Restoration Update June 2014 – Paremata Flats Restoration Project

A big thank you to all who helped with this year’s planting – 4096 plants in the ground in three days.

It has been a while since my last update. Most of you will be aware of the issues that have surrounded the project this past 18 months and the frustration as we have waited for Council to formalise the Draft Development Plan, which would identify areas of the Reserve available to Forest and Bird (F&B) for planting going forward. This delay resulted in only 4,096 plants being planted this year. Most of these were infill in the existing planted area, and a small area of approximately 1,000 trees was planted as an extension to the riparian planting along the Whakapuaka River.

After public consultation with all interested parties over the past 18 months, Council has now formalised the Development Plan and significant areas that were originally available to plant a Podocarp forest have been removed as part of the compromise between parties that was needed. After a meeting between us, Council and the grazier, fence lines for future planted areas were agreed on and Council proceeded with erecting the majority of fences, clearly defining the area to be planted. So now it is all go to raise the funds and crack on with the planting. It is very much hoped that all pioneer planting will be completed by 2016, and the following year we will plant all the Podocarps along with a small number of infill plants where required.

I have attached a Council map of Paremata Flat Reserve that defines the future planting area. Subject to funding, we intend to plant the area defined as Plot A in 2015 (totalling around 12,115 trees) and the areas defined as Plots B and C in 2016 (totalling around 28,360 trees).
Despite the issues and uncertainty over the past 18 months, F&B maintained an intensive weed management programme of all of Paremata Flat Reserve, resulting in very good plant survival and the vigorous growth of new plantings.

Weeding

As with any restoration project, to a degree the easy part is getting the plants in the ground. It is the ongoing site management that is the demanding challenge, particularly weed control. When we began the Paremata project it was necessary to control the growth of the exotic grass Tall Fescue by using herbicide. This can be controversial, as it is better to avoid placing a toxin into a natural environment. We used Roundup, which is the most benign of all the available herbicides. Tall Fescue is a vigorous, dense-growing grass, especially in early spring, and must be controlled to allow the new plantings to survive. However, this is very time intensive, plus removal of the grass means other weeds can germinate, especially the climber Old Mans Beard.

I am delighted to say the need to spray has dropped dramatically as the Tall Fescue is being replaced by the growing/shading of native plantings and also the growth of another ‘good’ weed called Tall Fleabane, Conyza sumatrensis. This is a herbaceous, short-lived plant that grows to around 1–2 metres in disturbed ground, a prolific seeder but shade-intolerant. Why is it a good weed? Well, it is fast-growing but not thick and bushy, so it allows dappled light to reach the ground and provides wind protection for growing plants, minimises evaporation from the soil, and by late summer/early autumn it dies off, having done the job of protecting the plantings over the harsh months of summer.

Within the growing natives and Fleabane, we still get nasties like Old Mans Beard, Blackberry, Hawthorne, Buddleia, etc, and the only way to spot them is by grid searching the planted area. This has been done twice this year – a very big thanks to all those who helped out. I can confidently say nasty weeds are in very low numbers and with ongoing checking will be further reduced, and as the natives grow, the weeds’ chances of future germination/survival will be reduced through shading.

Native Plant Natural Regeneration

Oioi – Apodasmia similis

With the control of the exotic and aggressive Tall Fescue on the estuarine areas, we are beginning to see the encroachment of the native reed Oioi (Apodasmia similis), a jointed wire rush with fine grey-green leaves, forming large dense erect clumps, found throughout New Zealand in coastal estuarine marshlands. It is gratifying to see the natives return once the invasive weeds are controlled. Oioi is rapidly infilling the areas once dominated by Tall Fescue and once established, will prevent the Tall Fescue from returning. It is also encouraging to see the widespread natural germination of a variety of native species amongst the replanted areas, courtesy of the existing seed bank and visiting birds – for example, Totora, Kahikatea, Miro, Matai, Coprosma, Tutu, Pittosporum, Ngaio, Nikau, Kanuka, Manuka, and many more. The positive changes will be dramatic as the years roll by and the natives mature, shading out the weeds and exotic grasses and beginning to seed and invite greater bird life.

Trapping

Once again a very big thanks to the team of trappers at Paremata. Since 2007 we have consistently checked our trapping lines twice weekly and removed a good number of pests (see the figures below). As expected, the catch rate remains relatively constant – once we remove one pest, another is not too far away, ready to replace it. However, with an intensive trapping programme in place there is a high probability it will be caught before it does too much damage.

Catches since trapping began in 2007 till the end of May 2014:
Mice 1,561; Rats 197; Weasels 41; Stoats 91; Hedgehogs 58; Cats 4. Total 1,985 pests – by the end of this month we will have removed our 2,000th pest from Paremata.

I will attach the total catch data from when the project began, as a comparison. The trapping has had a very beneficial impact on the bird life. Now I hear Fern Bird every time I am at the reserve. Banded Rail are present – although I have only seen five since I began with the project five years ago, I regularly see their prints in the mud. This lack of sighting is no surprise as they are very secretive. On a still morning at Paremata Reserve, the bird song reverberating around the bay has to be heard to be believed. Imagine what it could be like if more of the surrounding land owners undertook an active trapping programme on their land.

Iwi-owned Uri O Te Wai (Bishops Peninsula) is a little further along Maori Pa Rd from Paremata Flat Reserve. It is the jewel in the crown, from an ecological perspective, as it is a relatively unmodified natural environment with mature Podocarps, Beech and a healthy mixture of broadleaf understory. With iwi permission, members of the F&B Paremata Flats Reserve restoration team undertake pest and weed control on Uri. In the past, Council has undertaken planting along the road reserve between Uri and Paremata. F&B are keen to work further with Council to infill gaps in the planting, to enhance the corridor between Uri and Paremata Flat Reserve, as Uri will in time be an important native seed source for Paremata Flat Reserve. F&B also undertake weed management along the road reserve.

Boardwalk

You will note on the fencing map that Council has sketched in a boardwalk through the planted area and estuary. In principle, F&B supports the intention behind the boardwalk, as it has been F&B’s intention for the restoration project to be available to the general public to use and enjoy as a recreational area.
We will look forward to being included in defining where the actual boardwalk will go and ensuring the plan minimises any negative impact on wading and estuarine bird life.

Titoki Nursery

Tim Le Gros, the owner-manager of Titoki Nursery, has been the supplier of all our plants. The high quality at delivery from Titoki Nursery has been exceptional and is one of the main reasons for the high survival rate of our plantings. All seed for the growing of plants is eco-sourced by Tim and F&B from close proximity to Paremata Flats. Tim is on-growing a variety of canopy trees for Paremata. We have an opportunity for individuals to purchase canopy trees from Tim and plant them at Paremata as memorial plantings for loved ones – a number have already been planted. Contact Tim directly if you would like to participate in this.

Tim has been exceptionally supportive in providing plants at a very reduced price. Also, when in 2013 the Council withdrew permission to plant an area, after having previously agreed to this plan, and we were left with 2,000 surplus trees, Tim took them back at no cost to F&B. If you are looking to undertake native landscaping in the Nelson region, be sure to contact Titoki Nursery (Palmer Rd, Waimea West, Brightwater, ph 03 542 3421).

Summary

Finally, a very big thanks to you all for your work over the past three years. Now that the planning issues are behind us we can look to the future, which is to raise approximately $95,000 to purchase approximately 43,000 trees over the next three years to complete the project.

I look forward to your continued support in attaining a shared dream, the restoration of a unique alluvial flood plain Podocarp native forest.
Regards and thanks
Ian Price