'fear of silent forests'

Some areas are already silent and it is a rarity to see anything let alone hear anything above the munching of the predators. But it is not the ony reason for the silence, the largest predator being man, whose continued destruction of the native forests is a big contributor the ever increasing silence.

It is crazy, scary - and whilst this is not feasible in all parts of New Zealand due to proximity, access etc - the Ark in the Park - are an amazing example of what a dedicated team can do to an (albeit) small area - now with Hihi (stitchbird), Robin and even Kokako returning to this area for the first time in 80 years -but only after years of predator control and dedicated peeps researching and studying - see more here below - If in AKL join up and volunteer http://www.arkinthepark.org.nz/about_ark_in_the_park/