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Theme for greater NZ to latch on to = BRING BACK THE FROGS

Kerry McKenna


Originally posted by Kerry McKenna on 23 August 2008 in Transition Nation 2020

(Better acronym phrase if you can think of it please:))

The Idea

Get NZ schools and communities behind the idea of bringing back the frogs.
As far as I know Frogs can only survive in low pollution, that's why there are almost no frogs in ChCh but heaps in Purau.
As we know the things that reduce pollution also tend to create more personal happier communities.

Why It Will Work

People can remind themselves that everytime they don't drive / encourage burning, they are bringing frogs back into their cities.
Sometimes people need reasons to bike in the rain.
Animals are something most people and businesses can feel good about.
There can be a tangible emergence of frogs, not some stat sheets or reports or studies. AS WE SUCCEED WE WILL SEE MORE FROGS. And we will have more time to see them while on our bikes and walking.
As mean things start happening to frogs well - they are not fluffy etc.
Also kiwis are competitive.
We can directly link the idea of our better futures with the presence of frogs.
It won't have to be a hard to understand campaign with a long non-descriptive title.

How You Can Help

Please attach links to frog & pollution science, &/ discuss the merits of this idea or find one better.
Be a frog biologist and contact me at goodkeengirl@snap.net.nz
I'm just an ideas person.
Ask people what they think of this idea.
Post something, anything that you feel about this idea.

Tags: frogs, pollution, projects, school, walking

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Hirini R on September 11, 2008 at 22:43
Hi Kerry
Appreciate your love of frogs. Its not mine right now. They can make a huge racket at night when you are trying to sleep. My mum as a kid back in the 1930s told me about a hardcase trick they played with frogs. You get a wiwi or bullrush which has a hollow stem. You poke it through the hole at the back of the frog. You blow air into the frog like a balloon. Then throw the frog into the pond. The frog floats until the air dissipates.
Permalink Reply by sidney rosenthal on September 12, 2008 at 16:12
. hi Kerry, what a great idea. I can recall playing with frog spawn and frogs as a kid but up here in northland i havent seen any.. i believe they are a great environmental indicator and it would be fantastic to have them back again. is it possible to introduce them to a new area without too much trouble.My farm is chemical free for 7 years now and i have clean ponds and streams, I would love for my mokos to experience frogs in nature like i did, I would support a campaign to protect and multiply frogs, kiora, Sid.
Permalink Reply by Hirini R on September 12, 2008 at 17:33
I might not be too PC but I know frogs can be another source of kai(food) and rongoa (medicine) as well. Perhaps ponds can be used to stock frogs, eel, watercress and other food as well. Sustainable kai. Appreciate your comments Sid especially about the mokos getting back to nature.

H.
Permalink Reply by Laura too on September 13, 2008 at 13:02
There are heaps of frogs in Northland. They are the Australian ones though - and these are the ones that make a racket. The NZ native frogs have no voice! They are so rare that you won't normally see them and they are not water inhabiting either.

So maybe do a bit of research, then decide what you would like to do.

As there is a very bad fungus (Chytrid fungus) killing many frogs worldwide it is a good idea NOT to release any captive bred "pet" frogs into the wild! They might just kill the very last natives! There seemed to be a "cure" coming up last year, but nothing further has come from it http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7067613.stm so better not release any frogs please!

Our gold and green Bell frogs are spawning right now and we already have the first tadpoles. So there will be heaps of froglets about in late summer.
Permalink Reply by Kerry McKenna on September 16, 2008 at 18:50
Thank you very much Sid for the support and Laura I will read that article shortly.

That would be very important if the frogs are difficult to breed from wild stock wouldn't it.

If that is your tanga Hirini then that is what it is. Still I have heard that frogs are an excellent indicator of pollution levels.
But let me put it this way - something to think about - if there were a pair of breeding moa discovered today, would you want some tangatawhenua to be allowed to cull them and make them extinct, knowing what we know now?

Thank you for the feedback everyone it is a lovely surprise:} I'm about to go through a very busy time but feel free to grab the idea and run with it and I will dedicate some serious time to it after our current projects.

Yours Kerry
Permalink Reply by Michael E on September 17, 2008 at 19:10
Hi Kerry
I like your idea especially because it doesnt involve selling a product- you know your doing well when nature returns! Unfortunately this is also its downfall - because it isnt a product,there isnt a marketing story to tell-apart from feeling good about things.

In my view people have been trained to think like consumers,without taking their environment into account. Or,they take it into account only after some one points it out to them! This is how it works I guess,emphasise the positives and forget the negatives,is how you market a product eg : modern electronics that end up being melted by fire in the open air in china after a few years.

Regards
Mike.E

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