EXCLUSIVE FOR WWF SUPPORTERS

ANTARCTICASave the south

AFTER THE SPILLRestoring the Bay of Plenty

PAPER TIGERSStop the wipe out

100% POSSIBLESpeak up for renewable energy

ISSUE 04MAGAZINE

2012

PAGE 2 Living Planet

LIVING PLANET – ISSUE 4

The inaccessible beauty of Antarctica has captured the imaginations of explorers and adventurers for centuries. It is the coldest, driest, windiest and highest continent on the map. With a landscape like a frozen desert, nearly all the wildlife lives in or around the ocean, including globally important recovering populations of great whales, albatrosses, seals and penguins.

Sadly, the continent’s political neutrality, remoteness and inhospitable climate have not prevented modern pressures like climate change and overfishing reaching even here. That’s why WWF has teamed up with actor and UN Ambassador Edward Norton, Oceanographer Dr Sylvia Earle, entrepreneur Sir Richard Branson, and 16 other leading conservation organisations, to call for a fully protected marine reserve in the Antarctic Ross Sea region. This should become the keystone for the world’s

largest network of marine protected areas and no-take marine reserves in the Southern Ocean around Antarctica. Read on to find out more, and how your help could be instrumental in making this historic thing possible.

Another denizen of the southern oceans closer to home, the New Zealand sea lion, also urgently needs our help. Pup numbers have halved since 1998, and if they continue to decline, sea lions could be functionally extinct by 2035.

Read on for more on how your words and donations are helping us protect so many threatened species and special places.

Many thanks and best wishes

Executive Director, WWF-New Zealand

P8 100% POSSIBLEP3 ANTARCTICA

P3 Our Far South – an amazing Antarctic journeyP4 After the oil: restoring the Bay of PlentyP6 The plight of the New Zealand Sea LionP8 Become an advocate for renewable energy P9 How loo roll could wipe out Sumatran tigersP10 You can help protect Antarctica P11 Contact us

WELCOME FROM

CHRIS HOWE

CONTENTS

Cover image: Two Adelie Penguins (Pygoscelis adeliae) on iceberg, Antarctica. © naturepl.com / Edwin Giesbers / WWF

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P4 AFTER THE SPILL

Living Planet PAGE 3

Returning to Antarctic waters on the Our Far South voyage, WWF Marine Advocate Bob Zuur reflects on protecting this unique – and changing – wilderness. One hundred years ago Robert Falcon Scott reached the South Pole. Fifty years ago his son, Peter Scott, founded the World Wildlife Fund. More recently, legendary natural history programme maker and WWF ambassador David Attenborough brought remarkable footage of the white continent’s wildlife to our television screens with Frozen Planet.

WWF has supported greater protection for Antarctica from our earliest days. So when an opportunity arose to join the Our Far South voyage to highlight the importance of, and the threats to, Antarctica and New Zealand’s subantarctic islands, I jumped at the chance. I sailed with nine other scientists and several communications experts, as well as everyday New Zealanders on the ice-strengthened Spirit of Enderby. We came from different walks of life, but we all experienced the same sense of awe at the sheer beauty and wildness of this incredible part of our planet.

There were many highlights, but the day we reached Scott Base was perhaps the most memorable. The winter staff at Scott Base welcomed us with a tour around the base, and that evening we sailed to Cape Royds, the site of Shackleton’s “Nimrod” expedition hut.

There was scarcely a breath of wind and the sinking sun cast a rosy hue on Mt Erebus, an active volcano about the same height as Mt Cook. A small group of emperor penguins looked up in amazement as the Spirit crunched through the ice just metres away. Crabeater seals slunk away as we approached. Minke whales fed on the rich bounty of the Ross Sea in gaps between the ice. Plumes of breath condensed in the freezing air as they dived. The sun dipped behind the Royal Society Ranges just after midnight – the end of a magical day in one of the Earth’s most wonderful places.

Some aspects were familiar to me from my studies of fish growth in the Ross Sea 35 years ago. But Antarctica is changing. Over the

past three decades, ice shelves in West Antarctica have melted and the annual sea ice around the continent is diminishing as a result of climate change. Longliners are taking toothfish in the Ross Sea and trawlers are catching krill in the Southern Ocean. Japanese whalers catch hundreds of whales each year. Populations of some species, such as rockhopper penguins, have crashed.

Antarctica is important. Not just for the fantastic creatures we were privileged to meet. But also because Antarctic drives global climate and ocean circulation systems. The white continent and its surrounding seas are under threat. It’s up to us to ensure their protection.

Turn to page 10 to f ind out how you can support W WF ’s work to protect Antarct ica.

ANTARCTICA

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WWF Marine Advocate Bob Zuur.

PROTECTING OUR FROZEN PLANET

Antarctic Ice.

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PAGE 4 Living Planet

In the wake of the Rena oil spill disaster an amazingly rapid and generous response from WWF supporters has helped raise more than $60,000 to assist community conservation efforts in the Bay of Plenty.

WWF continues to work for improved marine conservation to radically reduce the risk of a similar accident happening again.

Since the spill happened in October, WWF members have donated $30,000 to our Bay of Plenty Restoration Fund. WWF-New Zealand, in partnership with The Tindall Foundation, has matched this with another $30,000. The fund will support community projects to restore important habitat, such as beaches, sand dunes and estuaries, as well as funding research and monitoring wildlife impacted by the Rena disaster.

AFTER THE OIL

AFTER THE OIL RESTORING THE BAY OF PLENTY

Many rescued little blue penguins like these have been released back into the Bay of Plenty, but there is still work to do to restore the shoreline and habitats.

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Living Planet PAGE 5

AFTER THE OIL

Chris Howe, WWF-New Zealand Executive Director, says: “Both the response to this spill from ordinary Kiwis and the outstanding work of the professionals at the spill site have demonstrated great commitment and deep understanding of what is at stake here. We want the Government to match this, with real measures to help stop something like this, or worse, from happening to another New Zealand coastline and another of our communities.”

We are calling for the Government to shelve its plans to open up more of New Zealand’s oceans to drilling for oil and gas – at least until it has done everything possible to reduce the risk of spills, and set aside our most diverse marine habitats as off-limits to all exploitation. Without an overall oceans strategy to protect our unique marine wildlife, our seas remain at risk.

More than 2,000 dead seabirds were found in the immediate aftermath of the spill, but the true number of birds and other wildlife killed will be much higher. WWF remains deeply concerned for the wildlife affected, the impacts on breeding for some species, and the long-term environmental impacts.

For more information go to wwf.org.nz

TAURANGA LEADS THE WORLD FOR EARTH HOUR On 31 March the people of Tauranga led hundreds of millions in a worldwide celebration of sustainability. The city was given the role of starting this year’s Earth Hour in honour of the community’s outstanding efforts tackling the Rena oil spill and its aftermath. People across New Zealand and around the globe symbolically switched off the lights and took part in events ranging from candle lit concerts to a sustainability themed film festival. Bayfair in Tauranga took Earth Hour participation to the next level. In exchange for people’s pledges to live more sustainably – from growing their own vegetables to families committing to bike to school – the shopping mall will help the community plant 1,000 dune seedlings.

WWF-New Zealand Executive Director Chris Howe said:

“Earth Hour was amazing. And Tauranga was such a fitting place to kick things off. The way local people, and Kiwis from across the country, came together to tackle this environmental disaster is a shining example of the kind of determination we need worldwide to meet the serious challenges we are facing.”

WWF-New Zealand Marine Advocate Bob Zuur joined thousands of volunteers responding to the Rena oil spill. Sea birds were among wildlife killed by the spill.

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Children watch the lights go down at Tauranga’s Earth Hour event, where over 2000 people celebrated at an acoustic concert and night-market.

$30,000HAS BEEN DONATED BY WWF SUPPORTERS TO THE BAY OF PLENTY RESTORATION FUND

WWF SUPPORTERS SPEAK OUT FOR NZ SEA LIONS New Zealand sea lions are among the rarest of their kind anywhere in the world. But since 1998, the number of pups born in the already-endangered Auckland Island colony has halved. And recent studies suggest that the species could be functionally extinct by 2035 if not properly protected.

Fishing is the biggest human threat to sea lions. More than 70% of New Zealand’s sea lions live and breed in the Auckland Islands, the site of a major squid trawl fishery. They hunt for squid and fish at the same depths as where the commercial trawl nets operate.

Despite this, in recent months the New Zealand Government proposed removing the limit on the number of sea lions fisheries are permitted to kill in fishing nets as accidental by-catch. WWF immediately objected – and you, our supporters, did too, raising your voices with ours.

We continue to advocate for the Government respond to this conservation emergency by increasing protection for our sea lions. These animals don’t have a voice, but we do – and we’re inviting all New Zealanders to speak out for sea lions, by writing a letter to the Government. You can download your ‘Speak out for Sea Lions’ campaign kit at wwf.org.nz/sealions

New Zealand (Hooker’s) Sea Lion pups at Sandy Bay, Enderby Island at the subantartic Auckland Islands.

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HAVE YOUR SAY

“The sea lion pups lives are as valuable as ours, so lets save them. Lots of our species are already extinct, and we don’t want sea lions to be one of those!”

That’s how one of our younger supporters put it, writing in support of WWF’s campaign for greater protection for sea lions. Thank you to the huge number of WWF members who have taken up this urgent issue by donating to our New Zealand sea lion appeal, and joining our campaign by pledge your support. We have presented your campaign messages to Government as part of our advocacy for the species.

PAGE 8 Living Planet

RENEWABLE ENERGY

73%WANT ENERGY TO COME FROM OUR RENEWABLE RESOURCES

Linda McGrogan.

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WWF is confident that New Zealand can be a world leader in renewable energy, and we reckon ordinary Kiwis are too. So since last September we have been scouring the country for committed, passionate people from all walks of life to join our team of 100% Possible advocates speaking up for New Zealand’s clean green future.

Linda McGrogan from Taupo is one of them. Coming from the heart of geothermal country in Taupo, Linda can see the potential for renewable energy all around her: “There are just an amazing number of geothermal energy projects popping up all over the Taupo region. We are so lucky to have this wonderful resource in our area.”

She signed up at last year’s Clean Energy Expo and has written letters to the New Zealand Herald and

the Dominion Post highlighting this issue, responding to opinion pieces, and writing to some of our politicians.

“I’ve been thinking and talking about all the problems facing our planet for quite a few years now,” she says. “This seemed to be something that I could do. One letter doesn’t necessarily make much difference, but if enough of us keep writing about the same things, then maybe the decision-makers will listen.”

“It doesn’t take much time and some of the updates I receive from WWF are really interesting, articles that I don’t always come across. I am learning a lot I didn’t know.”

JOIN THE 100% POSSIBLE TEAM As a WWF supporter, you get an insider’s view of an environmental organisation. But this is an exciting chance to take that one step further.

A recent survey found 73% of New Zealanders want the Government to make generating energy from our country’s abundant renewable resources like geothermal and wind resources a priority above more fossil fuel extraction. But our Government doesn’t seem to be listening.

You can help get the message across. We need smart, passionate people like you to give a little time to help the push for a clean energy future.

To sign up and get your free Toolkit for Action, contact Lee Barry, our climate & energy campaigner, on 04 471 4297 or email lbarry@wwf.org.nz

To f ind out more, go to: wwf.org.nz/100_percent_possible

THE 100% POSSIBLE CAMPAIGN

WE WANT YOU FOR A RENEWABLE ENERGY FUTURE

Living Planet PAGE 9

PAPER TIGERS

Investigations have linked unsustainable toilet paper production with destruction of Sumatran tiger habitat.

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WWF TELLS PAPER GIANT TO STOP WIPING OUT TIGERSOne in four toilet rolls sold by New Zealand’s major retailers come from Indonesia. A recent investigation proved some of them come from unsustainable sources. The environmental damage done through unsustainable and illegal logging, badly managed plantations and the use of bleaching chemicals for virgin pulp to be turned into loo roll is shocking. It is also

entirely unnecessary; a variety of 100% recycled and FSC-certified toilet rolls are easily available.

One of the biggest companies involved is Indonesian-based

APP, which is heavily implicated in the felling of essential forest habitat for critically endangered Sumatran tigers and endangered orang-utans. It is also part of the Sinar Mas group of companies that has been instrumental in rainforest destruction for palm oil production. APP has repeatedly pledged, and failed, to switch to 100% plantation sourcing of timber for major pulp mills: missing self-imposed deadlines to stop using native forest timber in 2004, 2007 and 2009.

In response, WWF’s global network and other environmental organisations are putting pressure on paper businesses and retailers worldwide to stop trading with the company until it makes good on its promises. The Warehouse has already suspended stocking APP-owned Cottonsoft in New Zealand, the Mattel toy company has stopped using APP materials in its packaging and other big retailers are taking note.

Thanks for your support in choosing wildlife-friendly toilet roll and helping to spread the word.

WWF-New Zealand has produced an easy to use scorecard to help consumers to choose the most environmentally friendly toilet roll brands. Get your copy at: wwf.org.nz/toilet_paper

PAGE 10 Living Planet

WWF is campaigning for a fully protected marine reserve in the Ross Sea, Antarctica. If we are successful, this will become the keystone for the world’s largest network of marine protected areas and no-take marine reserves in the Southern Ocean around Antarctica.

Humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae), close-up. Drake Passage, South Pole, Antarctica.

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tAPPEAL – DONATE TO HELP PROTECT ANTARCTICA

MAUI’S NEARER EXTINCTION: WWF CALLS FOR URGENT ACTIONWWF has stepped up its campaign

to save Maui’s dolphins from

extinction in the wake of a new

Department of Conservation

estimate that there are likely to be

just 55 adults of the species left.

The population of Maui’s dolphins has

declined significantly. WWF believes

there is still hope for a recovery, but only if fishing nets, the main threat to their survival, are removed from all areas where the dolphins range.

WWF believes the Government has not acted fast enough to halt the dolphin’s decline. It must act now.

Find out more at wwf.org.nz

HELP US CREATE HISTORY

Extinction warning as Maui’s dolphin population reaches record low.

Living Planet PAGE 11

We could make history in 2012 by fully protecting the Ross Sea from threats such as fishing and mining.

This wondrous region is home to thousands of species, including emperor penguins, Antarctic petrels, Ross Sea killer whales, colossal squid and whales, many of which are already endangered and found nowhere else on the planet. The Ross Sea is also a critical laboratory for the study of climate change, which is already having an impact here.

Later this year at The Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR), representatives from countries will meet to debate the future of this area – one that is unlike any other on our planet. Without protection, the effects from climate change, overfishing, unregulated shipping, mining and drilling could be catastrophic.

We must act now to protect this near pristine wilderness.

A donation to WWF today will support our campaign for full protection of the Ross Sea for generations to come. By creating a network of fully protected Southern Ocean marine reserves free from fishing and mining we can provide a buffer against climate change. We can also ensure a future

HELP PROTECT OUR LIVING PLANET

THE LANGHAM, AUCKLAND CONTINUES PARTNERSHIP WITH WWFWWF is very pleased to have renewed its agreement as a ‘charity of choice’ with the Langham, Auckland.

The Langham has supported WWF since 2009, and the renewal continues to develop this relationship.

Chris Howe, WWF New Zealand Executive Director, said: “The agreement includes a focus on the hotel’s own sustainability,

including responsible sourcing of seafood. We’re delighted to continue our partnership with the Langham: this support helps WWF deliver our conservation programme, from providing space for conservation events, to giving WWF staff an Auckland base. The hotel also provides WWF’s magazine to its customers to raise awareness of our work and encourage support for WWF.”

ROSS SEANEEDS TO BE PROTECTED FROM THREATS SUCH AS FISHING AND MINING

for the region’s precious wildlife, from small krill to giant whales, that make this region their home.

Protecting the Ross Sea is the crucial first step towards making that happen. With your support we can continue our campaign to ensure world leaders will not only debate the future of this area, but guarantee its protection.

Help us create history – make a donation today using the attached form. Thank you.

Chris Howe

CONTACT USFor any enquiries regarding supporting WWF

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Phone: 0800 4357 993 or 04 499 2930

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To leave a legacy, please fi ll in the appropriate section on the attached form and return to us. Your support means the world to us.

For more information regarding bequests to WWF, please contact Ruchika in confi dence at: WWF-New Zealand, PO Box 6237, Marion Square, Wellington 6141 E: bequest@wwf.org.nz P: 04 499 2930 or 0800 4357 993

Your Will can protect wildlife and wild spaces for future generationsLeave a legacy that refl ects your commitment to protecting our precious New Zealand wildlife and wild spaces, by adding a WWF donation to your Will, today.

(Aptenodytes forsteri) Emperor penguin Adults and chick against blue ice background Dawson-Lambton Glacier, Antarctica.

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BEQUEST

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To leave a legacy, please fi ll in the appropriate section on the attached form and return to us. Your support means the world to us.

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Your Will can protect wildlife and wild spaces for future generationsLeave a legacy that refl ects your commitment to protecting our precious New Zealand wildlife and wild spaces, by adding a WWF donation to your Will, today.

(Aptenodytes forsteri) Emperor penguin Adults and chick against blue ice background Dawson-Lambton Glacier, Antarctica.

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