I am an Auckland based father / husband / designer / illustrator and photographer who is pretty serious about restoration, conservation and pollution prevention. I’m a Trustee of The Freshwater Foundation, The Mussel Reef Restoration Trust, The Northern New Zealand Seabird Trust and The Hauturu Supporters Trust. This blog tracks my various ecological interventions and some cathartic writing.
Feel free to call (+64 21 555 425) or email me if you would like to help out or have any questions.
In the Media
- NZ fairy tern breeding boosted to record season thanks to 3D-printed eggs also on RadioNZ
- An update on marine protection for Aotea / Great Barrier Island
- Environmental campaigner’s concerns over fishing competition
- A kind of magic
- Rewilding our oceans
- Hauraki Gulf Marine Park no place for trawling
- Environmentalists criticise ‘all carrot, no stick’ fishing transformation plan
- The Hauraki Gulf’s enchanted gardens
- Reef balls rediscovered
- It’s the little things that count
- Hauraki Gulf: DOC calling for reports of seal sightings
- Questions over washed-up dead seal pups
- Opinion – NZ Sports Fishing Council should not reject Govt action plan
- Seeking clarity for the Hauraki Gulf
- Fallen from grace
- Shaun’s decoys
- Underwater nurseries installed in Mahurangi Harbour
- Auckland residents oppose iwi housing plan
- Tāmaki Estuary’s sleepless shorebirds
Achievements
Here is a list of achievements that I wrote up to make myself feel better when I feel like I am not making a difference:
- I was paid to brand and create collateral for Predator Free 2050 Ltd (one of the worlds biggest ever restoration projects). This included annual reports and web work. I think the most important work I did was on the funding bids, which have helped raise $100m to date.
- As a volunteer I helped build New Zealand’s only large scale, active marine restoration initiative (Revive Our Gulf). I have been responsible for the brand, fund raising and lobbying. Here my photography work has been instrumental in building the movement. Just the fact that people are spending money to fix damage caused by bottom impact fishing seems to have an impact with decision makers.
- I was paid to make decoys to successfully relocate a massive colony of threatened gulls.
- I have done paid and unpaid work to advocate for marine protection in the Hauraki Gulf Marine Park which should go from 0.33% to 0.575% in 2024. I am currently working on two projects to get that number closer to 7%.
- Quantified the decline in shorebirds of the Tāmaki Estuary and had them included in council park plans.
- Quantified kekeno / fur seal mortalities in the Hauraki Gulf Marine Park. This volunteer project also identified where and when kekeno were dying and identified possible drivers of mortality.
- Protected four pairs of Northern New Zealand dotterel from predators and human disturbance for seven years. This included stopping a housing development which was subsequently scaled back by parliament in response to a campaign to save the roosting and breeding area.
- Helped raise awareness of the Southern New Zealand Dotterel including getting it featured on Last Week Tonight with John Oliver.
- I was paid to help make dark sky sanctuaries on Aotea / Great Barrier Island and Niue which reduce / limit light pollution.
- Killed hundreds of rats and other predators, planted hundreds of trees.
- My mostly paid work supporting a local Industry Pollution Prevention Programme has helped prevent at least one catastrophic pollution incident.
- Some of my volunteer campaign work (to reduce freshwater pollution) helped make the health of rivers and water one of the top 3 election issues of 2017, damaging National’s results due to their history of allowing freshwater degradation, and get a new government elected in 2017.
Speaking
I have enjoyed speaking about my restoration work to: Birds New Zealand: Auckland Region, The Lentil Intervention Podcast, Birds New Zealand: South Auckland Region, Love the Gulf Launch Event, Forest and Bird Warkworth, Restore Hibiscus & Bays, Master Mariners Auckland, The Rotary Club of Parnell, The Thumbs Up Adventure Club, Forest and Bird North Shore, U3A Browns Bay, The Devonport Yacht Club & The Outboard Boating Club.