Issue No:6

Fri 11 July, 2008. Christchurch, NZ.

Welcome

Hi & welcome again to the webpage version of ecoNet. Remember to keep sending us info to promote your environmental events and causes. Also to pass on news of ecoNet to others you think may find it interesting/useful.

Here's a selection of news and articles of interest from around and about, and here and there, eg:

from here

The uses and benefits of water: Canterbury water under the spotlight. A Canterbury wide series of meetings starts this month. see here (10, July, Scoop).
For further information and/or to register to attend: http://www.canterburywater.org.nz/

Was it the Labour Party? - no. the Green Party? - no ... it was CAFCA!! (Campaign Against Foreign Control Of Aotearoa): In case you didn't catch up with the text of that offending card: see here.
Speaking of CAFCA, nominations are now open (till end of October) for this year's Roger Award: more here.

A Regional Fuel Tax? an option for ECan (ECan, 4 July).

NZ company plays global role in carbon credit market (Beehive, 3 July)

Australia leads the way again with smart thinking on renewable energy (8 July, SEANZ).

Gas from coal seams near Huntly could make a significant contribution to national gas supplies (7 July, Stuff)

Antarctic Treaty members accept New Zealand expertise (1 July, Landcare Research/Manaaki Whenua).

Antarctic fishing pirates named and shamed. (Beehive, 8 July)

Blue cod fisheries closure in the Marlborough Sounds (Beehive, 3 July)

Endosulfan: – is ERMA listening?..."sooner or later the global markets are going to catch on to this hypocrisy". (4 July, Organic NZ).
Also: MP Sue Kedgley: ERMA’s madness endangers NZ beef exports and our health

Speed dating their way to a community sustainability plan. (July-August Newsletter, Lincoln Envirotown Trust)

Eco films at this years' film festival. They may not all show in Christchurch - you'd better check here for the local programme. (from EcoBob).

25 easy steps to sustainability (from sustainability.govt.nz)

What are kids' edible gardens? (from organicpathways.co.nz & Organic Garden City Trust)

Wow! Want to know about NZ plants? Seen this? bushman's friend (bushmans friend.co.nz)

Kakapo chicks home and doing well (7 July, DOC).

Match-making on Mana Island (9 July, Massey University).

Gemini Cycle Friendly Awards 2008: nominations till 8 August (25 July if nominator also wants to be in a draw) info here.

Re-linked awards, submissions, consultations etc:

• Submissions on Mt Cass windfarm proposal due 1 August.
  MainPower has applied for consent to build a windfarm along the ridge of Mt Cass (seaward side of Waipara) - Canterbury's premium limestone landscape. Information, pictures and help with submissions at aridgetoofar.org (Mt Cass Ridge Protection Society).
  
  
• Canterbury Resource Management Awards 2008: info here
  
  
• Canterbury Aoraki Conservation Board wants nominations for its conservation award, Te Waka o Aoraki, awarded annually (to a group or an individual) to recognise and encourage conservation efforts and achievements in Canterbury. Nominations close Friday, 18 July. ... more
  
  
• 2009 Sir Peter Blake Environmental Educator Award: Applications close July 11. (Hurry - last day!)
  
  
• Call for submissions: four proposed Marine Mammal Sanctuaries see here Till July 27. Part of the Hector’s and Maui’s Dolphin Threat Management Plan, designed by DOC and the Ministry of Fisheries to achieve the best possible outcome for the endangered dolphins.
  

• Garden bird survey 2008 Take an hour to count birds in your home garden, local park, or school ground during the survey period and contribute to a national survey of common garden birds.
  Survey period: Saturday, 12 July - Sunday, 20 July 2008
  Time: between 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. details here. Last year's survey results here (Landcare Research).
  
  
• open now: ECan tree planting, fencing, biodiversity fund  
  Landowners or groups working to protect and enhance native biodiversity in Canterbury have until the end of August to apply for contestable grants of up to $5,000 through Environment Canterbury’s Environment Enhancement Fund: more here (Applications close end of August).
  

• DOC Canterbury: Conservation Management Strategy review
  The Department of Conservation’s Canterbury Conservancy wants your help to develop the direction of its conservation work over the next 10 years. To find out more and to contribute: click here (Closes end of July).

& from there

• Australia: The year everything changed (5 July, Sydney Morning Herald).
  
  
• Australia: Whatever your situation, expect emissions trading to change the world as you know it. (5 July, Sydney Morning Herald).
  
  
• US: Life, Liberty, Water: As climate change and worldwide shortages loom, will people fight over water or join together to protect it? - Maud Barlow, Alternative Nobel Prize winner and author of Blue Gold and Blue Covenant among others. (from Yes! Magazine).
  Also ...see/hear the audio link to Maud Barlow in conversation (on Democracy Now) with Amy Goodman - and get yourself a PhD on water issues in two easy instalments - less than twenty minutes all up.
  
  
• Which future should we prepare for, industrial or agrarian? (Kurt Cobb, 5 July, Resource Insights).
  
  
  
• Envisioning a post-human planet healing itself, The World Without Us is “an experiment in thinking”. Its author tells Kate Cheney Davidson how the book evolved – and hails a “courageous” China. (27 June, China Dialogue).
  
  
• G8 nations fail to keep climate change vows (3 July, Reuters/Wworld Business Council for Sustainable Development).
  
  
• US: "Expensive oil is going to transform the American culture as radically as cheap oil did". Cities Explore Whether It's Smart to Be Dense - good article - worth a look for the slide show to see what's possible. (7 July, Wall Street Journal).
  
  
• What the next American president must do. Elizabeth Kolbert, author of Field Notes from a Catastrophe: Man, Nature and Climate Change (23 June, China Dialogue).
  
  
  

• US: Higher Costs Close Nearly 3,000 in a Year: Gas Stations Hit Skids (7 July, Wall Street Journal Online).
  
  
• U.S. Lifts Moratorium on New Solar Projects (3 July, New York Times).
  (Last week's ecoNet Newsletter: U.S. Freezes Solar Energy Projects on public land (27 June, NYT). It's a needed discussion however. ie energy security at what cost to the environment? Where to draw the line. A working example: Canterbury's Mt Cass windfarm).
  

• Germany: Artificial Snow Harming Alpine Environment, Researchers Warn (18 April, Spiegel online).
  

• A Danish community’s victory over carbon emissions. Elizabeth Kolbert (7 July, The New Yorker).
  

• Some endangered species may face extinction risk up to a hundred times greater than previously thought, according to a study released Wednesday. (2 June, Yahoo! News)
  

• US: James Kunstler: where we're at (7 July, Clusterfuck Nation).
  
  
• Book review: Plants have shaped the atmosphere (and thus the climate) of the Earth to an amazing extent. (from American Scientist).
  
  
• Edible edges: a walk around Totnes with Patrick Whitefield - Totnes, the world's first Transition Town. (7 July, Transition Culture).
  
  
• After lagging behind Europe for years US cities are finally becoming bike-friendly (3 July, the Guardian, UK).
  
  
• Bamboo Bike (from Calfee Design).
  
  
• Germany: Pedal powered four wheel drive SUV (June 08, Treehugger).
  
  
• One for blokes to grapple with: Bra Power: Can Bouncing Breasts Charge an iPod? (24 June, Treehugger).

Using ecoNet

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• Yoga for cyclists - Yoga Qigong School:

  First workshop (of two).
  When: 2.00 - 4.30 pm Sat. 12 July
  Where: 42 Nayland St, Sumner
  Cost: $75.00
  Tutor: Mark Bouckoms
  Contact: 326 5255 or markb@cyberexpress.co.nz.
  
  

• Talk: The 1956 Trans Antarctic Expedition with Sir Edmund Hillary.

  Speaker: Wing Commander William Cranfield
  (one of the original team members).
  When: 6.00 - 7.00 pm, 15 July
  Where: Bird Hall, Canterbury Museum.
  
  

• IPENZ: Hopkins Lecture: Wind power, climate change, sustainable energy, economics.

  Speaker: Geoff Henderson (CEO, Windflow Technology).
  When: 8.00 pm Tuesday, 15 July.
  Where: Limes Room, Town Hall
  All welcome, supper to follow.
  Contact: james.park@opus.co.nz
  (IPENZ: Institution of Professional Engineers, NZ).
  
  

• Montana Poetry Day:  Poems for Lunch

  (seven poets plus)  
  When: 12.30 - 1.30 pm Friday, 18 July
  Where: University Bookshop (on Campus).
  (& add a poem of your choice to the poetry wall).

• Free Demo: Fruit tree pruning:

  apricots, peaches, apples & pears.
  When: 11.00 am Saturday,  19 July ( 1 hour approx).
  Where: Canterbury Hort Soc Bell Property
  41 Barters road, Templeton.
  All welcome.
  
  

• Annual midwinter bird count for 15 Ashburton Lakes

  When: Sat 19 July.
  More volunteers welcome.
  For more info contact: Colin O'Donnell,
  ph. 3789 585 or codonnell@doc.govt.nz
  
  

• Film screening: The Real Dirt on Farmer John

  When: 7.00 pm Sunday, 20 July.
  Where: New Brighton Catholic Church, 100 Lonsdale St.
  Tickets: $8.00 from Sundance Cafe NB Mall, Nina 329 2242, or at the door.
  Sponsored by: Christchurch East Green Party

  
  

• Conference: 4th Australia- NZ Climate Change & Business Conference 2008:

  When: 18 - 20 August
  Where: Sky City Convention Centre, Auckland
  Early bird registration deadline: 16 July
  More information.
  
  

• Launch: Transition Community St Albans

  When: 7.00 pm Thursday, 17 July.
  Where: St Albans Community Centre,
  1047 Colombo St.
  Contact: Christoph 374 2465
  
  
  

• Talk: Collaborative research: the interface between science and indigenous peoples

  Speaker: Maree Hemmingsen
  When: 4:10 pm, Friday 18 July.
  Where: Room 323, Rutherford Building, Canterbury University
  More info: here
  All welcome
  
  

• NZ Walking Conference 2008:

  When: 4 - 5 August
  Where: Waipuna Conference Centre, Auckland
  More Info: here (Livingstreets).
  
  

• EARTHWISE, Plains FM 96.9
  

  Each Monday & Wednesday at 10 pm.
  Conservation, environment and peace with justice.
  This week's interview: Kirsty Knowles (Forest and Bird Conservation Advocate).
  Protection for marine mammals, including Hector's and Maui's dolphins
  Presenters: Martin and Lois Griffiths.
  
  

• Free Home Composting Workshops:

  (Bokashi, Hot Compost, and Worm Farms)
  Where: Opawa Community Gardens, Opawa Rd (at Aynsley Terrace).
  When: 1st & 3rd Saturday each month at 1 pm   & 1st & 3rd Tuesday at 1 pm, eg: July 15, etc.
  How:  Just turn up.
  More info:  Annmarie Banchy 021 190 4559, or 942 7190 (evening),
  abanchy@paradise.net.nz.
  
  

• Free Course: Introduction to Te Waipounamu Culture and Practice

  When: Saturdays: August 2, 9, 23 & field trip 30, 31 (Sunday).
  Time: Starts at 9 am each Saturday
  Venue: Te Puna Wanaka, CPIT, Coventry Street, Otautahi / Christchurch
  

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