NZ Restoration Projects Impress Panel

New Zealand Restoration Projects Impress International Panel

NEW ZEALAND is well represented in a list of Australasian ecological restoration projects drawn up by an international panel to showcase such work.

Nearly a third (eight) of the ‘Top 25’ projects are from New Zealand, which is impressive given the relatively small size of the country, compared to Australia, says Waikato University’s Professor Bruce Clarkson, the New Zealand representative on the selection panel.

“I don’t think the rest of the world really knows what is going on in Australasia, particularly New Zealand,” Professor Clarkson says. “I travel the world and I think some of the things that have been going on in New Zealand are world-class advances, particularly in terms of pest animal species control and predator proof fences.”

The projects include Maungatautari Ecological Island, Wellington’s Karori Sanctuary and Tiritiri Matangi Island. In addition, Hamilton’s Waiwhakareke Natural Heritage Park was highly commended.

The 18-month search for the top projects was initiated by Ecological Management & Restoration, the management-oriented journal of the Ecological Society of Australia (ESA), in partnership with ESA and the Society for Ecological Restoration International (SER International), the world’s premier restoration body.

The specialist panel was made up of two ecology professors, two natural area managers, a consulting ecologist and the EMR journal’s editor.

“The idea was to spread the word about some of the very high-quality work going on in Australia and New Zealand, which often is overlooked,” Professor Clarkson says.

Large and increasing efforts are being made across the world by agencies and citizens to rectify the enormous negative transformations of the environment that have occurred in recent centuries. “Slowly but surely, native vegetation is beginning to be regenerated and reinstated on lands where it once grew, and populations of native animals are being returned to their native habitats,” he adds.

The release of the Top 25 list has been timed to coincide with two major international conferences to be held in Australia this year.
INTECOL conference - see http://www.intecol10.org/ and
SER International conference - see http://www.seri2009.com.au/

The reports describing these projects are linked to the Australian and New Zealand pages of the Global Restoration Network website - SER International’s web-based information exchange site for restorationists the world over.

See http://www.globalrestorationnetwork.org/countries/australianew-zealand/new-zealand/

The New Zealand projects include (in alphabetical order):
Bushy Park Sanctuary
Fiordland Island Restoration
Karori Sanctuary Wellington
Mana Island Scientific Reserve
Maungatautari Ecological Island
Rotoiti Nature Recovery Project
Te Urewera Mainland Island
Tiritiri Matangi Island
Waiwhakareke Natural Heritage Park (Highly commended).

ENDS

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