Montana New Zealand Book Awards - Environment - 2006 finalists

The Award was won by Pōhutukawa & Rātā: New Zealand's Iron-hearted Trees Philip Simpson (Te Papa Press)

New Zealand Birds in Focus: A Photographer's Journey Geoff Moon (Reed Publishing)
Geoff Moon has been photographing New Zealand birds for over 50 years. He has pioneered techniques (including the construction of hides up to 10 metres off the ground) and piqued passions for the recording and conservation of the unique avifauna found in this country. The birds illustrated in this book are, in most cases, species of which Geoff has made an in-depth study, many of them shy creatures that become uneasy at any sign of human approach. He illustrates and the enormous amount of preparatory work he has done before finding the birds to photograph and his immense patience and attention to detail has been rewarded by some never-before-seen images at the time of photography.

Included here is, at the time, ground-breaking information about birds such as the kingfisher, which had never been photographed showing the membrane that flicks over its eye as it enters water to obtain food. Geoff's work on moreporks was also valuable in showing what foods where fed to chicks during the night, information that was only revealed after he had developed his films. This volume of Geoff's work records the many phases, techniques, developments, adventures and accomplishments of a man whose passion and respect for nature can only ignite the same in any reader who chooses to share his journeys.
(description from Reed Books)

Pōhutukawa & Rātā: New Zealand's Iron-hearted Trees Philip Simpson (Te Papa Press) Winner
This book celebrates New Zealand's unique 'big red trees' - their place in the natural world, their importance to Māori, their role in symbolism, art, and design, and their many remarkable uses - as well as the threat they face today from possums, progress, and people.

Philip Simpson is the author of the best-selling Dancing Leaves: The Story of New Zealand's Cabbage Tree- Tī Kouka. Here he brings the same exhaustive research, wide-ranging knowledge, and infectious enthusiasm to these great red trees.

The book includes comprehensive diagrams and maps of the trees' distribution, hundreds of archival and contemporary photographs, and reproductions of both rare and recognisable works from New Zealand art and design.

With sections on how to grow and care for the trees and a breadth of new research, this book really does contain everything you ever wanted to know about pohutukawa and rata- and more. An essential resource for those committed to conservation, for teachers and tourists, for gardeners and students, and for lovers of the history and colour of these iconic beauties.
(description from Te Papa Books)

Swimming with Orca Ingrid N Visser (Penguin Books)
The inspiring stories of Dr Ingrid Visser's encounters with orca.

Called orca by some, and killer whales by others, these mysterious animals have become part of Ingrid's life. She has got to know many orca by sight and calls them her friends. Her experiences with orca challenge their fearsome reputation: she gets into the water with them, watches them hunt, and communicates in any way she can. Ingrid is the only orca researcher working in the South Pacific. This book details her fascinating discoveries, as well as telling her own personal story and describing her amazing adventures.
(description from Penguin Books)