Northland Leg - First Report

Kia Ora
We started at Shipwreck Bay were we put the first sign just as you go onto the beach. There we were interviewed by Peter Jackson from the Northland Age and another lady from the Northern news. Both myself and Richard from the environment centre gave them as much information as we possibly could. We then headed down to the next spot were we thought would be a good place to put a sign up which was the next on ramp were you drive onto the beach. We travelled there by van which carried our signs and gear as well as two of our students riding along the beach on a couple of horses to symbolise the use of low impact/co2 transport. We changed riders at intervals. Next stop was the on ramp at Ahipara then the Stream that flows out of Lake Waimimiha and finally the on Ramp at Waipapakauri. Five signs were put up in total at strategic places along the beach. Already the high tides in our area have started to wear away at the sand banks along the shoreline making them steep and so it was difficult to put up signs unless they were in the places such as the ramps/river which were low access points onto the beach. Respect for our signs were evident in that all 5 are still standing and feedback has been positive. Two good articles appeared in the Northland age and the Northern news the following week. All in all it was a good day out at the beach were we were able to enjoy some horse riding as well as help in delivering an important message to the Community. As tangata whenua of Muriwhenua we hope to be able to assist you in any future projects regarding the Climate Change and hope all the other roopus enjoyed themselves as much as we did. Our group included Mane Tangitu, Wairua Mane, Wolfgram Oxborugh, Hohemi Howard, Meinata Robson all students on the Conservation Corp myself and Richard from the environment centre.

Cheers Mike

Walk the Walk Alliance

The Climate Change Relay Hikoi has entered into an alliance with another group that is staginga climate change walk from Auckland to Westport,starting 28 January 2008. We have agreedto exchange websites and theirs is www.walkthewalk.org.nz and help each other whereeverwe can.They have 3 people that will do the entire walk, with others joining in for different stretches.

They would need accommodation and sustenance along the way, and we will urge the participants in the our relay to watch out for them.In the South Island we will go down the East Coast with the mangrove baton,and we will give them our second baton out of pohutukawa to take down the West Coast to Westport.

Climate Change Relay Hikoi - Inspiring Testimonials

To all you people who know about the Climate Change Relay Hikoi but are hesitant commiting to be part of it, here are some comments from people who have carried the baton for a distance.

"I feel being energised and empowered"
"I am gratefull for the opportunity to have done my part"
"I dont feel helpless anymore"
"Its a great way to see the country"
"I did not know I could walkthat far"

And from the one that got wet when the dingy transporting the baton from the yacht to the shore capsised : " It was a great dunking"

Come on people, open some space in your busyshedules,walking is good for you!

Dr Peter Read to talk about Agrichar

What is the Agrichar process?

Agricultural feedstocks such as animal manure, rice hulls, peanut shells, corn stover or forest waste are pyrolized at low temperatures to produce a char product (Agrichar or biochar) and separate bio-energy streams, in the form of oils and/or gases. The biochar captures about 50% of the carbon in the feedstock, and can be used as a soil amendment to improve soil fertility, stability, and productivity, and to store carbon in the soils, as a means of mitigating global warming. The use of Agrichar in soils mimics the Terra Preta (dark earth) soils of the Amazon Basin, which have sequestered high quantities of carbon for thousands of years, and have dramatically improved soil fertility and sustainability without chemical inputs. The bio-energy produced, which accounts for the other 50% of feedstock carbon can be used to fuel a variety of energy needs.

Seedlings illustrating the difference between plants grown in biocharamended soil (darker soil on the right). Photo courtesy of Robert Flanagan.

Dr Peter Read will be speaking on Agrichar at the Kaiwaka Sports Complex on Wednesday 24 October Contact Faye on 4312145 for your ticket.

And there's a scroll too...

Accompanying the Relay Baton is the Climate Change Scroll. In it, all participants are invited to sign their names, write their contact email (if they do not mind) keep a dairy of the distance they travel, the locations they connect.

The Scroll is twenty metres long so we sugggest that each group can use up about
25cm with information, stories, drawings, poems, words of wisdom. When the baton and scroll finally arrive in Bluff (or Half Moon Bay in Stewart Island, if we are specially lucky) we will donate both to Te Papa.

Arohanui

A second baton

A second baton is being carved to cope with the interest that's brewing in all corners of New Zealand.

East coast people from Thames to Opotoki have expressed their interest in participating in the relay. So we don't delay the movement of our mangrove baton south on the central route we asked Damien Finn, our baton maker, to make a second one for use on other routes.

The second baton, made out of pohutukawa, will be ready to be used along the eastcoast starting from 20 October. We will post the baton to the starting location and when this regional hikoi is completed, another regional relay from Collingwood to Hokitika, on the SI west coast, could be ready to start.

Take a read of this page if you have a group that would like to join in.

Climate Relay Revving Up

No man made a greater mistake than he who did nothing because he could only do a little.....

This quote has stuck with me since I was 14 years old - and that's going back a fair bit now! The climate relay in New Zealand is an example of how small actions pulled together create a landslide.

Starting soon, this series of events, organised at grass roots level will stimulate discussion, ideas and action to help each of us to do our bit to reduce the long term effects of climate change on our lovely planet.

If you're in New Zealand, I urge you to consider creating an event in your area, book the baton and join the movement for change.

Once things are a little more set up, we'll be inviting you to submit your ideas for what we, as New Zealanders, can do to change.....