Tuesday 2nd September- Boathouse, Nelson 7-8.30pm
Brook Waimarama Showcase - Aotearoa’s primary wilderness sanctuary.
 Robert Schadewinkel - Restoring a forest ecosystem (incl. kiwi and other threatened species reintroductions). Brook Waimarama Sanctuary ecologist

This free event is part of Conservation week 2025. Apologies if you are having trouble registering, please come early to avoid disappointment.

Robert Schadewinkel is the ecologist at the Brook Waimārama Sanctuary. His main role is to facilitate and oversee the restoration of the Sanctuary to a fully functioning and resilient forest ecosystem. This important work has led to the ability and current focus of the sanctuary to be able to reintroduce of some of our original indigenous species, such as the recent translocation of kiwi pukupuku and tuatara. He also oversees the biosecurity regime and is improving and expanding the biodiversity monitoring throughout the sanctuary. He will talk about the BWS uniqueness of being the only fenced sanctuary with high (very high) connectivity. The BWS is surrounded by continuous native forest along 80% of its boundaries. The native forest, protected on public conservation land, is continuous and stretches to the southernmost point of Fiordland and into the Marlborough Sounds. This connectivity provides unparalleled opportunities for landscape scale ecosystem restoration ambitions especially in light of PF2050. But this comes also with huge challenges (pest pressure and post release dispersal).

Katherine Chamberlain - Brook sanctuary 5 Minute Bird Counts (5mbc) - changes observed in the Brook Sanctuary and the drivers behind those changes.
Volunteer Katherine Chamberlain and her team have been conducting five-minute bird counts in the Sanctuary for the last 16 years, since 2009. Katherine will discuss the changes that have been observed over that time, the ecological events and developments that have been behind those observations and what can be extrapolated from these results in a wider setting.

This evening is a fantastic way to connect with the sanctuary, find out the background and thinking behind the latest residents and see how the changes that have been taking place over the years have been able to evolve ecological thinking.

This free event is part of Conservation week 2025. Apologies if you are having trouble registering, please come early to avoid disappointment. The beer and wine are excellent and very reasonably priced! ;-D