How to be wild and free

“No!” This is how we teach restraint, over time the child masters the rules and becomes a functioning member of society. But he finds pleasure in the quiet places where no one can yell “No” at him, places where the rules don’t apply, where he can be wild and free.

There is a huge psychological transformation that occurs when you’re outdoors and find that you are no longer alone. Every imaginable cultural judgement can be projected in just a single person. They are not just changing our behaviour they are changing how we think, making us self conscious.

Some people feel this more than others, but perhaps this is why humans bleat and stomp about environmental rules. Because when we are in the wild with all those wild things, we feel wild too. We feel free from all those rules and judgements, those “No”s. So we fight those that tell us “don’t go there”, “don’t kill that” or “leave that alone”. Because they are reducing our freedom, which is true. But unfortunately we live in a world of human expansion and decreasing environmental resilience, our choices now have a greater cost than those of previous generations. We are slowly learning we can longer afford to be wild, we have to share our freedoms, not just with this generation but the next one too.

The reason the human population has grown so fast is because we are so adaptable and culture (our behaviours and technology) has evolved and will continue to evolve much faster than our genes. Those that are following the rules, participating in restoration, conservation, trash removal, pest eradication, citizen science and moving from eating to recording wildlife are developling a new culture. This new culture is already growing fast and with it some of our wilderness is coming back, building resilience and expanding our freedoms. We are finding a new way to be wild and free.

Why we need to do something to fix our freshwater

NZ Herald

Grave warning for NZ’s freshwater life

NZ’s ‘clean environment’ under threat

Water pollution – we can fix it

Most rivers in New Zealand too dirty for a swim

Dairy conversions still hurting our lakes and rivers – commissioner

Dairying’s environmental harm a ‘zero sum’ – study

Stuff

Many NZ rivers unsafe for swimming

Dairy continues to damage water quality

Explainer: 98% Pure NZ

Cooking oil the tip of the iceberg for polluted Canterbury waterways

New Zealand’s ‘high risk’ beaches for water quality

Manawatu River ‘among worst in the west

ONE NEWS

NZ water quality getting worse – report

Completely backwards step for freshwater – expert
Is New Zealand really clean and green? A new report suggests we’re not

‘Massive intensification of dairy farming’ is killing freshwater fish – expert

TV3 NEWS

Water quality getting worse – report

Labour: Govt failing on water quality

Lake water quality deteriorating – Smith

Cities urged to act on water quality

Kiwis too optimistic about water quality

NZ walk to raise water quality awareness

Changes to land use bad for water quality – Commisioner

Some farmers refuse to comply with water quality standards

Dairying blamed for damaging South Island water quality

Labour criticise Govt’s three year delay on water quality laws

Radio NZ

Public ‘misled’ over river water quality

Farming damaging environment – report

Environment report depressing – opposition

Deadline to fix Canterbury rivers missed

Freshwater species disappearing rapidly

No prosecution over Tukituki River pollution

Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment

Environment Commissioner warns water quality is “not out of the woods yet

Water quality: Nutrients

Water quality: Vulnerability & mitigation

Water quality: Changing land use

Water quality: Policy

Managing water quality: Examining the 2014 National Policy Statement

Thanks to Tom for the links

Squandered

SQUANDERED: THE DEGRADATION OF NEW ZEALAND’S FRESHWATER by Dr Mike Joy
SQUANDERED: The degradation of New Zealand’s freshwater by Dr Mike Joy

I was stoked to have helped design this eBook for Mike who is a kiwi ledgend.

Things Aucklanders can do to help the Hauraki Gulf

Inspired by some recent conversations, I put together this list (in no particular order).

Things Aucklanders can do to help the Hauraki Gulf

Pohutukawa

Cloning Pohutukawa makes sense if you’re breeding them for a specific purpose. In my case erosion control. I just want Pohutukawa that are great at holding onto cliffs.

Pots

This cloned Pohutukawa worked. The one in the black pot had no rooting hormone and failed. This was my second try, the trick is to snip between the hard & soft wood.
This cloned Pohutukawa worked. The one in the black pot had no rooting hormone and failed. This was my second try, the trick is to snip between the hard & soft wood.

It’s growing slowly tho. While my seedlings are doing great.

About 400 trees, many of them ready for planting.
About 400 trees, many of them ready for planting.

Philosophy

I found this old thing on my hard-drive. Might help me get focused.Why I should dedicate some serious time to Biodiversity
I think the obvious answer is a wetland because those environments were hardest hit buy farmers. Tho interestingly I do not know much about threatened wetland species. Our rivers and shorelines face a lot of commercial & recreational pressure. A wetland also sits at an interesting intersection:

  • When I visit forests I hear a lack of quality in the silence (lack of bird life)
  • When I drive through the countryside I see a lack of quality in the monotonous monocultures.
  • When I kayak in NZ, the water feels empty. I think for me — quality is biodiversity and the water is overfished and often polluted.

It would be magic if I could fill all three buckets with one hose.