| National Wetland Trust Homepage |  |
Latest Updates
'Bug Man' Ruud Kleinpaste Enthralls at NWT AGM
Ruud Kleinpaste, the 'Bug Man', kept the The National Wetland Trust's AGM audience of about 70 enthralled during his highly entertaining 'Messages from Below' talk at the Langham Hotel, on Tuesday 19 August. Playing to three fascinated young boys in the front row, Ruud showed how indigenous false scorpions hitchhike on flies, why praying mantis make great pets, that spider web is many, many times stronger than steel, how tarantula bites may help heart attack victims, and much, much more.
The NWT executive officer, Karen Denyer, took us on a digital 'virtual tour' of the state-of-the-art designs for the National Wetland Centre; gifts were presented to Janet Hunt, winner of the Montana Environment and Non-fiction awards for her Wetlands of New Zealand: A bitter-sweet story and to our dedicated secretary Jenni Hensley who is about to depart for the Australian outback; and thanks made to our sponsors including Langham Hotels for the AGM venue, Mighty River Power, Environment Waikato, Solid Energy, Quarry Road winery, Fish and Game council, Tony Reiger, and our new web sponsor, Digital Stream.
A warm welcome to three new Trustees: Kerry Bodmin (NIWA), Marie Bradley (North Shore City Council) and Jo Ritchie (Natural Logic Consulting), and a thanks to resigning Trustees Shannon Patterson and Rhys Barrier.
Chairmans report (144 KB)
Wetland book wins Montana award
Renowned New Zealand author Janet Hunt has won the 2008 Montana Medal for Non-fiction for her book that evokes both national celebration and sorrow; the story of our wetlands.Wetlands of New Zealand - a Bitter Sweet Story, written over many years is a stunning and touching insight into these beautiful (and broken) ecosystems.
The judges said their decision to name the overall Non-fiction winner was made in a heartbeat. "The very best Non-fiction is a delicate balance of facts and research, and a sense of the writer and their passion for their subject. When the story told also brings to our attention as a nation, something significant that has been overlooked, we really can't ask for more."
The winners of the country's most prestigious awards for contemporary writing were chosen from more than 220 books submitted.
The National Wetland Trust has copies of Janet's book for sale. Contact us at enquiries@wetlandtrust.org.nz
Golden Plover Scholarship
The Golden Plover Award is now open for applications.In 2001 the Golden Plover Award was established by Drs Tony Reiger and Steven Messerschmidt, in conjunction with the National Wetland Trust of New Zealand and the University of Waikato. The Award is up to a value of up to $1000.00 and is open to a student undertaking original research at Masters level (part-time or full-time) at any University in New Zealand on any topic covering:
- increasing the appreciation of wetlands and their values by all New Zealanders
- increasing the enhancement and restoration of wetlands
- increase the understanding of wetland processes by all New Zealanders
- good experimental design that will lead to an increase in scientific knowledge of an aspect of wetlands
- improve transfer of the results of research to key target groups (i.e. wetland landowners, policy makers, and councillors).
Applications close 31 August 2008
NWT Trustee wins Green Ribbon Award
NWT Trustee Monica Peters and Gretchen Robertson won a ‘Highly Commended’ award in the Innovative Solutions for the Environment category for their estuary toolkit.Gretchen and Monica spent six years compiling a comprehensive toolkit which enables New Zealanders to get involved in caring for their local estuaries.
The kit has now been completed and is available through New Zealand Landcare Trust at $25 each (to cover the printing cost). The resource is also available online for free at:
http://www.mahingakai.org.nz/search?SearchableText=turning+the+tide
For more on the Green Ribbon
Award see http://www.mfe.govt.nz/withyou/awards/green-ribbon.html
Healthy Wetlands, Heathy People
AUCKLAND/WAIKATO – SATURDAY 2 FEBRUARYWWD 2008 was celebrated on Saturday 2 February in the Waikato by almost
150 people, visiting seven separate wetland sites on a guided bus tour
coordinated by Fish & Game NZ, the National Wetlands Trust, Department
of Conservation, NZ Landcare Trust and Mighty River Power. 2008 is
also the year in which the Ministry of the Environment publishes the second
edition of its highly-acclaimed 1997 “The State of New Zealand’s Environment
Report”. The field trip showed that it is possible to achieve more sustainable
agricultural and urban water practices with an accompanying improved water
quality.
World
Wetlands Day 2008
Participants
information
Route
map
National Wetland Restoration Symposium
The National Wetland Trust runs regular national symposia on wetland restoration and management. The next Symposium will be held in 2010. Find out more symposia page.
National Wetland Centre
The Trust has bought 0.4 hectares of land on the shore of Lake Kopuera at Rangiriri, S.H.1, 70 km south of Auckland. On the site we will build a state-of-the-art interpretation centre, with research and educational facilities, wetland gardens and heritage trails. The site is close to three of New Zealand's five internationally recognised wetlands.The land was bought with generous grants from the WEL Energy Trust and Trust Waikato.
More on the National Wetland Centre.
Future pages
We will be regularly updating this site with- progress on our wetland centre development
- new information on wetlands
- wetlands you can visit in New Zealand
- wetland events in New Zealand, and
- additional useful links
Please visit our site again.
This website is hosted by Digital Stream.
Last updated 22 August 2008
Address: c/o Box 177, Pukekohe, New Zealand;
Email: enquiries@wetlandtrust.org.nz
Become a member of The National Wetland Trust
© 2002-2007 All material copyright of
the national wetland trust unless otherwise noted.