The latest issue of Environment and Nature in New Zealand is now out, and can be downloaded here.
This issue is replete with interesting articles and reviews:
Jo Whittle, ‘Into the backyard: Huntly Power Station and the history of environmentalism in New Zealand’.
Ian Tyrrell, ‘Review Essay: Bernhard Gissibl, Sabine Höhler and Patrick Kupper (editors), Civilizing Nature: National Parks in Global Historical Perspective’. Continue reading
Since my last post, Little wonders (of nature), I have become even more convinced of nature’s amazing capacity to enrapture and surprise. But, this story begins with sadness. Only a day after writing the last post, our household was visited by misfortune. My son misguidedly picked up the now rather plump Sofia, obviously deciding that she needed some more “contact” time. I sternly advised against doing this again, and taking Sofia, carefully returned her to a leaf. However, she remained in a curled-up position, and kept on falling off the leaf. I returned her to a leaf a couple of times before giving up, and carefully placed her on the soil in the pot, where I thought she would at least not incur any injury from further falls. My hope was that she would recover, and climb back up the plant to resume munching. Continue reading
This was going to be a story about the introduction of a small exotic species by European settlers to New Zealand, and the possible motivations for it (since this species provides no economic benefits, as a honey bee or a sheep does, for example). However, somewhat inconveniently, I have been thwarted from doing so – by the facts!
The little creature I am talking about is the monarch butterfly (kahuku in Maori), which apparently reached New Zealand shores – not by human hand – but of its own accord, about 100 years ago. This is tremendous achievement given its size, and the distance from its native homeland, North America. Continue reading
In 1944, Kenneth Cumberland, a recently emigrated British geographer published Soil Erosion in New Zealand, a geographical survey of what was fast becoming known as the “erosion epidemic”. Refreshingly, Cumberland does not shrink from expressing strong opinions. In the introduction to his book, he writes:
[New Zealand’s] cultural youth has been characterised to a large extent by the pioneer destruction of the resources of a little known environment…
The people of New Zealand have been reared in the midst of unnecessary losses of soil and become so accustomed to their presence as to take little heed of them. They often come to consider soil erosion as a “normal”, unavoidable occurrence…
A new edition of the New Zealand environmental history classic, Environmental Histories of New Zealand, is out this month. Entitled Making a New Land, it has six new chapters with the existing ones revised. (You can read more about the book here.) I have put my order in for my copy already (and for my local library too).
This book (well, not this exact one – I haven’t got it yet!) is close to my heart. I discovered it when I was writing my Masters thesis about the Japanese treatment of nature through history (see publications page – it’s near the bottom). Continue reading
It occurred to me that readers might want to know more about the book before offering an opinion on a title for it! (See: What’s the best title? Please vote! and What’s in a title? Your ideas please!) So here is a synopsis:
Few today would describe the Manawatū as spectacular or iconic – it is unlikely to adorn a tourist brochure promoting New Zealand. But behind this domesticated landscape is a story of transformation so dramatic that few could even imagine how “wild” – primeval, even – this landscape was only a little more than a century ago. Continue reading
I am getting super-sophisticated now! I realised that there is a poll function in WordPress, and thought, what better opportunity to try it out! This should make it easy for everyone. And, it also allows you to give me your fantastic ideas. (Feel free to post your comments too.) Please see previous post What’s in a title? Your ideas please! for background.
Also see: A racy title is one thing, but what’s the book actually about? for a synopsis of the book.
Note that the following options are the title only; the subtitle will be “An Environmental History of the Manawatu”
It’s been a bit quiet on the blogging front lately, as I have been busy getting as much writing done on my book as I can before the Claude McCarthy Fellowship I was so fortunate to receive finishes. The book examines the environmental history of the Manawatu Region, in the lower North Island of New Zealand, from pre-history through to today (see: Manawatu’s environmental past to be documented), and I have been working on it (between work, family and life) for a couple of years now. (See: A racy title is one thing, but what’s the book actually about? for a synopsis of the book.)
Making progress on writing has been further challenged by the arrival earlier this year of our baby girl, Caitlyn. Caitlyn is known to make her feelings very clear when I spend too much time staring at the screen of my laptop, rather than gazing at/playing with/talking to her. Continue reading
One of the topics I have been researching for my book documenting the environmental history of the Manawatu Region (see: Manawatu’s environmental past to be documented) are wind farms. This is a fascinating story, not so much because of the wind farms themselves, but in terms of the clear evolution in thinking around wind farms. The contrast between the public response to the early wind farms in the Manawatu and the later ones could not be more dramatic. Continue reading
On a walk with my family along the beach from Pukerua Bay yesterday, I encountered three kinds of sculptural form: only one of which was a “sculpture” in the more conventional sense. The others were created by humans and nature, but all were equally impressive, giving the sense we were walking through some kind of outdoor art gallery.
envirohistory NZ 