Lockdown and New Pīwakawaka Earrings
March has arrived - one year since NZ went into full lockdown and still a time of uncertainty. Despite Auckland being back in lockdown again (and our hearts go out to our Auckland whānau), compared to the rest of the world we still have much to be grateful for. Recently a study ranked NZ’s Covid response as the best in the world - an achievement that our team of 5 million can be proud of even if the threat of Covid isn’t over. If we are called on to all go into lockdown again, we know that we can pull together as a nation to look after each other and protect our most vulnerable citizens.
After 2020 it’s good to have things to celebrate, and pīwakawaka/fantails give us an uncommon conservation celebration. Pīwakawaka are one of the few native land birds that are not threatened. They have been able to adapt to how we’ve changed the environment and are happy living in native forest, scrubland, farmland and parks and gardens.
Fantails also have lots of chicks so even though they are predated by cats, stoats and rats some young manage to survive meaning that populations can bounce back quickly when numbers decline.
This resilience is something to celebrate because only 8% of NZ’s land birds are classed as ‘Not Threatened’. This means that, as we are called on to look after our vulnerable citizens, our team of 5 million is also called on to look after our vulnerable native wildlife, including fantails - they might be doing ok now, but without our help in providing food sources and stopping predation, they might also become threatened.
Remix Plastic is celebrating our collective resilience as a team of 5 million with the release of pīwakawaka feather earrings. Made from recycled ice cream container lids they remind us of what we can achieve for each other and for our wildlife when we all work together.
WHY ICE CREAM CONTAINER LIDS?
Ice cream container lids are a common plastic item that are often not accepted by recycling facilities. Read our blog on the problems with recycling them.
PĪWAKAWAKA STILL NEED OUR HELP
Here’s how you can help pīwakawaka thrive:
- Keeping a conservation friendly cat.
- Trap or bait for rats in your garden, Find out how at Predator Free NZ
- Have a break and keep your garden a bit messy. Pīwakawaka eat insects which live in leaf litter so keeping some areas of your garden messier will provide a nice home for insects and food for pīwakawaka
- Keep your garden pesticide free - otherwise you’ll kill the insects and there will be no food for the pīwakawaka.
Hi Anthea, Jennifer loved her earrings and wore them proudly to school today! I hear the performance went well, thanks again :-)
Just wondering do you still make the pīwakawaka earrings? ngā mihi Kim.