Rob Lyons, deputy editor of The Spiked review of Books, has written a critical but thoughtful review of James Lovelock’s most recent publication, The Vanishing Face of Gaia: a Final Warning (http://www.spiked-online.com/index.php?/site/reviewofbooks article/6596/ .

The Ministry for the Environment website records that the Board of Inquiry has released an oral decision to grant the applicant's adjournment, subject to certain qualifications to be advised by a written decision.That decision will be available on the site once it is released. http://www.mfe.govt.nz/rma/call-in-hmr/board-inquiry-hmr.html

Have your heard of this Forum? It's an innovative partnership between research and management agencies, iwi groups, private landowners, communities and projects in relation to native biodiversity in the Waikato region of New Zealand. For more information see:
http://www.waikatobiodiversity.org.nz/

This month, on Monday 29 June the forum is hosting a meeting of interested parties to discuss the Waiwhakareke Natural Heritage Park (WNHP) http://www.waiwhakareke.co.nz/ and identify means of maintaining momentum for this exciting project. If you are interested in biodiversity in the Region, or being involved in the Forum or this particular Forum event, please contact Moira Cursey at m.cursey@xtra.co.nz

If you read the newspapers you will have read that the most recent development in the Board of Inquiry hearing is the application by the applicants for a 12 month adjournment. The application has been made to enable the applicant to obtain further evidence. The matter is currently before the Board, and as such it is inappropriate to comment on the merits of such an application.

Nevertheless there are some interesting procedural aspects to consider. The matter is before the Board as the result of a "call-in", an RMA procedure touted as providing greater efficiency of process. The "place" of a lengthy adjournment in such a procedure will be a matter of interest to all parties. 

Currently underway is the Board of Inquiry hearing in relation to resource consent applications for a wind farm proposal, on the west coast of the North Island of New Zealand. The applicants Contact Wind Limited and Contact Energy Limited (Contact) have applied for consents to establish and operate a 180 turbine wind farm which spans a 34km stretch of coastline running from Te Akau, just north of Raglan Harbour to Port Waikato.

Ngutu parore wrybill flocking at foraging grounds at Miranda, East Coast, North Island New Zealand

http://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/oceans-habitat/oceans/oap-pao/index_e.asp

Canada is a country with a large area of coast and continental shelf.  It includes the drowned coastline of British Columbia, the rugged coasts of Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Labrador, and the Arctic ocean and continental shelf areas of the Beaufort Sea.  The oceans around Canada have supported the now defunct cod fishery off Newfoundland, the overfished lobster fisheries of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick and the highly stressed salmon fisheries off the coast of British Columbia.  In addition, Canadian Arctic waters are threatened by the impacts of oil exploration.  So there is ample reason for the Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans to be concerned about strategic approaches to ocean management.  This Ocean Action Plan may have relevance for a New Zealand oceans policy.

Last month I was involved in four submissions to various plans and discussion documents around the Waikato region; this month I am involved again presenting oral submissions.  Each written and oral submission involves time and thought; time to read the documents, time to formulate and express one’s thoughts about the document; time to attend to the hearing.  All of it is unpaid.  I do the work not as a paid lobbyist, but as a volunteer who feels committed to the environmental health of the region.  Cumulatively, it amounts to many hours of time and effort.  Is it worth it?

This week the Herald carries a riveting article about the perils of relying upon unattributed internet information. The article reports an artful dodge by an Irish University student, who creatively wove a tale, surrounding the life and times of the recently deceased composer Maurice Jarre. The information was posted on Wikipedia and proceeded to make its way into several authoritative print sources, thus fiction became fact.

Resource Management Plans and Processing Resource Consents ENVP508-09C.

• The Department of Geography, Tourism & Environmental Planning is once again offering it popular “hands-on” resource management course.