Lets begin with good news for te ao Maori – a new bill proposing that Matariki become a public holiday is now set to get a hearing in Parliament. Check out this Stuff article (Stuff.co.nz).
Onto New Zealand
youth because they’re leading the way in this instance.
Four young kiwis were selected to participate in the UN Children’s Fund Children’s Climate Change Forum in Copenhagen from November 28th to December 5th (NZ Herald).
Here’s another tale of inspirational
young people opening up new
worlds of possiblity – “10-year-old Anna Zanotti, of Italy, and 14-year-old Joshua Kim, of the United States – went all the way to Birmingham to contribute their own savings to the cause to eradicate the crippling disease polio” (Happy News.com).
More inspiration – in the States, the NZ Herald reported that an anonymous donor has paid for a series of
motivational bill boards to be displayed across America, check out this Happyzine
blog (Happyzine.co.nz).
This guy doesn’t need billboards, when he heard he’d been labelled ‘the
happiest man in the world’ he laughed and laughed. Check out this
article about a Tibetan lama who has spent a lot of time sitting still and “doing something” (NY Times).
Sometimes our feline friends seem to be meditating… and here’s an interesting new fact about them – “
Cat owners who think their cats control them now have some scientific confirmation: Animal vocalization experts have just identified a
special manipulative purr that felines have evolved, in part, to get what they want from people” (Discovery.com).
Now onto
positive environmental news, here we have a tale of
golfers and conservationalists working together to protect our unique native wildlife. “A $2 million ecological restoration project is set to transform one of New Zealand’s premier golf courses into a pest-free bird sanctuary” (NZ Herald.com).
More environmental success, this time in the protection of a rare native bird species – the
kokako – in the Hunua Ranges Regional Park. Some say the call of the
kokako is the most hauntingly beautiful of any of our birds. Check out this
You Tube piece on the Kokako call (People’s Times.com).
Here’s some
good news involving many parties not usually associated with working together. “The Wildlife Conservation Society announced today that critically
endangered alligators in China have a new chance for survival. The WCS’s Bronx Zoo, in partnership with two other North American parks and the Department of Wildlife Conservation and Management of the State Forestry Administration of China, has successfully
reintroduced alligators into the wild that are now multiplying on their own” (Esciencenews.com).
In the UK the government has big plans to subsidise
off-grid power. Their goals are, “a fivefold increase in renewable power generation to provide 30 per cent of Britain’s power by 2020. It calls for two per cent of the UK’s energy needs to be met by power generated
off-grid in homes and businesses” (Off-Grid.net)
Britian has also given the go ahead for
four ecotowns to be built. “
Charging points for electric cars, solar and wind power infrastructure, and so-called smart meters to track energy use will all be built in, while 40 percent of their area will be devoted to parks, playgrounds, and gardens” (Grist.org).
Have you heard of Rice Concrete? It’s a new way of processing rice husks for use in concrete and it could lead to a boom in green construction (Msn.com).
Voices of our community