Contents
Royal visit to Ōhiwa
‘Rivers to Ocean’ field trip 24 June
Nukuhou Care Group 1000th celebration
Towards a pest free harbour
Waiōtahe School efforts pay off
Mangrove project progress
Heritage trail underway
Cycle Trail expansion
Nukuhou River works
Upcoming events
This newsletter is brought to you by the Ōhiwa Harbour Strategy Coordination Group (OHSCG), which is a partnership between Bay of Plenty Regional Council, Whakatāne and Ōpōtiki District Councils, Department of Conservation, Upokorehe, Whakatōhea, Tūhoe (Te Kaaku) and Ngāti Awa.
This group is responsible for implementing actions from the Ōhiwa Harbour Strategy (OHS) and keeping the community informed.
Add your voice
Your feedback is welcomed. If you would like to share your stories or find out more about any of the projects in this newsletter, please contact the coordinator of the Ōhiwa Harbour Strategy implementation, Tim Senior, at the Bay of Plenty Regional Council. Email or phone 0800 884 880.
Royal visit to Ōhiwa
One of the less famous, but equally rare, royals is visiting Ōhiwa. The Royal spoonbill pictured below is one of a small flock of approximately 20 birds that was spotted at both Ōhiwa and the Whakatāne Harbours.
Royal spoonbills were first seen in the harbour in 2009. Since then their numbers have steadily increased and this year the flock was seen at various locations in the harbour. The same group has also visited the Whakatāne Estuary. A small number of birds from Australia first began breeding in New Zealand as recently as 1949 but have now become a common sight at many estuaries around the country when they disperse from their winter breeding colonies.
Spoonbills feed on small invertebrates and fish by sweeping their bills in smooth sideways arcs. Interestingly, they feed at night as much as by day as they rely on touch to detect food.
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‘Rivers to Ocean’ field trip 24 June
A mid-winter field trip is planned for farmers and residents from around Ōhiwa and its catchment. Leaving by bus from Tauwhare Pa at 9.45am, we will be visiting three places of interest with a BBQ lunch provided along the way. (Tauwhare Pa car park is between the Harbour Rd turnoff and the Oyster Farm).
The tour will guide participants to look at key issues and actions in the catchment, from Ōhiwa harbour to Nukuhou.
After leaving Tauwhare Pa, we will visit three sites, where discussions will cover farm management, heritage preservation, environmental and recreation management, community action, and more.
The tour will finish back at Tauwhare Pa at 2.30pm.
Nukuhou Care Group 1000th celebration
The Nukuhou Salt Marsh Care group members recently celebrated the ‘1000th pest trapped’, which doesn’t include the probably similar number that will have succumbed to their poisoning programme. Another ‘1000 milestone’ is the number of hours of voluntary work the group has put in between the members over the last year.
Members of the Nukuhou Saltmarsh Care Group celebrate their trapping success after reaching the1000th pest milestone.
Removal of rats from Uretara Island has led to a noticeable increase in native seedlings. Steve Brightwell from the Department of Conservation presented the group with a very special cake in recognition of their hard work.
Also recently, a stand of unwanted willow trees growing along the North West side of the Nukuhou Saltmarsh was poisoned over summer. Once the trees have died and collapsed, native vegetation will re-colonise the area under the watchful eyes of the group.
Towards a pest free harbour
Recently, several harbour-side residents expressed interest in carrying out pest control on and around their properties.
There are now quite large areas of the harbour margins and nearby bush areas where rats, stoats and possums are kept to very low levels. Small groups of residents getting together can have a huge impact on pests, stimulating thriving harbour wildlife. Each pest removed potentially allows another nest full of chicks to successfully fledge. The individual work and time commitment for such projects by may be very small, but it can make a big difference.
Waiōtahe School efforts pay off
Over the past decade, the ever-changing harbour currents have eroded the northern side of Whangakopikopiko (Tern) Island. As a result, many very old kanuka trees have disappeared into the tide.
The Whangakopikopiko kanuka trees are quite different from the common mainland variety (Kunzea robusta) and are the same species as those found in Thornton’s dunes (Kunzea toelkenii). They were probably once widespread along the eastern Bay of Plenty coast.
Eight years ago, Meg Collins from the local care group enlisted the help of Waiōtahe School students to collect seed from the trees, propagate seedlings and then plant them on the island to replace the lost trees.
Now, many of those special ‘Waiōtahe trees’ have survived and reached around 1.5 metres in height. Thanks to the students’ project and the care groups’ removal of rabbits from the island, it is beginning to return to its former glory. Thanks Waiōtahe School!
The school is now looking at another long-term project around the harbour – watch this space!
Mangrove project progress
Last summer, volunteers led by Upokorehe removed small seedlings that had grown back in previously cleared areas in the eastern side of the harbour. It’s time now to move to the Wainui and Paparoa areas on the western side of the harbour. There are some places here where seedling mangroves are spreading very rapidly.
Heritage trail underway
Now that a revamp of signage around the harbour is well underway, it’s timely to extend this work to incorporate the long-planned Ōhiwa Harbour heritage trail. The first stage of the trail will focus on ten sites of interest around the harbour during the 2015-2016 year. Stage one will encompass the natural heritage theme. Two other themes, recent history and Māori heritage, will be developed in the subsequent two years. The Māori heritage stage of the project will be developed in conjunction with local iwi.
The project involves providing interpretation signage about interesting aspects of the harbour and will also improve access and parking at the chosen sites.
A clear message from the research into recreation around the harbour, and from workshops held to develop a refreshed Ōhiwa Strategy document, is that visitors and locals alike are keen to learn more about the harbour.
Cycle Trail expansion
Ōpōtiki District Council (ODC) has made a consent application to extend the Ōhiwa harbour-side trail from the new whakaruruhau (shelter) recently built at the Ōhiwa Spit to Bryan’s Beach behind the sand dunes.
It’s hoped that this will form another part of the Eastern Bay cycle route. The latest step in the progress of this project is that, if successful, this trail will provide links with Whakatāne and Kawerau, and ultimately perhaps with Rotorua. The trail could become another local tourist attraction and make a significant contribution to the Eastern Bay economy.
Whakatāne District Council is also investigating the possibility of building a cycle trail from Tauwhare Pa to Burma Road to complete a cycling circuit that incorporates Pohutukawa Avenue and Maraetotara Road.
ODC has put in an application to the New Zealand Cycle Trails (NZCT) to extend the Motu Trails infrastructure from Ōpōtiki through to the Ōhiwa Spit.
Nukuhou River works
For over a decade, with the support of BOPRC, farmers have been working to improve water quality in the Nukuhou River catchment by fencing the river and its tributaries, removing the old trees that were falling into the river and replanting with natives or shrub willows wherever possible.
If you’ve driven along SH2 recently, you will have noticed the latest work in this programme on two farms. This has involved the careful placement of rock on the outside of river bends and re-contouring of the inside in an effort to reduce the erosion of the river banks. It is hoped that, in the long term, this will help reduce sediment flowing into the harbour.
Similar work was recently undertaken by ODC in the Matekerepu Gorge, in this case to protect the road from undermining by the river.
Want to hear kiwi calling?
It is currently kiwi mating season (April to June) and so an ideal time to listen for kiwi calling and to gather information about population numbers and extent.
Kiwi call at night to mark territory and stay in touch with their mate. On still nights, their distinctive, piercing calls can travel more than one kilometre.
‘Kiwi listening’ has kicked off at Pukeruru (near the Ōhiwa Boat Ramp) to assess the population there; over many years, local residents have heard what may be a male kiwi calling. Tawa Kingi from the Department of Conservation in Ōpōtiki is leading this project initiated by local residents.
The male North Island brown kiwi call is an upward shrill, single note, repeated about 15-20 times. The female is a lower-pitched, coarse rasping cry, also repeated about 15-20 times.
Male kiwi calls can easily be confused with morepork (ruru), pukeko and other nocturnal animals, but the morepork call is usually lower in tone and only repeated seven to 10 times.
The best time to listen for kiwi is up to two hours after dark and just before dawn.
Want to hear what kiwi calls sound like? Download the kiwi calls at http://www.whakatanekiwi.org.nz/about-new-zealand-kiwi/whakarongo-mai.asp
Upcoming events
Kiwi night walks
Want to hear kiwi calling in the wild? Join the Whakatane Kiwi Trust Kiwi night walks - every Friday evening during June. Contact
Onekawa Te Mawhai Regional Park planting day
10am, Sunday, July 12th. A BBQ will follow the planting. This is a great opportunity to find out a bit more about your local regional park, add your contribution to its enhancement, get a bit of healthy exercise and catch up with a few other local folks over a cuppa.
‘Rivers to Ocean’ educational bus tour
Wednesday, 24th June . Meet: 9:45 at Tauwhare Pa, Ōhope. Depart: 10am Sharp. Finish: 2:30 pm at Tauwhare Pa, Ōhope.
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