boomnature

Rockets taking off and mother nature - connected by beauty and astonishment?

good blog on our wild places

One of the big surprises to me, when i took visitors on tours of onetahua (farewell spit), was the massive disconnect many people feel from nature. It's like nature is out there and we are here. But the truth is we are part of nature, linked and connected. I'm like many people, in that i don't get out in the bush often enough. When you are in the bush you live the connection. Our ability to protect our wild places is proportional to our emotional connection to our wild places. When it feels like they want to cut off your arm - then we are there.

This blog musings from aotearoa is wonderful. You can experience tales of the bush, read some excellent commentary and view beautiful photos - good on you Robb, good luck with the hip, hope you're back out there soon.

brownlee committed

Good editorial from the ODT. From the bottom up.

"As Southland Mayor Frana Cardno put it when asked if drilling should be allowed in Fiordland: "No. Definitely not." "

"The outcry over what at this stage is simply an attempt to initiate a discussion on whether some low-grade "conservation land", were it found to be the source of great potential wealth, could be freed up, is over the top."

No it is not over the top at all - it is a concerned call from people.

"But given the explicit moves the Government has made to date - including with its Emissions Trading Scheme, its initiatives to loosen up the Resource Management Act, and the establishment of the dubiously named Environmental Protection Authority (allowing the Government to take a more active role in managing the country's natural resources) - it cannot be surprised. Nor should Mr Brownlee feign umbrage at the entirely predictable reaction, however improbable exploration in Fiordland might be."

You have just answered the question of why people are concerned.

"All development and much agriculture is, in the end, a compromise between creating wealth and minimising environmental effects: the economic history of this country with its wealth built on primary production illustrates that precisely.

But this does not mean the issue should proceed without rigorous and candid debate - whether on balancing the benefits of unconstrained dairy conversions with the detrimental effects on river water quality in Southland; the value of mining lignite in South Otago to manufacture urea with the costs of the associated carbon emissions; or indeed the exploration of a World Heritage Site, Fiordland, for petroleum against the economic and cultural benefits this pristine place of great beauty lends the country. "

The debate is centred around which can earn more money - agriculture, mining or tourism. my point is that there are bigger issues to consider than money, such as future sustainability, water quality, mono-agriculture, greed and the selling off of our land to overseas interests. hell the land should be given back to maori from where it was stolen.

Brownlee says, "that his Government was going to be "far more pragmatic and supportive" than the last towards "exploration and mining activity", and that he, as Minister for Energy and Resources, was "committed to unlocking New Zealand's mineral potential for the benefit of New Zealanders", and further that "reasonable access to the mineral estate in Crown-owned land, particularly conservation land, is a key issue". "

Get that - brownlee is COMMITTED to unlocking NZ mineral wealth. COMMITTED - deals have been done and this glove puppet has already COMMITTED himself to his selfish, greedy cause.

"Minister of Energy and Resources Gerry Brownlee has described reaction to a Government paper proposing a "mineral stocktake" of protected conservation land as "hysterical".
To an extent he is correct, although the equivocal responses he and Conservation Minister Tim Groser have thus far given to questions on precisely what, in the conservation estate, would be unequivocally off limits do little to lessen the "hysteria".

It could be argued the act of assessing the petroleum potential of the Waitutu forest in the Fiordland National Park, while at the same time reviewing schedule four of the Crown Minerals Act - which bans mining access to New Zealand's highest conservation areas - is not unakin to finding a bunch of needy citizens with of a precise map of the gold bullion vaults in Fort Knox, along with the security codes to gain entry.

They may not ever use them but some people may be concerned that one day, and under certain circumstances, the temptation might just prove too great. "

And up to the start of the editorial. The reaction has not been hysterical at all. And the temptation has already proved to much for brownlee and his minions.

Walk like you've never walked before

By necessity I have been walking a lot lately. By a lot, I mean anywhere from 2-3 hours a day. It is an amazing way of getting around.

For a start it is relatively slow. I am a fan of the slow revolution. Slow food, slow cities just a general slowdown from our normal frenetic pace of life. So what happens when you go slow? You start to see things that you don't see when you go fast. I enjoy walking past peoples houses and seeing the work they have put in to keep their gardens tidy. And quite often you meet people on the street, strangers, and you get to say hello to them, in a friendly way. It's great - quite often people will say hello back! A smile, a gidday and then carry on. Near where I live we have some new immigrants from Nepal, what a beautiful people. i love the diversity of life, the richness of difference, the glory of individuality. More diversity from more places is great.

Another benefit of walking is that it gives you a change to think. We need more time to mull, to consider, to contemplate and even to day dream. All of the time we spend in these activities is not wasted, in fact it is some of the most productive time we can spend. Why? Because unless we know what we want, or how we feel about things, then how can we know whether we are on the right path. And if we aren't heading towards the things in life that are important to us - then what's the point?

My third benefit of walking everywhere is that it makes me feel closer to my tupuna, my ancestors. They walked over this land and explored and fought and loved. When I walk I often think about their lives and what it must have been like when the forests were still here and big swamps and untamed rivers abounded.

Walking can be a pain, especially if you are in a hurry... but I highly recommend it. You meet nice people, you see the place you live in, you get time to mull and contemplate things, you get fit and fell healthy and it brings us closer to our ancestors.

I am lucky in that where I live is 'walker-friendly', everything is 'walkable' and of course, in the city it is not as easy, if not impossible, to walk everywhere - but we do what we can with what we have.

All we need to do now is make it 'walker-friendly' for everyone out there.

Heaven in Wainui Bay

Wainui Bay - Mohua

I spent easter at the Tui Community in Wainui Bay. Wow - talk about relax. It could have been the lack of car and city noises, replaced by birdsong. It could have been the untouched native bush absolutely teeming with insects and life, or it might have been the friendly weka that lives beside the house. Maybe the adobe home, with no straight lines, warm in winter and cool in summer, designed to capture the sunlight and be at one with the land. Or perhaps it was the organic freshly grown food or the general vibe of a group of people with common goals and aspriations. I feel inspired. Tui isn't perfect but it is a lot closer to it than the way many of us live.

We can learn the lessons from communities like these, and add our own learning from runaka and marae. Because that was the big missing area for me, Maoritanga, Kai Tahutanga. You can feel the histories close by. There is very little gap/veil between the past and today out there. The voices are still there, our voices are still there.

Our communities, on our land, in our way, for us. That is my goal and dream.