Photo: RNZ
A new walking trail, a hero dog, and rangatahi celebrating te reo on TikTok are among the latest feel-good stories from RNZ.
NZ blitzes the medals per capita table
The Medals Per Capita website takes population size into account. Photo: medalspercapital.com
Medals Per Capita is a website set up by New Zealand computer scientist Craig Nevill-Manning, revealing that New Zealand is a far more decorated nation for Olympic medals than heavy hitters like the United States, China and - yes - Australia. New Zealand came fourth on the per capita medal tally at the Paris Games, behind the even tinier island nations of Grenada, Dominica and Saint Lucia. "It is my little contribution to point out that New Zealand does really well," says Nevill-Manning, 55, who was born in Papakura and now works at Google New York.
Walking trail to showcase sustainable farming
The track will follow the Ruataniwha River. Photo: PIXABAY
A new walking trail showcasing sustainable farming in North Canterbury has been given the go-ahead, sold to the Waimakariri District Council for just $1. The Waimakariri Landcare Trust leads the project, made of a group of local farmers focusing on sustainability and the landowners. The track will follow the Ruataniwha River from Kaiapoi to Rangiora, connecting with the wider Arohatia te Awa Trail.
Protecting one of Aotearoa's most endangered plants
The bright red ngutukaka, or kakabeak. Photo:
Graeme Atkins is on a mission to protect endangered plants on the North Island's East Coast, particularly the bright red ngutukaka (or kakabeak), of which only 100 plants survive in the wild. He's a former DOC ranger on the East Coast, who founded Tairawhiti Ngutukaka - a community organisation dedicated to growing ngutukaka from seed and protecting them from pests and predators. Next month is the inaugural Tairawhiti Ngutukaka festival to encourage the community to celebrate the taonga flower together.
Indian New Zealanders connecting with their roots
The programme aims to strengthen the emotional and cultural ties between young Indian diaspora and their ancestral homeland. Photo: Supplied Photo: Supplied
The locally run Know India Programme is providing Indian New Zealanders aged 21-35 with the opportunity to connect with their roots and gain a deeper understanding of their ancestral homeland. The three-week programme allows about 40 young people of Indian origin from different parts of the world to explore India, including places the public usually would not get to see, like India's Parliament.
Rangatahi promoting te reo on TikTok
Some TikTok creators post content speaking only in te reo. Photo: SUPPLIED
Rangatahi are openly using TikTok to share and celebrate te reo Māori, and hope all social media platforms can be flooded with the language. Ashley McGregor (Te Rarawa, Te Aupouri) is one such creator who posts content speaking entirely in te reo. "Ko tēnei te wā o te ao hangarau, technology plays a large part in our daily lives, so it is important we use these mediums to teach, use and promote our language," she says.
Growing trees to combat erosion
Jamie McFadden of the Hurunui Natives Plant Nursery. Photo: Supplied
Jamie McFadden has been running the Hurunui Natives Plant Nursery for 25 years. He grows and plants trees on farms to help secure land at risk of slipping and slumping. When the willow and poplar trees are planted, the roots spread out and help hold the hillside together. McFadden has a clientele of around 300 farms and loves working with farmers to find rewarding solutions to their problems. His team plants the erosion-preventing trees in winter and spends the rest of the year planting natives.
Gathering celebrates independent publishers
Sasha Francis, Achille Segard and Renae Williams of 5ever Books. Photo: supplied
Small presses and independent publishers from around Aotearoa have gathered in Ōtepoti Dunedin to share and exchange ideas and inspiration at the Small Press Fest. The Festival reflects a move away from the internet towards community and the empowerment of making your own printed media. There's also a sustainable focus - presses print small numbers of books themselves on recycled paper instead of sending PDFs overseas for mass production.
Hero dog saves owner from stream
Lydia Frere with her dogs Blue, left, and Archie. Photo: Vanessa Laurie / Stuff
Lydia Frere was stuck in waist-high water in a freezing stream with night falling, her mind desperately churning through the options of what she could do after a walk with her two dogs had gone horribly wrong. "I thought, 'I am going to take a chance', and I called Archie," she says. "I didn't tell him what to fetch. I just said, 'Can you fetch it?' "And he did. He turned around and got my jacket." In that jacket she had left on the stream bank was her phone, and with that phone she called the police who were able to rescue her from the water. Good boy, Archie.
