SEA KEEPER PROFILE
When I was four, my parents were visiting friends at Kaipara and
I was playing in their back yard. I stood, scarily, on the edge
of a bank high above the harbour. A beautiful rainbow appeared,
like a gateway, an entrance into a mystical, magical scene. I
squinted my eyes to catch the bright illuminating colours of the
rainbow, hanging in a powder blue sky, and as if by magic, I saw
the birds soar high through the rainbow and then dive low, into
the sparkling, rippling, clear waters below.
I will always recall the smell of the fresh sea air, the delicate
touch of the mist on my skin, the feeling of freedom as I watched
the birds soar. I felt excited and exhilarated, thinking I too
might one day fly free like a bird in such a clear mystical place.
It was the first moment I really looked - really became aware
- of the beauty and perfection of the world of nature.
Many years later, I joined some friends to visit an island in
the Hauraki Gulf, just a short ferry ride from Auckland City.
The island is called Tiritiri Matangi (or just Tiritiri for short).
Tiritiri is a lovely little island, a Sanctuary for wildlife,
4 kilometres off the end of the Whangaparaoa Peninsula. Farmers
cleared the island's native trees more than a hundred years ago,
but volunteers are working to rebuild the island's natural forests
again. Over the years, thousands of people have gone to the island
to replant native trees and the forest is now beginning to look
like it did originally. Everyone hopes endangered plant and animal
species will be able to survive in the restored sanctuary.
Planting trees is hard work, but really fun and rewarding. When
I was done for the day, I walked along the island's shore, wondering
to myself, "will this really be a safe sanctuary for birds?"
As I walked along, I began to notice the shore was strewn with
plastic bags, bottles, broken glass, those plastic holders they
use for 6 packs of drinks, all kinds of trash. The trash seemed
so WRONG cluttering up all that beauty. It was also, I decided,
potentially disastrous to wild life. I had read that Penguins
have died from swallowing plastic bags. Maybe other birds did
too. Researchers said that when the bird's body decomposed, the
plastic bag would be freed to claim yet another victim. I knew
that birds were sometimes ensnared by plastic strapping and fishing
nets. I stood looking at the rubbish, thinking, "We might
rebuild the forest, but we should clean up this mess too."
Shortly afterwards, a friend took me to visit someone who lived
on the Kaipara Harbour. We were having a barbecue out in his yard
when I looked up and felt that I knew this place. Then, in a flash,
I remembered my childhood vision - I was in the house next door
to where I stood as a four year old! The harbour looked different.
I knew the vision was tarnished by all the litter that now can
be found along its shores. It wasn't there when I was four. I
decided to do something about it. I decided to get everyone to
help clean up the mess. If enough people realised how their rubbish
was getting into the sea and endangering the beauty and health
of our oceans, surely they would take care to change their ways
and keep the seas clean and beautiful.
In 1989, I worked alongside the Department of Conservation organising
a huge clean-up and survey of marine debris on the shores of 47
Hauraki Gulf islands. What a success that was! Everyone was eager
to help and we collected tons of rubbish. To make sure this would
continue on a regular basis, I set up a non-profit volunteer organisation
called Island Care NZ Trust (ICNZT).
Today, Island Care works with everyone in the community, and with
national and international organisations, to do annual shoreline
clean-ups and surveys. We also keep a database of information
about marine debris and co-ordinate the Marine Debris Network
of local and regional government departments, and conservation
organisations. We do research to find out where the trash comes
from and then try to work with the community to stop the littering.
Our results have been promising. Our data shows a reduction in
litter coming through storm drains in communities where we have
worked with people to prevent littering. Volunteers can make a
difference and I hope you will join me in the coming years to
make New Zealand Beaches the cleanest and safest in the world
for ourselves, our visitors, and for the creatures of the sea.
