Forest & Bird (), also known by its formal name as the Royal Forest and Bird Protection Society of New Zealand, is an
environmental organisation
An environmental organization is an organization coming out of the conservation or environmental movements
that seeks to protect, analyse or monitor the environment against misuse or degradation from human forces.
In this sense the environme ...
specialising in the protection and
conservation of New Zealand's indigenous
flora
Flora (: floras or florae) is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous (ecology), indigenous) native plant, native plants. The corresponding term for animals is ''fauna'', and for f ...
and
fauna
Fauna (: faunae or faunas) is all of the animal life present in a particular region or time. The corresponding terms for plants and fungi are ''flora'' and '' funga'', respectively. Flora, fauna, funga and other forms of life are collectively ...
and unique wild places and natural ecosystems.
Forest & Bird consists of 47 branches located in urban and rural centres throughout New Zealand. Branches are actively engaged in conservation projects and advocacy on a community, regional and national basis. Forest & Bird has offices and staff located in
Auckland
Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...
,
Christchurch
Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...
,
Wellington
Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...
,
Nelson
Nelson may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* ''Nelson'' (1918 film), a historical film directed by Maurice Elvey
* ''Nelson'' (1926 film), a historical film directed by Walter Summers
* ''Nelson'' (opera), an opera by Lennox Berkeley to a lib ...
and
Dunedin
Dunedin ( ; ) is the second-most populous city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from ("fort of Edin"), the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of S ...
. Forest & Bird publishes a quarterly magazine ''Forest & Bird'', one of New Zealand's definitive natural history and conservation publications.
Forest & Bird has published a comprehensive commentary book on
environmental law in New Zealand.
Forest & Bird are also actively engaged in advocating and lobbying for resource management law and practices to more consistently protect ecosystems.
History
Forest & Bird was founded as the Native Bird Protection Society in 1923. Later renamed as the Royal Forest and Bird Protection Society of New Zealand, it has consistently advocated conservation issues, particularly for forested land.
Val Sanderson is acknowledged as the founder of Forest & Bird. In 1921, after his return from the First World War, the then Captain Val Sanderson was angered that the
Kapiti Island
Kapiti Island (), sometimes written as Kāpiti Island, is an island nature reserve located off the west coast of the lower North Island of New Zealand and within the Kāpiti Coast District. Parts of the island were previously farmed, but it is ...
wildlife reserve was unfenced and extensively damaged by cattle, sheep and goats. Sanderson campaigned for better management of Kapiti Island and succeeded in having it re-dedicated as a Wildlife Reserve. After this success, Sanderson held a public meeting in March 1923 which established the Native Bird Protection Society with Sir
Thomas Mackenzie as the Society's first President. The New Zealand Forestry League, a forest conservation group already existed but it gradually died out. In 1935 Mackenzie and Sanderson renamed the society the Forest and Bird Protection Society of New Zealand. Sanderson drove an expansion of the society's range of interests into such areas as soil erosion and use of native trees for soil stabilisation. He became the president in 1933 a position which he held until his death in 1945 aged 79.
Until the 1970s, the Royal Forest and Bird Protection Society remained the only New Zealand environmental group. However, in October 1971 the New Zealand Government proposed to harvest large areas of native South Island lowland
beech
Beech (genus ''Fagus'') is a genus of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to subtropical (accessory forest element) and temperate (as dominant element of Mesophyte, mesophytic forests) Eurasia and North America. There are 14 accepted ...
forest with half the cleared area to be converted to exotic ''
Pinus radiata
''Pinus radiata'' ( syn. ''Pinus insignis''), the Monterey pine, insignis pine or radiata pine, is a species of pine native to the Central Coast of California and Mexico (on Guadalupe Island and Cedros island). It is an evergreen conifer in t ...
''. Along with the
Save Manapouri campaign, the native forest harvesting prompted more public awareness of conservation and the formation of new environmental groups such as the
Beech Forest Action Committee. In response to the native forest harvesting, on 4 July 1975 Forest & Bird and Beech Forest Action Committee started the
Maruia Declaration as a public petition demanding an end to native forest logging and legal recognition of native forests. The Maruia Declaration was submitted to the New Zealand Government in 1977.
From 2005 the society has held an annual poll
Bird of the Year
Bird of the Year () is an annual election-based competition run by the New Zealand conservation organisation Forest & Bird to elect a New Zealand native "Bird of the Year". The competition is intended to raise awareness of the conservation thre ...
, voted on by the public. Winners to date include the
kākāpō
The kākāpō (; : ; ''Strigops habroptilus''), sometimes known as the owl parrot or owl-faced parrot, is a species of large, nocturnal, ground-dwelling parrot of the superfamily Strigopoidea. It is endemic to New Zealand.
Kākāpō can be u ...
, the
tūī
The tūī (''Prosthemadera novaeseelandiae'') is a medium-sized bird native to New Zealand. It is blue, green, and bronze coloured with a distinctive white throat tuft (poi). It is an endemism, endemic passerine bird of New Zealand, and the on ...
and the
New Zealand long-tailed bat.
In 2021, all proceeds from
Lorde's Te Ao Mārama EP went to Forest & Bird as well as the Te Hua Kawariki Charitable Trust.
In April 2022,
Nicola Toki took over from
Kevin Hague as Chief Executive of Forest & Bird.
Centenary
The first 100 years of the society is detailed in ''Force of nature: te aumangea o te ao tūroa : a conservation history of Forest & Bird 1923-2023.''
Campaigns
*1970s –
Lake Manapouri
Lake Manapouri () is located in the South Island of New Zealand. The lake is situated within the Fiordland National Park and the wider region of Te Wahipounamu South West New Zealand World Heritage Area.
Māori History
According to Māori peop ...
*1980s – 1990s Native forest conservation
*2006 – Petition to increase protection of the
New Zealand sea lion
*Living Rivers
*South Island High Country
*Dawn Chorus (Terrestrial Biodiversity)
*2004 Marine Conservation – the Best Fish Guide. Since 2004, Forest & Bird have published the ''Best Fish Guide'' which listed 62 commercial fisheries, rated according to the contribution to a healthy marine environment. The 2004 guide considered that none of the species of fish documented were ecologically safe to catch and eat.
*2009 – 2010: Preventing large-scale irrigation schemes in the
Mackenzie Basin
The Mackenzie Basin (), popularly and traditionally known as the Mackenzie Country, is an elliptical intermontane river basin, basin located in the Mackenzie District, Mackenzie and Waitaki Districts, near the centre of the South Island of Ne ...
*2009 – A campaign to save NZ's conservation areas from being mined.
*2009 – A campaign to save NZ's iconic rivers from being dammed.
*2011 – 2012 Opposition to the
Escarpment Mine Project on the
Denniston Plateau
*2008 – 2012 Successfully opposing the
damming of the
Mōkihinui River
Attitudes
Perceptions of Forest & Bird are varied. While the group is one of the most well-known mainstream environmental groups of the country, it has also come under criticism, such as in 2010 when Prime Minister
John Key
Sir John Phillip Key (born 9 August 1961) is a New Zealand retired politician who served as the 38th prime minister of New Zealand from 2008 to 2016 and as leader of the National Party from 2006 to 2016.
Following his father's death when ...
accused them of engaging in "predictable
scaremongering
Fearmongering, or scaremongering, is the act of exploiting feelings of fear by using exaggerated rumors of impending danger, usually for personal gain.
Theory
According to evolutionary anthropology and evolutionary biology, humans have a strong ...
" when the group warned that a yet unreleased government report proposed to allow mining in 7000ha of high-value conservation land in
Paparoa National Park
Paparoa National Park is on the west coast of the South Island of New Zealand.
The park was established in 1987 and encompasses . The park ranges from or near the coastline to the peaks of the Paparoa Range. A separate section of the park lie ...
,
Great Barrier Island
Great Barrier Island () lies in the outer Hauraki Gulf, New Zealand, north-east of central Auckland. With an area of it is the sixth-largest List of islands of New Zealand, island of New Zealand. Its highest point, Mount Hobson, Great Barrier ...
and the
Coromandel Peninsula
The Coromandel Peninsula () on the North Island of New Zealand extends north from the western end of the Bay of Plenty, forming a natural barrier protecting the Hauraki Gulf and the Firth of Thames in the west from the Pacific Ocean ...
.
Key also labelled news coverage quoting Forest & Bird's revelations of the Government's intentions for mining conservation land as "hysterical".
A week later, as predicted by Forest & Bird, the Government released the "Schedule 4 stocktake" proposal to open up 7058 hectares of protected conservation land for mining. Parts of the Coromandel Peninsula, Great Barrier Island, and parts of Paparoa National Park were proposed for removal from Schedule Four of the
Crown Minerals Act 1991, which otherwise prevents mining. Journalist John Armstrong commented that "Forest and Bird knocked the Government sideways with leaked information revealing the extent of National's plans to open up land currently off limits to mining companies" and that the Government was suffering from hysteria if any one was.
After 40,000 people marched in Auckland in protest against the proposal, and after the vast majority of 37,552 public submissions opposed the proposal, the Government announced that no conservation land would be removed from Schedule 4 to allow mining.
Publications
*Harris, Rob (ed.) (2004). ''Handbook of Environmental Law'' (1st ed.). Wellington: Royal Forest and Bird Protection Society of New Zealand Inc., . The work has been described as "a comprehensive guide to New Zealand's environmental law".
References
External links
Forest & BirdForest & Birdat
Facebook
Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...
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Animal welfare organisations based in New Zealand
Nature conservation organisations based in New Zealand
Charities based in New Zealand
Organizations established in 1923
1923 establishments in New Zealand
1923 in the environment
Forest conservation organizations
Bird conservation organizations
BirdLife partners
Organisations based in New Zealand with royal patronage