Box of Light is made possible thanks to these visionaries:
We teamed up with Department of Conservation to help celebrate Conservation Week last week with a series of stories on New Zealand Surf Journal. We posted one each day, celebrating the surfers who give back through conservation work. What an incredible bunch of humans we featured – including a couple of Dunedin locals, Dave Agnew and Moss Thompson, along with Kristel Van Houte from the Karioi Project in Raglan, among others.
All their stories revolve around the surf and how their experiences in the ocean and seas of the world shaped them for the work they do now in their various conservation roles.
Spread right throughout Aotearoa New Zealand, these stories capture another side to what it means to be a surfer in New Zealand. If you see these characters out in the water, or anyone doing work to enhance and improve the environmental outcomes for our coastline, then give them a wave and a friendly smile.
Working with writer Josh Gale, of Mangawhai Heads, we also told the story of Good Surf Now's Ben Barr and his recovery back to normality after a nasty surfing accident. That's a great read, and he just happens to be intrinsically linked in conservation.
Finally we closed out the week with a special new film we made in collaboration with the Department of Conservation: Surfing With Sea Lions. Give it a watch and learn how to coexist peacefully with these charismatic creatures.
See you at the beach, Derek
PS The coalition government seems intent on, what seems to me, like a crack at privatising our fisheries. And despite the massive public outcry, this government is driving forward with this change to fisheries legislation that will impact every generation to come. The Minister for Oceans and Fisheries Shane Jones has presented the Fisheries Amendment Bill to Parliament and it’s now one step closer to becoming legislation. The Bill is repulsive – if it succeeds it will change the Kiwi way of life forever. If you care about the future of our fisheries, speak up and oppose the Bill before 05 May 2026 (do it right now). Here's the link. Please New Zealand Government – lead us into the future, don't drag us into a world where our lifestyle is compromised for corporate profits.
Box of Light is made possible thanks to these visionaries: