references
4 October 2013
COLOURFUL KEA GET A HELPING HAND FROM DULUX
To protect our native mountain parrot, Dulux New Zealand has today committed $150,000 towards a programme supporting the conservation of endangered kea, as part of the Protecting Our Place partnership with the Department of Conservation. Over the next three years, Dulux will work closely with the Kea Conservation Trust to help fund their kea nest monitoring programme, to ensure this
Photo: Deb Corbett
iconic creature will be protected for years to come. This programme started in association with DOC in 2009 in the Nelson Lakes area. Thanks to the partnership with Dulux New Zealand, the programme will now be able to be extended to further sites where kea live such as Otira and the Kaikoura mountains as well as continued in the Hawdon valley, Borland in Fiordland, Kahurangi
National Park and Nelson Lakes. Kea Conservation Trust’s Chair Tamsin Orr-Walker says the programme, which uses motion sensor cameras on nests, is a vital tool for managing survival. “Monitoring nesting kea is critical to identify the level of risk from predators to females and chicks and whether kea are breeding successfully. This information allows us to target pest control around active nests to minimise the threat of stoats and possums and to assess how key kea populations are doing.” “It is collaborative efforts with organisations like DOC and Dulux New Zealand that help make our goals achievable,” says Tamsin. Director-General of Conservation Lou Sanson says: “Kea are an iconic New Zealand species, in many ways they are the character of the Southern Alps! The nest monitoring programme is critical to managing their survival in the wild.” “I’m excited about this partnership with Dulux and the opportunities we’ll have to learn more about kea and ensure these birds continue to charm and entertain visitors in their alpine habitats.” Julia Myers, General Manager of Dulux New Zealand says the company is proud to be working with DOC and Kea Conservation Trust.
Jamie Morton
15 Nov 2013
KEA JOINS LIST OF THREATENED BIRDS
Several of New Zealand’s most cherished birds – among them the kea and two types of albatross – have been shifted to a more serious conservation status following a national survey. The assessment, lead by Dr Hugh Robertson of the Department of Conservation, audited the status of the 473 species or sub-species of New Zealand birds known to have been alive since first contact with humans. Of the total, nearly 12 per cent were now extinct – the moa, huia and Haast’s eagle are long gone – while 18 per cent were classed as threatened, and a further 22 per cent were considered at risk. The audit saw little change in the status of our most high-profile threatened birds. But six species had been moved into the nationally critical list, including the Antipodean albatross, the Gibson’s 29 albatross, the Chatham Island shag and the Pitt Island shag. The notoriously cheeky kea, considered the only truly alpine parrot in the world, also made a debut on the threatened list, as did the flesh-footed shearwater, New Zealand storm petrel and lesser knot. The primary aim of the survey was to prioritise the management of those threatened birds, and prevent their extinction.