Enviromental Advocates | Mike Joy + Dave Hansford

Conservation advocates Mike Joy and Dave Hansford both know what it’s like to raise their voices, especially when others disregard, or don’t agree, with scientific evidence. They discuss the role storytelling must play in triumphing over commercial and political agendas. Chaired by Debs Martin.

Mike Joy’s memoir, The Fight for Fresh Water, provides a rare first-hand look at the pressures and challenges faced by those who advocate for the environment, especially when debating issues as crucial as the health and future of waterways in Aotearoa. At a perilous time for our universities, it is also an inspirational account of staying true to academia’s function as ‘critic and conscience’ for our society.

In Kahurangi, Dave Hansford documents one of the most significant natural regions in Aotearoa: Kahurangi National Park, along with the adjoining areas of Whanganui Inlet, Wharariki and Onetahua/Farewell Spit. Together, they are home to the greatest variety of plants and animals in the country, with many not found elsewhere on the planet. Hansford, one of our country’s foremost science and natural history writers, is eloquent and uncompromising in his arguments for why and how we must urgently rescue these precious wild lands. Kahurangi is nature writing at its absolute finest.