I was lucky to hear a panel of @avancenz, @eloise_gibson & @lindaclark1 y’day about the challenge to engage people with our nature crisis. Tautuko that. The disconnect is real. E.g. 3/4 of NZers think our wildlife is doing OK. Yet highest proportion of threatened species in world

And, where we don’t do any pest control, 19 of 20 kiwi chicks do not survive beyond one year old. More than half of these are eaten by stoats. With no pest control, 60 per cent of kea nest are lost to predation, rising to 90% + in beech mast years. Which makes depressing reading.

I have often described in talks that being an advocate for nature is like walking a tightrope of hope with apathy on one side (tell ‘em just good news stories & the eyes glaze over) & helplessness on the other (if I really focused on how bad things are noone would get out of bed)

But I think it is important to remember that the biodiversity crisis & the climate crisis are intertwined and the same thing. Each drives the other & maybe we should all stop treating them separately in the way we tell those stories. We can help the media and you can help too...

NZ is already experiencing climate impacts on our nature, e.g. as rats penetrate alpine zones once protected by a barrier of cold, where some species have found sanctuary from predation, are now threatened by warming alpine temps opening up avenues to higher altitudes for pests

There are many important stories to tell, many actions people can take but as you know the science is complex. we will do our absolute best to show you the wildlife & wild places at risk where we can & we need your help to describe that science. Some journos are awesome at this!

So when we call you to explain a tricky concept involving kiwi survival, we will almost certainly help you get the right images, but we really want you to understand the threat and not default to “squeee a cute kiwi hatching!”. Please work with us to understand the why.

And there is always hope for our nature, there are many, endless stories of people grinding away every day to protect the “Last, loneliest, loveliest, exquisite, apart.” (Which is a cheeky use of Rudyard Kipling’s words who incidentally was describing Auckland in this poem!)

*tautoko (not even sure how that autocorrected to a not-word). Sigh