Rewilding in Action

10/07/2025

After a two month break, I'm back behind the mic with a new podcast. Michael has some great perspectives to share to help us rewild Aotearoa. I hope you enjoy!

EPISODE 19 - Rewilding: Past, Present and Future

How can looking to the past, present and future help guide our rewilding goals? Join me, Maureen Howard as I chat with my guest Associate Professor Michael Knapp from the Department of Anatomy at Otago University. Taking a long time scale perspective, Michael helps shed some light on some of the ecological issues in recent rewilding episodes and how we can work better with nature. This episode of Rewilding in Action is supported by Carey’s Bay Hotel. For more information go to www.careysbayhotel.co.nz

This show was broadcast on OAR 105.4FM Dunedin - http://oar.org.nz on the 10th July 2025

Listen to the episode on:
▶️ OAR FM Website: https://oar.org.nz/shows/rewilding-in-action/
▶️ Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/nz/podcast/rewilding-in-action-19-rewilding-past-present-and-future/id1764395381?i=1000716521140
▶️ Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/7N0GOD49jJPASVg59p3Mlv
▶️ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PA2b3s9e9fo&list=PLb6ValA0zfn8J7JtoH0cuZrDOI0nNl070&index=1
▶️ or your favourite podcast provider!
This show was first broadcast on OAR 105.4FM Dunedin - http://oar.org.nz on 10th July 2025

04/07/2025

This is a very interesting and hopeful post! Allowing ash trees to naturally regenerate is producing offspring who are at least partially immune to ash dieback. No high tech interventions required - just Nature doing her thing well!

Subtle DNA changes in trees demonstrate Charles Darwin’s natural selection – although human help may be needed

21/06/2025

Here's a good example of Urban Rewilding - of people and wildlife tentatively learning to live together in new ways. I loved the solution of creating nesting boxes for the kittiwakes so that they were no longer pooping on the walkways.

Avian invaders have coastal communities in Britain and beyond in a flap – but people are learning how to live with them

14/06/2025

WHEN WE ARE GONE

Here in Dunedin we are very fortunate to have a Natural Burial site at Green Park near Green Island, where we can be buried within the first metre or so into biologically activated soil and where it's required that bodies are not embalmed.

BUT what a good idea a marine reef cemetery is too to explore for Aotearoa to help restore biodiversity and abundance in our inshore waters! I anticipate it would help protect those areas of the seabed from over fishing and dredging activities too. (Of course start small in areas that have been damaged, assess the impacts, monitor).

UK company offers alternative to land-based burials after success of memorials in Bali made from remains of pets

13/06/2025

BIRDS AND BUTTERFLIES RETURNING TO MEDELLIN

I visited Medellin in in 2017/2018 when I was on my two year big OE Middling Life Adventure. Stayed a few weeks because I liked the people so much - and because of some other issues I had such as a broken toe! Anyway I'm very inspired to see what they are doing there. The city also has overhead gondola style trams that take you up and down the steep hills, and each Sunday some major roads are shut to vehicles and opened to runners, bikers and walkers.

Over the last decade, Colombia’s ‘city of eternal spring’ has embarked on an ambitious effort to restore greenery to public parks, transit corridors and even high-rises

12/06/2025

You might have noticed you haven't seen any posts arriving from the Rewilding in Action page lately. My paid job with Town Belt Kaitiaki - which I love too - has been very busy.

But I'm back and I will be recommencing episodes again within the next month. In the meantime, here's an interesting research paper on what I like to think of as Rewilding with Moss! https://researcharchive.lincoln.ac.nz/server/api/core/bitstreams/876e79a7-be1a-4d77-a2be-af50a5c59706/content

01/05/2025

Sealions and Muehlenbeckia: Rewilding Together on Rewilding in Action

Muehlenbeckia australis has a reputation as an invasive vine. On the other hand it is a native that can benefit rare species such as the local pakake / sealion population. Today we’re headed to the harbour mouth of Dunedin along the West Harbour, to the small coastal community of Aramoana.

Host Maureen Howard chats with conservationist Bradley Curnow, chair of the Aramoana Conservation Charitable Trust, about the pakake that have returned to breed there.

Listen live on OAR FM Dunedin at 6pm tonight, or you can catch the podcast from:
▶️ OAR FM Website: https://oar.org.nz/shows/rewilding-in-action/
▶️ also available from Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube and your favourite podcast providers.

Today’s episode of Rewilding in Action is supported by Carey's Bay Hotel. For more information go to www.careysbayhotel.co.nz

Did you know OAR FM is one of 12 Access Media stations that are part of CAMA - Community Access Media Alliance? We're proud to help ensure diverse voices, under-represented communities, and local stories are heard in Aotearoa New Zealand and beyond. Find out more at cama.nz.

CAMA Stations and the accessmedia.nz podcast platform are supported by NZ On Air

01/05/2025

Episode 18: Sealions and Muehlenbeckia: Rewilding Together

Why are we talking about sealions and muehlenbeckia in the same podcast? My guest Bradley shares his very engaging perspective on the sealions rewilding on the Aramoana beaches.

Sealions and Muehlenbeckia: Rewilding Together on Rewilding in Action

Muehlenbeckia australis has a reputation as an invasive vine. On the other hand it is a native that can benefit rare species such as the local pakake / sealion population. Today we’re headed to the harbour mouth of Dunedin along the West Harbour, to the small coastal community of Aramoana.

Host Maureen Howard chats with conservationist Bradley Curnow, chair of the Aramoana Conservation Charitable Trust, about the pakake that have returned to breed there.

Listen live on OAR FM Dunedin at 6pm tonight, or you can catch the podcast from:
▶️ OAR FM Website: https://oar.org.nz/shows/rewilding-in-action/
▶️ also available from Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube and your favourite podcast providers.

Today’s episode of Rewilding in Action is supported by Carey's Bay Hotel. For more information go to www.careysbayhotel.co.nz

Did you know OAR FM is one of 12 Access Media stations that are part of CAMA - Community Access Media Alliance? We're proud to help ensure diverse voices, under-represented communities, and local stories are heard in Aotearoa New Zealand and beyond. Find out more at cama.nz.

CAMA Stations and the accessmedia.nz podcast platform are supported by NZ On Air

17/04/2025

EPISODE 17 - TRAPPING RODENTS ON QUARANTINE ISLAND - by Maureen Howard with guests Jim Fyfe and Claire Hagglund

Find out what happened to the mice population on Quarantine Island in Otago Harbour when Norway rats were successfully suppressed. Learn how the stewards of this island investigated the success of their mammalian control efforts by how well the vegetation was rewilding.

Join me, Maureen Howard, as I chat to two members of the Governance and Management Group - Jim Fyfe and Claire Hagglund in the OAR FM studio.
For more information about Kamau Taurua Quarantine Island go to https://quarantineisland.org.nz/
This episode is kindly supported by Carey's Bay Hotel. For more information go to www.careysbayhotel.co.nz
This show was broadcast on OAR 105.4FM Dunedin - http://oar.org.nz on the 17th April 2025

Listen to the episode on:
▶️ OAR FM Website: https://oar.org.nz/shows/rewilding-in-action/
▶️ Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/.../rewilding-in.../id1764395381
▶️ Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/47mhmm6KwMINa2k3TzMq8T
▶️ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yw3_EG2GSug&list=PLb6ValA0zfn8J7JtoH0cuZrDOI0nNl070&index=2
▶️ or your favourite podcast provider! https://pod.link/1764395381

04/04/2025

Hot on the heels of my interview with Tim Curran on green firebreaks - this cautionary article in the ODT on feeding birds. A little interview with Birds New Zealand ex-president Bruce McKinlay. https://www.odt.co.nz/lifestyle/home-garden/natural-feeding-preferred?fbclid=IwY2xjawJcYKJleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHfy8QqnfjGg_E-MpKPfY9JrQlw_U2opY3YLMsp1_CD5vozwikEz8Z52cPQ_aem_cNVeLxo26x3jFcR6HaJdnw

Maureen Howard wonders if feeding backyard birds helps spread bird flu. Could we be killing with kindness? In New Zealand, the science shows when...

03/04/2025

FIGHT FIRE WITH A GREEN FIREBREAK

My latest episode is out!

Rewilding In Action - Episode 16

Fight Fire with a Green Firebreak - Dr Tim Curran

When forests are young, flammable species like manuka, kanuka and gorse dominate. To reduce the risk of fire, an effective tool is to plant a native green firebreak between our homes and our naturally rewilding forest. What’s a green firebreak? What species should we plant? How wide should the firebreak be, where should it go and how can we look after it?

Join Maureen Howard on Rewilding in Action with her guest Associate Professor Dr Tim Curran. For more information on low flammable native species go to https://www.checkitsalright.nz/reduce-your-risk/low-flammability-plants

This show was first broadcast on OAR 105.4FM Dunedin - http://oar.org.nz on the 3rd April 2025.

Listen to the episode on:
▶️ OAR FM Website: https://oar.org.nz/shows/rewilding-in-action/
▶️ Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/.../rewilding-in.../id1764395381
▶️ Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/47mhmm6KwMINa2k3TzMq8T
▶️ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFegbPcOQJA&list=PLb6ValA0zfn8J7JtoH0cuZrDOI0nNl070
▶️ or your favourite podcast provider! https://pod.link/1764395381

20/03/2025

REWILDING IN ACTION: EPISODE 15

FROM GOLD TO GREEN: GROWING A NATIVE FOREST THROUGH GORSE

When conditions are right, gorse can be a good friend to native forest - acting as a nursery crop for natural native forest regeneration. How does it do it? What native plants come through the gorse? What happens to the gorse when it has done its job? And when might we need to plant?

In this episode Maureen Howard visits Volco, a rewilding property on Mount Cargill Road just north of Dunedin City to talk with forest restoration practitioner Hendrik Koch who is a Trustee of the property.

This show was broadcast on OAR 105.4FM Dunedin - http://oar.org.nz
This show was first broadcast on OAR 105.4FM Dunedin - OAR FM Dunedin - Community Access Media on the 20th March 2025.
Listen to the episode on:
▶️ OAR FM Website: https://oar.org.nz/shows/rewilding-in-action/
▶️ Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/.../rewilding-in.../id1764395381
▶️ Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/47mhmm6KwMINa2k3TzMq8T
▶️ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYDjMnzfQ3g
▶️ or your favourite podcast provider! https://pod.link/1764395381