EcoQuest Spring Semester 2002 South Island Journal
May 2002 -- Academic Reflections
Ria Brejaart, Program Manager, lecturer.
Here in New Zealand it is nearly winter, and there is a quiet spell at EcoQuest, allowing for some reflection on the year to date. The first semester this year was absolutely fantastic. Great students and great staff provided an excellent mix of people. The enthusiasm with which everyone took on the challenges of the EcoQuest programme was astounding. My favourite memories definitely include the field trip to Opoutere, where we combined learning with pleasure to the maximum degree. It is the perfect place to start off on a journey that leads to thinking about catchments, land use and the effects on waterways and estuaries, multiple uses of natural resources (such as wildlife refuge, residential and recreational all vying for first place in what is undoubtedly one of New Zealand's most beautiful places). We explored the estuary and the streams that empty into it ~ of course, by kayak. We discussed issues related to sedimentation of the estuary and explored management of people around the nesting areas of New Zealand dotterels and Variable Oystercatchers. Students mapped the catchment, and worked on a matrix of environmental and resource management stresses in the context of the Wharekawa harbour.
Our extended trip to the South Island was a great opportunity to expand the thinking on a catchment-wide scale. We were very lucky to be able to meet up with staff from the Tasman District Council. This Council, works closely with Landcare Research on Integrated Catchment Management (ICM) of the Motueka Catchment. We visited a dairy farm in the Sherry River Valley, where we were made very welcome and we got a first hand look at some of the solutions that land owners, farmers and TDC have found to deal with runoff from agricultural land. One of the 'hardware' solutions was a bridge to get cows across the river. This reduced the amount of faecal matter in the river by significant quantities. At Nelson Lakes we delved into ecosystem management and ecology of southern beech forests.
This semester we stayed at the Cass Field Station, with easy access to the beech forests in the Hawdon Valley (Arthur's Pass National Park) and tussock covered hills. We spent a really enjoyable day studying alpine vegetation in the Otira valley. High country land management - and associated catchment management issues were also on the teaching menu.
Our studies of nature tourism took a practical turn, when we were invited to help with the spreading of sticky mistletoe seeds in the beech forest adjacent to the Wilderness Lodge at Arthur's Pass. This is part of an effort by the owners/operators of the lodge (sanctioned by the Department of Conservation) to establish additional populations of mistletoe, particularly the relatively rare yellow mistletoe.
During our stopover in Christchurch, we visited Lincoln University, where we were treated to a great lecture on the impacts of (eco) tourism and related energy consumption. At Kaikoura, we stayed four nights at the Takahanga Marae. The marae and its people are becoming a home and family away from home. Our group was treated to the wonderful company and performances of the local rangatahi. We participated in several eco- and culture tourism activities, and the students addressed the controversial issues of 'eco tourism' extremely well in their assignments. PhD students from the Edward Percival Marine Laboratory accompanied us on our exploits of the rocky shore. The rocky shore of the Kaikoura Peninsula is a fantastic outdoor classroom -complete with seal colony!
The last four weeks of the semester were packed with Directed Research Project activities: late nights, mountains of samples of terrestrial and benthic invertebrates, 5-way discussions on all manner of life forms, their behavioural traits and life histories; fishing, weta surveys and tracking of pateke (brown teal) at completely un-godly hours. The DRP time seems like a blur now, but at the time it is a unique experience for students and staff. New discoveries are made each semester. Companionship, teamwork and support are at the top of the list. The drive for excellence is simply enormous, and the students' capacity to progress their learning and achievements are inspiring ~ and ~ it shows in the quality of the reports and the oral presentations, which we saw earlier this year.
We hope you enjoy the personal reflections from our staff and Spring 2002 students while on the South Island journey!
Student Entry: March 19th