Est: 1977 Ngā Kairauhī Papa | Forever protected
MAGAZINE OF THE QEII NATIONAL TRUST
ISSUE 105 | NOV 2023
Open Space
CONNECTING TO PROTECT
Pg 08
Pg 22
Pg 16
Collaboration for conservation
Summer is here
Unique restoration in Southland
QEII NATIO NAL TRU ST O P EN SPAC E ISS U E
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CONTENTS
IN THIS ISSUE OPEN SPACE MAGAZINE:
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20 36 COVER IMAGE Hans Pendergrast. Photo credit: Stuart Attwood
08 BACK COVER IMAGE Photo credit: Stuart Attwood
QUEEN ELIZABETH II NATIONAL TRUST is a statutory organisation independent from government and managed by a Board of Directors. We are a registered charitable entity under the Charities Act 2005. Registration number CC28488. BOARD OF DIRECTORS Chair Alan Livingston, Karen Schumacher, Richard McDowell, Philip Hulme, Donna Field, Graham Mourie CHIEF EXECUTIVE Dan Coup T 04 472 6626 E dcoup@qeii.org.nz VICE REGAL PATRON Her Excellency, The Right Honourable Dame Cindy Kiro, GNZM, QSO, Governor-General of New Zealand OPEN SPACE™ is published by the Queen Elizabeth II National Trust, PO Box 3341, Wellington 6140, New Zealand. Level 4, 138 The Terrace, Wellington ISSN 1179-3880 (Print) ISSN 1179-3899 (Online) T 04 472 6626 E info@qeii.org.nz DESIGN Pogo Design W www.pogodesign.co.nz EDITOR Laura Dalby E editor@qeii.org.nz W www.qeii.org.nz
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CHAIR’S UPDATE
04
A word from the Chair
DIGITAL SUBSCRIPTION
05
Readers can opt for a digital subscription for Open Space
PACKAGING PHOTO FEATURE
05
Featuring one of your special protected places
NEW BOARD DIRECTORS
06–07
Two new directors appointed to QEII board
KŌKAKO COLLABORATION
08–12
Securing a sustainable future for one of our best loved birds
SUPPORT OUR WORK
13–15
Leave a lasting legacy in your will
RESTORING ŌRETI TŌTARA FOREST
16–19
Joint efforts to protect a unique site near Invercargill
PĀMU CELEBRATES
20–21
10,000 hectares of Pāmu farms protected by QEII covenant
SUMMER IS HERE
22–33
Highlighting a selection of public-access covenants and events
OUR PEOPLE
34–35
Meet Morgan Trotter, regional rep for South Coastal Otago
PROPERTY FOR SALE
36–37
Coromandel property seeks conservationists
OBITUARIES
38–39
Remembering Gerry Soanes
NEW COVENANTS
40–41
Newly registered covenants
REGIONAL REPRESENTATIVES
42
Contact details for our reps
Corrections One correction has been made for issue 104 of Open Space, published in May 2023. • Photo credit for images on page 12 of Open Space issue 104 credited to Jessica Reaburn should be credited to Chelsea Regional Park Association (CHERPA).
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Update your contact details with us You can update your contact details the following ways: WEB:
qeii.org.nz, use the ‘Contact’ form on our website
POST:
PO Box 3341, Wellington 6140
EMAIL:
info@qeii.org.nz,
PHONE: 04 472 6626
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A WORD FROM THE CHAIR
Word from the chair As the freshly minted chair of the QEII National Trust board, I am pleased to introduce this issue of the Open Space magazine. As a covenantor myself, it is always inspiring to hear the stories of landowners around the country doing great things. In August we farewelled Bruce Wills who has served on the QEII board as director for nine years, including the last three as chair. QEII has benefitted enormously from Bruce’s leadership and dedication. His large circle of connections and achievements have been invaluable for QEII and it is an honour to follow as the next QEII chair. We also said goodbye to board member Neil Cullen whose commitment and sage input as a landowner will be missed. We welcome two new board members, Philip Hulme and Richard McDowell. You can read more about them on pages 6-7. I am looking forward to working with the new board to support current covenantors, encourage prospective covenantors and ensure QEII as an organisation thrives into the future. It’s an interesting yet challenging time to come into the role of QEII chair, with the costof-living biting and much of the rural sector doing it tough. The damage from weather events earlier in the year is still evident in some regions and the cleanup will take a while yet. It’s been great to be able to offer support where we can, and that support wouldn’t be possible without generous donors. While funds have been raised for the rapid response required for cyclone relief, longer-term giving through Partners in Protection is needed and can have a huge impact on covenants (page 13). At the time of writing, the general election is still fresh in our minds, and with a new government will come a new Minister of Conservation. While we don’t yet know who will
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be appointed, we’re looking forward to working with the new minister, sharing the efforts and successes of QEII covenantors and, at the same time, pointing out that increased financial support is necessary to support our growing covenant portfolio. This issue of Open Space looks to examples of how we can come together to protect and enhance special places. From a large-scale coordinated project across a region to protect precious taonga such as kōkako (page 8), to a community doing their bit to protect a unique tōtara forest in their area (page 16), these are all stories about banding together for conservation. At the end of the day, conservation on private land is largely thanks to people. Connecting with wider communities can extend the impact and successes of our biodiversity protection and create a network of shared responsibility. It is encouraging to see landowners, locals and community groups partnering to achieve more together. An excellent example of this was a field day I attended recently west of Ngāruawāhia organised by our Waikato field rep Robbie Bennett and involving regional council and Landcare reps. I’m looking forward to getting out to other events to support our field reps and meeting all the people that make private land conservation happen. I wish you a safe and enjoyable holiday season.
Ngā mihi Alan Livingston
Digital subscriptions for Open Space Read the latest issue of Open Space whenever and wherever you want with our digital subscription option.
Readers with a digital subscription will get email access to read the magazine online as soon as it is published. Back issues of Open Space can also be accessed on our website. To switch to a digital subscription, complete the digital subscription form on our website: bit.ly/qeiidigitalsubs
You can opt in or out of a digital subscription at any time. If you want to go back to getting a physical copy of Open Space, let us know online through our ‘contact us’ form or send us an email. If you have any questions about the digital subscription or any other feedback about Open Space, email us at editor@qeii.org.nz.
Blue bench in Mendhurst Bower, an urban edge covenant near Eastbourne in Wellington
Covenant feature on our envelopes The envelope Open Space is delivered in gives us the opportunity to highlight one of your special protected places. The photo featured on the envelope for this edition is something a bit different. It shows a blue bench at the covenant of John and Elizabeth Mendzela, a 0.23 ha urban edge covenant near Eastbourne in Wellington. The gorgeous kohekohe flowers rain every year and carpet the bench and the ground below.
There is a huge variety of QEII covenants across Aotearoa New Zealand, spanning many environments and ecosystems. From alpine and vast high-country areas, to forest blocks and wetlands, all protecting significant values. The Mendzela’s covenant, although small, protects a forest of kohekohe and a diverse range of other species on the lower contours behind their house, climbing to a canopy dominated by beech further up the hill.
Ongoing weed control by the owners has made a huge difference to this special place. The seat is a great spot to sit in the sun and enjoy the birdsong of the Mendzela’s covenant. If you have a photo of your covenant that you would like to feature on a future envelope for Open Space, please send a copy of the photo with a short description to editor@qeii.org.nz.
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NEW BOARD DIRECTORS
CHANGES ON OUR BOARD OF DIRECTORS QEII National Trust is overseen by a board of six directors. The Minister of Conservation appoints four, who have the right mix of conservation values, financial acumen and can reflect the interests of rural landowners and the Māori community. The remaining two directors are elected by our members.
We’ve had some changes on our board in the last few months with Bruce Wills completing the maximum of nine years as chair in July. The Minister appointed Alan Livingston as the new chair. Alan has served on the board as a director for the last three years.
Philip Hulme Philip is a Professor of Plant Biosecurity at Lincoln University and will bring significant scientific knowledge to the board. Philip lives in Canterbury and has over thirty years’ experience in delivering underpinning science to support conservation action, as well as familiarity with key legislation such as the Conservation Act 1987 and the Biosecurity Act 1993.
We also said farewell to Neil Cullen as director, who brought valued skills to our board. We thank Bruce and Neil for their dedication and commitment to protecting biodiversity on private land in New Zealand.
What attracted you to QEII?
The Minister appointed two new directors to the board for terms of three years starting from July 2023 – Philip Hulme and Richard McDowell. We asked them a few questions to get to know them.
I am passionate about conserving our natural environment and have been working with DOC and ECAN on pest and weed threats in our natural areas for a few years. I thought that by understanding QEII I would get a complete picture of the conservation landscape in Aotearoa New Zealand. I think QEII makes a real difference on the ground and being part of the team is a great honour. How has your time on the QEII board been so far? I have only had one board meeting, so it is early days. The QEII annual conference in September was a real highlight, learning about the great mahi but also meeting heaps of committed people. What’s your favourite thing about summer in NZ? Spending the long days on holiday with my family usually camping, tramping or on the beach. What’s your favourite native species? Kārearea, it is so special to see them swooping after prey in the Southern Alps. Share an interesting fact about you that someone might not know? Keanu Reeves and I were born within two months of each other in the same hospital.
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Richard McDowell Richard has a strong science, research, and ecological background, with 25 years’ experience in science and the practice of environmental conservation. Currently living in Canterbury and working at AgResearch and Lincoln University, Richard has also been Editor in Chief of the Royal Society of New Zealand Journal, involved in the Our Land and Water National Science Challenge, and member to several environmental programmes and advisory boards. What attracted you to QEII? Over my career, I’ve worked on several properties that have had covenants on them. In meeting the owners, they beam with pride and feel that they’ve done the ‘right thing’. I was able to show them that this feeling was substantiated with data (usually water quality, but I’m sure other data also exist). How has your time on the QEII board been so far? The pride exhibited by landowners is replicated by the staff and reps at QEII. It’s always good to work in, and for, an organisation with a good culture. What’s your favourite thing about summer in NZ? Walking in Central Otago followed by falling asleep in Molyneaux Park watching cricket. What’s your favourite native species? I could name many birds, but you might remember during the first lockdown on RNZ, Jessie Mulligan and Nicola Toki called for people to send in their favourite critters in Lego. My daughter won, so being the proud dad, it’ll have to be tuna/freshwater eel. Share an interesting fact about you that someone might not know? This might sound like a fishy story, but I caught my first ever fish drop lining in Doubtful Sound at the age of eight during a school camp. We were meant to be catching blue cod, but where there are small fish, there are also bigger fish. I was at the end of a row of six boys. A sharp tug was followed by a long pull. After barging into my schoolmates, the six of us were determined not to let go nor to listen to our teacher (and the boat’s skipper) who suggested (strongly) we do. We lasted long enough to see that it was a hammerhead shark, which I swear was bigger than the boat (mind you everything seemed big at that age). The shark got away, and so did everyone else’s catch…
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KŌKAKO CONSERVATION – WORKING TOGETHER
Peter Mark and Megan Richards Photo credit: Stuart Attwood
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LANDOWNERS BAND TOGETHER FOR KŌKAKO CONSERVATION
A shared passion to secure a sustainable future for one of our best loved native birds, the kōkako, has brought together a group of QEII covenant holders and other groups in a groundbreaking landscape-scale project in the Western Bay of Plenty. The Kōkako Ecosystem Expansion Programme (KEEP) aims to create habitat corridors linking the kōkako population in Kaharoa Forest, between Te Puke and Lake Rotorua, with another at Ōtanewainuku Forest, just under 6 km to the north. Planting of open ground between bush blocks and regular pest control is planned to ensure a flourishing kōkako population. The land between the two forests includes farms with QEII covenanted bush remnants, public conservation land, commercial and iwi-owned forests, and lifestyle blocks. Kōkako are poor fliers and can’t cross large areas of open land, but the topography of forested areas and bush-clad gorges in the area means the tree planting required to fill in the gaps between forest remnants is achievable.
Landowners and other groups in the area, centred on the settlement of Te Ranga, are enthusiastic about KEEP, say local farmers Carol Burt and her son Liam, who have around 85 ha of bush under a QEII covenant. “We’ve always been a close community, which makes it easy to work with KEEP and everyone else involved,” says Liam.
Peter Mark, a dairy farmer whose property includes covenanted bush blocks, agrees. “We thought KEEP was fantastic. We as landowners and the catchment groups are aiming for the same sorts of things. The timing was absolutely perfect,” he says. Larger landowners in the area such as Tapuika iwi, the Department of Conservation and the Port Blakely forestry company are also involved in the project. The area between the Ōtanewainuku and Kaharoa forests includes commercial plantations and native forest, much of it bush remnants in steep gorges that descend from farmland down to the Paraiti and Waiari rivers and tributaries.
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KŌKAKO CONSERVATION – WORKING TOGETHER
“ We thought KEEP was fantastic. The timing was absolutely perfect.” A large number of these remnants are under QEII covenants and some have had predator control previously, but KEEP has made it possible to do this in a more sustained way, in large part through catchment care groups formed around the Paraiti and Waiari rivers.
The North Island kōkako is one of our most distinctive birds. Larger than a tūī with blue wattles on either side of its head, it has sleek grey plumage, long black legs and a black “Zorro” mask around its eyes. It can live for 20 years or more and requires large territories of around 8 ha.
KEEP and the catchment care groups have attracted strong support from QEII National Trust, Bay Trust, Bay of Plenty Regional Council, Western Bay of Plenty District Council, Bay Conservation Alliance, Forest & Bird, Department of Conservation and other funders and supporters.
Kōkako were brought close to extinction by introduced predators. Eggs, chicks and females on the nest are easy prey for ship rats, possums and stoats. Browsing animals including deer, pigs and goats destroy understorey species, reducing food resources. By the late 1990s the kōkako population nationwide was estimated to have plummeted to just 330 individuals.
The KEEP concept was first mooted in 2017 but has gathered steam this year with funding of $351,000 from Bay Trust, allowing Wayne O’Keefe to be hired as part-time operations manager. Wayne, a former Eastern Bay of Plenty QEII rep, is Operations Manager for the Bay Conservation Alliance, an organisation that supports conservation projects and groups – including KEEP – with administration, fundraising and other help. Wayne says creating corridors between the two kōkako populations will take years but joining them up is achievable despite the 6 km gap. “The reason it’s doable is that in the area between them you’ve got two very active catchment groups (the Paraiti and Waiari) who are already doing the right thing on their farms. There’s a lot of fencing, riparian planting, pest control and replanting,” he says. But such a long corridor between kōkako populations has never been created before and it will be a groundbreaking project. “There’s a strong research component to what we’re proposing. It’s all very well saying we’re going to create green corridors for kōkako, but it’s never been done before on this scale.”
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Farming families have witnessed the disappearance of the birds. Carol Burt, whose farm is near the Kaharoa Forest, remembers a neighbouring farmer of her parents’ generation talking about seeing kōkako on fence posts. Hans Pendergrast, a farmer and trustee of Ōtanewainuku Kiwi Trust, encountered kōkako regularly as a boy while hunting with his father in the forest. “We didn’t realise there were no chicks surviving because of the predators. When we got to the 1990s the population just crashed and the last of the adults were gone in the early 2000s.” Intensive predator control in some of the last kōkako refuges has seen numbers rise nationally to an estimated 2,080 in 2021. The Kaharoa Kōkako Trust was one of the first recovery projects set up with sustained predator control in the late 1990s after a research programme identified the birds’ most serious threats.
Murray Linton, who has had QEII covenanted bush blocks on his property since the 1990s, says the experience of those involved in conservation at Kaharoa and Ōtanewainuku has been invaluable to landowners, as are the results they have achieved. “We went through Kaharoa the summer before last and it was just beautiful and really helped to incentivise us.” Today the Kōkako Recovery Group, made up of experts from the Department of Conservation and others who have been advising KEEP, has a number of key goals for kōkako conservation groups. These include diversifying kōkako population genetics by achieving a target of 500 breeding birds in each population and increasing pest control to at least 2,000 ha of suitable habitat. Kaharoa is about 1,000 ha in size and Ōtanewainuku about 1,200 ha, so the combined areas along with bush blocks in the corridors will be vital over the longer term to ensure a sustainable kōkako population with sufficient genetic diversity. A census in 2022 of the Kaharoa population counted 57 kōkako pairs and 10 individuals, a population that has grown since the Kaharoa Kōkako Trust was formed in 1997. Translocations from Kaharoa and the Rotoehu Forest, east of Rotorua, to Ōtanewainuku since 2010 have established a population there. Ōtanewainuku Kiwi Trust has been doing predator control in the forest for two decades to save a remnant kiwi population. The forest is ideal habitat for kōkako and 31 pairs and seven individuals were counted during the last survey in 2020. Kōkako have already started spreading to properties neighbouring Kaharoa and Ōtanewainuku, a strong incentive for stepping up predator control.
“ It’s a really good example of a community coming together to achieve a common goal.”
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“ It’s all very well saying we’re going to create green corridors for kōkako but it’s never been done before on this scale.” Photo credit: Stuart Attwood
The KEEP project and the formation of the catchment groups have attracted more funding from the regional and district councils and other funders for pest control and restoration work. “Having KEEP means we’ve got all the organisations together doing things, they all contribute and have made it much more feasible to do this work rather than us trying to do things on our own,” says Peter Mark. Hans Pendergrast says funding made available because of KEEP and from QEII’s Stephenson Fund has allowed him and his neighbour to ramp up predator control. “That’s enabled us to do a really good job.” Kathy Porter, a member of the Paraiti Catchment Care Group, owns a lifestyle block within the catchment. She says landowners recognised the value of collaboration to access more funding when setting up the catchment group in 2020. The group comprises about a dozen landowners who meet regularly with supporting organisations and community events are held two or three times a year to increase awareness.
“We realised if we work together, we might get a better outcome. We’ve been making some progress with our pest management network over the last three years,” she says. Murray Linton says finding the time to do pest control was his biggest problem and being able to get assistance through the catchment group has made a big difference. He has about 120 ha of bush on his property and his brother on a neighbouring property has a similar amount. “The catchment group hasn’t been around very long but in that time we’ve put out 400 bait stations in the district and have had pretty good results trying to control the possums,” he says. Establishing safe habitat corridors for kōkako will require restoration and planting work as well as pest control. Peter Mark is planting to join up covenanted bush blocks on his property and says financial support is vital. “Just doing a hectare and a half of extra planting to make a bit of a corridor is $20,000 by the time you’ve fenced it, bought the plants, planted them, and released them,” he says.
Liesel Carnie, community outcomes advisor – natural environment for the Western Bay of Plenty District Council says the council has identified building ecological corridors as one of its main priorities. She says KEEP is one of the most advanced schemes for corridors in the district. The council has allocated $40,000 in total towards KEEP in the current year, as well as $51,000 to Ōtanewainuku Kiwi Trust for a volunteer coordinator and pest control each year under its long-term plan. A one-off grant of $20,000 has been made to QEII for increased pest control on covenants in the KEEP corridor. Bay of Plenty Regional Council also plays a major role in supporting the catchment care groups and individual landowners, especially with predator control. The council has also provided long term funding to the Ōtanewainuku and Kaharoa trusts. “When the Paraiti Catchment Care Group approached us, we were keen to support them because they had a really clear goal of what they wanted to achieve, had strong leadership
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KŌKAKO CONSERVATION – WORKING TOGETHER
“ KEEP is about farmers and landowners being kaitiaki.” The initial aim of KEEP is to create forest corridors between Kaharoa and Ōtanewainuku but in the longer term, there is potential to link other kōkako and native wildlife managed sites. Whio used to be a common sight on the Paraiti and other nearby rivers and streams, but they too disappeared as predators took hold. A pair was reportedly seen on the Paraiti river recently and there are strong hopes they will make a return as predator control ramps up. Pest control will also help other species found in Kaharoa and Ōtanewainuku expand their territories, such as toutouwai/robins, korimako/ bellbirds, miromiro/tomtits and pekapeka-tou-roa/long-tailed bats. Peter Mark says a kiwi fitted with a transmitter was tracked travelling 2.5 km from Ōtanewainuku to his property.
Hans Pendergrast Photo credit: Stuart Attwood
and were very passionate about what they were doing,” says Tegan Arnold, a regional council land management officer. “It’s a really good example of a community coming together to achieve a common goal.” The council provides materials and infrastructure for pest control to the catchment group and also helps individual landowners wanting to create a corridor or to retire marginal land. Tauranga City Council has provided trees for planting the gaps and Trees That Count is giving 7,000 trees to KEEP.
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If KEEP is to succeed, the baton will need to be passed to new generations of guardians. The involvement of Te Ranga School, which has established a bush classroom on an adjacent 2 ha block of bush on Peter Mark’s farm, has that goal in mind.
QEII is also helping covenant owners fund predator control work through the Stephenson Fund, set up in 2017 to assist with management of covenanted land.
“It’s part of our Paraiti Catchment Group’s ambition to try to make our work intergenerational,” Peter says. The school lies between the two forests and a viewing platform built near the bush classroom takes in Ōtanewainuku on one side and Kaharoa on the other and the proposed corridors between them.
“KEEP is about farmers and landowners being kaitiaki. Most of these farms have been in the family for multiple generations and they’re very serious about acting as guardians,” says QEII’s Western Bay of Plenty rep, Paul Kayes. “I find their approach to land management and conservation really impressive.”
Hans Pendergrast says he hopes KEEP will be a model for other QEII covenant owners to consider collaborating in landscape-scale projects. “Throughout New Zealand now, as these big conservation projects get wellestablished, there’s a real opportunity for QEII owners to look around and see if they can be part of that.”
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THINK GLOBALLY, ACT – AND GIVE – LOCALLY We understand the desire for a regional approach to our conservation work, harnessing the power of our strong partnerships with landowners and local communities. The need for community-led responses was made evident this year when Cyclone Gabrielle and other extreme weather events caused damage in the North Island.
We raised money internally to support our Hawke’s Bay rep Troy Duncan, whose home was devastated in the floods. We then went to you – our community – and raised enough to distribute a little over $160,000 to covenantors facing hardship. Around $80,000 of this was through the Stephenson Fund, where 20 projects were supported, from the Coromandel to the Wairarapa, with most support focused in Hawke’s Bay. The rest was distributed to nine projects in the Auckland region, thanks to our funding partnership with Auckland Council. While this rapid response funding is important, it’s also inspiring to know our supporters are thinking long-term with their support of their local community. In fact, the most common request that our donors make is for their gift to be used to support their local community, like Waimarino farmer Jonathan Preston. Treated like a son by the original owners of the property who eventually gave the farm to him, Jonathan Preston always had a feeling that the farm he lived on from age 13 until his death at 90, wasn’t his and he should gift it on. He chose to donate the generous proceeds from the sale of the farm to support the local community in his will.
His friend Graham recalls, “He had more than enough for what he needed, and to a large extent he didn’t think that the money was his. He was given [the farm] and had no children to leave it to. “He was a strong believer in the Waimarino. He had lived all his life here. He loved the district, loved the people and – that was his life. We’d done a lot of work on the farm with habitat restoration and – at the end – he thought it should go to that.” John’s gift will be used to fund new protection and enhancement work in the Waimarino district for many years to come. QEII’s share of costs for the practical part of covenanting – assessment, fencing, surveying, monitoring, and weed and pest control – will stretch a lot further, allowing even more areas to be protected and supported. QEII fundraising manager Bryna O’Brien says, “When we receive large gifts in will from the sale of properties, like we did from Jonathan, it will have an impact on our work for years to come. The contributions we receive are much needed and incredibly meaningful for the landowners we’re able to support through these generous gifts.”
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PARTNERS IN PROTECTION – LEAVE A LEGACY
“ Donations and gifts that are broader in purpose mean that we can provide additional support towards maintaining and enhancing covenants when and where it is most needed, and be flexible when those needs change.”
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Consider making a major difference to the health of Aotearoa New Zealand’s unique biodiversity by giving a gift to support QEII in this work. While increased on-farm costs can make giving a cash donation difficult, you can leave a gift to covenants in your region by making a provision to QEII in your will. If you have any questions about wording, contact Bryna O’Brien on 027 295 5369 or email bobrien@qeii.org.nz.
“ He was a strong believer in the Waimarino. He had lived all his life here. He loved the district, loved the people and – that was his life.” Will you accept a gift of property? One of the most common questions our fundraising manager Bryna O’Brien gets when a donor is thinking about leaving a gift in their will is, “Can I leave money just for maintaining my covenant?”, or “Can I leave my property to QEII?”. While we appreciate that this might provide some comfort that your covenant will be maintained at the level it currently is, the legal mechanism of the QEII covenant ensures that QEII has a perpetual responsibility to your property and will ensure that the terms of the covenant are upheld.
Our model relies on our regional reps working in partnership with landowners to ensure the covenant values are protected. Through focusing on supporting covenantors to manage and enhance their covenant, we can work with a new owner to understand the nuance of your property using our experience, extensive photo points and data of the unique features of your property. “Donations and gifts that are broader in purpose mean that we can provide additional support towards maintaining and enhancing covenants when and where it is most needed, and be flexible when those needs change,” says Bryna.
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RESTORING – ŌRETI TŌTARA FOREST
ŌRETI TŌTARA DUNE FOREST Once at risk of neglect and subdivision, Ōreti Tōtara Dune Forest is an example of how connected residents, knowledgeable experts and local supporters can band together to protect and enhance rare ecosystems.
“ The forest itself is starting to come back. It’s nice to have new seedlings come up that aren’t being browsed by possums.”
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The 52-hectare covenant, part of an 81-hectare property in Otatara, continues to benefit from the actions of the Native Forest Restoration Trust, neighbours and the wider Otatara community. Located just a ten-minute drive from central Invercargill, Ōreti Tōtara Dune Forest occupies a unique position bordering the Ōreti River, capturing the wind rolling in off the Tasman Sea. This is a special place for QEII National Trust ecologist Brian Rance, who lives locally. “The site is mainly tōtara, but transitions into mataī and kahikatea in wetter places and includes dune swales with ephemeral wetlands. Therefore the undulating dune landscape creates a lot of diversity,” said Brian. While there are other pockets of tōtara dune forest in the wider Otatara area, this was one of the last and largest unprotected sites. “Tōtara dune forest on consolidated ancient sand dunes is a nationally rare forest type, so a very rare ecosystem. Otatara is the stronghold for this ecosystem in New Zealand,” said Jesse Bythell, QEII regional representative for Southland. Before 2020, the site was lightly grazed by cattle, making it difficult for the undergrowth of the tōtara forest to replenish itself. “It was lightly farmed—that’s why it’s still here—but under that farming regime it wasn’t going to regenerate and over time we would eventually lose that ecosystem,” said Jesse.
But the journey to purchase and protect the site wasn’t without its challenges. The start of 2020 brought the arrival of Covid-19 and plenty of disruptions to the project. Geoff and Tim Oliver, NFRT chair at the time, were also concerned about being outbid by developers looking to subdivide the land, an uncertain future for the rare tōtara dune forest. Despite the hurdles, the project to protect Ōreti Tōtara Dune Forest had the backing of NFRT’s supporters and the wider community. NFRT’s successful fundraising campaign raised $810,000 towards the $1.5 million purchase price of the property.
“We’re taking the brakes off nature and letting those changes come through.”
After reading an article in the paper about the Ōreti Tōtara Dune Forest project, a generous local, Mr Erskine, made a $50,000 donation to NFRT. “He was thrilled to bits that this was happening. Sadly, he passed away before the reserve opened but knew it was purchased. He had long family links to the place,” said Tim. “Tim Simpson, who worked for the previous owner, does some of the rabbit shooting and pest control. He’s the grandson of Mr Erskine, which is a nice little piece of serendipity,” said Tim. Although NFRT took action on purchasing and ensuring the land was protected with a QEII covenant, it was over to the people who were originally behind the project to take a major part in its continued management. “QEII and NFRT are national groups, but they’re working with local communities,” said Brian.
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Caladenia variegata orchid Photo credit: Jesse Bythell BELOW
Ōreti Tōtara Dune Forest Photo credit: Jason Hosking
After returning home from a trip away, Brian Rance was surprised to find a note in his mailbox about the Ōreti property being for sale. “A note was left from the sister of the previous owner. The sisters had ties with Forest and Bird so were aware of the ecological values and were keen for the site to be protected for conservation,” said Brian. As it happened, Brian had recently met up with Geoff Davidson, a trustee at the Native Forest Restoration Trust (NFRT). The Native Forest Restoration Trust protects and manages reserves across the country by purchasing land of ecological significance and placing a QEII covenant on it. Once Geoff heard about the possibility of protecting Ōreti Tōtara Dune Forest, NFRT were eager to get started. “We said: ‘yeah, we’ve got to do this’,” said Geoff.
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RESTORING – ŌRETI TŌTARA FOREST
Tim Oliver and Geoff Davidson at Ōreti Tōtara Dune Forest Photo credit: Jesse Bythell
Jesse, Brian and Chris Rance became part of the advisory group for the management of the site, working closely with honorary ranger Maurice Rodway and Dallas Bradley who leads pest control in the area. “They are the nucleus of people much involved in this site,” said Geoff. “Without them we couldn’t maintain this place.” A lot of careful thought has gone into how Ōreti Tōtara Dune Forest can be managed. “Our management plan is so big you could use it to prop the door open,” said Jesse. The management approach is primarily focused on assisted passive restoration, which turns to pest control, seed enhancement and weed control to allow the ecosystem to reestablish itself rather than intensive replanting. “We’re taking the brakes off nature and letting those changes come through,” said Jesse.
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Brian sees Ōreti Tōtara Dune Forest as a key piece of a much wider landscape and part of a longer-term ecological recovery. “As the forest links together over time, it will also join with the river which is quite special.” Ōreti Tōtara Dune Forest is surrounded by other popular DOC and council reserves as well as privately owned forest around Otatara. “All form a network of forest remnant stepping stones though Otatara, improving bird movement across the wider Otatara area,” said Brian. Pest control can help birds spill across the wider area, helping distribute seeds as they go. Dallas Bradley has been leading pest control for the site since the reserve was formed in 2020 and has already seen changes since pest control began. “There has been a heck of a lot more bellbirds and tūī,” said Dallas.
with few younger people being able to be involved to the level needed.”
“The sheer amount of love the community has for this site is always overwhelming.”
As part of the long-term picture, Rory and Cody Baker lease 20 ha of the noncovenanted land on the property for light farming. They help with fencing, planting and weed control as part of their lease. “We are lucky to have Rory and Cody who will hopefully be able to be involved for the next 20-30 years, but the site will take much longer than that to be re-forested,” said Maurice. Community groups and individuals have taken the Ōreti Tōtara Dune Forest under their wing. The Southland Tramping Club have an annual planting day at the site and one neighbour has lent a hand building some bridges and viewing structures.
Read more about visiting Ōreti Tōtara Dune Forest on page 32. More information about visiting Ōreti Tōtara Dune Forest can be found on the Native Forest Restoration Trust website www.nfrt.org.nz/reserves/ oreti-totara-dune-forest/
There is still a long road ahead for the pest control programme. “I’ve never been anywhere before with such high mouse numbers,” said Dallas. With sandy soil and grassland outside the forested areas, it’s prime mouse and rabbit real estate. Although mice continue to be a problem, Dallas’ monitoring has shown that possum and rat numbers have been brought down to low levels. “The forest itself is starting to come back. It’s nice to have new seedlings come up that aren’t being browsed by possums,” he said. Honorary ranger Maurice Rodway also sees the recovery of Ōreti Tōtara Dune Forest as a long game. “Revegetating this area with native forest will be a long process taking many decades,” said Maurice. “The long-term management of the site will be a challenge
The project to restore Ōreti Tōtara Dune Forest has received a boost from the local council as well as the community. “The Invercargill City Council has donated about 4,000 native plants so far,” said Maurice. This has allowed concentrated planting into priority restoration areas. There has also been some research interest in the site. A few students from the Southern Institute of Technology (SIT) have undertaken projects at Ōreti Tōtara Dune Forest. One used drone footage to map plant communities, while another compared the forest composition of the tōtara dune forest at the Ōreti site to other examples of this ecosystem. Even members of the public can get involved with gaining a better understanding of the site. Visitors are welcomed to record their observations of birds, plants and insects in the iNaturalist project for the site. Being so close to Invercargill, Ōreti Tōtara Dune Forest has become a much-loved area, with more and more people using it for daily exercise. Although privately owned, it is open to the public. Walking tracks and a carpark allow visitors access to the protected site. “The sheer amount of love the community has for this site is always overwhelming,” said Jesse. “Right from the beginning with the crowdfunding to buy it, through to all the generous time and effort, hours and labour and good ideas… it’s a really exciting project to be part of.”
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RECOGNISING MILESTONES – PĀMU CELEBRATES 10,000 HA
Pāmu celebrates 10,000 hectare milestone Pāmu (the brand name for Landcorp Farming) is celebrating a significant milestone in its programme of on-farm biodiversity protection and restoration, with over 10,000 hectares now protected with a QEII covenant. Pāmu reached the milestone in September, with the registration of five blocks on Dale Farm in the Te Anau basin. South Island robin (Petroica australis), slender wine sedge (Carex tenuiculmis), matagouri (Discaria toumatou) and mānuka (Leptospermum scoparium).
Gordon Williams at Dale Farm in Feb 2022
QEII has a longstanding partnership with Pāmu that has seen a total of 236 covenants in place on 58 farms, protecting 10,126 ha in total across the country. QEII’s regional rep for the Waiau catchment, Mark Sutton, has worked closely with Pāmu for over two decades and says the strong relationship between QEII reps, Pāmu farm managers and Pāmu staff in Wellington has been key to this success.
Dale Farm is a 2,549 hectare sheep and beef farm in the Upukerora Ecological District. Native vegetation cover in the Upukerora district today is much reduced, due to past burning and clearance of large areas of forest, shrubland and tussockland. In the past, wetlands in the area would have included flaxland, tussockland and sedgeland in fertile swamp and marshes, as well as rushland and Dracophyllum shrubland in low-fertility peat bogs. These wetlands would have ranged in size from a few square meters to hundreds of hectares. Many were surrounded by beech forest, with scrub and shrubland forming distinctive transitional zones between the two. The QEII covenants on Dale Farm and other surrounding Pāmu farms are significant as they protect some of the few remaining areas of primary and secondary forest, wetlands, and transitional zones still present in the district. The Dale Farm covenants also protect the habitats of several acutely and chronically threatened indigenous species, including the Nationally Endangered Central Otago roundhead galaxias (Galaxias anomalus) and ‘At risk – Declining’ species such as
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“The working relationships developed in my time with Pāmu environmental managers, the late Gerry Soanes and Gordon Williams, and the farm managers themselves, have been key in securing the 236 covenants so far,” says Mark. “Pāmu recognised the need to protect areas of native biodiversity on their properties, and putting robust legal protection over these areas underscores their commitment to protect and care for them in perpetuity. Their approach, protecting entire subcatchment systems for future water quality and biodiversity connectedness, is a major achievement,” says Mark. Gordon Williams, environment manager ngahere for Pāmu forestry and horticulture says, “It’s been an absolute pleasure, following in the footsteps of the late Gerry Soanes, and working with the farm teams and the Trust reps to facilitate the covenants. Both teams are passionate supporters of the process and take as much pride as I do in protecting these areas for the benefit of future generations. The job isn’t quite done yet, although I do have most of the last few areas for consideration in my sights!”
FAR LEFT
Kits Bog Pine Covenant, Dale Farm. A small 4 ha shrubland frost flat dominated by bog pine with open areas of wire rush and lichen fields. LEFT
Zita’s Covenant, Dale Farm. A 22 ha regenerating wetland and shrubland.
ABOVE
Te Anau Hill Covenant, Dale Farm. This 100 ha area has extensive areas of beech forest, mixed shrublands and wetlands. The image shows part of the wetland area within the diverse block. LEFT
Dale Hill Covenant, Dale Farm. This recently registered area is 176 ha dominated by shrublands.
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SUMMER FEATURE – PLACES TO VISIT
SUMMER IS HERE!
Deep Creek - Coronet Loop Track Photo credit: Rob Wardle
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For many of us, longer days and the inviting weather mean more time outdoors in the fresh air and sunshine.
Matahuru Valley Walk
QEII covenants protect some incredible places and spaces across Aotearoa, often supporting all sorts of critters, creatures and plant life. While most covenants are only accessible with permission of the owner, some covenants are set up for recreational use, welcoming public access and community involvement.
Nelson
Whether you want to head for the hills on a tramp, get out in the backcountry on your bike, visit a local reserve with the kids or simply close your eyes and listen to the birdlife, there are all sorts of ways to enjoy publicly accessible covenants in your region.
Island Hills Coronet Loop Track, Mahu Whenua
In this edition, we feature a selection of covenants that are accessible to the public, while also ensuring the precious values of the covenant are being protected. If you’re looking for more options, check out our website for places to visit: qeiinationaltrust.org.nz/places-to-visit/
Ōreti Tōtara Dune Forest
Take care out there. Some of these covenants are in remote, wild areas. Remember to stick to tracks, check the weather, and pack extra clothes, food and water. Always let someone know where you’re going.
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SUMMER FEATURE – PLACES TO VISIT
The Gearshop Bay Ultra LOCATION
Nelson
DESCRIPTION The Gearshop Bay Ultra event offers multiple distances to test your endurance with incredible views along the way. Based at the Cable Bay Adventure Park, this event is in the perfect Nelson location. Pick from:
ACCESS:
Prior permission and booking required CONSERVATION AND VALUES The forest blocks at Cable Bay Farm were covenanted about 30 years ago, ensuring ongoing care for large areas of beech forest with kāmahi, tītoki, tawa, rimu, kahikatea, tōtara, mataī, and miro spread throughout. The property stretches from sea level to 620 m elevation, encompassing the steep seafront cliffs, a patchwork of original forest, and kānukadominated regenerating forest. The covenants support a range of native birds and provide shade and shelter for walkway users. COME VISIT FOR
The Gearshop Bay Ultra event held on Saturday 25 May 2024
• 10 km ‘The Adventure Park’ – run or walk through ever-changing trails with twists and turns and some technical terrain. • 24 km ‘The Drumduan’ – a great step up from the half marathon taking you into the hills surrounding Cable Bay. • 34 km ‘The Tailwind’ – the course covers forests, coastal walkways, farmland and access to privately owned Pepin Island. • 55 km ‘The Ultra’ – truly test yourself with an epic ultramarathon through Cable Bay Adventure Park, Cable Bay Walkway and Pepin Island. Profits from this event will be donated to QEII National Trust. Entries are now open, closing on Thursday 23 May 2024. CONTACT Visit The Gearshop Bay Ultra website for more information and to enter: www.thebaytrailrun.co.nz
Gearshop Bay Ultra
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Gearshop Bay Ultra
ABOVE
Looking into gully of remnant beech and podocarp forest visible from the track Photo credit: Tom Stein
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SUMMER FEATURE – PLACES TO VISIT
Deep Creek - Eight Mile Saddle Photo credit: Rob Wardle
Coronet Faces Photo credit: Rob Wardle
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Coronet Loop Trail, Mahu Whenua LOCATION
Start and finish point: Arrowtown ACCESS:
Public access by way of easement CONSERVATION AND VALUES The Mahu Whenua covenants contain a wide variety of habitats from lowland to high alpine supporting a diverse range of native plants and animals. Shrublands and beech forest areas are home to small birds including riroriro/grey warbler, titipounamu/rifleman, pīwakawaka/fantail, korimako/ bellbird and miromiro/tomtit. In the tussock grasslands, there are McCann’s and mokomoko/ common skinks, wētā, and other insects. A lot of effort has gone into controlling pests such as goats, deer, stoats, ferrets, rats and possums. Wilding pine tree control on the covenants has also protected many natural areas from being overwhelmed by exotic trees although sustained effort and resources are required to lock in these gains. COME VISIT FOR
Backcountry mountain biking and tramping
DESCRIPTION The Coronet Loop Trail is an Intermediate (Grade 3) mountain biking trail, a 50 km circuit that loops through Coronet Peak Station, part of the Mahu Whenua covenants. Ride through native beech forest and schist bluffs, or weave along the front face of Coronet Peak, passing evidence of the bygone goldrush era, flume pipe remnants and old mining ruins. The Coronet Loop Trail is just one of the many activities at the Mahu Whenua covenants. There are plenty of options for walkers and trampers, backcountry skiers and mountain bikers. KNOW BEFORE YOU GO The Coronet Loop is a well-formed track, but visitors are encouraged to visit the Mahu Whenua Information Display located in the Historic Police Hut at Bowlers Green in Arrowtown prior to embarking on the trail. Users are urged to follow all backcountry safety advice and be prepared with the correct gear. Remember to check the forecast, bring extra layers and tell someone your plans. INFORMATION Find more information on visiting Coronet Loop Trail and other Mahu Whenua tracks: qeiinationaltrust.org.nz/ places/central-otago-mahu-whenua queenstowntrails.org.nz/maps-and-trails/trailexperiences/coronet-loop/ www.trailforks.com/route/coronet-loop/
Native plantings on Coronet Front Faces Water Race Photo credit: Rob Wardle
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SUMMER FEATURE – PLACES TO VISIT
Island Hills LOCATION
North Canterbury
DESCRIPTION The Island Hills Station walk covers a distance of approximately 30 km and is utilised for two- or threeday walks. Accommodation options include a shearers’ quarters, a camp lodge and a log cabin hut.
ACCESS:
Prior permission and booking required CONSERVATION AND VALUES Island Hills Station features a contiguous ecosystem from submontane beech forest to alpine tussockland. These ecosystems provide habitat for many threatened native species such as kārearea (At Risk – Recovering), kākāriki (At Risk – Relict), kākā (At Risk - Recovering), kea (Threatened – Nationally Endangered), South Island robin, mountain wētā as well as another 16 threatened and at-risk native plant species. Landowners the Shand family and their managers are committed to the property and its environment. An ongoing trapping project has caught a total of 306 pests so far. COME VISIT FOR
Guided walks, horse trekking and hunting. You can also take part in the Skedaddle Run for Nature event.
The Skedaddle Run for Nature Event will be held on 27 April 2024. Last year the race raised over $5,000 for purchasing traps to protect the covenant and surrounding areas on the farm. This year the event hopes to beat that goal and is offering the following courses: • 10 km ‘Humble Dove’ - a great option for walkers and anyone new to trail running. • 15 km ‘Dozer Line’ - challenging, but you can take your time and opt to run or walk. • 30 km ‘Wilderbeast’ - this course is a great middle-distance option for anyone looking to challenge themselves. • 42 km ‘Two Tunner’ - this is a beast of a run that will test your endurance and reward your hard work with some stunning views! KNOW BEFORE YOU GO A reasonable level of fitness is required for the Island Hills Station walk. CONTACT Walking, horse trekking and hunting activities can be booked on the Island Hills Station website: islandhillsstation.com The Skedaddle Run for Nature event is currently open for entries on the Skedaddle website: www.skedaddle.co.nz
Island Hills Station. Island Hills Station supplied
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TOP LEFT
Meteorite Hunters at Island Hills. Photo supplied by Island Hills Station. BELOW LEFT
Skedaddle competition. Photo credit: Jack Prebble
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SUMMER FEATURE – PLACES TO VISIT
Matahuru Valley Walk LOCATION
Te Kauwhata, Waikato ACCESS:
Private walk - prior permission and booking required CONSERVATION AND VALUES The QEII covenant on the Matahuru Valley property contains a large tract of forest remnant, with kererū/wood pigeon and tūī, white rātā, tōtara, nīkau, tawa and black mamaku. COME VISIT FOR
Private walks, with accommodation and food provided. DESCRIPTION The Matahuru Valley Walk is hosted by three neighbours: the Evans family, Noble-Campbell family and the Mickleson family. Located in the North Waikato, just a short drive from Te Kauwhata, the Matahuru Walk crosses three working
Group of walkers under trees on the Matahuru Valley Walk
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sheep and beef farms with stunning views of both the Waikato and the Hauraki Gulf. The walking tracks wind through several stands of podocarp native bush, including several kahikatea groves, and the Matahuru Stream with riparian plantings and a waterhole to take a dip in on your walk. At the end of a day of walking, there is accommodation provided at Tūī Ridge, a secluded farm cottage with room for up to 11 guests. Stays are fully catered, complete with seasonal menu and home baking. KNOW BEFORE YOU GO Bookings are required. Choose between a one-night or two-night retreat. There are no single-day walks. No dogs permitted. CONTACT For more information about the Matahuru Valley Walk or to book online, visit: www.matahuruvalleywalk.co.nz Email: matahuruvalleywalk@gmail.com Phone: 027 3163002
Walker pauses on the track Photo credit: Tash Johnson
Lookout on the Matahuru Valley Walk
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SUMMER FEATURE – PLACES TO VISIT
Ōreti Tōtara Dune Forest LOCATION
Otatara, Invercargill ACCESS:
Public access CONSERVATION AND VALUES Tōtara forest on sand dunes, mataī-pōkākā-kahikatea forest and wetlands. There is a variety of birdlife, such as pūtangitangi/paradise shelduck, pūkeko and pāpango/scaup in the wetlands, and tūī, kererū/ woodpigeon, pīwakawaka/fantail and korimako/ bellbird in the bush. COME VISIT FOR
Walking tracks (easy to moderate grade) DESCRIPTION Bordering the Ōreti River, the Ōreti Tōtara Dune Forest area lies on the western edge of the suburb of Otatara, about 6 km west of Invercargill in Southland. Ōreti Tōtara Dune Forest contains rare native forest remnants that had been depleted by logging
Wild western edge of Ōreti Tōtara Dune Forest Photo credit: Jesse Bythell
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followed by years of grazing. Thanks to a successful crowdfunding campaign, the site was bought by the Native Forest Restoration Trust and protected with a QEII open space covenant. The most valuable part of the property from a conservation perspective, is an area of tōtara forest on sand dunes – a naturally rare ecosystem that is classified as nationally endangered. KNOW BEFORE YOU GO Everyone is welcome to visit Ōreti Tōtara Dune Forest, however, please note that this is at your own risk as hazards inevitably exist in steep wild terrain. Dogs are not permitted. No hunting without the express permission of the Native Forest Restoration Trust. Visitors are welcome to record their observations of birds, plants and insects in the iNaturalist project for the area. CONTACT For more information, visit: www.nfrt.org.nz/reserves/oreti-totara-dune-forest/ or qeiinationaltrust.org.nz/places/oreti-totara-duneforest/
Pūtangitangi/ paradise shelduck Photo credit: Jesse Bythell
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OUR PEOPLE – REGIONAL REP MORGAN TROTTER
New South Coastal Otago rep loves working with landowners South Coastal Otago rep Morgan Trotter has deep family roots in the Otago region and an array of skills and experience to help QEII covenant holders achieve their goals.
Morgan only recently became a rep but he is no QEII newbie. About six years ago, he and wife Helen bought a 745 ha property of regenerating native forest in North Otago that is entirely under a QEII covenant. He joined QEII in August as rep for the newly created Coastal Otago South region. Due to the growth in covenants in Coastal Otago, the region has been split into two, with Cathy Rufaut remaining as rep for the northern part.
“ I’m really excited to have got the position and to be getting back to working with landowners to get conservation outcomes on the ground.”
“I’m really excited to have got the position and to be getting back to working with landowners to get conservation outcomes on the ground,” Morgan says. His family roots in Otago go back more than 170 years, to when ancestor William Trotter took up a sheep run near Moeraki in North Otago. He grew up on his family’s farm and his love of the outdoors and ecology was sparked by a boyhood exploring the creeks and craggy hills of Trotter’s Gorge. After leaving school Morgan worked for four years on crayfish boats based at Moeraki but his boyhood love for the bush and curiosity about nature tugged him towards Otago University. “My first year at university was a bit of a challenge because I hadn’t finished high school but with some help from friends, I managed to get through that and got a double major degree in zoology and ecology,” he says. In later years he added a Postgraduate Diploma in Environmental Science and a Masters in Zoology.
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After a spell researching possum control he joined the Otago Regional Council in Balclutha, where his responsibilities included weed and pest control and freshwater monitoring. Balclutha is in the heart of his QEII patch and he’s looking forward to renewing relationships with some of the landowners he worked with nearly two decades ago. Then followed 17 years with Fish & Game, initially based in Cromwell and later in Dunedin for 13 years. “I particularly enjoyed working with farmers to create wetlands and to enhance riparian areas.” Working with the Upper Taieri Catchment Group, in 2021 he helped secure Jobs for Nature funding of $4.55 million over five years for Tiaki Maniototo, a project largely focussed on riparian and wetland restoration in the Upper Taieri River catchment. He was project manager for Tiaki Maniototo for its first two years. “I really liked that role but was spending quite a lot of time away from home and I have three lovely little boys under the age of five. So when the QEII position came up, I jumped at the opportunity.” Morgan’s patch covers the coastal area south of Dunedin down to the lush rainforest of the northern part of the Catlins. It extends inland to the dry tussocklands around Loganburn Dam and the farming country of Tapanui.
“ I enjoy talking to farmers. Because I come from a farming background, I can understand their perspective and am well aware of some of their regulatory and planning challenges.”
He has about 90 covenants to look after and will also be kept busy with a significant number of new covenant proposals. “I enjoy talking to farmers. Because I come from a farming background, I can understand their perspective and am well aware of some of their regulatory and planning challenges. “A lot of farmers are passionate about wetlands and remnant bush blocks they have on their properties and are trying to protect and enhance them.” He says the QEII model is well proven in providing long term protection and he attributes its success to its emphasis on cooperation between everyone involved.
His part-time role will allow Morgan to spend more time with his young family as well as tackling pest and weed issues on his large hill country covenant, Kuranui, inland from Hampden in North Otago. Possums, goats and deer require his constant attention but he describes the native bush regeneration as “amazing”. “Areas that were clear felled 30 years ago are now tall-standing native timber, which is lovely to see.” Just as Trotter’s Gorge was so important to Morgan’s boyhood, his and Helen’s three sons have their own wild playground. “We get a lot of enjoyment taking the kids up there. We have a little cabin and love staying up there and exploring the bush.”
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FOR SALE: PROPERTY WITH QEII COVENANTS
MAHAKIRAU SEEKS CONSERVATIONISTS
COROMANDEL Do you enjoy forest bathing and the sound of raindrops? Do you love bird song, weird critters, pristine streams and many shades of lush green? Is your breathing space, security and privacy important? Need to increase your personal carbon credits?! Maybe you want to take backyard trapping to the next level and contribute to the survival of some of Aotearoa’s unique species. Have you ever dreamt of living amongst the soul enriching outcomes of successful community driven conservation?
The opportunity of a lifetime is now available, with a few spectacular properties in the Mahakirau Sanctuary looking for new guardianship. The beautiful Mahakirau Forest Estate is located on the spine of the Coromandel peninsula, at the crest of the famous 309 road weaving between Whitianga and Coromandel township. Mahakirau is a gated eco-sanctuary, with 580 ha of native forest subdivided into 24 freehold properties and covenanted with the QEII National Trust in the late 90s. The covenant restricts introduced pest plants and animals, and landowners
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have controlled weeds and predator species for over 20 years. The results are a flourishing biodiversity with some of the nation’s rarest natives thriving. Fellow forest inhabitants include endemic endangered frogs, rare geckos, kiwi, kākā, ruru, kererū, bellbirds, tomtits, peripatuses, forest ringlet butterflies, pūriri moths, kauri and king fern. Plus, a community of private yet like-minded nature lovers committed to making a difference. Join us! Live your wildest dream in paradise and help contribute to an outstanding legacy by protecting a magnificent land worth saving, a crown jewel on the Coromandel Range. Register your interest now: Contact Sara (Conservation Advocate) via mahakirauforest@gmail.com
For more information check out our links: http://www.mahakirau.co.nz/ https://www.facebook.com/Mahakirau/ https://www.instagram.com/mahakirau/ https://www.linkedin.com/company/mahakirau-forest-sanctuary/ https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/mahakirau-forest-ecology/
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MahaMagic. Photo Credit: Sara Smerdon QEII NATIONAL TRUST OPEN SPACE ISSUE 105
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OUR PEOPLE – REMEMBERING GERRY SOANES
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Remembering Gerry Soanes QEII National Trust was saddened to hear of the passing of Gerald Soanes earlier this year. QEII regional rep Mark Sutton remembers his friend, Gerry. Gerald Francis Soanes—Gerry to the many folk who knew him—passed away recently. Fittingly, it was the 2023 opening day of duck hunting season. As his wife Fiona conveyed to me, he sat in bed that morning listening for the distant reports from 12 gauges in and around his home in Karapiro, and I suspect longing to be once again in the maimai pursuing one of his many lifelong passions. Gerry was not a covenantor in his own right, but his contribution to QEII was without question. Sadly, he never quite got to see the recent milestone of Pāmu (previously Landcorp) achieving ten thousand hectares of land protected by QEII covenants. I know he would have been secretly proud of this as Gerry was instrumental in starting the long relationship between the two organisations. Gerry worked for much of his career with the then Lands & Survey Department (L&S), with many roles related to land development and farm settlement, working extensively in the northern Southland and Te Anau basin areas. When Lands & Survey went out of existence in the late 1980s and became the state-owned enterprise called Landcorp (now Pāmu), Gerry continued on in various roles within the company. My first memories of Gerry were back in the late 1970s when land development was happening at scale in the northern Southland region. These were times when draining wetlands and straightening streams were part of the accepted normal activity. Gerry, being in senior roles with L&S, took a lot of flack publicly for these activities, but as time moved on, the Gerry I knew best emerged.
opportunity arose some two decades ago within Pāmu to begin preserving some of the biodiversity left on their farms, Gerry moved forward with his normal zeal and passion. Gerry’s knowledge of the Pāmu properties and their staff across the nation was immense. As many past and present QEII reps will know, this led to many new covenants being progressed through to registration. He set the scene for his successors Phil McKenzie and now Gordon Williams to carry on the lasting legacy of the Pāmu/QEII covenanting relationship. Gerry was a meticulous recorder with field notes and expected outcomes of the day’s activities always noted, a gentle but firm reminder being given to this rep on more than one occasion when needed. Two of his greatest passions were angling and hunting and he had stories of trout caught and ducks hunted in many corners of New Zealand. He also had a great reputation for knowing where the best lunch spots were – venison pies and coffee at Mossburn being one of his favourites. Despite his protests, we managed to arrange the naming of a wetland and shrubland covenant after Gerry on Pāmu’s Dale Farm, near Te Anau. “Gerry’s Covenant”, while not the largest at 9 ha, was registered in 2012. The covenant contains a small open water component that is hunted occasionally, a situation I know Gerry would surely approve of.
On reflection, it seems to me he always wanted the best for biodiversity. He understood the connection between land development and its impacts on the environment and knew that it was always a balancing act. When the
TOP LEFT
Gerry Soanes Oct 2004. Photo credit: Mark Sutton BOTTOM LEFT
Gerry Soanes and Tim Smith standing beside Thomas Burn Covenant at Mararoa Station, 2008 Photo credit: Mark Sutton
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NEW COVENANTS: SUMMARY OF COVENANT REGISTRATIONS FROM 1 APRIL 2023 TO 30 SEPTEMBER 2023
District Council
Location
Covenant Name
Area (ha)
Main open space type
Queenstown-Lakes
Hawea Flat
Jennifer Cooper Memorial Covenant
31.0546
Inter-montane secondary cushionfield, fernland and shrubland and modified secondary cushionfield and herbfield
Christchurch
Wainui
The Kelly Sykes Covenant
3.8388
Lowland modified primary forest, secondary forest and vineland, springs and streams.
Southland
East Limehills
MacKenzie Heatherlea 2.594 Trust Wetland
Lowland artifically created open water, grassland and sedgeland (restores hydrology to contigous peatland covenant)
Southland
East Limehills
MacKenzie Heatherlea 0.1302 Trust Wetland
Lowland artifically created open grassland and sedgeland (restores hyrdology to contigous peatland covenant)
Ruapehu
Otangiwai
M.J Connolly & A.J Simmonds Family Trust
2.3752
Lowland regenerating modified secondary, podocarp broadleaf forest remnant
New Plymouth
Inglewood
Midway Stream Covenant
2.3701
Lowland modified primary forest and revegetated sedgeland
South Taranaki
Opunake
Honeyfields Bush
10.3591
Semi-coastal modified primary forest
Horowhenua
Shannon
Te Maire
7.7969
Lowland modified primary ox-bow lake and wetland
Upper Hutt
Upper Hutt
Wildwood
5.685
Lowland modified primary forest
Upper Hutt
Upper Hutt
Springwood
1.3562
Lowland modified primary forest and shrubland
Southland
Te Anau
Homestead Shrubland 19.2487
Submontane modified primary shrubland and rushland, modified secondary grassland and small stream system
40
QEII NATIONAL TRUST OPEN SPACE ISSUE 105
District Council
Location
Covenant Name
Area (ha)
Main open space type
Southland
Te Anau
Dale Hill Covenant
176.5899
Submontane modified primary treeland and shrubland.
Southland
Te Anau
Matthews Extension
7.5686
Submontane modified secondary shrubland, rushland and exotic grassland
Southland
Te Anau
Dale Wetlands
12.3786
Submontane modified secondary tussockland, sedgeland, and shrubland
Southland
Te Anau
Ian's Bush Extension
22.2651
Submontane modified secondary shrubland, sedgeland, grassland and small stream system
South Waikato
Tirau
Glomile
32.772
Lowland (elevated plateau) modified primary forest and regenerating secondary shrubland
Tasman
Kaihoka Lakes
Te Waiata o te Hau
3.077
Coastal modified primary and secondary forest
Tasman
Kaihoka Lakes
Te Waiata o te Hau
11.955
Coastal modified primary and secondary forest and modified primary flaxland
Selwyn
North bank, upper Rakaia River
Ulupalakua
44.7873
Montane modified primary treeland, scrub, shrubland tussockgrassland and bluffs
Tasman
Motueka
Sunrise
8.985
Lowland modified primary forest, modified secondary forest and rushland, secondary scrub
Hauraki
Waihi
Tuhuakite
9.5832
Semi coastal secondary forest
Central Hawke's Bay
Oueroa
Bush Burn
8.7636
Semicoastal modified secondary forest and artificially created grassland
Kaikoura
Kaikoura
Doug's Covenant
6.439
Lowland secondary forest
Gisborne
Rakauroa
2.1815
Lowland modified primary forest
QEII NATIONAL TRUST OPEN SPACE ISSUE 105
41
YOUR LOCAL REP – CONTACT DETAILS
Regional Representatives Trina Upperton
KAIPARA
021 0822 9802
tupperton@qeii.org.nz
Mieke Kapa
FAR NORTH
027 494 0733
mkapa@qeii.org.nz
Nan Pullman
WHANGĀREI
09 434 3457
npullman@qeii.org.nz
Chris Floyd
NORTH AUCKLAND
021 066 2165
cfloyd@qeii.org.nz
Jessica Reaburn
NORTH-WEST & EAST AUCKLAND
021 026 23436
jreaburn@qeii.org.nz
Paul Goldsmith
SOUTH & WEST AUCKLAND
021 622 368
pgoldsmith@qeii.org.nz
Melissa Sinton
WAITOMO, NORTH TARANAKI & RUAPEHU
027 867 6407
msinton@qeii.org.nz
Zipporah Ploeg
TAUPŌ & CENTRAL WAIKATO
020 4095 2800
zploeg@qeii.org.nz
Robbie Bennett
WAIKATO
021 1742 761
rbennett@qeii.org.nz
Jason Roxburgh
HAURAKI-COROMANDEL
07 868 2401
jroxburgh@qeii.org.nz
Paul Kayes
WESTERN BAY OF PLENTY
027 457 2395
pkayes@qeii.org.nz
Hōri Barsdell
EASTERN BAY OF PLENTY
027 634 8958
hbarsdell@qeii.org.nz
Carol Burgess
NEW PLYMOUTH
021 932 555
cburgess@qeii.org.nz
Jake Goonan
SOUTH TARANAKI
022 327 0445
jgoonan@qeii.org.nz
Malcolm Rutherford
GISBORNE
022 310 6818
mrutherford@qeii.org.nz
Troy Duncan
HAWKE’S BAY
021 629 426
tduncan@qeii.org.nz
Lou Hagger
TARARUA
022 477 3833
lhagger@qeii.org.nz
John Williamson
MANAWATŪ
06 328 6851
jwilliamson@qeii.org.nz
Trevor Thompson
WAIRARAPA
027 333 3243
tthompson@qeii.org.nz
Rob Cross
WELLINGON – KĀPITI
0210 238 5619
rcross@qeii.org.nz
Tom Stein
NELSON – TASMAN & MARLBOROUGH
0274 453 890
tstein@qeii.org.nz
Clare Moore
NELSON – TASMAN & MARLBOROUGH
021 656 035
cmoore@qeii.org.nz
Martin Abel
WEST COAST
03 753 3012
mabel@qeii.org.nz
Miles Giller
NORTH CANTERBURY
03 313 5315
mgiller@qeii.org.nz
Alice Shanks
CENTRAL CANTERBURY
03 337 1256
ashanks@qeii.org.nz
Rob Smith
SOUTH CANTERBURY
03 689 7735
rsmith@qeii.org.nz
Cathy Rufaut
COASTAL OTAGO - NORTH
021 100 8347
crufaut@qeii.org.nz
Morgan Trotter
COASTAL OTAGO - SOUTH
027 222 3067
mtrotter@qeii.org.nz
Rob Wardle
CENTRAL OTAGO
0204 012 6483
rwardle@qeii.org.nz
Mark Sutton
WAIAU CATCHMENT
021 540 814
msutton@qeii.org.nz
Jesse Bythell
SOUTHLAND
0204 003 2109
jbythell@qeii.org
42
QEII NATIONAL TRUST OPEN SPACE ISSUE 105
QEII NATIONAL TRUST OPEN SPACE ISSUE 105
43
PAGE TITLE – SUBTITLE
QEII NATIONAL TRUST OPEN SPACE ISSUE 105
Level 4, 138 The Terrace, PO Box 3341, Wellington 6140, New Zealand Phone 04 472 6626 | info@qeii.org.nz | qeiinationaltrust.org.nz