June 2021 Pānui – Newsletter
Kia ora and welcome to our Restore Hibiscus & Bays June 2021 Pānui.
In this newsletter...
Ngā mihi nui,
Rachael & the Restore Hibiscus & Bays team
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We would like to promote your future events and working bees on our website and in our newsletters! Please send us an email to events@restorehb.org.nz, including event name, date, time, location, RSVP details and any links for further information.
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Network Hui with guest speaker Prof Andrew Jeffs
Time and date: 7-9pm, Tuesday 15 June
Venue: East Coast Bays Community Centre building at 2 Glen Road, Browns Bay – Board Room, Upstairs on Level 1
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Please join us at our June network hui, where you will have the opportunity to connect with other members of our community who are involved with or interested in environmental conservation.
Our guest speaker for the evening will be Professor Andrew Jeffs from the Institute of Marine Science and School of Biological Science at the University of Auckland. He will be talking to us about the state of the Hauraki Gulf, why it is important and what needs to happen to turn things around.
There will be plenty of opportunity for questions and to share your own stories and experiences.
Everyone welcome, so please feel free to bring a friend :-)
Please RSVP on Facebook or by emailing info@restorehb.org.nz
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Out and About with Kane
Updates from our Ecological Restoration Advisor
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Moth Plant control still in full swing!
STAMP members (the Society Totally Against Moth Plant) and others from the community participated in a large working bee on the Hibiscus Coast where they got their hands dirty controlling this nasty weed, along with other pest plants including woolly nightshade. They managed to fill many large bags with moth plant pods – think of all of the seeds they saved from dispersing into the environment! Check out the helpful ‘Pest Plant Resources’ section on our website here to find out more about how to control moth plant on your property. And join the STAMP Facebook group to keep updated on the incredible work of thousands of volunteers across Tāmaki Makaurau.
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Planting prep for Northcross Reserve
The cooler, wetter weather has arrived at last.. and that means planting season is fast approaching! Two sites have been identified for native restoration planting in Northcross Reserve. Restore Hibiscus & Bays is collaborating with Northcross Intermediate School to plant these areas, with the goal of restoring them to native vegetation. Some of the plants have been grown by the students using eco-sourced seed from the local environment. Eco-sourcing is best practice when doing revegetation planting to ensure the plants are best-suited to the ecological district and have the greatest chance of survival.
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Whangaparāoa College workshops continue
The environmental group at Whangaparāoa College continued to target invasive weeds this month, such as moth plant pods/vines and banana passionfruit vine. They also tackled woody weed species including tree privet, woolly nightshade and wattle species. Because many of these trees were large and form part of the main canopy, ringbarking was the best option for control to minimise creating canopy gaps. Canopy gaps = more light = new weed invaders! It's awesome getting the students involved in weed control. Great mahi team!
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Planting season is here!
Here are some opportunities to get involved in some local planting initiatives this year
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- Sunday 20 June, 10am at Shakepear Regional Park – Shakespear Open Sanctuary Society
- Saturday 3 July, 9am – Centennial Park in Campbells Bay – Rotary East Coast Bays, Rotary Browns Bay and Centennial Park Bush Society.
- Sunday 18 July, 10am Shakepear Regional Park – Shakespear Open Sanctuary Society
- Saturday 24 July, Time TBC, Bushglen Reserve, Browns Bay – Bushglen Restoration Project
- Saturday 24 July, 9.30am – Karaka Cove, Red Beach – Forest & Bird Hibiscus Coast (register at hibiscuscoast.branch@forestandbird.org.nz) – Park at bottom of Matheson Road, walk up through the bush turn right at the fork in the path.
- Sunday 25 July, Time TBC, Western Reserve, Orewa – Orewa Rotary
- Wednesday 28 July, 9.30am, Near Lakeside Reserve, Orewa – Hibiscus Coast Forest & Bird – Park in Judd Place carpark or on Lakeside Drive. Bring gloves, gumboots, a spade, and a drink.
- Sunday 1 August, Time TBC, Winstones Cove – Care of the Cove
- Saturday 7 August, 9.30am – Karaka Cove, Red Beach – Forest & Bird Hibiscus Coast (register at hibiscuscoast.branch@forestandbird.org.nz) – Park at bottom of Matheson Road, walk up through the bush turn right at the fork in the path.
- Sunday 9 August, 10am at Okura Stillwater, 1a Duck Creek Road – Friends of Okura Bush
Please email info@restorehb.org.nz if you'd like to add a planting day to this list.
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Weed Management Training Opportunities
17 June and 26 June, 9.30-11.30 am
Raroa DOC Reserve, 57 Stanmore Bay Road
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Join Forest and Bird Hibiscus Coast and the Restore Hibiscus & Bays Restoration Advisor at these weed management training workshops. Learn to identify pest plants and how to deal with them. All tools supplied, but please bring your own gloves and a drink. There is no charge for the training. Register at hibiscuscoast.branch@forestandbird.org.nz.
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Possible boost for our local stream projects
Many small contributions can help to make a big difference!
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Through our partnership with Million Metres, one of our local stream projects could be in with a chance of winning an $8,000 boost from The Body Shop! The Million Metres project with the most donations between now and 31 July wins. We are already using the Million Metres funds received so far to get sites prepared and plants in the ground this planting season. This additional fundraising boost would enable our volunteer groups to do even more riparian weed control and planting in 2022. Please help us to achieve our goals for our local streams by making a small donation to Long Bay-Awaruku Stream and Wetland Warriors, Taiaotea–Rothesay Bay Catchment Custodians and/or Clean Streams Campbells Bay.
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Forest & Bird Pest Free Hibiscus Coast Update
June 2021
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In the last couple of months the Pest Free Hibiscus Coast team has been focusing on 3 key areas, Pest Animal Monitoring, Backyard Trapping and Pest Free Hibiscus Schools.
The field team and volunteers have carried out monitoring for predators across 9 new sites around the Hibiscus Coast, bringing the total number of sites monitored twice yearly to 14. The project uses the standard DOC protocols for monitoring, adapted to an urban environment and combining wax tags and specially designed wooden tracking tunnels. These were made at the Hibiscus Men’s Shed and funded by one of the Restore Hibiscus & Bays VIP grants. Results are being written up by Predator Control Specialist Naomi Harrison and will be shared via Hibiscus Matters in their next edition.
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Community Hub Activators Deborah Colson and Andrea Dick have been engaging the community with backyard trapping, and an incredible positive response means that they met their first milestone of 1000 backyard trappers within the first year of the program. The Watch the Birdie event in partnership with Gulf Harbour Country Club was very popular, and the Club are also running a series of raffles in support of the project. Anyone living on the Hibiscus Coast can order a free, pet-safe, humane tested rat trap from the project’s page on the Forest & Bird website.
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The project’s education programme also continues to expand in popularity, with the project now engaging 8 schools through educational sessions, backyard trap box building and trapping in school grounds. The Forest School is the latest school to start working with the project, and they are currently using chew cards to detect pests and trying out a Flipping Timmy possum trap where possums have been regularly seen. Orewa College geography students also designed their own monitoring project with advice from PFHC and contributed by installing and servicing 2 pest animal monitoring lines, looking for spatial comparisons and changes over time.
Pest Free Hibiscus Coast has lots of new trap lines on parks in the pipeline thanks to support from Auckland Council and Hibiscus & Bays Local Board, and will also be running another volunteer training session over the next month – if you are interested email Project Manager Jenny Hanwell j.hanwell@forestandbird.org.nz
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Get your Restore Hibiscus & Bays T-shirts and Hats!
Order from our online shop
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You can spread the word and show your support by picking up one of the Restore Hibiscus & Bays tees or bucket hats, now available to buy from our website here. T-shirts are available in youth, women's and mens' sizes and styles, and hats are one size fits all. Once you order online, we will be in touch to arrange pickup from one of our tool libraries in Browns Bay or Whangaparāoa.
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Community pest plant disposal bins
Browns Bay – 712 Beach Road, next to the Bahai' Hall
Whangaparāoa – Outside Whangaparāoa library, 9 Main Street, Stanmore Bay
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Our pest plant disposal bins are for our communities to use to dispose of certain parts of some pest plants that pose the greatest threat to our indigenous bush. Correct disposal of seeds, seed pods, seed heads and roots greatly reduces the risk that the pest plant will spread to other areas after removal. Please use this bin for the following pest plant parts only, securely tied inside a plastic bag:
- MOTH PLANT – Seeds, pods, roots
- ARISTIDA GRASS – Seeds
- WILD GINGER – Seed heads
- CAPE IVY – Seeds only
- WOOLLY NIGHTSHADE – Seed heads, flower heads
- JAPANESE HONEYSUCKLE – Roots, and stems if seeds present
- CLIMBING ASPARAGUS – Roots, or whole plant if seeds present
- MADEIRA VINE – Aerial nodules, seeds, seed pods, roots
- ARUM LILY – Seed heads only
- BONESEED – Seed heads only
- BANANA PASSIONFRUIT – Roots and seed pods only
- AGAPANTHUS – Flowers, seed heads
- COTONEASTER – Seeds
Do not put anything in this bin that is not listed above. For other pest plant species, please get in touch at info@restorehb.org.nz and we can advise on pest plant disposal options for your site/project. Parts of some pest plants, such as tradescantia, can instead be composted in a black pest plant bag, available from our tool library. For more information and guidance on controlling pest plants, visit restorehb.org.nz/resources-pest-plants/
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Report your May volunteer time
Keep track of your volunteer hours to document your valuable work!
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Please follow this link to our website to complete your reporting for May. And click on the link 'Project Hours Tracking form’, as highlighted above. On an ongoing basis, you can enter each event separately, or if you wish, you can aggregate the data for all your project activities across a month.
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Pest Plant of the Month: Wild Ginger
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Wild ginger, also known as Kahili ginger, grows up to two metres tall with large wax-covered leaves. It forms dense, long-lived clumps that shade out the understorey and prevent growth of native seedlings and forest regeneration. It has red and yellow flowers that can produce hundreds of seeds.
Take action as soon as possible:
- Report the weed using the EcoTrack.nz app.
- Hand pull small seedlings, but only if you can remove all root fragments, as they will regrow if left.
- For medium to large plants, use a pruning saw to cut the stem close to the ground. Aim to make the cut level (so that the herbicide can have the best contact with the freshly cut stump). Apply a thin film of MetGel onto the stump. A thin film is all you need to prevent regrowth.
- Follow up in three months to ensure all wild ginger plants have died.
- Dispose of any seeds, rhizomes and roots in your rubbish bin to go to landfill, securely tied inside a plastic bag - to stop it spreading to other areas. Alternatively, they can be put inside a barrel of water (lid on) and will rot down within 1-2 years. Leaves and stems make a good mulch and can be left to rot down on site.
- Stop pest plants invading again by replanting with non-pest plants (preferably native plants) once regrowth is no longer a problem.
- Talk to your neighbours and encourage them to take action too!
- Download a printable leaflet/poster about wild ginger and other pest plants from our website here.
- Please email us with any questions to info@restorehb.org.nz.
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Photo of the Month: Kākā in Okura
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John from Pest Free Okura spotted this kākā in the pōhutukawa trees on his drive. Despite populations being hammered by predators such as cats, rats and stoats, these native parrots are making a comeback on our predator-free islands. Thanks to volunteers like John for keeping predator numbers down, helping to keep these special birds safer on their visits from across the Gulf. Conservation is paying off! Photo credit: John Warman.
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Do you have any cool photos or videos of wildlife, landscapes or people helping nature within our rohe? Would you be happy for us to include them on our website, newsletters, Facebook, leaflets and other communications? Do you have any stories that you would like to share? Please send them to info@restorehb.org.nz.
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Restore Hibiscus & Bays is a community-led, not-for-profit initiative that aims to bring together, empower and grow the network of restoration groups, neighbourhoods, individuals, schools, businesses and other organisations working to eradicate pests, restore native habitats and improve water quality across the Hibiscus & Bays Local Board area.
Our mahi is supported by funding grants from the Hibiscus & Bays Local Board, Auckland Council, Foundation North and the Lottery Environment and Heritage fund, and we are part of Heart of the Bays (formerly the East Coast Bays Community Project), which has charitable status.
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Every month we send news, information and events from our network of community groups working to eradicate pests, restore native habitats and improve water quality along the East Coast Bays and Hibiscus Coast. Please complete your full details via the link below, so we can ensure you receive information tailored to you. We also ask that you share this email with your friends and contacts and encourage them to sign up here for future newsletters.
Are you looking to connect with an existing group or project in our network? Click on our map here to see more information on the local community group or project working to protect and restore native wildlife and habitats in your area. If there isn’t a current project in your area of interest or if you would like to add a project to the map, please get in touch at info@restorehb.org.nz. We would love to support you in whatever way we can.
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Arohanui to our sponsors and partners:
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