ILLUSTRATE ECOLOGY

This issue of the Newsletter includes thought-provoking articles on a range of topical issues, which I’m sure members will enjoy reading. Fleur Maseyk reports on a landmark Environment Court decision on the Horizons Regional Council proposed One Plan. The One Plan incorporates the Regional Policy Statement and land, water, air and coastal Regional Plans. Among other things, the court decision recognised that all areas of rare or threatened habitat types shall be considered ecologically significant. Robert Holdaway and Susan Wiser’s article on threatened rare ecosystems is particularly timely given this decision, which is likely to set a precedent. Larry Burrows, Alan Mark and Ali Timms explore the complex topic of exotic conifers in the High Country. The article covers thorny issues from carbon sequestration to wilding control on public land and landscape values. Hopefully this will stimulate healthy debate during the related symposium at the upcoming NZES conference in Lincoln. I’ve introduced a new section for the Newsletter where postgraduate ecology students get a chance to tell members about themselves and their research. Thanks to all those people who submitted items to make it such an interesting issue. This is the last newsletter before the NZES annual conference—I hope to see you there