Ecological Restoration

A naturalist attributes deforestation, increased settlements and introduction of animals as some of the reasons for extinction of birds in New Zealand.

New Zealand’s protected areas are its 13 national parks and a large number of reserves.

Clare St Pierre speaks about the restoration activities like pest control, protection and restoration programmes at Mt Pirongia.

Pest control method for black rats from Mahakirau Forest.

Restoring the ecology of Maungatautari

Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari is a North Island ecological wildlife sanctuary. It’s governing body, the Maungatautari Ecological Island Trust, was formed in 2001 by the Maungatautari community, local landowners, local iwi and the government. ‘The maunga’ was a dream project to restore and provide a safe ecological haven for endangered New Zealand birds, bats, reptiles, tuatara and giant weta. Takahē are just one example of the kind of rare birds found there. The Takahē Recovery Programme has been developed at Maungatautari to strengthen the bird’s survival rate. Spread across 3400 hectares of New Zealand forest, the Maungatautari project was judged one of Australasia’s top 25 ecological

Save our wetlands

Wetlands occur where the water table is closest to the surface of the land. This ‘land’ can be permanently or temporarily covered by water. These places such as swamps, mangroves and estuaries, often sustain a rich animal and plant life. However, human activity has been the largest threat to New Zealand’s wetlands. This cartoon refers to a report by the Conservation Minister of the time that New Zealand has lost 90% of its wetland and it is still continuing. Southland has lost 1000 hectares since 2007. While initiatives have been taken, much more needs to be done to repair and replant our wetlands. World Wetlands Day is celebrated on 2 February each year. The intention is to raise global a

Tiritiri Matangi Island

Tiritiri Matangi is an island off the coast of Auckland in the Hauraki Gulf. As a conservation success, it is a model of ecological reforestation and wildlife restoration. A hundred and twenty years of farming stripped this 220-hectare island bare of its native bush. However, from 1984 to 1994, thousands of volunteers planted over 280,000 trees on ‘Tiri’. Today this open sanctuary is home to over fourteen species of threatened or endangered birds such as the takahē and the kōkako. To ensure their safety, all predators such as stoats, cats and rats were eradicated. The island is now looked after by the Department of Conservation and Supporters of Tiritiri Matangi Inc.

Karori reservoir

The Karori reservoir with its Gothic style water outlet control tower in the centre was decommissioned because a 1978 engineer’s report found the dam to be an earthquake risk. The reservoir is now part of Zealandia, a world first and world class ecological sanctuary. Its ambitious goal is to restore 225 hectares to original forest cover in an effort to protect and support endangered wildlife. Pest eradication, strict bio-security and an 8.6 km predator-proof fence now protects vulnerable native species inside the sanctuary including, tīeke, hihi, spotted kiwi and tuatara.

Tamaki Estuary

An estuary is an area where a freshwater river or stream mixes with salty sea water. Estuaries are unique ecosystems with huge ecological value because they are home to plants like mangroves and sea grasses and thousands of birds, animals and fish. Conservation volunteers, along with Tamaki Estuary Environment Forum and Auckland Council, ran a series of sea and land-based events to clean up the Tamaki Estuary. They removed litter, especially plastic, that can have a major negative impact on birds and fish in that area. Part of the restoration programme included re-vegetation by replanting the local bush area to encourage the return of wildlife.

Matakana Island

Matakana Island lies at the entrance of Tauranga’s Harbour in the Bay of Plenty. This 20 km long and 3 km wide island became the centre for dotterel protection in 1992 thanks to an initiative shown by its community. Major threats to the dotterel population such as cats, stoats, rats and possums were trapped and eradicated from the island. Sunbathers, picnickers and fishermen have been warned to keep clear of the camouflaged nesting sites. Local businesses, schoolchildren and the Department of Conservation have played a vital role in removing weeds to improve breeding sites, providing bait stations to trap predators and spotting scopes to keep a watchful eye on breeding pairs of dotterel.

Forest raising

Nine million trees grown last year’ claims this article from 1911. Even though much of the article gives statistics on the cost of reforestation in New Zealand, it is comforting to know that even then people were considering the importance of environmental tree planting. The second part of the article details prison labour employed to replant areas around Hanmer Springs, Whakarewarewa and Waiotapu Valley areas. Today the Afforestation Grant Scheme (AGS) and the One Billion Trees Programme are examples of recent government initiatives to replant new exotic and native forests in New Zealand.

Scenery preservation

Ironically the Scenery Preservation Act 1903 was passed for touristic reasons, and not for the conservation reasons advocated by Christchurch politician Harry Ell. It was his championing of the Preservation Bill that helped get it through Parliament’s legislative process. The Bill was New Zealand’s first law to protect sites of scenic and historical interest. The government even set aside 100,000 pounds to promote the purpose of this act. Today we also have the Resources Management Act 1991. This Act focuses on sustainable use, management and development of the potential of natural and physical resources. This is a cover of protection for all our natural resources such as air, water, soil,

Forest Service poster published in 1985 shows best planting method for reforestation.