Hauraki Gulf Marine Park Conference: 2017 – Taking Flight

Terrence (Mook) Hohneck is Chief Executive of the Ngāti Manuhiri Settlement Trust and was lead negotiator for the settlement of the iwi’s treaty claim, completed in 2012. Ngāti Manuhiri’s rohe includes Hauturu/ Little Barrier Island, one of our most important nature reserves. Mook has been invited to share his insights into the world of seabirds.

Dr Andre Raine has worked on bird conservation projects in Bermuda, Zambia, Peru, England and Malta. He is currently Project Coordinator for the Kaua’i Endangered Seabird Recovery project in Hawaii. He puts Hauraki Gulf seabirds into a global context.

Artist and researcher, inaugural Holdaway Award winner and co-founder of the Northern New Zealand Sea Bird Trust, Chris Gaskin takes a creative look what make seabirds so special.

12 year old Gala Emmerton of Mahurangi College decided to raise money to save our rarest bird, the NZ fairy tern.

AUT Associate Professor Dave Towns has enjoyed a distinguished career at universities and with the Department of Conservation. He will chart the fierce and critical battle with predators over many years and islands.

Auckland University’s Dr Glenn Simmons asks hard questions about the way we fish. What might a better way look like?

Post-predator eradication seabird conservation. AUT’s Steph Borrelle shares her research on how marine threats, such as fisheries, plastic pollution and climate change affect seabird recovery, and what we can do to manage them.

15 year old Charlotte Thomas volunteers to band, survey and protect seabirds. She also organised her fellow MADMarine programme students to make nesting boxes for penguins on Great Barrier Island.

Paice Vaughn is head student at Kaipara College. He works with Sustainable Coastlines, is researching gannet nesting at Muriwai and organises community science seminars.

Dame Anne Salmond, historian, author and former New Zealander of the Year is restoring an inland oi (greyfaced petrel) colony at her family’s Longbush ecosanctuary. She also reflects on emerging ways of giving a voice to nature.

Another Holdaway Award winner, Auckland University’s Dr Rochelle Constantine marvels at the productivity of the Hauraki Gulf. Follow the food and you’ll find the animals. She explains how recent surveys and science are showing us what’s where.

Innovative research led by Auckland Museum’s Curator of Land Vertebrates Dr Matt Rayner and University of Auckland’s Dr Brendon Dunphy is helping understand seabirds, from oceanic to cellular scale.

High on Hirakimata above marae at Kawa and Motairehe are the nesting places of taiko or black petrel. Ngati Rehua’s Nicola MacDonald shares encounters with this remarkable bird and the responsibilities of being a kaitiaki.

Leigh Fisheries Operations Manager Tom Searle was presented with a Seabird Smart Award in 2015 at Parliament. He has championed crew training, preparation of seabird management plans and supports awareness raising visits by fishermen to Aotea’s black petrel colony.

Auckland University Dr Megan Friesen’s work looks to links the success of seabird populations with patterns of food availability and other changes in the marine ecosystem.

While volunteering at Tawharanui Open Sanctuary, James Ross become captivated by seabirds and has become a champion for their inclusion in ecological restoration programmes.