Keanui’s Biodiversity Bonanza05/06/2021Gerald McCormack, Natural Heritage Trust First published Cook Islands News (5th June 2021), here (6th June 2021) Residents often talk about Cook Islands biodiversity, but few have discovered as many unrecorded species as 6-year-old Keanui Selam. His recent insect-catching expeditions led to the [continue reading…]- Will nodule mining destroy our deep sea ecosystem services?19/05/2021Gerald McCormack, Natural Heritage Trust First published Cook Islands News (29 May 2021), updated here (29 May 2021) In an article concerning the possibility of seabed nodule mining in the Cook Islands (Cook Islands News 27 March), Te Ipukarea Society wrote “We are confident that further research [continue reading…]
- Cook Islands Seabed Minerals – the booklet27/04/2021Gerald McCormack, Natural Heritage Trust Booklet published 2016. Available here 28 April 2021 The Trust’s booklet “Cook Islands Seabed Minerals – a precautionary approach to mining” was published in 2016 after three years of research. The booklet provides baseline [continue reading…]
- We’re away, home again in September14/04/2021Gerald McCormack, Natural Heritage Trust First published (14 April 2021), short version CI News (14 April 2021) The Pacific Golden Plover, or Tōrea, is our most common Alaskan migrant. It is conspicuous on larger grassy areas during the summer and most are now in their dramatic breeding [continue reading…]
- Anonymous TIS criticism misguided23/02/2021Gerald McCormack, Natural Heritage Trust First published CINews (24 Feb. 2021), updated. The following article answers Te Ipukarea Society (TIS) criticisms (CI News 20 February) of the author’s article on the possible impacts of seabed mining on nodule-associated benthic megafauna (CI News 11 [continue reading…]
- Cycads and their Golden Age19/02/2021Joseph Brider, Natural Heritage Trust. First published online (19 Feb 2021). What do Japanese Sago-palms, Queen Sago-palms and Cardboard Palms all have in common? Well… they are NOT palms, they are all Cycads! The ‘palm’ reference comes from the shape of their leaves and [continue reading…]
- Nodule mining impact on benthic megafauna17/02/2021Gerald McCormack, Natural Heritage Trust First published CI News 11 Feb. 2021, last update 23 Mar. 2021. This article discusses the likely impact of nodule mining on the megafauna associated with nodules in the South Penrhyn Basin (SPB), from Penrhyn southward to Aitutaki and Palmerston. This [continue reading…]
