Fridays for Future Tāmaki Makaurau is doing a climate protest event at Aotea Square.
If you will be in Auckland on 23 September, see if you can make it!
Details are on their Facebook page.
Global climate strike action in Auckland
Meeting with Fonterra 17 August
After protesting outside Fonterra’s Wellington office every Friday lunchtime for several months now, we have arranged a meeting with them for 17 August at 12 noon. We will post more details here as they become available.
If you’d like to come and support us, you are welcome to come to Midland Park on 17 August from 11.30am. Bring your best signs!
23 September – Global Climate Strike
23 September is Friday for Future International’s global climate strike day.
We are planning on some action here in Wellington, so watch this space!
Pathway to Survival
Pathway to Survival is a group of people within Extinction Rebellion in Aotearoa who want the government to take urgent decisive action on the intersecting crises of ecosystem collapse, climate and social injustice and colonisation. They have developed a set of solutions for government to adopt, to give Aotearoa a pathway to survival, and to be a platform for debate during the 2023 election.
They are running a series of webinars through August-September:
| Date and time | Webinar title | Presenters |
| Thursday, August 4, 7-9pm | Using less – and sharing it more fairly | John Minto & Jason Hickel |
| Thursday, 18 August, 7-9pm | Why tiriti justice is integral to climate justice | Catherine Murupaenga Ikenn |
| Thursday, 1 September, 7-9pm | How we must care for the land, nature and food security to survive | Mike Joy |
Visit their website for more information about the webinars, the solutions and their call to action.
Climate Justice Potluck and Hui – July
350 Aotearoa, The Fossil Free State Sector Coalition, Sustainability Trust, and Generation Zero invite you to their monthly climate justice group hui/potluck.
They will be having a catch-up on what everyone has going on, and seeing how we can collaborate together in the coming month.
Whether you are part of an organisation or an individual who is passionate about change to our system, with a focus on looking after papatūānuku, come along.
The idea is to together, share our mahi, ideas and see if there are overlaps, room for collab, and just have a general catch up and eat some tasty kai!
When: Thursday 28th July, 5:30pm
Where: Sustainability Trust, 2 Forresters Lane, Te Aro.
Details on the Facebook event
Please feel free to spread the word (and the Facebook event).
Bring potluck if you feel comfortable doing so, but if you would prefer not to share food, feel free to bring something along for yourself to snack on.
Got 5 minutes? Join the Climate Club
The Climate Club is an e-newsletter you can subscribe to for climate activism you can fit into your busy life. It’s run by a trio of volunteers.
Every week, they send you an email about climate campaigns in New Zealand and world-wide – along with actions you can do that will take 5 mins, 10 minutes or 15 minutes of your time.
For example, this week’s edition includes:
- a Green Party petition to the Minister of Finance asking to save our regional rail services
- a 350.org petition to the president of the Democratic Republic of Congo to cancel their plan to auction of blocks of land for oil exploration – including land within the world’s second-largest carbon sink
- a reminder to get enrolled so you can vote in the local elections
- the handover of the petition to Eugenie Sage, to stop sending plastic waste overseas (at Parliament on 26 July, at 12.30pm)
- a link to an article about how emissions increases with wealth
Speaking of climate activism…
Open letter to Prime Minister, the Rt Hon. Jacinda Ardern and Speaker of the New Zealand House of Representatives, the Rt Hon. Trevor Mallard
Tēnā koe Jacinda Ardern, kōrua ko Trevor Mallard,
A mātou mihi o te wā Matariki ki a kōrua, rangatira mā
We protestors welcome your support of peaceful protest – and invite you to support a positive response to climate change. Parliament itself could help heal the planet! with a “tiny forest” of natives at one of the gates, nourished by biochar which promotes soil development while it sequesters carbon. This would bring birds from Zealandia right to Parliament.
The photos below are of the Nelson Biochar Forest which is a mere 100 square meters – the fastest growing plants have reached over 2 meters in height 14 months after planting.
The unnecessarily wide steps from the cenotaph to the beehive could give room for a tiny forest plantation; otherwise the sloping lawn near the upper gate from Molesworth St.
Attached below are some references on Miyawaki forests. Please give this urgent consideration – the planting season is upon us!
Nā mātou noa, nā,
Molly Melhuish, supported by Caz, Violet, Francesca, Sue, Mick, Paul, Tim, Kit
Microforests to heal the planet and cool the cities
New Zealand’s first microforest in Nelson demonstrates the advantages of planting trees and shrubs by the Miyawaki method in even tiny spaces.
Planted just 14 months ago on carefully prepared soil augmented by biochar, the tallest plants in the Nelson Microforest are now over 2 meters high. The canopy cover is already suppressing weeds, and after another year or two will require no maintenance at all.
The method was developed by Akiro Miyawaki in the 1970s, using all the species found in the natural forest on the soil and climate of a district.
It was quickly taken up by corporates such as Toyota, by Yokohama National University, and by many local bodies, to bring biodiversity to the cities and protect them from flood, tsunami, and fire:
https://morinoproject.com/english
Wellington needs an inner city green belt / block to promote biodiversity + human wellbeing
https://www.sustainablecities.org.nz/sites/default/files/2021-04/Adam-post-COVID-GS-presntn-P-29
In the Netherlands Tiny Forests has also taken off and is being planted with the help of school children. Our Children are our future.
https://www.ivn.nl/tinyforest/tiny-forest-worldwide/effects-tiny-forest
We would welcome planting the first forest at parliament together with young people and local iwi.
Manaaki whenua. Manaaki tangata. Hāere whakamua
Care for the land. Care for the people. Go forward.
Rewilding to Heal the Planet
FFF members went down to Motueka on 20 June to help Ollie Langridge with planting native trees. Ollie is one of the founding members of FFF Te Upoko o Te Ika, Wellington. Two years ago he bought 40 acres and he has put part of the land into QEII covenant to safe-guard it for perpetuity. Like many of us, he wants to do something to make a difference to heal the planet.
He is planting 3000 natives this planting season. Mollie Melhuish, Dolf van Asbeck and Francesca Pouwer helped plant over 600 trees in the 6 days that we were there. The total number of trees planted this season now tallies up to 2282!! Well on the way to the target of 3000. Ollie hopes to do this again next planting season. And we will be back. My partner Dolf and I, Francesca, were there in February as well to help repot seedlings. If you wish to volunteer send an email to ollie_langgridge@hotmail.com
Planting native trees like Totara, Kauri, Miro and Rewarewa made us feel wholesome and at peace. It is so worthwhile to take positive action. It recharged our batteries and helps to keep us going to lobby corporations like Fonterra to make the change to sustainable methods of production.
On the way back home, we stopped off at a micro forest near Nelson. It is the first tiny forest in New Zealand based on the Miyawaki method that prepares the soil and plants the 3 layers of locally sourced native species really closely together. On average the trees grow 10 x faster than is normal for reforestation and it very quickly enhances biodiversity. By having these in urban spaces we stimulate rewilding, improve our air quality, cool our cities and we grow environmental awareness to stand up for what we stand on. In the Netherlands this method has really taken of and it involves school children to help plant them. There are now 200 tiny forests across the Netherlands.
The trees you see were planted in April last year and some are as high as 2 metres. As it happens, the land owner next door planted at the same time and you can see in the picture belowthe plants are barely above the planting sleeves.
We were most excited to see the results for ourselves.
Molly and I would like to start up micro forest in urban environments involving school students and local iwi as part of our FFF action to combat climate change and take positive action.
It has been a wonderful week and we came back inspired.
Francesca Pouwer and Molly Melhuish
In the news
At yesterday’s official reopening of Parliament grounds, our group huddled just outside the gate with our flags and signs. Our presence was noted by 1news and Stuff journalists, as well as the Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.
Watch the 1News video
Read the Stuff article
Next Friday we’ll be back at Midland Park to continue putting pressure on Fonterra about taking actual climate action (not just greenwashing on their website).
Parliament grounds official reopening. And Matariki.
There will be a public ceremony to reopen Parliament grounds on Thursday 23 June 12 noon till 1.30pm. Visit the Parliament website for more information.
Fridays for Future will be there – come join us! We will have e our flags and signs with us.
After the ceremony we will go to Midland Park to present Fonterra with a letter asking them to commit to reducing carbon emissions, nitrate pollution and methane emissions.
(And later that day – 5pm til 6pm – is our light show revealing Fonterra’s climate crimes.)
Also, we will not be protesting at Midland Park on Friday 24 June because it is the Matariki public holiday.