Hihi return to Shakespear Regional Park

Forty hihi – one of NZ’s rarest forest birds – have been translocated from Tiritiri Matangi Island to Shakespear Regional Park’s open sanctuary. They are fantail-sized and fast, and will often approach people. They have a white wing bar and a high-pitched whistle. The male birds have a black head...

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Exotic pets on the loose in Auckland

Releasing exotic fish into waterways upsets natural ecosystems, by forcing native species to compete for habitat, degrading water quality, introducing parasites and disease, and depleting native insects, fish eggs and plants. They can breed quickly, making it difficult to get rid of them. Pet birds can upset the delicate ecosystem...

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Auckland – Tree City of the World

Tāmaki Makaurau has been recognised as a Tree City of the World by the Arbor Day Foundation and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. This is the fourth year running we have received this international accreditation, being one of 200 cities recognised this year, in the Tree...

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Leys in limbo

The closure of the Leys Institute in December 2019, the 4 years of community consultation and the advocacy of the Waitematā Local Board for the seismic strengthening and restoration of these treasured regionally and nationally significant heritage buildings have been reported on in several earlier CTA posts. Friends of Leys...

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Mid-century Waiatarau Freemans Bay

Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga has released these stories about mid-century Waiatarau Freemans Bay, from the memories of Janice Cheeseman, who was 6 years old when living there with her family.  https://visit-heritage.shorthandstories.com/big-enough-for-our-family-of-three/index.html    

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RMS amendments

The Resource Management (Freshwater and Other Matters) Amendment Bill has been tabled, the first of two amendments to the RMA. It will make the following changes to the principal Act and national direction made under it: It will exclude the hierarchy of Te Mana o te Wai in the National...

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Building materials recycled

CTA submissions to Auckland Council have often included words like the following:  “We suggest that there should be much less building waste. Too much existing building fabric gets thrown out, including native timber, and there should be the necessary investment in education and the development of rules to encourage or...

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