Latest news with #JacquiKnight
RNZ News
26-05-2025
- General
- RNZ News
City dwellers encouraged to report monarch butterfly sightings
conservation environment 1:25 pm today Watching a monarch caterpillar strip a swan plant can be one of those lasting memories from childhood. But now people are being urged to report sightings of live monarch butterflies as experts sound the alarm over their declining numbers - especially in cities. Over winter they survive by gathering in clusters on tall trees or in urban green spaces but there's been a noticeable drop off in those habitats. Jacqui Knight from the Moths and Butterflies Trust spoke to Jesse.
Scoop
04-05-2025
- Science
- Scoop
Tagged Monarchs Found
Press Release – Moths and Butterflies NZ Trust We are concerned at the apparent decline in monarch butterflies in NZ, said Jacqui Knight, founding trustee of the Moths and Butterflies of NZ Trust. Tagged monarch butterflies are beginning to show up in known overwintering clusters in Christchurch. Three tagged butterflies have been observed so far in the cluster in Redwood Park, sheltering from the worst of the stormy weather. They will come out on sunny days to find nectar before returning to the safety of the swarm. 'We are concerned at the apparent decline in monarch butterflies in NZ,' said Jacqui Knight, founding trustee of the Moths and Butterflies of NZ Trust. 'This season we reintroduced our tagging project. We enlisted the help of over 250 'citizen scientists' up and down the country, including many schools, and have distributed 10,000 specially made tags.' In the spring the surviving monarchs mate and return to gardens or anywhere where there are swan plants growing. The females lay eggs, beginning the new generation of monarch butterflies. In 2003 two entomologists documented over 20 overwintering sites in the Canterbury area but there are few records of sites elsewhere in NZ. 'I'm not sure if people know about the monarchs overwintering, or they just haven't shared that information.' In North America, there are huge concerns for the decline in monarchs where they are native. The monarchs east of the Rocky Mountains migrate hundreds of kilometres every autumn to overwintering sites in Mexico. For almost 45 years scientists were puzzled as to where they went and in 1975 they discovered the first overwintering site. David James, Associate Professor at the Department of Entomology at Washington State University is overseeing the NZ project. David has 13 years' experience with a similar project in North America. 'About 75% of all recoveries are made at overwintering sites,' he said. 'We need more people to particularly look for tagged butterflies.' Sightings can be reported to and a special project has been set up on iNaturalist to monitor overwintering sites:
Scoop
04-05-2025
- Science
- Scoop
Tagged Monarchs Found
Press Release – Moths and Butterflies NZ Trust We are concerned at the apparent decline in monarch butterflies in NZ, said Jacqui Knight, founding trustee of the Moths and Butterflies of NZ Trust. Tagged monarch butterflies are beginning to show up in known overwintering clusters in Christchurch. Three tagged butterflies have been observed so far in the cluster in Redwood Park, sheltering from the worst of the stormy weather. They will come out on sunny days to find nectar before returning to the safety of the swarm. 'We are concerned at the apparent decline in monarch butterflies in NZ,' said Jacqui Knight, founding trustee of the Moths and Butterflies of NZ Trust. 'This season we reintroduced our tagging project. We enlisted the help of over 250 'citizen scientists' up and down the country, including many schools, and have distributed 10,000 specially made tags.' In the spring the surviving monarchs mate and return to gardens or anywhere where there are swan plants growing. The females lay eggs, beginning the new generation of monarch butterflies. In 2003 two entomologists documented over 20 overwintering sites in the Canterbury area but there are few records of sites elsewhere in NZ. 'I'm not sure if people know about the monarchs overwintering, or they just haven't shared that information.' In North America, there are huge concerns for the decline in monarchs where they are native. The monarchs east of the Rocky Mountains migrate hundreds of kilometres every autumn to overwintering sites in Mexico. For almost 45 years scientists were puzzled as to where they went and in 1975 they discovered the first overwintering site. David James, Associate Professor at the Department of Entomology at Washington State University is overseeing the NZ project. David has 13 years' experience with a similar project in North America. 'About 75% of all recoveries are made at overwintering sites,' he said. 'We need more people to particularly look for tagged butterflies.' Sightings can be reported to and a special project has been set up on iNaturalist to monitor overwintering sites:
Scoop
04-05-2025
- Science
- Scoop
Tagged Monarchs Found
Tagged monarch butterflies are beginning to show up in known overwintering clusters in Christchurch. Three tagged butterflies have been observed so far in the cluster in Redwood Park, sheltering from the worst of the stormy weather. They will come out on sunny days to find nectar before returning to the safety of the swarm. 'We are concerned at the apparent decline in monarch butterflies in NZ,' said Jacqui Knight, founding trustee of the Moths and Butterflies of NZ Trust. 'This season we reintroduced our tagging project. We enlisted the help of over 250 'citizen scientists' up and down the country, including many schools, and have distributed 10,000 specially made tags.' In the spring the surviving monarchs mate and return to gardens or anywhere where there are swan plants growing. The females lay eggs, beginning the new generation of monarch butterflies. In 2003 two entomologists documented over 20 overwintering sites in the Canterbury area but there are few records of sites elsewhere in NZ. 'I'm not sure if people know about the monarchs overwintering, or they just haven't shared that information.' In North America, there are huge concerns for the decline in monarchs where they are native. The monarchs east of the Rocky Mountains migrate hundreds of kilometres every autumn to overwintering sites in Mexico. For almost 45 years scientists were puzzled as to where they went and in 1975 they discovered the first overwintering site. David James, Associate Professor at the Department of Entomology at Washington State University is overseeing the NZ project. David has 13 years' experience with a similar project in North America. 'About 75% of all recoveries are made at overwintering sites,' he said. 'We need more people to particularly look for tagged butterflies.' Sightings can be reported to and a special project has been set up on iNaturalist to monitor overwintering sites:
Yahoo
21-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
RBA interest rate cut sparks property price warning for Aussie buyers: ‘Holding off'
The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA)'s interest rate cuts present opportunity and concerns for first-home buyers hoping to get onto the property ladder. Lower rates will allow buyers to borrow and spend more, but they are also set to increase competition and push up already high property prices. Jacqui Knight and her husband Tim purchased their first home in October last year, a four-bedroom townhouse in Sydney's Bangor for $1.385 million. The 38-year-old business owner told Yahoo Finance the couple had to make 'serious revisions' on where and what they were looking for to buy a home when they did. The couple had originally planned to buy in Jannali, about 30 kilometres south of the CBD, but found prices were rising by more than $20,000 a month. Knight said their savings just couldn't keep up. RELATED Major banks cut term deposit interest rates ahead of RBA call: 'Double-edged sword' Rare $2 coloured coin worth up to $650: 'Worth keeping an eye out' Major crackdown on 'excessive' surcharge scourge costing Aussies: 'Repetitive instances' '$20,000 a month for the last 12 months of property increases is quite insane,' she said. 'When you're a first-home buyer, you can't save that amount of money. You can't keep up with that.' The couple instead bought in nearby Bangor, which is close to the school their two young kids attend, along with being nearby to relatives. Knight said the couple were keen to buy ahead of the RBA cutting interest rates and the tougher competition it is expected to bring.'We were hoping that they weren't going to drop almost because we had just a limited budget to buy,' Knight said. 'It's not a huge change but any change in that regard just really has a massive impact on the number of people buying and the number of properties on the market.' Knight said the couple first started the process of looking for a home in December 2023 with a broker and later enlisted the help of a buyer's agent. They saved up a $140,000 deposit and had a family member go guarantor on their mortgage so they could make up a 20 per cent deposit for the property. Research by CoreLogic found property prices could increase by an average of 6.1 per cent for each one per cent drop in the cash rate, based on previous periods of rate reductions. Commonwealth Bank and Westpac are expecting four 0.25 per cent cuts this rate-cutting cycle, while NAB has forecast five and ANZ two. CoreLogic said certain markets would see a bigger boost in values from rate reductions than others, with premium Sydney and Melbourne suburbs likely to enjoy the biggest increases. Little Real Estate chief operating officer Rebecca Kerr told Yahoo Finance she expected the RBA's interest rate cut would bolster buyer confidence. 'I think this interest rate cut will give buyers and investors a lot more confidence in the market and some certainty for those that may have been delaying their purchasing decision,' Kerr said. 'We're expecting to see an increase in property listings on the back of the RBA decision as many property owners have been delaying selling to see what rates will do. 'We're expecting the rate cut to see extra sales activity and regenerate some of the buzz that's been lacking over the last 12 months or so.' Melbourne buyer's advocate Emily Wallace said the cut would likely result in positive sentiment for the market. "A number of buyers have been holding off to see what the RBA will do so this may spark extra buyers into the market,' she told Yahoo Finance. However, Wallace said a single cut alone 'won't see the market explode'. 'I suspect it will be a slow burn through 2025 before the market truly takes off and experiences strong upward values,' she said. Knight said she was glad she and her husband had shifted their buying priorities and got into the market when they did. 'It's a really lovely suburb. It's got a lot of bush around. Matilda, our daughter, is at a great school,' she said. 'It's a really great community. So we're really, really happy and it definitely worked out for the best.' The couple's repayments are currently $8,000 a month and their interest rate is 6.2 per cent. Knight said the RBA's interest rate cut was 'welcome' for her family's budget and calculated it would save them $150 a month, if their bank passes the cut on in full. 'So it's not the thousands and thousands that would be a significant change to the budget but it all adds up,' she said. 'That $150 could be a day trip or a trip to the zoo or something that could give us a family memory. 'Or we could pay off the mortgage and keep the repayments the same and pay the mortgage down faster.'Sign in to access your portfolio
