WHAT’S THAT WEED?
August 2016
TACKLING LANTANA
We need your help to identify where the invasive pest plant lantana might be
growing on the Coromandel Peninsula.
In our Regional Pest Management Plan lantana has been classified as an
eradication pest, which means it’s our council’s responsibility to control it. All
you have to do is report it to us.
WHANGAPOUA
Lantana excretes toxins into the soil which suppress the other plants around
it, so if it’s not controlled it could totally replace the native vegetation in
forest areas. It could also invade paddocks, reducing pasture productivity
and, because it’s poisonous to livestock, farmers can suffer stock losses.
HEALTHY CATCHMENT, HEALTHY HARBOUR
Photo: Weedbusters
If you find lantana, particularly in the wild, it’s really important you contact
our council’s biosecurity team on 0800 BIOSEC (0800 246 732). You can
also talk directly to your local Biosecurity Officer (for pest plants), Benson
Lockhart, by calling 021 618 364. And if you do have lantana growing in
your garden, please don’t dump your garden waste in bush and gully areas
or on the roadside because lantana stems will take root when they contact
soil.
Kia ora, How time flies. It’s
been over a year since our
last newsletter and there
has certainly been plenty
happening across the
catchment in that time.
The Whangapoua
Harbour and Catchment
Management Plan (HCMP) was finalised late last
year. A big thank you to all who contributed – your
thoughts and aspirations for the catchment are an
integral part of the plan process. To view the plan,
visit www.waikatoregion.govt.nz/tr201503.
KEY CONTACTS
Elaine Iddon
Catchment Management Officer
07 866 0172
021 813 3922
[email protected]
Michelle Lewis
Harbour and Catchment Management Coordinator
07 866 0172
021 242 4581
Lantana is a low, multi-branched, scrambling perennial
shrub with a strong root system. It grows 2-4m tall and has
backwards-pointing prickles on its stems.
Up to 20-40 small flowers per head.
Benson Lockhart
Biosecurity Pest Plants Officer
07 866 0798
021 618 364
Flowers present all year round.
Small, clustered berry-like fruit.
Fruit/
seed
Fruit is initially green but ripens to a juicy purpleblack colour.
One small pale seed in each fruit. Seeds are
attractive to birds.
Oval and wrinkly, with fine hairs.
Leaf
Growing opposite each other on the stem.
Give off a strong smell when crushed.
H E Ō H A N G A PA K A R I
HE HAPORI HIHIRI
H E A LT H Y E N V I R O N M E N T
S T R O N G E CO N O MY
V I B R A N T CO M M U N I T I E S
For more information call Waikato Regional Council
on 0800 800 401 or visit waikatoregion.govt.nz.
• Who’s doing what?
• Protecting our kauri
• Tsunami strategy
• Pest control
• Coastal water quality sampling • What’s that weed? Michelle Lewis
Harbour and Catchment Management
Coordinator, Whitianga
• Key contacts HAVE YOU MET ELAINE?
Elaine Iddon, who is based in our Whitianga
office, is the Catchment Management Officer
for your area. You may have seen her at
a planting day, or even spotted her at the
Tsuanami open day held in January.
Elaine works with landowners to develop
property specific plans for their soil conservation, water quality and
biodiversity restoration projects, and helps them source funding for
the work they want to carry out. She also provides technical advice on
stream, wetland and forest fragment fencing; planting retired areas;
plant and animal pest control in retired areas; and land use and land
management practices.
Depris blocking a stream
The intense, localised rainfall events we had in February and April
caused areas of hill slope and stream bank erosion, creating widespread
scarring from slips in some areas. If you have any questions or would
like some advice and support on remediating erosion on your property,
give Elaine a call. She may even be able to arrange funding through our
council’s catchment programme to pay up to 35 per cent of the costs of
the work, so it really does pay to give her a call.
Elaine’s contact details are on the back of this newsletter.
Slips caused roads to close
August 2016 (4776).
IN THIS NEWSLETTER
Nga mihi mahana
IDENTIFYING FEATURES
Colours range from white, cream or yellow to
Flower orange, pink, purple and red.
H E TA I A O M A U R I O R A
If you have any questions about the plan
or the activities being carried out in the
catchment please call me (my contact
details are on the back page of this
newsletter).
Photo: Weedbusters
[email protected]
[email protected]
I hope you enjoy reading about what’s
been happening in the catchment over the
past year.
THAMES COROMANDEL
DISTRICT COUNCIL
Thames Coromandel District Council (TCDC)
have had their weed contractors out and
about working on roadside pest plants around
Black Jack Road and Matapaua Bay. Some
work has been carried out at Matarangi beach
reserve with control of wildling pines and
gorse being undertaken as well.
STUDENTS IN ACTION
Auckland University students Deena Tapara
and Quinn Wilson undertook a research
project applying Dr Kepa Morgan’s Mauri
Model at Whangapoua.
WHO’S DOING WHAT?
DEPARTMENT OF CONSERVATION (DOC) TEAM
• The DOC team would like to remind you that the Hukarahi Block and Manaia Kauri Sanctuary
are closed to the public, following confirmation that kauri dieback is present in Hukarahi. The
closure of Manaia is in place to limit the spread of the disease.
• Recently 10 little spotted kiwi were translocated from Red Mercury Island to Cape Kidnappers
Sanctuary. Red Mercury will in turn receive 10 kiwi from Kapiti Island. This is part of an ongoing
project aimed at improving the genetic diversity of the species.
• A pest control programme targeting rats and possums over 820 hectares of public conservation
land near Horseshoe Bay, south of Opito, will occur in August/September 2016. Proposed control
methods involve the use of 1080 bait in bait stations.
• The DOC team continue to work with the Rings Beach Wetland Project on track upgrades, native
replanting and pest control.
• The DOC team are currently undertaking assessments of a number of historic sites they manage,
including Opera Point Historic Reserve and Opito Point Pa. These reports will assess the
current status of the sites and make recommendations with respect to site improvements and
management. Unfortunately Opera Point has had a repeat offender removing bollards and track
markers from this site including an illegal track. DOC welcomes any information anyone may have
on these matters, strictly in confidence.
The Mauri Model is a decision making
framework that determines sustainability
and impacts on mauri over time. The
model measures mauri in four dimensions
– environmental wellbeing (taiao mauri),
cultural wellbeing (hapu mauri), social
wellbeing (community mauri) and economic
wellbeing (whanau mauri). Indicators are then
chosen that represent the impacts on mauri
for each dimension.
The research formed part of their fourth year
honours project for a degree in Civil and
Environmental Engineering at the University
of Auckland. The pair’s research focused
specifically on the Whangapoua harbour and
catchment, applying the Mauri Model analysis
to determine the health of the harbour.
The research focused on areas like
Wainuiototo (New Chums beach),
Whangapoua beach and Matarangi
settlements. It looked at historic land use
factors such as kauri milling, gum digging
and gold mining combined with more recent
present land use factors such as agriculture,
forestry, and urban development in terms of
their combined impacts on the mauri of the
harbour.
PROTECTING OUR KAURI
Kauri dieback has been killing kauri in Northland, Auckland and Great Barrier
Island, and unfortunately it’s been found on sites on the Coromandel. This
disease is spread through soil movement including on people’s boots, tramping
equipment, bike tyres and machinery.
Got kauri on your land? Funding is available through Waikato Regional Council
and the Ministry for Primary Industries to fence off bush with kauri present to
prevent infected soil being moved between sites on footwear, bike tyres and
machinery, as well as on dog paws and animal hooves. For more information,
contact Elaine Iddon (see the back page for her contact details).
TSUNAMI STRATEGY
The Eastern Coromandel Tsunami Strategy is
a joint TCDC and Waikato Regional Council
project designed to work with communities
on the Coromandel Peninsula’s east coast to
better understand and manage tsunami risks.
To date we have modelled, mapped and
consulted with Whitianga (2011), Tairua/
Pauanui (2014) and Whangamata (2015)
communities about tsunami hazards and
risks. Risk management work is ongoing in all
communities, and adds to the Civil Defence
Emergency Management work that TCDC has
been doing for a number of years. The basic
order of working with communities is: identify
hazards and risks, consult with communities
about actions we should take to reduce risks,
and then implement those actions.
This year we commenced work at
Whangapoua and Matarangi to identify
tsunami hazard risk. This work involves
modelling and developing hazard maps for
the coastline between Kennedy Bay and Opito
Bay.
Two community open days were held in late
January at Matarangi and Whangapoua to
identify what risk management options the
community wants to adopt to help reduce
tsunami risks. We will also be working with
the Kauotunu and Opito Bay communities
regarding their local risks and response
actions.
General information on the Coromandel
tsunami project can be found here:
www.waikatoregion.govt.nz/Services/
Regional-services
PEST CONTROL
AHUAHU – GREAT MERCURY ISLAND PREDATOR ERADICATION
It’s official! Ahuahu-Great Mercury Island is now rat and cat free following a massive control effort
carried out by DOC and the island’s owners.
This amazing effort means many rare and endangered animals now have a safe haven, and it is
important we keep it that way.
Ahuahu-Great Mercury, and in fact many of the islands surrounding the Coromandel Peninsula, are
beyond the swimming distance of rodents – even Norway rats who are very strong swimmers. The only
way they’ll be able to reinvade is if they hitch a ride on a boat, that’s why boaties need to make sure
their boats are pest free.
If the boat is small, then just a quick scan will do the job. Bigger vessels need to be inspected. You’re
looking for things like chewed wiring or holes in gear or bags, and for insects. It’s also a good idea to
maintain rodent bait stations or traps on board, as well as glue boards for insects.
Shopping bags and cardboard boxes are known to harbour pests, so all food should be packed in
sealed containers. As pest animals are generally more active at night, it’s best to load in daylight hours.
Following these few simple procedures could mean all the difference in keeping Ahuahu pest free.
www.doc.govt.nz/our-work/ahuahu-great-mercury-island/
COASTAL WATER
QUALITY SAMPLING
A year-long project which will give Waikato
Regional Council a snapshot of coastal water
quality on the region’s west and east coasts began
over summer. Water samples are being collected
from 21 coastal and estuarine locations across
the region until the end of September 2016. This
includes a sampling site along the open coast at
Matarangi.
The samples were collected weekly up to the
end of February. They’re now being collected
monthly at a reduced number of locations until
the project’s end. Our coastal and estuarine
environments are highly valued for their
recreation, food gathering, conservation and
commercial opportunities. That’s why it’s
important that we understand the quality of the
water in these popular environments so we can
make good decisions on managing our coastal
and marine area.
The dynamic nature of our coastal
environment means the water quality can
vary greatly over short periods of time. Water
quality also changes between seasons and
is affected by events such as heavy rainfall
or storms. For these reasons, it’s important
we consider the entire year’s results when
assessing the water quality at a particular
location, rather than draw conclusions based
on individual samples.
The water quality samples will be analysed to
obtain data on the concentrations of nutrients
(nitrogen and phosphorus), suspended
sediment, algae (phytoplankton) and bacteria
(E. coli, enterococci and faecal coliforms).
We will then examine what the overall water
quality was at the time of sampling and to
what extent water quality differs among
estuaries throughout the year.
Results will be available on the regional
council website from late 2016. Check here
for updates: www.waikatoregion.govt.nz/
Environment/Natural-resources/coast.