Evolution 2007 Open Conference

Saturday 16 June 2007

Good Evening and welcome to Christchurch. I'm delighted Christchurch has been chosen as the first city outside of the US or Canada to hold the Evolution conference.

It's great to have over 800 scientists, from every corner of the globe in the city. As the old joke goes, your presence will raise the IQ level of the city a few notches over the next few days.

I'm living proof of evolution. I started as an accountant, did a variety of things and finally evolved as a politician and Mayor of a great city.

As far as being an accountant goes I will say in my defence I am an advocate of triple bottom line accounting. This is an accounting system which makes businesses look at their ecological footprint.

One of your jobs as scientists is to research and study how our lifestyles are impacting on our biological diversity. More importantly you need to be able to relay that information to the rest of us as individuals and business people.

In and around Christchurch and Banks Peninsula groups of volunteers are working to rescue dying streams and to regenerate native bush. These are people with a vision who want to ensure that our children have the same opportunities as earlier generations to enjoy our natural open spaces.

The Styx River Living Laboratory is one initiative which is successfully regenerating the Styx River from its source to the sea and encouraging the return of eels and native fish life. The community is right behind this project and volunteers regularly check for water clarity and collect and identify invertebrate samples and take part in work days and plantings.

There's a huge amount of good will in the community to preserve our local biodiversity. By building relationships with local communities scientists can achieve so much more.

My best wishes for an interesting and enlightening conference.

ENDS