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Christchurch City Scene
October 2002

Lead Stories

Time to plan ahead for city parking

Doing the right thing with wastewater

Tide turning on Estuary

Twenty years of SummerTimes

 

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Biodiversity public workshops


Five public workshops are being held this month to discuss how to enhance the city’s biodiversity — the elements that are part of Christchurch, naturally.

What is biodiversity? For Christchurch it means the plants, birds, fish and insects that occur here naturally.

“It’s the sum total of biological variety, including genes, species and ecosystems,” says ecologist Dr Colin Meurk. In this sense Christchurch is still a biologically rich environment despite the loss of many unique habitats over the last 800 years.

Christchurch and Canterbury has had a rich history of unique plants, birds, fish and insects. The tui was once common here, our waterways had a wealth of native fish, and bats nested under the wooden bridges of rivers such as the Heathcote.

Although much has been lost, some survive, often against the odds, and in well used areas such as the Port Hills, coast, waterways and the tussock grasslands just west of the city.

The city has many individuals and groups committed tobringing back the native ecology and restoring environmental habitat. One of the aims of the strategy is to link these groups and the City Council, to teach people about natural values in their area and to identify where work needs to be done.

We may not always appreciate it, but biodiversity provides us with many of the things which sustain our quality of life and sense of place. How would you like the natural environment of Christchurch to look in 50 years? Come along and have your say. The public workshops are:

  • 21 Oct, 5-7pm, Fendalton Service Centre, corner Jeffreys and Clyde roads
  • 22 Oct, 7-9pm, Sockburn Service Centre, 149 Main South Road
  • 23 Oct, 10am-midday, Horticultural Soc South Hagley Park
  • 29 Oct, 7-9pm New Brighton Working Men’s Club
  • 31 Oct 5-7pm Linwood Service Centre, 180 Smith Street

  • For more information, contact Parks and Waterways Planner Kelvin McMillan on 941 8692.

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