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A 24-hour recording of Radio New Zealand National. The following rundown is sourced from the broadcaster’s website. Note some overseas/copyright restricted items may not appear in the supplied rundown:
05 November 2015
===12:04 AM. | All Night Programme===
=DESCRIPTION=
Including: 12:05 Music after Midnight; 12:30 One in Five (RNZ); 1:05 Discovery (BBC); 2:05 The Thursday Feature: Playing Favourites (RNZ); 3:05 Memories of Early Years, by Douglas Lilburn, edited by Robert Hoskins (5 of 8, RNZ); 3:30 NZ Books (RNZ): 5:10 Witness (BBC); 5:45 The Day in Parliament (RNZ)
===6:00 AM. | Morning Report===
=DESCRIPTION=
Radio New Zealand's three-hour breakfast news show with news and interviews, bulletins on the hour and half-hour including:
6:16 and 6:50 Business News
6:27 Rural News
6:448 and 7:415 NZ Newspapers
=AUDIO=
06:00
Top Stories for Thursday 5 November 2015
BODY:
Immigration officials give up trying to deport a a 95-year-old widow. Chris Cairns faces tough cross examination in his trial in London and what's the Government doing to turn around the growing jobless rate.
Topics:
Regions:
Tags:
Duration: 27'54"
06:06
Sports News for 5 November 2015
BODY:
An update from the team at RNZ Sport.
Topics: sport
Regions:
Tags:
Duration: 1'45"
06:09
Government has no plans to tackle rising unemployment
BODY:
Unemployment has hit six percent and is forecast to keep rising as the economy slows.
Topics: politics
Regions:
Tags: jobs
Duration: 2'08"
06:15
VW shares dive as emissions scandal widens
BODY:
The Volkswagon share price has plunged again overnight amid new revelations that its ongoing diesel emissions scandal has now widened to include some petrol cars.
Topics:
Regions:
Tags: Volkswagon, VW, Germany
Duration: 3'18"
06:18
Early business news
BODY:
Our business reporter Jonathan Mitchell is in, with what's happening in the financial world, and economic number yesterday perhaps tilt the odds a little closer to a rate cut in December.
Topics: business, economy
Regions:
Tags: markets
Duration: 1'42"
06:22
Good versus evil at the Gabbatoir
BODY:
The cricket test series between New Zealand and Australia, beginning in Brisbane today, is being portrayed as the good versus evil of the cricketing world.
Topics: sport
Regions:
Tags: cricket
Duration: 3'11"
06:25
Morning Rural News for 5 November 2015
BODY:
News from the rural and farming sector.
Topics: rural, farming
Regions:
Tags:
Duration: 4'09"
06:39
Northland unemployment rate improving
BODY:
Latest figures show the unemployment rate climbed to six percent in the September quarter.
Topics: politics
Regions:
Tags: jobs
Duration: 2'51"
06:42
Māori Party wants focus on NZ detainees
BODY:
The Māori Party Co-Leader Marama Fox has challenged the Government to highlight claims of abuse at Australian immigration detention centres when it speaks to the United Nations Human Rights Council next week
Topics: te ao Māori
Regions:
Tags: Māori Party
Duration: 3'49"
06:49
BNZ economist sees odds balanced on December rate cut
BODY:
A flurry of economic numbers yesterday added some weight to the view that conditions have softened and the economy faces some headwinds.
Topics: business, economy
Regions:
Tags:
Duration: 2'27"
06:52
Nuplex sees up to 22% increase in full year operating profit
BODY:
The resins manufacturer, Nuplex, says it's confident it can deliver on its profit expectations, even though it will depend on how well China's economy performs.
Topics: business, economy
Regions:
Tags: Nuplex
Duration: 1'38"
06:53
Nelson company targets big time with algae product
BODY:
A look at a local business that's looking to register on radar screens. A Nelson nutraceutical company, New Zealand Supreme Biotechnologies, specialises in the production of bioactive compounds from micro-algae.
Topics: business, economy
Regions:
Tags: Supreme Biotechnologies
Duration: 2'07"
06:58
Morning markets for 5 November 2015
BODY:
Wall Street is weaker today after official data revealed the US trade deficit narrowed more sharply than expected in September, as imports shrank amid slowing growth in the US and global economy.
Topics: business, economy
Regions:
Tags: markets
Duration: 55"
07:06
Sports News for 5 November 2015
BODY:
An update from the team at RNZ Sport.
Topics: sport
Regions:
Tags:
Duration: 2'10"
07:10
Is this New Zealand's oldest deportation case?
BODY:
A 95-year-old widow has won her battle with imigration officials and now won't be deported to Britain, a country she left nearly 70 years ago.
Topics: refugees and migrants
Regions:
Tags: Lilian Turner
Duration: 2'55"
07:13
SIS told it must lift its game
BODY:
The Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security has received complaints from at least three people who say they lost their jobs as a result of not being cleared by the SIS.
Topics: politics
Regions:
Tags: SIS
Duration: 3'33"
07:17
Chris Cairns faces tough questioning in court
BODY:
Chris Cairns faced tough questioning during cross examination at his perjury trial, including being accused of receiving wads of cash from Dubai diamond magnates for match fixing.
Topics: crime, law
Regions:
Tags: Chris Cairns
Duration: 3'19"
07:23
The Govt explains the latest rise in unemployment
BODY:
New Zealand's unemployment rate has cracked six percent and thousands of jobs have disappeared from the economy.
Topics: politics
Regions:
Tags: jobs
Duration: 4'32"
07:28
Victorious homecoming for McCaw and Carter
BODY:
Christchurch will turn black - with probably a splash of Canterbury red - when the All Blacks go on a Rugby World Cup victory parade in the central city today.
Topics: sport
Regions:
Tags: RWC 2015
Duration: 5'12"
07:37
95-year-old would not have been deported- Immigration NZ
BODY:
Back to our lead story about 95-year-old widow Lilian Turner who has has been granted residence after an appeals tribunal found a decision to deport her was "hardly practical or reasonable".
Topics: refugees and migrants
Regions:
Tags: Lilian Turner
Duration: 3'58"
07:41
Petition calls for removal of Mangawhai fire officer
BODY:
More than 9-hundred people have signed a petition calling for the removal of one of New Zealand's best known firefighters from the Mangawhai Fire Brigade in Northland.
Topics: life and society
Regions: Northland
Tags: Mike McEnaney, Mangawhai Fire Brigade
Duration: 3'46"
07:51
Royals weather the elements
BODY:
Prince Charles and his wife Camilla began their New Zealand visit yesterday amid the kind of spring weather Wellington is notorious for.
Topics: politics
Regions:
Tags: Prince Charles, Royal visit
Duration: 3'09"
07:54
West Papuans fear extinction looms under Indonesian rule
BODY:
West Papuans say their survival as a people is increasingly threatened under Indonesian rule.
Topics:
Regions:
Tags: West Papua
Duration: 3'27"
07:58
Twitter changes favourites to likes
BODY:
Twitter has fallen out of love with its 'favourite' button; instead opting for a heart-shaped 'like' option.
Topics: internet, technology
Regions:
Tags: Twitter
Duration: 2'01"
08:07
Sports News for 5 November 2015
BODY:
An update from the team at RNZ Sport.
Topics: sport
Regions:
Tags:
Duration: 2'06"
08:11
Forbes names Russian President the most powerful
BODY:
For the third year in a row the Russian President Vladimir Putin has topped Forbes' list of the world's most powerful people.
Topics: politics
Regions:
Tags: Vladimir Putin
Duration: 4'04"
08:14
NZ taking a tougher line on deportations - lawyer
BODY:
Immigration officials say they had to follow the law in their 13-year- battle to deport a 95-year-old widow.
Topics: refugees and migrants
Regions:
Tags: Lilian Turner
Duration: 4'30"
08:19
Renewed calls for Parihaka Day
BODY:
The Māori Party has renewed its call for November the fifth to be recognised as Parihaka Day to commemorate the sacking of the pacifist settlement in Taranaki by government troops in 1881.
Topics: te ao Māori
Regions:
Tags: Parihaka Day
Duration: 3'58"
08:23
UK says explosion might have brought down Russian airliner
BODY:
The Russian airliner that crashed in Egypt on Saturday after taking off from the resort of Sharm al-Sheikh might have been brought down by an explosive device the British Government says.
Topics:
Regions:
Tags: Egypt, Russia
Duration: 2'19"
08:26
Government's blamed for running out of ideas on job front
BODY:
New Zealand's unemployment rate hit 6 per cent yesterday with economists warning it will head higher still in coming months.
Topics: politics
Regions:
Tags: jobs
Duration: 5'00"
08:31
Markets Update for 5 November 2015
BODY:
Jonathan Mitchell
Topics: business, economy
Regions:
Tags: markets
Duration: 58"
08:37
Security analysist concerned by SIS and potential CIA link
BODY:
Six years after American intelligence services ended a controversial interrogation programme, a top government official is questioning what New Zealand knew about it.
Topics: politics
Regions:
Tags: America, SIS
Duration: 5'26"
08:42
War of words ahead of Trans-Tasman cricket match today
BODY:
The scene's set for a testy opening match of the Trans-Tasman test cricket series starting at the Gabba in Brisbane at one o'clock this afternoon.
Topics: sport
Regions:
Tags: cricket
Duration: 2'46"
08:46
WWF announces Conservnation Innovation Award winners
BODY:
A new weapon in the war on wasps is among the winners of this year's World Wide Fund for Nature Conservation Innovation Awards.
Topics: science
Regions:
Tags: wasps
Duration: 3'21"
08:50
Sydney pyrotechnician preparing for Wellington's big bang
BODY:
It's November 5th with councils organising public fireworks displays for either today or at the weekend. Sydney-based pyrotechnician Robert McDermott has been organising Wellington's event for the past two decades.
Topics: life and society
Regions:
Tags: fireworks
Duration: 3'14"
08:53
Dan Carter's primary school fizzing before cup celebrations
BODY:
Christchurch City Council is among those choosing to celebrate Guy Fawkes today, with a free public display scheduled for tonight at New Brighton Beach.
Topics: sport
Regions: Canterbury
Tags: RWC 2015
Duration: 3'58"
=SHOW NOTES=
===9:06 AM. | Nine To Noon===
=DESCRIPTION=
Current affairs and topics of interest, including: 10:45 The Reading: The Book of Hat, by Harriet Rowland, told by Issy Stewart (4 of 5, RNZ)
=AUDIO=
09:08
New charity to address environmental challenges in NZ
BODY:
Former Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment, Morgan Williams says environmental research is under threat due to funding cuts, including job cuts at Agresearch. He's launching a charitable foundation to support clean rivers and oceans in New Zealand. The Cawthron Foundation is supported by the Cawthron Institute.
EXTENDED BODY:
Former Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment, Morgan Williams is highlighting the gaps in the funding of environmental science as he launches a philanthropic foundation to support clean rivers and oceans in New Zealand.
Environmental research is under threat due to funding cuts, including jobs at Agresearch, and scientists often get tied up in the paper work of funding applications. Mr Williams wants to encourage a much bigger contribution to science from the philanthropic sector because science is of great benefit to everybody.
"What you really need for good science for either a business or society as a whole is stability [of core funding]."
Topics: climate, environment, science, politics
Regions:
Tags: Cawthron, AgResearch, CRI, Crown Research Institute
Duration: 12'28"
09:21
UK correspondent Jon Dennis
BODY:
Governments ignored warnings about charity Kids company finances, the impact of Uber; London's biggest training school for black-cab drivers shuts up shop next month because of lack of demand for new drivers... and the mystery of "Shakespeare's skull' is to remain that way after a legal bid to get it DNA-tested was blocked.
Topics: politics
Regions:
Tags: UK
Duration: 9'02"
09:37
Surviving the rise of AI machines
BODY:
Could machines capable of independent thought be workplace in less than a decade? The software developer MYOB thinks so and has published a report called 'Surviving the Singularity'. So what might that world look like? (provided we're not all subjugated by our robot overlords!) Simon Raik-Allen is the Chief Technology Officer of MYOB and has more than 15 years of industry experience and a background in computer science. He has worked the majority of his career based in Silicon Valley in areas such as trading exchanges, e-commerce, business intelligence, communications, banking, government, media and entertainment.
EXTENDED BODY:
Could machines capable of independent thought be workplace in less than a decade?
The software developer MYOB thinks so and has published a report called 'Surviving the Singularity'. So what might that world look like? (provided we're not all subjugated by our robot overlords!)
Simon Raik-Allen is the Chief Technology Officer of MYOB and has more than 15 years of industry experience and a background in computer science.
He has worked the majority of his career based in Silicon Valley in areas such as trading exchanges, e-commerce, business intelligence, communications, banking, government, media and entertainment.
He talks to Kathryn Ryan about the rise of AI machines.
Topics: technology, science, author interview
Regions:
Tags: Simon Raik-Allen, MYOB, Surviving the Singularity
Duration: 23'21"
10:08
Young UK based Afghan political refugee aims to be President
BODY:
Gulwali Passarlay is a young political refugee living in England, he'd like to eventually be the President of his homeland. He left his home in East Afghanistan nine years ago aged 12. His famly were pro-Taliban, and he was raised to hate the West. It was a treacherous journey through 10 countries to reach Britian, where a family fostered him, he completed school, and gained a place at University. He has become an advocate for refugees, he is a Young Labour representative and the President of the United Afghan Peace Movement. There's also a book about his escape to a new life called The Lightless Sky. At 21, Gulwali Passarlay has big plans and aspirations, including returning home to Afghanistan to run for the Presidency.
EXTENDED BODY:
Gulwali Passarlay is a young political refugee living in England, who would like to eventually be the President of his homeland.
He left his home in East Afghanistan nine years ago aged 12. His famly were pro-Taliban, and he was raised to hate the West.
It was a treacherous journey through 10 countries to reach Britian, where a family fostered him, he completed school, and gained a place at University. He has become an advocate for refugees, he is a Young Labour representative and the President of the United Afghan Peace Movement.
There's also a book about his escape to a new life called The Lightless Sky.
At 21, Gulwali Passarlay has big plans and aspirations, including returning home to Afghanistan to run for the Presidency.
He talks to Kathryn Ryan.
Topics: author interview
Regions:
Tags: Gulwali Passar
Duration: 31'30"
10:39
Book Review: The Grown Up by Gillian Flynn
BODY:
Reviewed by Elisabeth Easther, published by Orion.
Topics: books
Regions:
Tags: Gone Girl, Gillian Flynn
Duration: 3'01"
11:06
New Technology commentator Robbie Allan
BODY:
Other Back to the Future technology: Given the hype around the Back to the Future hoverboard, what other technology is available that we've previously only seen in the movies...
Topics: technology
Regions:
Tags:
Duration: 13'33"
11:24
Nathan Mikaere Wallis - teenagers and the justice system
BODY:
Nathan Mikaere Wallis is founder of X Factor Education in Christchurch. He was formerly with the Brain Wave Trust and has been a lecturer at the Christchurch College of Education, lecturing in human development, brain development, language and communication and risk and resilience.
EXTENDED BODY:
Nathan Mikaere Wallis is founder of X Factor Education in Christchurch.
He was formerly with the Brain Wave Trust and has been a lecturer at the Christchurch College of Education, lecturing in human development, brain development, language and communication and risk and resilience.
He says that there are two categories of teenage delinquents - those children who fall off the rails -which is fairly common, those who don't have an rails in the first place.
"A lot of teenage delinquency has its origins in early childhood."
He talks to Kathryn Ryan about the issues can cause teenagers to end up in the justice system.
Topics:
Regions:
Tags: parenting
Duration: 20'56"
11:46
Viewing with Paul Casserly
BODY:
Reviewer Paul Casserly on the rise and rise of online viewing and two new release movies: He Named Me Malala - The documentary film about the remarkable Pakistani school girl shot in the head by the Taliban; and Freeheld, the true-life drama of the dying Jersey cop who battled for marriage equality till her last breath.
Topics: arts, media
Regions:
Tags:
Duration: 12'50"
=SHOW NOTES=
09:05 New charity to address environmental challenges in NZ
Former Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment, Morgan Williams says environmental research is under threat due to funding cuts, including job cuts at Agresearch. He's launching a charitable foundation to support clean rivers and oceans in New Zealand. The Cawthron Foundation is supported by the Cawthron Institute
[image:52171:half]
09:20 . UK correspondent Jon Dennis
Governments ignored warnings about charity Kids company finances, the impact of Uber; London's biggest training school for black-cab drivers shuts up shop next month because of lack of demand for new drive.
0935 Surviving the rise of AI machines - Simon Raik-Allen
[gallery:1551]
Could machines capable of independent thought be workplace in less than a decade? The software developer MYOB thinks so and has published a report called 'Surviving the Singularity'. So what might that world look like? (provided we're not all subjugated by our robot overlords!) Simon Raik-Allen is the Chief Technology Officer of MYOB and has more than 15 years of industry experience and a background in computer science. He has worked the majority of his career based in Silicon Valley in areas such as trading exchanges, e-commerce, business intelligence, communications, banking, government, media and entertainment
10:05 Young UK based Afghan political refugee aims to be President of his homeland
[image:52185:half]
Gulwali Passarlay is a young political refugee living in England, he'd like to eventually be the President of his homeland. He left his home in East Afghanistan nine years ago aged 12. His famly were pro-Taliban, and he was raised to hate the West. It was a treacherous journey through 10 countries to reach Britian, where a family fostered him, he completed school, and gained a place at University. He has become an advocate for refugees, he is a Young Labour representative and the President of the United Afghan Peace Movement. There's also a book about his escape to a new life called The Lightless Sky. At 21, Gulwali Passarlay has big plans and aspirations, including returning home to Afghanistan to run for the Presidency.
10:30 Book Review: The Grown Up by Gillian Flynn
Reviewed by Elisabeth Easther, published by Orion
10:45 The Reading: The Book of Hat by Harriet Rowland, told by Issy Stewart
(Part 4 of 5)
11:05 New Technology commentator Robbie Allan
Other Back to the Future technology: Given the hype around the Back to the Future hoverboard, what other technology is available that we've previously only seen in the movies...
1. Seeing-eye glasses (think Star Trek) - GiveVision
http://www.cambiarnews.com/worldnews/britain-created-glasses-let-blind-people-see/9643
2. Immersive virtual reality (think The Matrix) - Oculus Rift
http://www.wired.com/2014/05/oculus-rift-4/
3. Flying internet stations (classic sci-fi trope) - Project Loon
http://www.cnet.com/news/google-alphabet-project-loon-indonesia/
https://www.google.com/loon/
4. Human-like virtual assistants (think replicants from Bladerunner)
http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2015/09/24/clara-applying-your-virtual-personal-assistant-no-benefits-required/72713514/
The big question for the virtual assistants, of course, is whether a virtual assistant can pass the Turing test.
11:30 Nathan Mikaere Wallis discusses teenagers and the justice system
Nathan Mikaere Wallis is founder of X Factor Education in Christchurch. He was formerly with the Brain Wave Trust and has been a lecturer at the Christchurch College of Education, lecturing in human development, brain development, language and communication and risk and resilience.
11:45 Viewing with Paul Casserly
Reviewer Paul Casserly on the rise and rise of online viewing and two new release movies: He Named Me Malala - The documentary film about the remarkable Pakistani school girl shot in the head by the Taliban; and Freeheld, the true-life drama of the dying Jersey cop who battled for marriage equality till her last breath.
===Noon | Midday Report===
=DESCRIPTION=
Radio New Zealand news, followed by updates and reports until 1.00pm, including:
12:16 Business News
12:26 Sport
12:34 Rural News
12:43 Worldwatch
=AUDIO=
12:00
Midday Report for 5 November 2015
BODY:
Intelligence points towards a bomb aboard the downed Russian airliner; An unfairly sacked school principal is staggered by a challenge to her payout.
Topics:
Regions:
Tags:
Duration: 15'17"
12:17
Z Energy fires on all cyclinders
BODY:
Fuel retailer Z Energy's first-half net profit has more than tripled, driven by strong refining margins, improved retail margins and constrained expenses.
Topics: business, economy
Regions:
Tags:
Duration: 2'39"
12:19
Xero's first half revenue rises 72 %, subscribers up 60%
BODY:
The cloud accounting software company, Xero, has reported a near doubling of its first half loss despite a strong increase in first half revenue and subscriber numbers.
Topics: business, economy
Regions:
Tags:
Duration: 1'39"
12:20
Garage Project brews up success
BODY:
The Wellington craft brewery, Garage Project, has been named the fastest growing company in this year's Deloitte Fast 50.
Topics: business, economy
Regions:
Tags:
Duration: 1'20"
12:25
Midday Markets for 5 November 2015
BODY:
For the latest from the markets we're joined by Andrew Cathie at Craigs Investment Partners.
Topics: business, economy
Regions:
Tags:
Duration: 2'56"
12:26
Midday Sports News for 5 November 2015
BODY:
The war of words ramps up ahead of the Black Caps' first test in Brisbane.
Topics: sport
Regions:
Tags:
Duration: 2'55"
12:35
Midday Rural News for 5 November 2015
BODY:
News from the rural and farming sectors.
Topics: rural, farming
Regions:
Tags:
Duration: 8'12"
=SHOW NOTES=
===1:06 PM. | Jesse Mulligan, 1–4pm===
=DESCRIPTION=
An upbeat mix of the curious and the compelling, ranging from the stories of the day to the great questions of our time (RNZ)
=AUDIO=
13:10
Clutha jobs
BODY:
Jobs may be hard to come by in the big smoke and the capital, but in Clutha employers are crying out for staff. We speak to Clutha District Mayor, Bryan Cadogen about what he's doing to entice people south.
EXTENDED BODY:
Jobs may be hard to come by in the big smoke and the capital, but in Clutha employers are crying out for staff.
Unemployed people are being urged to look to the regions for work by the government, after the unemployment rate broke the 6 percent mark.
Steven Joyce, Minister of Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment said that in some regions such as Otago and Northland, there were shortages of people applying for jobs, and unemployed people should consider moving if they could.
Clutha District Mayor, Bryan says that his region has the jobs, but just doesn't have the people.
"And they're marvelous jobs too... some really phenominaly good jobs."
Bryan Cadogen talks to Jesse Mulligan about what he's doing to entice people south.
Topics:
Regions: Southland
Tags: Clutha, jobs
Duration: 8'06"
13:15
First Song - Close Your Eyes
BODY:
'Close Your Eyes' - by Rhodes
Topics: music
Regions:
Tags:
Duration: 3'35"
13:20
Rhodes
BODY:
The British singer joins Jesse for a chat ahead of his concert tonight.
Topics: music
Regions: Auckland Region
Tags: Vector Arena, Rhodes
Duration: 10'19"
13:25
Fireworks
BODY:
It's Guy Fawkes day today, the most terrifying time of year for animals. We talk to animal welfare specialist Dr Rachael Stratton about how badly animals are affected, what you can do to help them through the week - and why she's calling for more restrictions on fireworks.
Topics: spiritual practices
Regions:
Tags: Guy Fawkes, fireworks
Duration: 7'25"
13:35
Punter selfie?
BODY:
When selfies go wrong - we speak to tech commentator Hamish MacEwan about the tale of the Melbourne cup win, the selfie, the Facebook post, and the stolen winnings.
Topics: crime
Regions:
Tags: Perth, stolen winnings, Melbourne Cup
Duration: 3'50"
13:40
Favourite Album - Mule Variations
BODY:
Tom Waits - Mule Variations.
Topics: music
Regions:
Tags:
Duration: 21'06"
14:10
Money - Mary Holm
BODY:
Financial author and columnist Mary Holm is back - today we're discussing KiwiSaver for children and younger people.
Topics: economy, business
Regions:
Tags: KiwiSaver
Duration: 24'06"
14:45
Food Guests - Eat My Lunch
BODY:
Jimmy Pham and Lisa King are the brains behind 'Eat My Lunch'.
Topics: food
Regions:
Tags: Eat My Lunch, charity, children
Duration: 12'30"
15:10
Masterpieces - Andre Upston
BODY:
Our Masterpieces guest this week has spent decades recording live music and concerts. Andre Upston is a long-time employee at RNZ - 30 years he's been here!
Topics: music
Regions:
Tags:
Duration: 14'13"
15:20
Expats - Natasha von Geldern
BODY:
This week's expat is an avid traveller. Natasha von Geldern has been to 50 countries and is documenting her adventures in a blog - The World Wandering Kiwi.
Topics: technology, transport
Regions:
Tags: blogs, global travel, The World Wandering Kiwi
Duration: 9'06"
15:45
The Panel pre-show for 5 November 2015
BODY:
What the world is talking about with Jesse Mulligan, Jim Mora and Zara Potts.
Topics:
Regions:
Tags:
Duration: 14'28"
21:20
Celebrating great ideas for Nature
BODY:
The WWF Conservation Innovations awards recognise the best ideas that help conservation projects to succeed.
EXTENDED BODY:
A new-generation trap designed to catch only lizards, a bait that is specific to wasps and an iwi-led community project have each been awarded a $25,000 grant to recognise their contribution to conservation.
The winners of this year's Conservation Innovation awards, launched last year by WWF as an initiate to recognise great ideas that boost conservation, are celebrating in Wellington tonight. The selection process for this year’s awards included a crowdsourcing campaign, which allowed people to comment on the ideas and projects that had been submitted.
WWF’s Michele Frank, who oversees community conservation projects, says the entries were inspirational.
By harnessing creativity like this we can bring better tools to the community volunteer army and better protect our wildlife, sooner.
Monitoring lizards
Almost all of our lizards – more than 100 species of geckos and skinks – are endemic to New Zealand, but 85 per cent are considered threatened because of introduced predators or disruptions to their natural habitat. They are found in all habitats, from the coast to the mountains, and play an important role in ecosystems as seed dispersers and pollinators of native trees.
Yet, for decades, the main method used for monitoring lizard populations was a simple bucket used as a pitfall trap.
EcoGecko, a group of Wellington-based herpetologists, has developed a new-generation trap designed to monitor lizards much more reliably. The grant will be put towards making and testing a prototype. EcoGecko’s Ayla Wiles says the new trap will help gather better population data for New Zealand’s “forgotten fauna” of lizards and information about their importance as indicators of ecosystem health.
“They are in all of the kinds of ecosystems we have in New Zealand, and they are one of the most susceptible to predation and changes in their environment. If they are not in an ecosystem you can tell that the ecosystem is struggling and something‘s not going right.”
You can listen to an earlier Our Changing World feature in which Alison Ballance went on a lizard hunt with EcoGecko's Sabine Melzer.
The Uawanui Project
This iwi-led community project from the East Cape is based on the principle that a healthy environment means healthy people. Its focus is on the Uawa river catchment in Tolaga Bay, and it began in 2012 when the community gathered to mark the transit of Venus and Captain’s Cook’s first contact.
With a long-term commitment to make conservation a part of everyday life, the project’s aim is to integrate environmental efforts with economic, social and cultural development and education in the Uawa Tolaga Bay area.
Nori Parata, the principal at Tolaga Bay area school, says the project began as a school initiative to restore the estuary nearby to what it would have looked like in 1769, when Captain Cook arrived in Uawa.
The community has worked closely with scientists from the Allan Wilson Centre to replant the area in native vegetation and to control pests. As a result, the team found that the Uawa area is home to a population of New Zealand dotterel, or tuturiwhatu, and the students are now using the latest technology to monitor the birds’ breeding success.
“It’s rarer than some species of kiwi so we’ve become very protective of it now that we’re aware of that.”
You can listen to this special Our Changing World programme recorded in Tolaga Bay during the transit of Venus, which also features the Uawanui conservation project.
Effective wasp bait
Invasive wasps cause around $60 million worth of damage to the New Zealand environment every year. They compete with native species for nectar and honeydew, attack honeybees and kill a range of native invertebrates and even newly hatched birds.
Nelson-based ecologist Richard Toft says wasps can reach high numbers in beech forests, up to 10,000 per hectare, and with few natural enemies to control them, populations can reach plague proportions during summer.
The search for an effective wasp bait and toxin has been a long-term effort, but has been hindered by the phasing-out of some insecticides that have shown harmful unwanted effects.
Richard Toft, at Entecol, has developed a protein-based bait system, Vespex, that is specific to wasps. He says the wasps are attracted to the protein food, which they need to feed their larvae, and will carry it back to their own nests. Importantly, he says the bait is unattractive to bees.
Vespex has already been trialled successfully in conjunction with the Department of Conservation and showed a 95 per cent reduction in wasp activity within a week.
Our Changing World have covered last year's inaugural Conservation Innovation awards and you can listen to that programme here.
Topics: science, environment
Regions:
Tags: WWF Conservation Innovation awards, lizards, wasps, community, Uawanui project, Vespex, EcoGecko
Duration: 12'41"
=SHOW NOTES=
1:10 Clutha Jobs - Bryan Cadogen
Jobs may be hard to come by in the big smoke and the capital, but in Clutha employers are crying out for staff. We speak to Clutha District Mayor, Bryan Cadogen about what he's doing to entice people south.
1:20 Musician - Rhodes
The British singer, Rhodes, joins Jesse for a chat ahead of his concert tonight.
1:40 Favourite album
Mule Variations - Tom Waits
2:10 Money - Mary Holm
Financial author and columnist Mary Holm is back - today we're discussing KiwiSaver for children and younger people.
2:30 Sirocco - Peta Mathias
In today's episode of 'Sirocco', Peta finds that certain aspects of being in Morocco are not quite as desirable as she might like, although she and her friend Anna find a treat to balance things out.
2:45 Food Guest - Eat My Lunch
Jimmy Pham and Lisa King are the brains behind 'Eat My Lunch'.
3:10 Masterpieces - Andre Upston
Our Masterpieces guest this week has spent decades recording live music and concerts. Andre Upston is a long-time employee at RNZ - 30 years he's been here!
3:25 The Expats - Natasha von Geldern
This week's expat is an avid traveller. Natasha von Geldern has been to 50 countries and is documenting her adventures in a blog - The World Wandering Kiwi
3:30 Our Changing World - Veronika Meduna
The WWF New Zealand Conservation Innovation awards recognise the best ideas and innovations in conservations, and this year's winners will be announced tonight.
3:45 The Panel Pre-Show
What the world is talking about with Jesse Mulligan, Jim Mora and Zara Potts.
=PLAYLIST=
JESSE'S SONG:
ARTIST: Rhodes
TITLE: Close Your Eyes
COMP: Rhodes
ALBUM: Wishes
LABEL: Rhodes
FEATURE ALBUM:
ARTIST: Tom Waits
TITLE: Take it with me
COMP: Brennan, Waits
ALBUM: Mule Variations
LABEL: Shock
ARTIST: Tom Waits
TITLE: Filipino Box Spring Hog
COMP: Waits
ALBUM: Mule Variations
LABEL: Shock
ARTIST: Tom Waits
TITLE: Chocolate Jesus
COMP: Brennan, Waits
ALBUM: Mule Variations
LABEL: Shock
ARTIST: Tom Waits
TITLE: Picture in a frame
COMP: Brennan, Waits
ALBUM: Mule Variations
LABEL: Shock
FOOD:
ARTIST: Herbie Hancock
TITLE: Watermelon Man
COMP: Hancock
ALBUM: Takin' Off
LABEL: Blue Note
HALF TIME:
ARTIST: Julie Driscoll, Brian Auger
TITLE: This Wheel's on Fire
COMP: Dylan
ALBUM: Dylan Covered
LABEL: Mojo
===4:06 PM. | The Panel===
=DESCRIPTION=
An hour of discussion featuring a range of panellists from right along the opinion spectrum (RNZ)
=AUDIO=
15:45
The Panel pre-show for 5 November 2015
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What the world is talking about with Jesse Mulligan, Jim Mora and Zara Potts.
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Duration: 14'28"
16:00
The Panel with Ella Henry and Simon Pound (Part 1)
BODY:
Panel intro;six threats;Chris Cairns on the stand;Ireland decriminalising drugs.
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Duration: 24'26"
16:10
Panel Intro
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What the Panelists Ella Henry and Simon Pound have been up to.
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Duration: 4'52"
16:15
Six threats
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Dr Robert Ayson of Victoria University tells us what the list of six threats to New Zealand released by the GCSB actually means.
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Duration: 9'26"
16:20
Chris Cairns on the stand
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Former Black Cap Chris Cairns has been severely grilled at his perjury trial in the UK. Dr Bill Hodge of the University of Auckland talks about the prosecution tactics.
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Duration: 5'43"
16:27
Ireland decriminalising drugs
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Recreational drugs for personal use are to be made legal in Ireland.
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Duration: 4'15"
16:30
The Panel with Ella Henry and Simon Pound (Part 2)
BODY:
Gunpowder Plot; Panel says; Taieri success;When art is a fence;Canadian cabinet gender balance;Picasso's ex creates controversy.
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Duration: 26'02"
16:35
Gunpowder Plot
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Author Max Cryer talks about the Gunpowder Plot.
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Duration: 9'01"
16:37
Panel says
BODY:
What the Panelists Ella Henry and Simon Pound have been thinking about.
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Duration: 8'07"
16:45
Taieri success
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The new Silver Ferns Coach Janine Southby, the All Blacks Coach Steve Hanson, Ian Foster All Blacks assistant coach, Black Caps Coach Mike Hesson - all went to Otago's Taieri College.
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Duration: 45"
16:52
When art is a fence
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A story from Hawke's Bay about a fence made from recycled bits has made it into the British press. But it's got the hackles of Haumoana locals up.a
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Duration: 2'35"
16:55
Canadian cabinet gender balance
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Canada's new PM Justin Trudeau has appointed a gender-balanced cabinet.
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Duration: 3'30"
16:57
Picasso's ex creates controversy
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Francoise Gilot was 22 when she met Pablo Picasso who was in his 60s. They had two children together. She has written a book. Because it's her, her views on sexual assault have been widely circulated and discussed.
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Duration: 1'38"
=SHOW NOTES=
===5:00 PM. | Checkpoint===
=DESCRIPTION=
Radio New Zealand's two-hour news and current affairs programme
=AUDIO=
17:00
Checkpoint Top Stories for Thursday 5 November 2015
BODY:
The hunt for a sword wielding attacker;US aviation lawyer says they'll be more attacks;Hometown rugby heroes lead 13-ute parade;Royal couple head south for the day, greeted by crowd of about two thousand;Ron Mark accused of racism;Warner whacking Black Caps in first test;Changes to discourage people turning down social housing;Tourist trampers warned not to rely on virtual tours, photos before heading into the bush.
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Duration: 24'32"
17:08
The hunt for a sword wielding attacker
BODY:
Police are hunting for a sword wielding attacker who's left a woman with serious injuries.
Topics: crime
Regions: Waikato
Tags: Hamilton, sword-wielding attacker
Duration: 4'06"
17:15
US aviation lawyer says they'll be more attacks
BODY:
And a former inspector general of the US Transportation Department warns that if this was a bomb on board then people could expect more terrorist attacks.
Topics: transport
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Tags: terrorism
Duration: 4'26"
17:20
Hometown rugby heroes lead 13-ute parade
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Hometown heroes Richie McCaw and Dan Carter have led their team, stacked into 13 utes, through an adoring throng in Christchurch today.
Topics: sport
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Tags: All Blacks parade
Duration: 2'58"
17:23
Royal couple head south to Dunedin
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The Royal couple left the North Island flying south to Dunedin today to be greeted by an enthusiastic crowd of about two thousand Otago fans.
Topics: history, life and society
Regions: Otago
Tags: Dunedin, Royal visit
Duration: 3'00"
17:25
Ron Mark accused of racism
BODY:
New Zealand First's deputy leader, Ron Mark, is being accused of racism for telling an MP to go back home to Korea during a Parliamentary debate.
Topics: politics
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Tags: racism
Duration: 2'28"
17:28
Warner whacking Black Caps in First test
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David Warner is proving true to his word, the opening batsman sticking it to the Black Caps in the opening session of today's first test.
Topics: sport
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Tags: Black Caps, test cricket, first test
Duration: 1'45"
17:32
Today's market update
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Fuel retailer Z Energy's first-half net profit has more than tripled, driven by strong refining margins, improved retail margins and constrained expenses.
Topics: business, economy
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Duration: 2'09"
17:35
Changes to discourage people turning down social housing
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The Social Housing Minister says too many people are turning down state houses for reasons such as the garage is too small, and that is locking out hundreds of others who need decent housing.
Topics: housing, politics
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Tags: state housing
Duration: 2'41"
17:40
Man found guilty of murder after fight over liquor
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Ben Bosch Herkt was angry after being punched in the face during a drunken fight.
Topics: law
Regions: Auckland Region
Tags: Auckland High Court
Duration: 2'59"
17:42
Greens grill minister over SIS failures
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The Minister responsible for spy agencies says he won't be drawn into a witch hunt over their failings.
Topics: politics
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Tags: spy agencies, SIS
Duration: 2'33"
17:45
Tourist trampers warned not to rely on virtual tours, photos
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New Zealand's biggest tramping group is warning tourists not to rely on what they've seen on virtual tours and photos, before heading out on the trail.
Topics: sport, environment
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Tags: tramping
Duration: 2'46"
17:47
Who's dumping rubbish in Ashburton
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People living in Ashburton are fed up with out-of-towners dumping rubbish outside their homes and schools.
Topics: crime, environment
Regions: Canterbury
Tags: Ashburton, rubbish dumping
Duration: 3'33"
17:50
Action demanded over 'obscene' drug prices
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A New Zealand leader in the global search for drugs to cure cancer says it's unacceptable that the prices for new drugs are so sky high.
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A New Zealand leader in the global search for drugs to cure cancer says it's unacceptable that the prices for new drugs are so sky high.
Bill Wilson, from the Auckland Cancer Society Research Centre, says if effective treatments can only be for the wealthy, that's obscene.
Professor Wilson says one new drug - pembrolizumab - may be able to cure some cancers in many patients, but it's so expensive patients will have to wait a very long time to get it.
He talks to Karen Brown about the effects increasing drug prices are having on cancer treatment and research.
Topics: health
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Tags: cancer drugs
Duration: 4'18"
18:08
Sports News for 5 November 2015
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An update from the team at RNZ Sport.
Topics: sport
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Duration: 2'49"
18:12
Lochinver station sold to NZ buyer
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One of the country's largest farms, Lochinver Station, has been sold to New Zealand buyers.
Topics: rural, farming
Regions: Waikato
Tags: Taupo, Lochinver Station
Duration: 3'26"
18:14
Bomb likely cause of Russian plane crash
BODY:
British and US authorities say evidence suggests that a bomb is the likely cause of last weekend's crash of a Russian airliner over Egypt's Sinai peninsula.
Topics: transport, security
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Tags: terrorism, planes
Duration: 4'52"
18:18
Train guard talked through giving CPR to save woman
BODY:
A 111 calltaker has talked a train guard through carrying out CPR on an elderly passenger who collapsed this afternoon, and in doing so saved the woman's life. [Petone, Wellington train, CPR, passenger
Topics: health, transport
Regions: Wellington Region
Tags:
Duration: 2'56"
18:23
Pacific running dry even before El Niño bites
BODY:
Water's running short and crops are failing for more than a million people across the Pacific, and that's even before El Niño delivers the expected long, tough drought season.
Topics: Pacific, weather, climate
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Tags: Pacific Islands, El Nino, water shortages
Duration: 5'32"
18:28
A bee and the royal crotch
BODY:
Prince Charles has had a brush with a bee whilst clutching a tuatara at a conservation sanctuary near Dunedin this afternoon.
Topics: environment, rural, refugees and migrants
Regions: Southland
Tags: Royalty, bees, stoats, body parts
Duration: 2'29"
18:35
First-ever meeting of the leaders of China and Taiwan
BODY:
An historic first-ever meeting of the leaders of China and Taiwan is to take place this weekend.
Topics: environment, politics
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Tags: China, Taiwan
Duration: 5'26"
18:40
Superbugs and antibacterial handwash
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Is there a link between the increasing use of antibacterial soaps and wet-wipes, and the rise of antibiotic resistant superbugs?
Topics: health, education
Regions: Southland
Tags: Otago University, superbugs, antibiotics
Duration: 2'47"
18:44
Abuse inquiry told of school counsellor in a soundproof room
BODY:
To Australia, and disturbing revelations about a school counsellor in a soundproofed room and how elite schools ignored boys' claims he was abusing them.
Topics: crime
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Tags: Australia, child abuse
Duration: 4'32"
18:45
Fears that DRS couldn't track pink ball allayed
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Fears that test cricket's technology wouldn't pick up the pink ball in the upcoming historic day-night test between New Zealand and Australia in Adelaide have been allayed.
Topics: sport
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Tags: pink cricket balls, test cricket
Duration: 3'53"
18:50
Today in Parliament for 5 November 2015
BODY:
Bowen House evacuated due to a fire in neighbouring building; Petition calling on phase-out of plastic shopping bags presented to Local Government and Environment Committee; Opposition raises concerns about latest unemployment figures; International Finance Agreements Amendment Bill passes second reading.
Topics: politics
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Duration: 5'19"
=SHOW NOTES=
===7:06 PM. | Nights===
=DESCRIPTION=
Entertainment and information, including: 7:30 At the Movies
=SHOW NOTES=
=AUDIO=
19:30
At The Movies for 5 November 2015
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On At The Movies, Simon Morris reviews '99-Homes' a real-estate eviction thriller from America, the Australian film 'The Dressmaker' starring Kate Winslet, and assesses The 'Last Witch-Hunter' with Vin Diesel
Topics: arts
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Tags: film
Duration: 23'14"
7:30 At the Movies with Simon Morris: Current film releases and film related topics (RNZ) 8:13 Windows on the World: International public radio features and documentaries 9:06 Our Changing World
=SHOW NOTES=
=AUDIO=
21:05
Bill Ballantine: New Zealand's pioneer of marine conservation
BODY:
A tribute to Bill Ballantine, New Zealand's tireless campaigner for the protection of our oceans, who died this week at the age of 78.
EXTENDED BODY:
New Zealand is at the centre of the water hemisphere, this is a matter of geographic fact. New Zealand is the most maritime country in the world. Our half of the world is 90 per cent ocean. We should be leading, and I am pleased to say that we are.
Bill Ballantine
This is what Bill Ballantine told RNZ’s Wallace Chapman in early October this year, just days after the announcement of the Kermadec ocean sanctuary. He was delighted that after decades of campaigning, the decision to protect a vast area of ocean around the subtropical Kermadec Islands had finally been reached.
Bill Ballantine died this week at the age of 78. He was a tireless campaigner for marine protection and, back in the 1970s, fought for the creation of New Zealand’s first marine reserve at Leigh, north of Auckland.
Today the Cape Rodney to Okakari Point marine reserve (also known as Goat Island or Leigh marine reserve) is one of the most popular diving spots in the country, renowned for the variety and abundance of its marine life. At the time of its creation in 1977, it was thought to be the first “no take” marine reserve of its type in the world. University of Auckland Vice-Chancellor Stuart McCutcheon describes it as “a lasting tribute to the dedication of Bill and his colleagues”.
In 2007, Bill Ballantine spoke to former RNZ presenter Dean Williams in this delightful interview to mark the 30th anniversary of the reserve and to highlight the need for more fully protected areas.
Bill Ballantine was the first and longest-serving director of the University of Auckland’s Leigh Marine Laboratory. Current head of the University’s Institute of Marine Science, Simon Thrush, says New Zealand has lost a true conservation champion.
We can all be grateful that Bill had the vision and the courage to fight as hard as he did to get greater protection for our marine environment, protection that has only proved more valuable as time has gone on.
Mark Costello, also at the Leigh Marine Laboratory, says Bill Ballantine was delighted to witness the creation of the Kermadec ocean sanctuary.
“Bill remained totally dedicated and engaged with marine conservation throughout his life. He was a great mentor and a dear friend to many colleagues and students here at Leigh and we will miss him greatly.”
When the Kermadec ocean sanctuary comes into effect in 2016, the 620,000 square kilometre marine protected area will become New Zealand’s largest marine reserve and the first to go beyond the 12 nautical mile territorial waters out to the 200 nautical mile boundary of the exclusive economic zone (EEZ). Fishing, prospecting and mining will be banned in this no-take marine reserve.
Our Changing World has covered several research projects at the Leigh Marine Laboratory and on marine reserves generally, including the following features by Alison Ballance.
Here she talks to University of Auckland PhD student Arie Spyksma who is tracking the behaviour of sea urchins, or kina, inside and outside two marine reserves.
This feature investigates how New Zealand’s common kelp might cope under warmer ocean temperatures.
This covers the Minister of Conservation’s announcement in March 2014 that three new marine reserves would be created around Bounty, Antipodes and Campbell islands.
And here is our feature about the Kermadec ocean sanctuary.
Topics: science, environment
Regions:
Tags: Bill Ballantine, marine reserves, marine protection, Leigh marine reserve
Duration: 11'50"
21:06
Healthy streams - healthy harbour
BODY:
Whaingaroa Harbour Care have planted more than 1.4 million native plants along streams around Raglan,and the harbour is much cleaner as a result
EXTENDED BODY:
By Alison Ballance
“There’s about 600 kilometres of fences, 1.4 million plants. It’s all about water quality, more whitebait fritters, more snapper fillets. And it’s worked.”
Fred Lichtwark, Whaingaroa Harbour Care
Beef farmer David Peacocke says that about 14 years, ago, when he bought a farm near the Waikato settlement of Raglan, cattle would have been grazing the stream banks and drinking from them. Today, the streams on the farm are securely fenced off from the livestock by two-wire electric fences and the 10-year old riparian planting is tall, lush and providing shade for the stream and good habitat for native birds and fishes. David did the fencing, and paid the not-for-profit nursery Whaingaroa Harbour Care to provide the eco-sourced native plants and the plant them in the ground. David also put in a reticulated water supply so that his stock had a good water supply away from the stream.
This co-operation between farmer and Fred Lichtwark and his Harbour Care team is a ‘recipe’ that has been used successfully for more than 20 years in the catchment around Raglan’s harbour, and as local farmers have seen how successfully it has worked on their neighbour’s farms they have been keen to follow suit.
Neighbouring farmer Craig Rowlandson is another local farmer who is a keen supporter of the Harbour Care group. He, too, has fenced off the streams on his farm and nearly finished planting them.
Retiring streams and waterways from farms, and planting them out with native species, is a basic tenet of environmental management, but few catchments around New Zealand have been as successful as Raglan, where Fred reckons about 60% of the streams are now fenced.
Fred says that 20 years ago Whaingaroa Harbour was in a terrible state – the harbour was full of thick smelly sediment, dead animal carcasses washed up on the shore, and the fishing was terrible. Now, he says, the water flowing into the head of the harbour is clean and silt-free, the mud and animal carcasses have disappeared, and the fishing has improved markedly. Even better, the protected streams are now full of native fish, and his whitebait catching is much more successful.
Whaingaroa Harbour Care employs four workers, who collect local seed, grow up about 120,000 plants each year and plant them out. Fred says he has worked out a good basic planting plan: it includes cabbage trees and flax near the stream, with a thick band of taller manuka near the fence. The cabbage trees, he says, are good at drawing nutrients and pollutants out of the ground and water, while the long leaves of the flax sweep in the water and keep the stream bed clear of nuisance weed growth. The manuka overtop the electric fence without shorting it out, and are a good source of nectar for birds and insects.
All the men agree that ‘being green’ has made great economic sense, both for them as individuals and for the wider community. David and Craig say they now farm more intensively on less land and make more money, while Fred says everyone has benefited from a cleaner harbour, which has attracted growing numbers of visitors and is boosting the local economy.
The wider picture for New Zealand waterways is not so optimistic. The recently released Enviroment Aotearoa 2015 State of the Environment Report says that many streams, rivers and lakes are in poor condition, with intensive farming getting much of the blame.
Topics: environment
Regions: Waikato
Tags: streams, Clean Streams Accord, Raglan, native plants, revegetation, riparian planting
Duration: 14'42"
21:20
Celebrating great ideas for Nature
BODY:
The WWF Conservation Innovations awards recognise the best ideas that help conservation projects to succeed.
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A new-generation trap designed to catch only lizards, a bait that is specific to wasps and an iwi-led community project have each been awarded a $25,000 grant to recognise their contribution to conservation.
The winners of this year's Conservation Innovation awards, launched last year by WWF as an initiate to recognise great ideas that boost conservation, are celebrating in Wellington tonight. The selection process for this year’s awards included a crowdsourcing campaign, which allowed people to comment on the ideas and projects that had been submitted.
WWF’s Michele Frank, who oversees community conservation projects, says the entries were inspirational.
By harnessing creativity like this we can bring better tools to the community volunteer army and better protect our wildlife, sooner.
Monitoring lizards
Almost all of our lizards – more than 100 species of geckos and skinks – are endemic to New Zealand, but 85 per cent are considered threatened because of introduced predators or disruptions to their natural habitat. They are found in all habitats, from the coast to the mountains, and play an important role in ecosystems as seed dispersers and pollinators of native trees.
Yet, for decades, the main method used for monitoring lizard populations was a simple bucket used as a pitfall trap.
EcoGecko, a group of Wellington-based herpetologists, has developed a new-generation trap designed to monitor lizards much more reliably. The grant will be put towards making and testing a prototype. EcoGecko’s Ayla Wiles says the new trap will help gather better population data for New Zealand’s “forgotten fauna” of lizards and information about their importance as indicators of ecosystem health.
“They are in all of the kinds of ecosystems we have in New Zealand, and they are one of the most susceptible to predation and changes in their environment. If they are not in an ecosystem you can tell that the ecosystem is struggling and something‘s not going right.”
You can listen to an earlier Our Changing World feature in which Alison Ballance went on a lizard hunt with EcoGecko's Sabine Melzer.
The Uawanui Project
This iwi-led community project from the East Cape is based on the principle that a healthy environment means healthy people. Its focus is on the Uawa river catchment in Tolaga Bay, and it began in 2012 when the community gathered to mark the transit of Venus and Captain’s Cook’s first contact.
With a long-term commitment to make conservation a part of everyday life, the project’s aim is to integrate environmental efforts with economic, social and cultural development and education in the Uawa Tolaga Bay area.
Nori Parata, the principal at Tolaga Bay area school, says the project began as a school initiative to restore the estuary nearby to what it would have looked like in 1769, when Captain Cook arrived in Uawa.
The community has worked closely with scientists from the Allan Wilson Centre to replant the area in native vegetation and to control pests. As a result, the team found that the Uawa area is home to a population of New Zealand dotterel, or tuturiwhatu, and the students are now using the latest technology to monitor the birds’ breeding success.
“It’s rarer than some species of kiwi so we’ve become very protective of it now that we’re aware of that.”
You can listen to this special Our Changing World programme recorded in Tolaga Bay during the transit of Venus, which also features the Uawanui conservation project.
Effective wasp bait
Invasive wasps cause around $60 million worth of damage to the New Zealand environment every year. They compete with native species for nectar and honeydew, attack honeybees and kill a range of native invertebrates and even newly hatched birds.
Nelson-based ecologist Richard Toft says wasps can reach high numbers in beech forests, up to 10,000 per hectare, and with few natural enemies to control them, populations can reach plague proportions during summer.
The search for an effective wasp bait and toxin has been a long-term effort, but has been hindered by the phasing-out of some insecticides that have shown harmful unwanted effects.
Richard Toft, at Entecol, has developed a protein-based bait system, Vespex, that is specific to wasps. He says the wasps are attracted to the protein food, which they need to feed their larvae, and will carry it back to their own nests. Importantly, he says the bait is unattractive to bees.
Vespex has already been trialled successfully in conjunction with the Department of Conservation and showed a 95 per cent reduction in wasp activity within a week.
Our Changing World have covered last year's inaugural Conservation Innovation awards and you can listen to that programme here.
Topics: science, environment
Regions:
Tags: WWF Conservation Innovation awards, lizards, wasps, community, Uawanui project, Vespex, EcoGecko
Duration: 12'41"
21:35
A journey through the Anthropocene
BODY:
Gaia Vince is the author of Adventures in the Anthropocene, which won the 2015 Winton Science Book Prize.
EXTENDED BODY:
This idea seems to have caught the imagination beyond the science world into the worlds of culture, artists, novelists – everyone has embraced this idea that we are this enormous species that has changed the planet.
Gaia Vince, Adventures in the Anthropocene
It seems absurd to think that a species that has existed only for the tiniest fraction of Earth’s history should have an impact so profound and lasting that it changes the way our planet works. But that is exactly what we are doing.
“It is undeniable that we have become a planetary force,” says Gaia Vince, a science writer whose book, Adventures in the Anthropocene, recently won the Royal Society’s Winton Science Book prize.
Through mining alone, we have moved more sediment than all the world's rivers combined. At the same time, we have built thousands of large dams that have slowed down natural sediment flow, which means that some of the world’s large river deltas, home to millions of people, are eroding away faster than they can be replenished.
We have depleted the ozone layer, are warming the planet, raising sea levels, acidifying the oceans and pushing other species closer to the brink of extinction. And we’re doing it on a prodigal scale and an accelerating pace that outruns geological timeframes.
“There is one species that is responsible for all of this,” says Vince. Our fingerprint is everywhere, she says, as we define the Anthropocene, an epoch that is largely determined by our impact on the world around us.
Next year, scientists from various geological societies will begin the slow process of determining whether the term Anthropocene should be formally accepted to describe a new epoch. Officially, we’re living in the Holocene, a period that spans roughly the last 12,000 years, but Vince says momentum is building to establish a new geological period that recognises humanity’s impact on the planet.
The term Anthropocene was coined by atmospheric chemist Paul Crutzen, whose work contributed to the discovery of ozone depletion and eventually earned him a share of the Nobel prize in 1995.
The idea of the Anthropocene has since been gaining traction. “Everybody has been grappling with this idea and it seems to have caught the imagination beyond the science world into the worlds of culture, artists, theatre writers, novelists – everyone has embraced this idea that we are this enormous species that has changed the planet.”
Vince says one of the drivers of our planetary impact is exponential population growth, which has become possible because we have harnessed the energy stored in fossil fuels. It took humans 50,000 years to reach a population of one billion. In just the last decade, we’ve added another billion people, and by the end of this century, our global population could be nine billion.
Another driver is that we are fast becoming an urban species. “At the start of the 1800s, 3 per cent lived in cities. Now more than half of us do, and by 2050 more than three quarters of all people will live in cities. We are now an urban species and live in an artificial environment and that has meant that we are a concentrated species on the planet and using the rest of the world as a sort of factory to supply everything we need.”
In Adventures in the Anthropocene, Vince charts our impact on different parts of the globe, with each chapter focusing on landforms such as mountains, savannahs and the oceans. In the marine environment, she says one of the strongest signals of our impact is that the first entire ecosystem at risk of going extinct will be coral reefs.
However, despite the fact that it deals with a global and all-encompassing crisis, the book remains optimistic. After years of working as a science journalist, Gaia Vince quit work and travelled the world for more than two years in search of people and communities learning to live in a fast-changing world. In the book, she introduces many of them, including villagers in India who use satellite technology to glean water and farmers in the Himalayas who create artificial glaciers, and shares their future-focused outlook.
“I don’t say that all is doomed, but I do say we need to prepare ourselves and try and find ways of dealing with this changed world, because we’re not living in the Holocene anymore. We’re living in a completely different world and we need to adapt to that."
Topics: science, environment, climate
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Tags: Anthropocene, Winton Science Book prize, climate change, biodiversity
Duration: 15'22"
21:45
Mars Mission: a mental journey
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As NASA considers a mission to Mars, it is investigating what happens to an astronaut's brain during long-duration space travel.
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There’s only four humans who have consecutively spent more than a year in space and the shortest trip ever possible to Mars is approximately two years.
Mathias Basner, University of Pennsylvania
For many space is still the final frontier.
And when it comes to a mission to Mars, everyone wants to know what's out there. But NASA also wants to know what's within. Specifically, what's within the brains of its astronauts and what might be changing while they're taking part in long space missions.
Mathias Basner, an associate professor of sleep and chronobiology at the University of Pennsylvania says currently, the neurological impact of long duration space travel is still unknown.
"There’s only four humans who have consecutively spent more than a year in space and the shortest trip ever possible to Mars is approximately two years.”
As part of his research, co-funded by NASA and the German Aerospace Center, his team has been scanning the brains of individuals living in what are known as "analogue settings".
These are other extreme and isolated environments, including Antarctica, that mimic the conditions astronauts might experience in space. He says the team is looking at whether exposure to such environments causes neuro-structural changes. "Does anything change with brain structure and function when people are in this isolated, confined and extreme environment for a prolonged period of time."
Mathias Basner says the results will be relevant to NASA's plans for Mars.
People who will travel to Mars and back will experience the same thing. They will be confined to a very closed space, spent together the whole time with only a few people. And it's, of course, you know, a very extreme environment and very hostile and dangerous to humans.
The Christchurch Connection
Mathias Basner's team recently arrived in Christchurch where, in collaboration with the New Zealand Brain Research Institute, they prepared protocols to scan the brains of crew who have wintered in Antarctica. The 13 French and Italian staff from the Concordia Research Station will all be tested immediately after returning from the ice throughout November and December.
He says a collaborator, Alexander Stahn from the Centre for Space Medicine in Berlin, has already conducted similar tests on crew at the German Neumayer Station in Antarctica.
He says these showed that the hippocampus region of the brain, which is important for both memory formation and visual/spatial orientation, actually shrinks during the Antarctica winter.
So the idea there is, if you're always in the same environment, no variety, always with the same people, and then also the psychological stress associated with living in this isolated, confined and extreme environment, that that actually is the cause for these structural changes in the hippocampus.
He says those scans were done before and after the winter period in Antarctica. However, this research will add a further test, scanning the crew members before, immediately after their return and then a further six months later to assess whether the hippocampus recovers.
He says that’s why the collaboration with Christchurch researchers is important, enabling the crew to be tested straight after leaving the ice. “We want to get them as soon as possible, when they’re leaving this environment, because we don’t know how long these changes are going to last.”
Tracy Melzer, the MRI research manager at the New Zealand Brain Research Institute, says his role is simply running the scans and ensuring the project is a success. But he hopes further collaboration will be possible. He says New Zealand punches well above its weight in brain research and he hopes that local investigators will be involved in some of the project's future analysis.
Topics: science, Antarctica, health, environment, technology
Regions: Canterbury
Tags: brain imaging, analogue environments, space travel, Mars mission, NASA, University of Pennsylvania
Duration: 12'28"
9:06 Our Changing World: Science and environment news from NZ and the world (RNZ)
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19:08
The Psychiatry of Carl Wernicke
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Editors Robert Miller and John Dennison on An Outline of Psychiatry in Clinical Lectures, their translation of a collection of lectures by Carl Wernicke, a German pioneer of neurology and psychiatry.
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Editors Robert Miller and John Dennison on An Outline of Psychiatry in Clinical Lectures, their translation of a collection of lectures by Carl Wernicke, a German pioneer of neurology and psychiatry.
Wernicke was born in what is now German-speaking part of what is now Poland in the 19th century. His neurology work is pretty well known in the English-speaking world, and there is even a part of the brain called the Wernicke.
Miller and Dennison talk to Bryan Crump about why, over 100 years after his death, his thoughts on psychiatry still have meaning today.
Topics: science, health, books, history, language
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Tags: neurology, psychiatry, Carl Wernicke
Duration: 21'37"
20:45
Nights Cultural Ambassador
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Comics: shading in the heroes and villains of an animated realm is cartoonist, writer, illustrator Adrian Kinnaird... the new New Zealand graphic novel The Heading Dog Who Split In Half: Legends and Tall Tales from New Zealand, a collaboration between historian Michael Brown & cartoonist Mat Tait.
Topics: arts
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Tags: Adrian Kinnaird, Michael Brown, Mat Tait, comics, graphic novels, animation, The Heading dog who split in half, folk stories, tall tails
Duration: 14'42"
20:59
Conundrum Clue 7
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Conundrum Clue 7.
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Duration: 10"
21:59
Conundrum Clue 8
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Conundrum Clue 8.
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Duration: 32"
=SHOW NOTES=
NIGHTS on RNZ National
with skipper. Bryan Crump & navigator. Robyn Rockgirl Walker
Tonight's rundown (Thursday)...
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7:12pm THE PSYCHIATRY OF CARL WERNICKE
Editors Robert Miller and John Dennison on An Outline of Psychiatry in Clinical Lectures, their translation of a collection of lectures by Carl Wernicke, a German pioneer of neurology and psychiatry.
7:35pm At the Movies with Simon Morris
8:12pm Windows on the World (international public radio documentaries) - South Sudan: Can the World's Youngest Country Survive?
8:43pm NIGHTS Cultural Ambassadors
roster: Kate Mead (Contemporary Classical Music); Adrian Kinnaird (Comics & Graphic Novels); Miles Buckingham (Jamaican Music); Cliff Fell (Poetry); Kirsten Zemke (Hip Hop); Andrew Todd (Video Games); Fergus Barrowman (Jazz); Leilani Unasa (Pasifika); Paul Berrington (Electronic Music); & Chris Jannides (Dance)
COMICS
shading in the heroes and villains of an animated realm is cartoonist, writer, illustrator Adrian Kinnaird... the new New Zealand graphic novel The Heading Dog Who Split In Half: Legends and Tall Tales from New Zealand, a collaboration between historian Michael Brown & cartoonist Mat Tait...
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8:59pm NIGHTS conundrum clue 7
9:07pm Our Changing World
9:59pm NIGHTS conundrum clue 8
10:17pm Late Edition (a round up of today's RNZ news and feature interviews as well as Date Line Pacific from RNZ International)
11:07pm The Eleventh Hour: Music 101 pocket edition with Emma Smith
... nights' time is the right time...
===10:00 PM. | Late Edition===
=DESCRIPTION=
Radio New Zealand news, including Dateline Pacific and the day's best interviews from Radio New Zealand National
===11:06 PM. | Music 101===
=DESCRIPTION=
Music, interviews, live performances, behind the scenes, industry issues, career profiles, new, back catalogue, undiscovered, greatest hits, tall tales - with a focus on NZ (RNZ)