Conservation Week is run by our partners at DOC each year to encourage people to get involved in nature and help take care of it.
Conservation Week is being held from 15-23 September 2018 and is a nationwide celebration of kiwis pitching in to help our native plants and animals. Many events are being run by DOC, local businesses and community groups during the week. For more details, please check: https://www.doc.govt.nz/news/events/conservation-week/events/
Conservation Week Lunchtime Talks at Ellen Melville Centre, Auckland
A series of kauri-related lunchtime talks is being held at the Ellen Melville Centre in Auckland – speaker details are below (note: information received 10 September). Design students from Auckland’s Media Design School will also be creating an onsite urban forest installation.
Monday 17 September - Dr Mels Barton
Dr Mels Barton is an environmental scientist turned coordinator, campaigner, organiser, networker and environmental advocate. Mels has been the Waitākere Coordinator for Kauri Rescue since 2016 and is secretary for The Tree Council. She has been advocating for kauri and educating people about kauri dieback disease for 10 years.
Tuesday 18 September - Dr Cate Macinnis-Ng
Dr Cate Macinnis-Ng is a senior lecturer in Ecology at the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Auckland. She has a particular interest in plant responses to climatic conditions, including kauri. In January 2018, Dr Macinnis-Ng also took on a role as a Principal Investigator in Te Pūnaha Matatini, a Centre of Research Excellence at the University of Auckland.
Wednesday 19 September - Chris McBride & Ariane Craig-Smith
The Kauri Project is co-curated by Chris McBride, and Ariane Craig-Smith. The Kauri Project began in 2013 as an initiative to use art as a language and tool for raising awareness and promoting understanding of kauri dieback disease and the scientific, cultural, social and economic contexts that inform the current situation of kauri. Ariane Craig-Smith is a freelance curator, writer and project manager/producer working with contemporary art and culture. Ariane has worked with the Auckland Arts Festival, Auckland Art Gallery and Auckland Council. Chris McBride is an arts manager, curator and artist/designer. He is adviser/manager to the Hone Tuwhare Charitable Trust, former manager of McCahon House Museum and Artists’ Residency, and co-curated the nationwide retrospective exhibition of political and art posters – Wellington Media Collective: We Will Work With You 1978-1998. He has been an advocate for kauri since first encountering the disease at the McCahon House in 2010.
Thursday 20 September - Jeanie Allport
Jeanie Allport is a senior biosecurity advisor at Auckland Council for kauri dieback, with a particular focus on compliance on council land across the Controlled Area. Jeanie also works with contractors, private landowners and community groups to promote best practice to protect kauri. Jeanie has also worked for the Coromandel Kauri Dieback Forum and the Waikato Regional Council.
Friday 21 September - Dr Nick Waipara
Dr Nick Waipara is a plant pathologist based at Plant and Food Research and the University of Auckland, and is part of Te Tira Whakamātaki (Māori Biosecurity Network). Dr Waipara has been involved in kauri dieback since 2006, when he was part of the Landcare Research team led by the late Dr Ross Beever, who first isolated the pathogen in the Waitākere Ranges.
FURTHER TALK AT KIWI NORTH, WHANGAREI
A Positive Approach to Kauri – He Huarahi Pai ki te Kauri
5.30pm Tuesday 18 September 2018
Kiwi North, Gate 1, 500 SH14, Maunu, Whangarei.
Understand more about what you can do to help save our kauri heritage.
Main speakers: Dr Mels Barton and Jack Craw.