Sustaining the Gains in the media
Date: 1st December 2022
As you know we are building our profile in the media with our campaign to retain sufficient funding for the national programme. It is critical that this resourcing is maintained at a level which not only protects the significant investments that have been made to date but also allows the programme to be taken to a satisfactory conclusion over the next decade. The 2023 reduction to $10 million annually won’t cut it literally!
I’d like to acknowledge our media team Rosie Graystone and Lauren Prebble but also the many people in groups around the country who are writing to government Ministers and local MP’s and also enlisting help from local media to get the message across.
In the last week we have had two great media accomplishments. The first is a feature article in Farm Trader which includes an interview with Peter Hore who owns Glenshee Station in Central Otago. Peter is an experienced wilding campaigner who talks about the impact of wildings on his farm productivity as well as conservation values. https://www.farmtrader.co.nz/features/2211/the-challenge-of-wilding-pines-feature.
The second media accomplishment is from the Central Otago Wilding Group who have completed a video in partnership with Otago Regional Council and the Department of Conservation. It features interviews with Phil Murray, a project manager with the Group and Sir Graham Sydney whose paintings bring the iconic Central Otago landscapes into our homes. It’s a pragmatic call to action and shows with several before and after images what happens when wildings are left unchecked. https://www.dropbox.com/s/ddu8j2wyn43pl7s/COWCCG%20%28Final%20v3%29%20FR.mp4?dl=0
The tussock fields, glacier hewn landscapes of Central are much loved by its inhabitants and international visitors. Wildings left unchecked will rapidly change these landscapes and landscapes in many other places around New Zealand as we all know and experience.
In addition to our Facebook page, www.facebook.comWildingPineNetwork we now also have an Instagram page https://instagram.com/wpn_ngo. We will add content soon and we update our Facebook page weekly. Please connect in and send the links out to all your contacts. Let us know if you have material, we can use on these social media outlets.
Carbon Stink
Finally, there was also a very good article in the Listener recently. Tim Flannery a renowned environmental scientist and campaigner was interviewed by Jane Clifton on the rush to convert farmland to carbon forestry and the environmental and economic risks that may result. It’s a very good read.
THANK YOU to everyone who is helping us to generate more media interest through your willingness to contribute information, and your time to this campaign. Keep up the good work.
Posted in: News