There are quite a few activities coming up in the next couple of weeks:

Friday 18th March Potting morning for Friends of Waiwhakareke
Saturday 19th March Pukemokemoke working day
Sunday 20th March Plantathon at Hamilton Gardens
Saturday 26th:
Bush Map Compass and GPS workshop
Seeley Gully working bee
Permaculture Trust Bus trip
Lake Cameron Caregroup working bee
Earth Hour
31 March Balloons free Breakfast - volunteers wanted to help
3 April the Big Walk
16 April Fluoride talk from US Prof Emeritus Paul Connett

Friday 18th March

Potting morning for Friends of Waiwhakareke

Jan Simmons will be at the Tamahere Nursery ( Devine Rd, off Airport Rd, next to Tamahere School Hall) from 9 am to noon to assist the Friends of Waiwhakareke pot up the plants donated to us by Hamilton CC nursery.

Bring your morning tea.
Many hands make light work!!

Saturday 19th March

Pukemokemoke working day

I hope as many as possible can make the Saturday afternoon 19th March weeding working bee ; only 3 afternoons left to get the areas cleared especially under the big trees for enrichment planting from June onwards. Bring friends, family, and loppers or pruning saws!
Phone Alan Leadley 07 8552919 for more details

Sunday 20th March
Plantathon at Hamilton Gardens

Correction from last newsletter - apologies to Nick
The Plantathon is raising money for the Friends of the Gardens. Proceeds from the Hamilton Organic Gardeners group stall at the Plantathon will go towards the Earthquake appeal.

Governors Lawn gate 2 , above car park at bottom of the hill
Same day as the pumpkin festival.
9am till 1pm

Many plant stalls will be selling a large variety of plants ,including many hard to find .
Proceeds to go to the Friends of Hamilton gardens
Enquiries: Nick 8532660

Saturday 26 March

There are a couple of places left on this -

Bush: Map, Compass & GPS Workshop.

10am-5pm: Hamilton

This workshop, by Waikato Environment Centre, is a free event for environmental community groups who want to know more about working safely in the bush and navigation. The workshop will be held in Hamilton, a the Hardy Training Centre in Hungerford Rd, near Hamilton Gardens.

Topics: Map reading, using a compass, risk management, (RAMS), location identification and GPS.
With: NZ Mountain Safety Council and Department of Conservation.

Please note that the workshop is only open to environmental groups, or community groups carrying out ecological restoration projects, and members of the Environment Centre or Waikato Biodiversity Forum.

Lunch will be provided. Numbers limited to 12. Please email rachael@envirocentre.org.nz to register by 23rd March.

Also 26th

Seeley Gully Working bee

9am and BBQ lunch at 12.30. End of Armagh St

So far we have about 150 helping hands volunteers turning up and we’re hoping for 100 or more extra volunteers to remove at least 60 tonnes of weeds (the 26th of March is Earth hour). Hoping to have the Mayor and elected members also “lending a hand”. Earthcare Environmental Garden Bags have given us a special deal and will be removing up to 200 600 litre garden bags!!
To register  email parksandgardens@hcc.govt.nz or phone 838 6622

Also 26th -

There are still a few seats on the Hamilton Permaculture Trust's bus trip -

On the Road to Self Sufficiency - Living Green in Style
Join the Hamilton Permaculture Trust on a bus tour to explore properties which are all on the road to self-suffciency.

View: 3 different styles of earth building; income streams; quick and easy approach to despatching chickens for eating; organic and permaculture principles, biodynamics and feng shui in action on different properties.
$40 includes organic lunch.
Leaves Hamilton 9am, returning 5pm.
Book your seat with Hamilton Permaculture Trust 834 2249 or permaham@actrix.co.nz

Also 26th!

Lake Cameron Care Group Working bee to release around young plants at Lake Cameron.
10am-Noon wet or fine. Bring gloves, gumboots, raincoats and equipment suitable for clearing around plants. Lunch provided. (Please let me know if you are intending to attend if possible so I can arrange lunch.)

Picnic and lake walk Saturday 2nd April 5pm at the main picnic area Lake Cameron. Hosted by Lake Cameron Care Group and open to all who wish to join us. Bring your own picnic, a bbq will be available to use. Cancelled if wet.
Bev Bradley (Chairperson)
Lake Cameron Care Group
8433 765
muzbev@xtra.co.nz

And when you have done all those - it is Earth Hour!

At 8:30pm on Saturday, March 26, 2011, towns and cities across the world will turn off their lights for one hour sending a powerful global message that by acting together, we can take a stand against climate change. Businesses around Hamilton will be joining the Earth Hour activities in the city. If you would like further information, contact Earth Hour Hamilton Project Manager, Aaron Fleming on 07 838 6483 or aaron.fleming@hcc.govt.nz. In 2011 the focus for Earth Hour in Hamilton is in the central city, and the theme of the event is going ‘beyond the hour’.

Thursday 31 March

Dawn Patrol - Free breakfast for the first 2000, and watch the balloons inflate and take off. Starts 6.30am
The Waikato Environment Centre will once again be supplying potato plates for the breakfast and taking away the organic waste. Anyone wanting to help please contact Katherine 839 4452 or email katherine@envirocentre.org.nz. It is fun!

3 April

The Big Walk
This encompasses a walk around Hamilton City Council's Waiwhakareke Natural Heritage Park. This is a great opportunity for people to come along and not only support FYD and the youth of Hamilton, but to experience the progress made to this great wetlands project. This is one of the first times that an event of this nature will occur at Waiwhakareke and we are extremely lucky to have been given this great honour.

The Foundation for Youth Development delivers youth development programmes within schools in the greater Waikato region. These programmes include Kiwi Can, Stars and Project K. Students will receive environmental based Kiwi Can lessons prior to and following the Big Walk in which the children will be taught about respect and caring for the environment.

For more information or to register online visit www.fyd.org.nz to partake in the Big Walk.   www.waiwhakreke.co.nz

Saturday 16th April

Fluoride - the new Asbestos?

Speaking tour of New Zealand         
2pm - 4pm      Celebrating Age Centre, Victoria St South

Opportunity to hear U.S. Prof Emeritus Paul Connett, the world's leading expert in fluoridation.
Dr Paul Connett is the co-author of the recently published book The Case Against Fluoride - How Hazardous Waste Ended Up in Our Drinking Water and the Bad Science and the Powerful Politics That Keep It There. http://www.chelseagreen.com/authors/paul_connett/

He is the Director of the Fluoride Action Network (FAN), and the Executive Director of its parent body, the American Environmental Health Studies Project (AEHSP). FAN is a coalition of citizens and scientists from 14 different countries who are working toward ending fluoridation worldwide through informed debate.

Dr. Connett holds a B.A. (Honours) in Natural Sciences from Cambridge University, England and a Ph.D. in Chemistry from Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire and is a retired professor of environmental chemistry and toxicology at St. Lawrence University.

Dr Connett has spent the past 14 years researching the effects of fluoride on human health and the environment. In 2000 he was invited by the York University team, which reviewed fluoridation for the British government, to peer review their report. His critique can be found at http://www.fluoridealert.org/york-critique.htm
In October 2000, he was invited by the Irish government to present his views on fluoridation before the Fluoridation Forum, a panel established by the Irish Ministry of Health.

And in 2003, Dr. Connett gave an invited presentation to the US National Research Council committee reviewing the safety of the US EPA’s Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) for fluoride in drinking water. This power point presentation is available at http://www.fluoridealert.org/nrc-final.ppt and the paper supporting this presentation is available at http://www.fluoridealert.org/nrc-paper.pdf.

For more information: www.fannz.org.nz or 0800 FLUORIDE (0800 358-674)

Plant sale at Hamilton gardens - to raise money for Chch earthquake appeal

Plants Sale -same day as the Great Pumpkin Carnival). Come and support this appeal.

Cost and booking details:
$20 for a site
Nick Aitken Phone: 07 853 2660
Mobile: 027 404 5384

When: 9am - 1pm, Sunday 20 Mar 2011
Where: Hamilton gardens, Governors Lawn , gate 2

Or if you have plants you want to donate, Hamilton Organic Gardeners is organising a table. If you’d like to make use of the table to sell organic plants/seedlings just come along on the day with your mechandise and we’ll have room for you there. Please call Adele (ph number below) so we know to expect you.

 If you’d like to donate any plants/seedlings to sell to raise money for the Red Cross Christchurch Earthquake Appeal please get in touch with Adele (853 2766 - evenings) to make arrangements. Don’t worry if you can’t be there on the day - you can still contribute plants. And vice versa - if you can help sell on the day but don’t have any plants we would love you to come along and help.
You will need to label each pot/seedling tray with the name of the plant and the $ amount (pieces of ice cream container or similar make good waterproof labels).

If anyone else is interested in attending this there are still places left - 

Ferrybank building, Grantham St, 11am - 1pm

MfE has released the draft National Policy Statement on Biodiversity. Submissions close on Monday 2 May 2011.

See the link below to view or download the NPS.

 http://www.mfe.govt.nz/publications/biodiversity/indigenous-biodiversity/index.html

The Waikato Branch RSNZ monthly talks for 2011 will begin next week. Last year's theme - Facing the Future - will continue after the first two talks.
A programme of talks will be available on the Waikato Branch website: http://www.rsnzwaikato.org/talkseries.
All welcome.

Wednesday March 9, 2011 at 7.30 pm.

Professor Sir Alan Mark

Mountain tops to ocean depths: involvement with a range of ecological/environmental issues, mainly in the south.

Professor Sir Alan Mark
Department of Botany
University of Otago, Dunedin.

Room L.01
Gate 8, Waikato University

“I will describe a lifetime involvement with pure and applied ecological studies of the indigenous upland snow tussock grasslands (mostly with the Hellaby Indigenous Grasslands Research Trust).
This has been aimed at understanding the grassland ecology, its sustainable management and ecosystem services, particularly the impacts of burning and mammalian grazing, and the unpredictably high water yields. This research has been interspersed with shorter-term opportunistic indulgences in ecopolitics, ranging from the conservation of indigenous grasslands and associated mountain lands (from the mid 60s to the current tenure review and government purchases of high country Crown pastoral leasehold lands), sustainable lake management (Lakes Manapouri, Monowai and Te Anau), conservation organisations (Forest & Bird Protection Society: notably the SWNZ World Heritage Area successful campaign), national park ecological surveys and long-term monitoring (notably Mt Aspiring National Park, Secretary Island in Fiordland National Park and the Waitutu Marine Terraces now in Fiordland N.P.).

Several appointed roles (Fiordland Lake Guardians, Conservation Board, National Parks & Reserves Authority, Conservation Authority, Land Settlement Board, most recently Fiordland Marine Guardians), and a position as Deputy Director of the Temperate Grasslands Conservation Initiative of the IUCN, have allowed me to indulge quite widely, as I will briefly discuss.”

Alan was born in Dunedin. He attended Duke University in the US under a Fulbright Travel Grant. He was the Professor of Botany at Otago University from 1975.
Alan is a past member of the NZ National Parks and Reserves Authority, a past member NZ Conservation Authority, a past member and Chair of the Otago Conservation Board, a Fiordland Marine Guardian, a member of the Mid Dome Wilding Tree Charitable Trust, a member of the Leslie Hutchins Conservation Foundation, a patron of the Pomona Island (Lake Manapouri) Restoration Trust. He has been involved in the Hellaby Indigenous Grasslands Research Trust: first as a research fellow, then as a research adviser, and, until earlier this year, as chairman of its Board of Governors. Alan is a Life Member and former president of Forest and Bird Society, and a member of Ecological Society. He was awarded a CBE for contributions to conservation, and he is now a Knight of the New Zealand Order of Merit. Alan is the recipient of the Charles Fleming Award for Environmental Achievement for 2011.

 Room L.01 is in L block. Entry is easiest through Gate 1 on Knighton Rd. A campus map is available at http://www.waikato.ac.nz/contacts/map.pdf. There is no charge for this event.

Tuesday 5th April: Professor Robin Clark - Science meets art: investigating pigments in art and archaeology (details to follow)

On the the afternoon of Sunday the 13th March 2011 Waikato Area Office will be hosting a bat monitoring training day. I would like to extend an invitation to members of conservation related community groups from the Waikato Area.

Waikato Area Office have utilised funding from Meridian Energy to purchase 10 Automatic Bat Monitors (ABM's) which will be available for use by community groups across the Waikato following this training day. It is hoped that with the appropriate training and tools your group will be able to detect and monitor bat activity at sites across the Waikato.

We have been very fortunate to secure Dr Stuart Parsons, bat expert and senior lecturer in ecology at Auckland University. Dr Parsons will hold a lecture session at the Pirongia Forest Park Lodge where he will cover aspects of bat ecology, there will be a particular focus on monitoring and detection of long tailed bats. Following the talk and Q&A session we will break for a light snack and then head out to the Forest Park and surrounds where Dr Parsons shall demonstrate the use of the different detection methods in the field.

 It is hoped interested community group members might attend the training day and in turn train other members of their relevant groups, as numbers attending the training day will have to be limited. I therefore seek expressions of interest from your groups as soon as possible please. We expect only 3-5 volunteers per group can be accommodated.

Below is an approximate timetable for the day, though please note this is subject to change.
If you have any questions/suggestions or wish to discuss further please feel free to call or email.

Kind regards,
Michelle Lewis
Ranger- RMA/Concessions
Waikato Area Office
PH- 07 8508597
VPN 6112

Bat Monitoring Training Day:

Time: 3.30pm-9pm approximately
Venue: Grey's Road Forest Park Lodge

Timetable:
3.30- Lecture session and overview of detection equipment with Dr Stuart Parsons commences
6.15- Snacks and refreshments
7.00- Pirongia Forest Park commence bat detection.
9.00- End.

Sunday 13th March

Karetu Stream Waterfalls
(Cole's Falls), King Country

Grade: Easy +

These amazing falls cascade some 80 - 100 metres down several levels of rockface.
They are nestled on private land in the Mairoa District (Te Kuiti).
We walk across farmland a little down hill to start. Lunch stop is on an open grassy area by the top fall. A scramble down through the bush to the swimming hole is an option. Return we will retrace the way we came approximately 1 hour each way.
Usual gear - parka, good footwear, lunch and a smile.

Leave Hamilton Memorial Park River Road at 9am (If you want to carpool contact Adua on 843 3375) or meet at junction of Poarure/Mairoa Road and Main South Highway opposite Te Kuiti airfield at approximately 10.30.
Leader: Keith 07 8474 399 or 027 3666194.

The University of Waikato invites you to take part in one of our most significant traditions - the Inaugural Professorial Lecture Series.

The 2011 series will showcase some of the latest research from our newest professors in Coastal Science, Environmental Planning, Law, Computer Science, Sport & Leisure, Management Communication and Engineering.

Professor Chris Battershill

Chair in Coastal Science, Faculty of Science & Engineering

 From Atom to Atoll: Investigating the Resilience of Marine Organisms in the Face of Environmental Change.

 How do marine organisms cope with the rigours of changing environments, and just how fast can they adapt? Taxonomists, microbiologists, biochemists and ecologists are pooling their understanding to answer questions like these. Their findings are forging a new understanding of the complexity of marine systems, and generating some highly valuable applied outcomes. These include new biomedicinal leads for novel therapeutic applications, including cancer treatments.

In his lecture, Professor Chris Battershill presents a selection of research projects from the Tropics to the Antarctic which offer insights into the chemical ecology of marine organisms as they cope with environmental change.

15 March
Time: 6.30pm – 7.30pm

Opus Bar will be open from 5pm
Venue: Gallagher Concert Chamber
Academy of Performing Arts, University of Waikato Gate 2B, Knighton Rd

Further speakers in the series:

19 April Professor Bob Evans Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences
21 June Professor Geoff Holmes Faculty of Computing and Mathematical Sciences
12 July Professor Dawn Penney Faculty of Education
20 September Professor Kay Weaver Waikato Management School
18 October Professor Brad Morse Te Piringa – Faculty of Law
15 November Moira Steyn-Ross Faculty of Science & Engineering

This programme is deemed correct at time of publishing.

To confirm lecturers and subjects prior to each date, visit http://events.waikato.ac.nz/ or contact Communications & External Relations on unipr@waikato.ac.nz or 07 838 4144.