In this newsletter:
Sun 15 March Thurs 20 March Sun 23 March Sat 29th March Fri 11 - Sun 13 April Sat 12 April Sun April 6 &13 Thurs 24 April Fri 30 May |
Pukemokemoke working day Forest and Bird Talk - Chris Gaskin Hamilton Bicycling Network workshop for cyclists Organic Farm NZ (Waikato) Field day Waikato Show Bat Fun day Living Streets' Strolls Forest and Bird AGM Jeanette Fitzsimons Arbor Day 2014 Waiwhakareke |
Saturday 15th March
Pukemokemoke Reserve working day
1-5pm. Fred will be in charge of operations!
Because Easter falls on the third Saturday in April, we will hold the April working bee on Saturday 12th April.
Look forward to seeing you all. Main work is still releasing though some of the tracks will need some maintenance work.
For more information contact Alan Leadley
Thursday 20th March
Forest and Bird talk
7.30pm Chartwell Room, Hamilton Gardens
Speaker: Chris Gaskin
Chris’s talk will look at Important Bird Areas (IBA) programme – taking a bird’s eye view and identifying areas that are important for New Zealand’s seabirds. The marine IBA network provides a comprehensive overview of New Zealand’s seabirds allowing researchers to visualise where they breed and the extent of their foraging across the marine, and for inland breeding gulls and terns, freshwater environments.
The IBA programme places that in global context. He will touch on the role we all can play in taking the IBA programme forward.
He will also talk about some of his experiences with seabirds, both here in New Zealand and elsewhere in the South Pacific.
Chris is currently coordinator of the BirdLife International Important Bird Area (Seabirds) Programme in New Zealand (on contract to Forest & Bird, BirdLife’s NZ partner).
Sunday 23rd March
Hamilton Bicycling Network workshop for cyclists
9:45 am - Meet outside R&R Sports in Barton St.
10 am Bike Clinic - adjusting various types of brakes including V-brakes & mechanical Disk-brakes
10:30am Networking at Sierra Café - $6 coffee & muffin
Saturday 29th March
Organic Farm NZ (Waikato) Field day
The topic is ‘Growing your Soil’ presented by Peter Downard and Tony.
Everyone is welcome to come along, but numbers attending will be limited – please register by emailing Tony Banks.
Presenters:
Peter Downard – four decades in the horticulture industry, owner and manager of organic orchards, teacher and organic certification auditor
Tony Banks – small farmer and gardener, Chairperson of OrganicFarmNZ Waikato
We will cover:
• Beneficial soil organisms, how they provide nutrients to your plants and grow your soil
• How to introduce beneficial organisms to your soil via compost, mulches, actively aerated compost teas and the use of appropriate plants
15 Te Awa Road, Tamahere
Time: 1.00 - 4.00 pm
Afternoon tea: organic food provided by Ceres
Cost: $5.00 per person (pay
11th - 13th April Waikato Show
Dates have been changed - so put the revised dates in your diary!
Register your interest now with the Waikato Environment Centre to have a site in the EnviroExpo. Info packs coming any moment.
12th April Bat Fun Day
Organised by Waikato Museum and WRC, this will be at Hamilton Gardens 4pm - 7.30. More details to come.
Sundays April 6th and April 13th
Living Streets' Strolls
Both starting at 2pm.
6th: Guided tour of Waiwhakareke (Horseshoe Lake), led by Maxine Fraser, a long-standing member of the working group that has developed the area. She will be able to point out the area currently being debated for sale or inclusion in the reserve area and discuss its significance.
13th: Our second walk is in Te Rapa, taking in local parks and shortcuts and incorporating a very pleasant section of the riverbank walkway below the St Andrews Golf Course. We will start from the corner of Morrow St and Totara Drive. More details and a map will be available closer to the day.
Thursday 24th April
Forest and Bird AGM
7.30pm at Hamilton Gardens
Guest Speaker: Jeanette Fitzsimmons
“New Zealand’s latest binge on fossil fuels: deep sea oil, extreme coal, and fracking”.
Jeanette will talk about the impacts of all this on our climate and our biodiversity and what we can do about it.
Friday 30th May 2014 - Arbor Day 2014
BIG PLANTING DAY
Waiwhakareke Natural Heritage Park
10.00am meeting at Brymer Road opposite Zoo.
The Council want people to register so they know how they are going for numbers of participants. They need at least 3000 people to help plant 30,000 plants - that’s 10 each which would be achievable.
Some of you may have friends and work colleagues who can be encouraged to come and plant a few trees. Maybe some workplaces would be happy to support their workers to attend. Check it out with your workplace......
DOC training days
Anyone interested in learning how to do bird counts, plant ID,weed management etc have a look on the DOC calendar
First one in Hamilton is Five Minute Bird counts on the 29th - 30th April.