Mid Year Update 2019: Where will it all go from here...?

"Something to think about. The Earth is 4.6 billion years old. Let's scale that to 46 years. We have been here for 4 hours. Our Industrial Revolution began 1 minute ago. In that time we have destroyed more than 50% of our world's forests. Clearly, this isn't sustainable."

- The Popularist

It's hard to fathom that over the course of my 45 years living on this planet that the human population has doubled in this time. David Attenborough alluded to this in his latest documentary epic 'Our Planet' as a wake up call to the destruction of approximately 60% of all species in the time since humanity hit its first billion in the 1800s. Only 200 years after hitting our first billion we reached 6 billion, and by 2021/22 we will be at 8 billion. The human pressure on our earth is a fundamental driving force of what is now known as the 6th mass extinction.  As the reality of overpopulation becomes a key talking point in all political and societal discourse over the next decade it is important to consider what the impact of all this will be on our everyday existence. Countries like Syria it seems are already going through their Armageddons with many more following suit such as Sudan, Yemen, Iraq and Afghanistan as resource constraints, water shortage, fossil fuel extraction, greed and climate change emergencies raise the spectre of intra and inter border warfare as an everyday reality. With these sobering thoughts in mind I head to my latest email update as we come to the final year of the second decade of the 3rd Millennium. 

2019 yet again started off with a rip and a roar co-teaching the Michigan State University three week study abroad Natural Sciences in New Zealand course throughout the South Island. Showing off some the best ecological sites that Te Waipounamu has on offer, (glaciers, fiords, cave systems, sounds, rivers and pristine beaches) the course is ultimately designed to 'recruit' more environmental stewards for our planet. It is always a treat to watch our students transform to becoming more environmentally aware as the once in a lifetime academic adventure unfolds. Following the completion of what is now the 8th time I have been one of the co-instructors on this course it was then straight into the third edition of the 75-day-long Conservation Medicine program that had our pre-medical and science-based students traveling and researching throughout the rest of the country.  

The Conservation Medicine program sees our students travel through the Far North of New Zealand collecting soils in the search for anti-biotic compounds. While in the Far North, our students observe the highly successful fishery marine reserves of the Poor Knights Islands, the pristine beaches of Whangarei, the awe-inspiring sand dunes of Opononi, and the dolphin filled bays of the Bay of Islands. Our students are wow'd by the rich cultural history of the Treaty grounds at Waitangi, the geothermal wonderland of Rotorua, and a day's boat and tramping mission to the active volcano of White Island.  Everyday has something completely different ecologically to explore, especially when interspersed with visits to the giant Redwood and Kauri forests in these areas, while learning about diseases and threats to our native ecosystems and ourselves.  

Over the past two years during this initial research project our Conservation Medicine students have collected 33 soil samples in these remote parts of New Zealand. Six of these soils have been determined by Victoria University to be promising for producing novel antiboitic compounds, with another two currently under examination from this year. To put these rather mind-boggling finds into context; Pharmac spent over a billion dollars on ten thousand soil sampling extractions around the world and only found one novel antibiotic compound. Given the global importance of finding antibiotic resistance to the myriad of diseases challenging human and other species it is great to see MSU Spartans making good headway in the hunt for antibiotic resistance, not to mention the precious and unique ecosystems of Aotearoa delivering such rare and exciting finds. 

Having introduced our Conservation Medicine students to the symphonic wonders of the native birdsong emanating from hugely successful bird reserves such as Kapiti Island, near Wellington (and Blumine and Motuara Islands in the Marlborough Sounds) - their second major research project was to use tunnels, peanut butter and ink cards to assess the types, numbers and behaviours of mammalian predators on the Marlborough Sounds mainland. Making a comparison study between Resolution Bay where the group were staying in rustic cabins for 6 days (without cellphones), and catching the Eko Tours boat each morning at 630am to continue their research at Endeavour Inlet on behalf of their Conservation Trust, (which use Robbie Van Dam's Good Nature Traps), the results showed that these highly effective resetting trap systems have a meaningful impact on controlling the numbers of predators in the area such as rats, stoats, mice and possums.  

A major highlight of this year's program was taking the group right down into Fiordland National Park (aptly named the 8th Natural Wonder of the World). Our students spent five days in the area hiking Lake Marian and taking two boat trips through Milford and Doubtful Sound which are world renowned for their glacially carved granite peaks and incredibly green and unspoilt ecosystems.  Named an UNESCO protected site, the vast wilderness of Fiordland holds a treasure trove of rare and endemic life for Aotearoa, some of the Beech Forests existing generationally for over 100 million years. In fact, a small colony of Takahe, once thought extinct, were found in one of the untouched glacial valleys to enable rejuvenation of this very rare bird population. A taonga indeed for New Zealand and the world. 

If you are interested to read more about our students' experiences throughout the program click onto their blogs, websites and videos below. 

Blog

Following the two University programs, it was straight into a week of talks visiting ten schools in the Christchurch, Timaru and Kaikoura regions inspiring literacy and following your dreams on behalf of the Alan Duff Books in Homes Charitable Trust. The first school I visited in Christchurch was close by the Linwood Mosque, which was the site of the tragic shooting of almost 50 Muslim devotees - the worst mass shooting in NZ history. Safe to say I had to fight back the tears when the whole school assembly cheered wildly as one of the 6 year old Muslim boys went up to collect his free book after my speech about trekking the length of the Great Wall of China.  

After many travels through the Middle East, Morroco, Malaysia, India, Central Asia and the borders of Algeria and Libya where the Islamic faith took my heart to soaring heights with their call to prayers echoing from their beautiful mosques in Medinas surrounded by deserts, great cities and enormous mountain valleys - it always amazes me that such racist hatred and narrow mindedness still occurs on this planet. Observing this school assembly we have so much to learn from the sheer openness of children and acceptance of everyone in their school environment no matter their race, religion or class. It is with this in mind, that Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern took the brave step as a true progressive leader of New Zealand to swiftly ban assault weapons within three weeks of this terrible attack. 

We have so much to learn from our children, and this has become more apparent to me as I watch our son Oliver Mananui continue to grow, play and share with other kids. He is quickly expanding his repertoire of squeeks and sqwarks and other adorable human activity as he hits 15 months. In fact, Jeanette and I were gobsmacked as he spied a pink soccer ball floating at the kiddies section of Kilbirnie Pool. Upon proceeding to crawl towards it like a madman, (which he usually does), he then with unforeseen skill used the ball to prop himself up, and for his first ever steps charged off with the ball into the water as if he was aiming to score the last minute try of the Rugby World Cup!

Probably my biggest news this summer has been the purchase of a home overlooking the highly successful bird and marine reserve of Kapiti Island in Pukerua Bay. Jeanette and I had spent the autumn cozied up in a small flat in Houghton Bay set alongside the dramatic scenery of the rugged south sea coast of Wellington. After an exhaustive search of homes outside of Wellington to try and find our ideal long term spot, we feel very lucky with the purchase and will be renting it out over the winter and spring while we all head back to the States for our next teaching onslaught in July.

Thankfully, our new home will provide an easy location for charging my electric car, and our provider, Meridian, supplies it with wind-farm powered renewable energy. The combination of Meridian's offer of a $300 electricity credit for having an EV - as well as having the ability to charge (and park) my car for free in Wellington city - the cost of driving almost 10,000 km this year has been the paltry sum of $117. I am certainly curious to know what fossil fuel gas guzzlers have paid over the same period - what with petrol consistently up to $2.30 a litre now in New Zealand?

As the second half of the year unfolds Jeanette, Oli and I will head off to teach our Environmental Studies in Hawaii program for a month in the Big Island, Kauai and Maui before visiting California for 10 days to relive my old haunts at UC Davis, San Francisco, Yosemite and Big Sur where I took off as a spritely young lad to complete my Law Honours degree exactly 20 years ago.  Following this we will be back to Michigan for the Fall Semester to not only recruit for our next round of study abroad programs but to avidly follow the Democratic Primaries to see who will contend the Presidential election against Trump in 2020.  Fascinating times indeed!

For all the latest photos relating to this 2019 mid year update - go to my Facebook gallery at

https://www.facebook.com/nathan.h.gray/photos_all?lst=899215246%3A899215246%3A1560158365

or to my Instagram gallery at:

Nathan Hoturoa Gray (@nathanhoturoa) ? Instagram photos and videos

Finally, for those that haven't yet got their free copy of my 5th book on the cultural protocols of Maori, Asian and Pacific theatre and arts practitioners in Aotearoa - please don't hesitate to email me for your personal copy.  (The website is perusable here: https://culturalprotocols.weebly.com/)

Wishing you all a fruitful 2nd half of 2019 and may you forge ahead with skill, deft and determination. Indeed our heaving planet certainly needs it!

Arohanui

Nathan Hoturoa Gray

www.greatwalldvd.com