The West Coast Penguin Trust is delighted and hugely proud to share the news that our Chair and Scientist, Kerry-Jayne Wilson, has been awarded MNZM – Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit – in the New Year’s Honours for services to seabird conservation.
“No one achieves anything alone – seabird work is a very collegial environment. I work with the West Coast Penguin Trust, the Australasian Seabird Group and many other colleagues” she said.
Kerry-Jayne says it’s important to focus on the seabirds rather than the honour. “Seabirds are in trouble: plastic and climate change are making things worse for them every day; they need all the help they can get.”
Seabird work is also a world without borders. “On a given day, I might work locally, just down the road, then on national seabird issues, and also working with colleagues around the world as our seabirds travel outside NZ jurisdiction, even to the other side of the world.”
The collegiality of this work is essential. “People working in this field are interesting, likeable, friendly and helpful and they all work at the local, national and international level. I am privileged and very fortunate to work with such a great group of people and I love the variation that comes with it. Our shared work is critical and will continue.”
The Minister for Climate Change congratulated recipients in the 2019 New Year’s Honours whose work is helping Aotearoa New Zealand understand and address climate change. James Shaw said:
“I also offer my congratulations to internationally recognised conservationist, Kerry-Jayne Wilson, for her honour as a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to seabird conservation.
“Kerry-Jayne’s more than 40 years of study, teaching and voluntary work, which has included working with seabird scientists in Antarctica, Europe and Australia, has helped advance research and understanding of threats such as climate change.
[Top image shows Kerry-Jayne Wilson, Falkland islands Dec 2018, with king penguins and chick.]
While materials were chosen that would stand up to the harsh coastal conditions, those same coastal conditions are conducive to plant growth! Occasional checks of the fences have been carried out by volunteers and rangers so that any maintenance needs can be identified and remedied. The never-ending need for maintenance is managing the vegetation that can grow through the fence, for example gorse, blackberry and hydrangea, pushing it to breaking point in places, or flop over causing damage from the weight of rank grass, rushes and weeds such as montbretia.
Volunteers recently spent a few hours tidying up the main fence along Woodpecker Bay north of Punakaiki so a big shout out to them - thank you Fiona, Jony, Reef, Katrina, Mandy, Marty, Teresa and Deb! Flax had been pressing down on the fence, but now the fence has been freed up by these wonderful volunteers - and they picked up a fair bit of rubbish too.
Volunteer Natassja Savidge has offered to check and help maintain the Hokitika penguin protection fence and joined Ranger Lucy Waller and Manager Inger Perkins in May to inspect the length of the fence. Some minor issues were found but the main finding was the extent of the vegetation growth that was damaging the fence in places. Big thanks to Natassja!
