North Canterbury News: May 12, 2022

OUR TOWN KAIAPOI
10 The North Canterbury News, May 12, 2022
Zone committee visits The Pines Wetland
Heavy rain since Christmas has
been amixed blessing for the
The Pines Wetland in the
Tuhaitara Coastal Park.
The Waimakariri Zone
Committee recently held afield
trip to The Pines with Te
Kohaka oTuhaitara Trust
general manager Greg Byrnes to
discuss summer rain, the work of
the trust and projects planned
for the future.
‘‘We’ve had 300ml of rain in
the area since Christmas and
although this has helped some of
our budding plants to grow, it
has also meant that the weeds
are flourishing too,’’ Greg says.
The park covers around 700
hectares of land along the
coastline from the Waimakariri
River mouth, north to the
settlement of Waikuku Beach.
It stretches along the coast for
10.5km and comprises many
natural features of local,
regional and national
importance.
The Pines Wetland is around
44 hectares of the park and is a
priority for the trust, which is
planning to carry out weed
control in the area, to remove
the unwanted growth.
This will make way for new
plants which are set to be
installed.
Trees That Count has agreed
to donate 10,000 trees, including
Ribbonwood and cabbage trees /
ti kouka to the trust over the next
five years.
The first 2000 of these are set
to be planted by acontractor in
the coming weeks.
The trust has brought in a
contractor due to Covid­19
Aerial view ... The Tuhaitara Coastal Park covers anarrow stretch of
Waimakariri coastline.
PHOTOS: ENVIRONMENT CANTERBURY
restrictions making it difficult to
organise volunteer planting
days.
In January last year afire
broke out in aproperty next to
the wetland and quickly spread,
causing the destruction of many
trees, including pines, which
were in the wetland.
Despite these circumstances,
Greg is looking at the positives.
‘‘The fire gave us afresh
approach to how we want the
wetland to look going forward,’’
he says.
Afire break is now being
planned for aspace between the
wetland and neighbouring
properties to provide added
protection should another
incident occur.
‘‘Interestingly, we’ve seen an
increase in the number of whitefaced
heron occupying the
wetland since the fire, now that
the area’s much more open,’’
Greg says.
One small part of the wetland,
off Batten Grove, has been
replanted by Kaiapoi North
School children as part of their
Feast for Flight programme.
‘‘It’s been planted with species
which will attract birds, like
ones with berries and nectar,’’
Greg says.
Waimakariri Zone Committee
is keen to support the trust’s
work in the wetland, committee
member Carolyne Latham says.
Field trip ... Te Kohaka oTuhaitara Trust general manager Greg Byrnes
shows Waimakariri Zone Committee members around the wetland.
‘‘It was awesome to see what
has been done and what can be
done with alittle extra support,’’
she says.
The zone committee has
recommended the project
receive close to $15,000 for the
weed control work /mahi this
year.
It comes 10 years after the
committee first supported the
park, when it pitched to help
help fund work in the Tutaepatu
Lagoon, near Woodend.
The committee previously
recommended around $200,000
over five years in Immediate
Steps Funding for the
restoration of the 49 hectare
freshwater lagoon.
The funding supported weed
control and planting of more
than 4000 native plants
including kahikatea, New
Zealand’s tallest forest tree.
After 2015, the trust received
further Immediate Steps
Funding which supported other
projects in the park including
The Pines Wetland.
Greg says the trust is grateful
for the committee’s support and
hopes it will spark further
collaboration.
‘‘I hope the committee
considers reconnecting with the
park.
‘‘Its previous support was vital
to the restoration of the
Tutaepatu Lagoon,’’ he says.