaries.

By Laura Wakelin, Technical Advisor in DOC’s Marine Ecosystems Team.

In 2015 DOC was part of a fantastic collaborative project to produce high resolution maps of the marine environment surrounding Kapiti Island in the Wellington region, including Kapiti Marine Reserve. The project is part of DOC’s marine reserve research and development work, part funded through DOC’s partnership with Air New Zealand.

Few people are aware of the stunning showcase of extremely diverse and abundant marine habitats and species beneath the surface of Kapiti Island. Kapiti Marine Reserve is one of our Coastal Gem’s and protects a significant portion of these habitats. This creates a continuous area of protection between Kapiti Island Nature Reserve and Waikanae Estuary Scientific Reserve on the mainland.

Kapiti Island. Photo: Rosino (Flickr: CC BY-SA 2.0)

Despite the importance of the area, the Kapiti Island marine environment had never been mapped using state of the art technology. Until recently, outdated information was being used to show us what the seabed surrounding the island looked like.

In May-June of 2015, DOC teamed up with the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA), Victoria University of Wellington (VUW) and Land Information New Zealand (LINZ), with support from Greater Wellington Regional Council and Ngati Toa Rangatira, to map the seabed around Kapiti Island.

DOC vessel Mataara II and VUW vessel Raukawa Challenger. Photo: Vincent Zintzen

Over 14 days (spread across a couple of months due to horrendous weather) a small crew used a Multibeam Echo-Sounder to learn more about an area of the seafloor approximately 50 km² around the island, both inside and outside Kapiti Marine Reserve. Attached on the hull of NIWAs vessel Ikatere, this sophisticated bit of equipment sends out beams of sound waves to the seafloor, which bounce back to a receiver on the ship, providing information about different components of the seabed. The data we receive from the Multibeam is very useful for constructing maps of the habitat.

In November, the Marine Ecosystems Team at DOC and divers from VUW set out to collect more specific information needed to build a bigger picture of the marine environment. This included using underwater video equipment and divers equipped with underwater cameras to confirm what the seabed ‘truly’ looked like and comparing it to the data from the previous Multibeam survey.

A diver is closely monitored by a watchful blue cod. Photo: DOC

From rocky reefs covered in seaweed forests and sponge gardens, to soft sediments full of scallops, horse mussels and crabs, the team surveyed specific sites across a full range of habitats. There were some unexpected finds, including the exciting discovery of acres and acres of the anemone Actinothoe albocincta blanketing the seafloor; a very cool phenomenon that none of the team had encountered before.

We also confirmed the presence of rhodoliths (maerl), rare coral-like seaweeds that only grow in clean, clear water and create 3-dimensional structure that other organisms use to live and reproduce on. Extremely little is known about this type of habitat throughout New Zealand and rhodolith beds are internationally recognised as being of conservation importance.

We are currently looking through the data from the November fieldwork and will continue work with NIWA, VUW and LINZ to produce a suite of maps of the Kapiti marine environment, including interactive maps using some of the video footage we collected. We can’t wait to see the amazing final products, watch this space!

The DOC crew on the final day of the fieldwork. Photo: DOC