World Wetlands Day 50th anniversary

2021 is the 50th anniversary of World Wetlands Day which is held annually on 2 February.  The theme this year is Wetlands and Water. Wetlands include freshwater swamps, bogs, gumlands, pākihi, fens, marshes and seepages. They are a threatened habitat in New Zealand. We have lost over 90% of our...

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Climate Change Commission draft advice

The Climate Change Commission has published their first draft advice on what Aotearoa New Zealand needs to do to meet the scale of the climate crisis, and meet our obligations as a signatory of the Paris Climate Agreement. Public consultation on the draft advice runs from February 1 until March...

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Pre-Christmas gathering at Kinder House

A small pre-Christmas gathering was held on the afternoon of Sunday 13 December at Kinder House, CTA Board member Gary Russell, the curator at Kinder House, having kindly offered the use of the venue for this purpose. A little live music was provided by Audrey van Ryn and her sister...

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Civic Trust AGM 2020

The 2020 AGM was held on 8 November at Kinder House. The meeting was run by the Vice-President / Secretary, Audrey van Ryn, the President being in isolation due to COVID-19. Audrey read the President’s report and answered questions. Discussion ensued about such issues as the siting of the Erebus...

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Te Ao Mārama South Atrium opened at museum

The Auckland War Memorial Museum recently opened the new South Atrium entrance after being closed for about 18 months. “The changes to the South Atrium, which has been designed to be more open and assertively Māori and Pacific in character, make a wonderful foil to the original classical style atrium...

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UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration & Ocean Science for Sustainable Development

The United Nations Decade on Biodiversity gives way to the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration.  This aims to prevent, halt and reverse the degradation of ecosystems worldwide. Restoration is a monumental task. Over the next ten years, every action counts. Every single day. Every country, company, organization, and individual has...

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Climate Crisis

The digital version of Auckland’s Climate Plan (Te Tāruke-ā-Tāwhiri) is online. CTA was one of the submitters to this plan and our submission is here. The launch of the digital plan was marked by a climate action focussed Auckland Conversation: So, Auckland has a climate plan… now what? A recording...

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