August Pānui – Newsletter
Kia ora and welcome to our Restore Hibiscus & Bays August Pānui.
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 across the Hibiscus & Bays Local Board area. 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.
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Let us know what you think about the new Local Board plan
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The draft 2020 Hibiscus & Bays Local Board plan has been released and is open for public feedback until Thursday 13 August. This plan is incredibly important because it sets the direction for Local Board decisions, priorities and spending over the next three years. Restore Hibiscus & Bays will be presenting feedback from our network to the Local Board at the community forum on Thursday 6 August. We would very much value your input into our submission and have prepared a google form to make it easier for you to contribute. Please follow the link here. Alternatively, if you would prefer to discuss your feedback over the phone, please just let Rachael know and she can give you a call at a convenient time: rachael@restorehb.org.nz. We also encourage everyone to submit their individual feedback on the plan and let the Local Board know that you want them to continue their support for Restore Hibiscus & Bays and the network's groups and projects.
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Join us at our August Network Hui!
Meet other environmentally-minded people in our community and learn more about our groups and projects and how to get involved. Everyone welcome!
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Thursday 13 August, 7–9pm
Whangaparāoa Library
The August network meeting is hosted at Whangaparāoa Library and we will:
- Introduce our new community tool library and detail how we can support communities with tools, traps, bait and bait stations and other equipment.
- Hear about some of the projects the Restore Hibiscus & Bays network are working on.
- Find out about how to get involved in community fundraising to implement our catchment-scale stream restoration projects.
- Learn about the new Council plan for managing our local parks and discuss our feedback.
RSVP on Facebook.
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Keen to come along to other environmental events happening locally?
Here are a few opportunities coming up soon
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Okura-Stillwater Community Planting Day:
Sunday 9 August, 10am
Meet at Stillwater Recreation Reserve, 1 Duck Creek, Stillwater
Spades and gloves will be provided; however please bring your own if you are able. Refreshments will be provided. Participants are also invited to bring a plate (optional) to share goodies with your fellow planters, and lots of enthusiasm! Contact Chris: 021 020 40 435.
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Friends of Okura Bush AGM
Sunday 16 Aug, 3pm
Okura Hall, Okura River Road
Join Friends of Okura Bush for their Annual General Meeting. Hear from guest speaker Professor Jacqueline Beggs – a renowned New Zealand ecologist at University of Auckland, specialising in the biodiversity, biosecurity and restoration of Aotearoa’s natural, agricultural and urban ecosystems. Dr Beggs will talk about some of the key challenges for conservation she has learnt from her extensive conservation research, including her work with the kākāpo and the impact of artificial light at night on our natural environment. Everyone welcome!
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Bays Conservation Expo
Saturday 22 Aug, 10am–12pm
East Coast Bays Library, Browns Bay
For this year’s Conservation Week (15-23 August 2020), join Restore Hibiscus & Bays to learn about how you can get involved with environmental conservation in the bays: Find out how to identify and report different pest plants you may have in your backyard or local park; have a go at germinating kōwhai seedlings to take and care for at home; see our range of traps and bait stations for controlling introduced predators and protecting our native wildlife; learn how you can be a pest animal detective and make your own tracking tunnels; get to know what groups and projects are happening near you and how to get in touch.
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Are there BATS on the Hibiscus Coast? + HBC Forest & Bird AGM
Saturday 12 Sep, 2–3pm
Estuary Arts Centre
NZ Batman Ben Paris is here to excite and inspire you to discover our incredible native bats! All ages will be enthralled with Ben's stories about these elusive creatures. The Annual General Meeting for Hibiscus Coast Forest & Bird will precede this informative talk. This is an open meeting, all welcome! Come and hear updates on our projects and activities, including Pest Free Hibiscus Coast highlights from the last year. At 3pm the Taonga o te Ngahere Exhibition will open in the Estuary Arts Centre galleries, so please stay and explore. No charge, but koha/donation appreciated.
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Do you love our local beaches and the Hauraki Gulf?
Find out how you can help protect them by cleaning up our streams
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One of our ambitious long-term goals at Restore Hibiscus & Bays is to restore all the waterways throughout the 34 catchments within our local board area, connecting native biodiversity across our significant ecological areas and other fragmented native ecosystems and contributing to the protection of the Hauraki Gulf Marine Park – Tīkapa Moana/Te Moana-nui-ā-Toi. We are starting with three initial catchment-scale projects that will link up all the excellent stream restoration activity already happening in those areas.
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We are collaborating with the Sustainable Business Network's Million Metres team to crowdfund to enable us to implement these catchment-wide plans over a five-year period. The fundraising pages are now live!
If you or your organisation would like to sponsor our stream restoration programme, please feel free to email rachael@restorehb.org.nz to arrange a time to chat. Also, stay tuned for more details on upcoming opportunities to learn more about how you can contribute to the health of the Gulf and protection of your local waterways – we will be announcing the dates of our community workshops soon!
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VIP Funding allocated to 9 new awesome projects!
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We are delighted to announce that we are awarding nearly $20,000 this year to support the funding of 9 new short-term community-led environmental projects via the first round of our Volunteer Initiatives Programme (VIP). These are funding grants to support groups and other community members to carry out projects that they have identified as being important to the conservation of the environment in their local area. Thank you to all those who applied. We are currently seeking further funding from sponsors to expand this VIP offering in future years.
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Restore Hibiscus & Bays in the news
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While flicking through your local magazine this week, you may notice a few familiar faces! Restore Hibiscus & Bays features in the August issues of both the Torbay news and ShoreLines magazine. There was also an excellent July article in Hibiscus Matters featuring Hibiscus Coast Forest & Bird's advocacy for the retention of our precious Archers Bush as conservation land. We hope to build a regular presence in our local media so we can get our messages out there about pest control and other conservation issues. Please get in touch if you are able to help with this in any way: info@restorehb.org.nz.
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Youth in Hibiscus & Bays
Are you interested in linking youth with opportunities for community conservation?
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The Hibiscus & Bays Local Board are running a series of three workshops for individuals and organisations who work with or are interested in working with youth and improving the future of the Hibiscus & Bays. Participants will be involved in the co-design of a 10-year youth plan – rather than looking at youth development as something that happens in a box they want to think about what it would look like to have a successful ecosystem that supports youth, including building connection to nature and the community. The first session is Friday 7 August, 10am to 12.30pm at Hibiscus Coast Youth Centre. Please see the flyer for more info and to RSVP.
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VOLUNTEER OF THE MONTH:
Pauline – Chairperson of Hibiscus Coast Forest & Bird
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Having chaired the Hibiscus Coast branch of Forest & Bird since 2000, Pauline Smith's long-standing voluntary contribution to nature in Aotearoa was honoured by the national organisation last year with a Tī Kōuka Award being presented to her by Forest & Bird CEO Kevin Hague.
Of her many achievements, one of the most significant has been the initiation of the Forest & Bird Pest Free Hibiscus Coast project in 2013. Pauline supported the working committee at Shakespear Open Sanctuary Society with the establishment of the predator proof fence in 2011. She saw a need to improve predator control in the area outside of the fence and recognised an opportunity for Forest & Bird to make a valuable contribution in this space.
Like many of our tireless volunteers, Pauline is motivated by a strong desire to make a positive difference for the local environment. "My ancestors spent their lives destroying the environment," she explains. "And I want to help rectify that through my own efforts."
Also teaching drawing, water colour and pastel painting, Pauline intends to link her passion for conservation with her passion for art, in order to raise pubic awareness and encourage more of our communities to participate in conservation initiatives. She is leading an exhibition at Estuary Arts Centre in Orewa, 7–27 September. Taonga o Te Ngahere will feature artwork from the local ecology of the area, including species such as bats, fungi, beetles, weta, geckos and butterflies, as well as the little blue penguin. Interactive art-based activities will enable visitors to make their own contribution to the exhibition and will make this a fun event for children and the whole family.
Get in touch at info@restorehb.org.nz if you'd like to join Pauline and our many other volunteers working across the Hibiscus Coast and East Coast Bays – we can signpost you to a nearby group or project. You may not be able to contribute as much as Pauline has done, but even a couple of hours a month can make a massive difference!
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PEST PLANT OF THE MONTH:
Climbing Asparagus
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Climbing asparagus is a scrambling vine that is capable of smothering and shading out seedlings, eventually creating thick mats throughout the understory and prohibiting indigenous forest regeneration. This vine is able to grow in shaded areas making it a high threat for invading native bush. The berries ripen from green to red-orange and the seed is spread by birds. It can also be spread by dumping of garden waste.
If you notice climbing asparagus on your property, please follow these guidelines:
- Report the weed using the EcoTrack.nz app.
- Dig out small infestations trying to remove all parts of the root rhizomes – climbing asparagus can regrow from rhizomes that are left in the ground.
- If using herbicides, they’re most effective in spring and early summer before the seeds have ripened. Hand pull any climbing vines off non target plants and seedlings before spraying. Spray with glyphosate 20ml/l (plus penetrant). Always wear appropriate Personal Protection Equipment and read the manufacturer’s label for guidelines and recommendations. Talk to our Restore Hibiscus & Bays Ecological Restoration Advisor for further guidance. Follow up in three months to reapply herbicide and ensure all regrowth has died.
- Dispose of seeds, berries, rhizomes and roots in your rubbish bin to go to landfill, securely tied inside a plastic bag - to stop it spreading to other areas.
- Talk to your neighbours and encourage them to take action too!
- Download a printable leaflet/poster about climbing asparagus and other pest plants from our website here.
Please email us with any questions to info@restorehb.org.nz.
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Volunteers needed! Are you a social media whizz or a GIS expert? Do you know your bird calls really well and would like to put those skills to good use? Do you have fantastic fundraising ideas or would you been keen to help out distributing tools and equipment from our tool library? If you have any skills that you would like to share and have a little bit of time to help, either as a one-off or on a regular basis, we would love to hear from you! Please contact rachael@restorehb.org.nz.
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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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Hihi / stitchbird have been reintroduced to Shakespear Regional Park – what an historic achievement for all those who have worked to keep the sanctuary and surrounding area safe for these beautiful birds to return! Thank you to SOSSI volunteers Ian and Nancy Miller of ISeeVideo for this short film, featuring an interview with Dr Kevin Parker who led the operation.
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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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Restore Hibiscus & Bays is an umbrella community-led initiative that aims to bring together, support 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 and Auckland Council, and we are part of the East Coast Bays Community Project which has charitable status.
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Arohanui to our sponsors:
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