Biodiversity credits take flight
While the Government mulls its own biodiversity credit scheme, a carbon trading company creates credits to back whio conservation.
Kia ora, welcome to Future Proof. I’m Ellen, thanks for joining me this week.
Image credit: Hamiora Gibson / @sam_the_trap_man
When Sam (Hamiora) Gibson and his mates were young, kiwi were everywhere in the Waioeka Gorge, located between Ōpōtiki and Gisborne. Whio blue ducks filled the streams too. But when they returned years later as adults, they were surprised and concerned to find silent forests and empty streams. “This ecosystem has been supporting my family for at least three generations with food and wellbeing. So when it's been that long, I feel a real responsibility to the place,” says Gibson. In 2020, he and six of his mates founded the Eastern Whio Link, a project led by hunters, fishers and tangata whenua. With a generous donation of 250 traps, they trapped along 25 kilometres of river around the last four remaining whio pairs in the Waioeka.
Whio fantastic
That first breeding season, 20 whio chicks fledged. The next season, there were 26 chicks. And the volunteer base grew quickly too, ballooning from the seven founders to more than 100 volunteers today. Gibson says that hunters and fishers are natural conservationists. “All of our hunters have individual relationships with each whio pair. They know them all by name, they know their territories. They hang out and sit with them for a while, and have conversations, watch them raise their kids, watch their domestics.” But up until now, the Eastern Whio Link have had to pay for their efforts out of their own pocket, with funding for projects like this thin on the ground. Could biodiversity credits offer a solution?
The Eastern Whio Link has teamed up with carbon trading company CarbonZ to offer a new CarbonZ Biodiversity Action Credit. One credit, priced at $200, buys trapping protection across 100m of whio habitat. Finn Ross, founder of CarbonZ, says that rather than putting a price or ownership on nature itself, “you own the impact that contributes to additional biodiversity”. After the upfront cost, there’s an annual maintenance cost to ensure the traps continue to be serviced.
The voluntary credit is aimed at New Zealand businesses seeking to be nature positive, but individuals can purchase credits too. Upon launching last month, seven businesses were onboard. Ross says that Eastern Whio Link’s “strong results” over the last couple of years made the project a clear choice for CarbonZ’s first biodiversity offering. “After the devastating flooding impacts over the last six months, both the people and the biodiversity on the East Coast need funding more than ever.”
Putting a price on nature
Another local outfit, Ekos, launched the Sustainable Development Units Programme – a voluntary biodiversity market pilot – last year, with the first transaction funding conservation management across 83 hectares in Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari.
The Ekos and CarbonZ models are substantially different to state-run biodiversity schemes in Australia, which have attracted strong criticism for their reliance on offsetting and failure to deliver positive biodiversity outcomes. (It feels rather bizarre to say a koala is (as of writing) worth $450 in New South Wales – the price a developer will pay for destroying a koala’s habitat.)
In New Zealand, the government released a discussion document on biodiversity credit systems last month, outlining all sorts of different paths we could go down – including using biodiversity credits to offset “development impacts”.
But in the meantime, Gibson sees schemes like CarbonZ’s credits as a solution to dwindling funding for back-country conservation. “My son is four. He’s out fishing on the project and he just thinks whio are normal. And that’s exactly how we want it to be.”
Support independent journalism in Aotearoa by becoming a Spinoff member.
It’s because of our members that our small team of journalists are able to cover stories the length and breadth of New Zealand, then tell them in an engaging and compelling way. From up-to-the-minute news and sharp political reporting, to stories that delight and entertain – it's all made possible thanks to the support of readers like you. Tautoko mai, become a member today.
Scientists are worried about a climate-regulating current in the Atlantic
A new study reports signs of “instability” in the North Atlantic circulation system known as the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation, or AMOC. The study authors predict a “collapse” of the AMOC might happen around 2050, under current emissions scenarios. The New York Times reported possible impacts arising from an AMOC shutdown could include a cooling of the Northern Hemisphere and faster sea level rises in North America and Europe. But “the conclusions are far from settled science,” said Dr Ben Booth, a senior climate scientist at the UK Met Office. Cathrine Dyer has a clear-headed analysis of the AMOC gone amok on
.
Roads, roads and more roads
The National party announced their transport policy earlier this week, which would see major rapid transit projects scrapped (see Monday’s Bulletin for details) and 150km more four-lane highways constructed. Newsroom’s Marc Daalder estimates that the climate impact of the extra car space would be equivalent to eight weeks of burning coal at Huntly power station. Urban planning researcher Timothy Welch writes that National’s car-centric policy “risks locking the country into a car-dependent, high-carbon future.”
Could freeing up a lane on the Harbour Bridge help Aucklanders lower transport emissions?
In other transport news, the Auckland Transport boss Dean Kimpton reckons the city won’t even get halfway to its 2030 transport emissions reduction target, citing insufficient funding and a lack of political leadership to shepherd Aucklanders to a lower carbon lifestyle. The Spinoff’s Tommy da Silva investigates what it will take to achieve the Transport Emissions Reduction Plan, and how liberating a lane on the Harbour Bridge for pedestrians and cyclists could offer a solution.
Youth Wings is back and Spinoff Members are invited
Join the next generation of Aotearoa politicians on the campaign trail, and watch them debate – a second series of Youth Wings is coming soon. Spinoff Members are also invited to the filming of the Youth Wings debate in Auckland. Contact us for more info. RSVPs close on August 16.
Not a member yet? Join up to gain access to exciting events like this, whilst also helping us bring you more of the content you love – it's a win/win!
More stories:
In Tairāwhiti, steep hillsides marred by landslips and rivers choked with silt and slash illustrate that land use has to change in the region. Toby Morris meets the locals thinking about the future – natives or pines – for The Side Eye comic.
Climate change is changing what we dream about.
UNESCO has recommended that the city of Venice should be placed on the “heritage in danger” list, as climate change threatens “irreversible damage. Scientific advisors also said that the Great Barrier Reef should not be added to the danger list – yet.
After a three-year delay, the rollout of cameras on fishing vessels is finally underway – a development that will enable more accurate sustainability reporting of catches, discards and bycatch.
Soggy, multiyear La Niña weather systems will become more frequent with climate change according to new research, Stuff’s Olivia Wannan reports.
A UN report finds more than 2,000 climate cases in courts around the world between 2020 and 2022 – but is climate litigation making a difference?
Nestlé has removed the “carbon neutral” pledge from its brands including KitKat, as it shifts from offsetting to implementing real emissions reductions across its supply chain.
Left: Kauri dieback detection dogs Mawhai (on rock) and Pip (on grass). Middle: the newest kauri dieback detection dog, Marty. Right: Holly the native frog detection dog with handler Debbie Bishop. Image credits: Auckland Council and University of Otago.
To finish this issue, good news from the pups who put their powerful schnozzes to work for conservation. New research finds that dogs are pretty decent at sniffing out Phytophthera, the type of pathogen that causes kauri dieback. Plus, Holly the five-year-old Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever became New Zealand’s first ever dog trained to detect native frogs, as she and handler Debbie Bishop have been accredited as part of the Conservation Dogs Programme. The achievement is particularly special as it recognises the vision of Debbie’s late husband, Phil Bishop, who was a leading frog researcher.
A round of a-paws for these good boys and girls,
Ellen
Got some feedback about Future Proof or topics you’d like covered? Get in touch with me at futureproof@thespinoff.co.nz
