Wetlands the focus for new Waimakariri funding

The Bittern Īnanga Rushland is a large wetland, home to the endangered native bittern and īnanga/whitebait that use it as a spawning ground. It has also been identified as a potential Canterbury mudfish habitat.  

The project recommended for funding this year will fence off the southern side of the rushland and support the control of willows and poplars to protect previous seasons’ work. In total, more than 350 metres of fencing will be installed to create a large buffer to protect the rushland and make room for planting. 

The development of this wetland is one of three Kaiapoi projects being undertaken by an extended family unit, passionate about restoring biodiversity to the area. It will contribute to the larger North Kaiapoi Biodiversity Restoration Project to link up waterways, wetlands and swamps where multiple keen landowners are already fencing, growing plants and planting.  

Landowners Jackie and Grant Freeman are enthusiastic about enhancing biodiversity on their property. Their main focus is Hunters Stream, a small waterway that flows through the southern end of their land. 

The funding recommended will help them in their ongoing efforts to improve the stream’s water quality and restore its indigenous flora and fauna. 

The couple plan to purchase 3,095 native plants which they’ll plant along the stream and adjacent slope, and also purchase guards, mats and stakes, and invest in fencing to protect the plants and waterway from stock. This work builds on five years of effort, planting more than 800 native plants on the property.  

The owners especially hope that the new natives will help provide food sources and healthy habitats for the tuna observed in their section of the river. They will also help with erosion control, ultimately reducing sediment and preventing vital food sources from being smothered. 

Partnering with the Waimakariri Biodiversity Trust and EnviroSchools, they plan to get the local community and school involved through planting days and site visits — eventually becoming an exemplar site to the wider community and inspiration for other new initiatives along the stream. 

The goal of this project is to protect and enhance the wetland habitat at Ketchum Cottage in Fernside. It will extend the protective fencing around the wetland, improve water quality and habitats in adjacent farm water races, and increase native vegetation.  

The grant will contribute to the purchase and planting of 1,000 Carex secta, fencing, water testing and freshwater investigations. The aim is to extend the wetland boundary by approximately 300 metres and work is planned to be completed by the end of the year. 

The owners hope this, and similar work, will lead to improvements in water quality as water flows from the springheads, through the wetland and farm and into the Cust Awa or the Main Drain. This will improve habitats for native aquatic life and help ensure the waterways are suitable for recreation for the area’s young people and their families.  

This is a project to enhance planting, control weeds and complete the protective fencing alongside the waterways that make up O’Kair Lagoon. The funding granted will go towards the control of woody weeds in the wetland. 

The lagoon already provides a spawning habitat for īnanga and tuna, and it’s hoped the restoration will provide a new habitat area for the endangered bittern which has been spotted in a neighbouring wetlands. 

The work will link up the lagoon with larger wetlands upstream, increasing habitat size and food sources for native birds. Work is planned to begin this winter. 

Pohio Wetland is part of a large back-dune wetland complex that stretches from the Ashley-Rakahuri to the Waimakariri and includes Tutaepatu Lagoon/Waikuku Wetlands — a wetland of high ecological significance.  

The wetland is an ideal īnanga spawning area, and its hoped restoration here will also assist habitat values for Canterbury mudfish. The recommended funding will support stage two of the Pohio Wetland project. 

Stage one tackled pest plants in the wetland, including the removal of many large willow trees laden with ivy. The outcome of these extensive control efforts has been impressive. With more light entering the wetland, there has been natural regrowth of natives such as of Carex secta which have been able to seed and grow quickly. The area is now fully fenced and stock-proofed, and planting work has continued in between funding rounds. 

Stage two of the project will see regrowth from the saplings of the removed pest plants carefully controlled to ensure the protection of existing and newly planted biodiversity.  

This project is also being driven by members of the extended family working on three Kaiapoi restoration projects.  

This project will help restore an ephemeral hill-fed stream (a tributary of the West Branch Grey River) to a healthy native ecosystem. It’s hoped this will be the beginning of a wider green/wildlife corridor that links habitats of native fauna from the foothills to the sea. 

The funding support will go towards the purchase of 1,000 native plants, plant guards and stakes, and the completion of 1,900m of permanent fencing along both sides of the waterway — creating a generous buffer for replanting natives.  

The planting and fencing will provide streambank protection, by establishing a good rooting base to hold the banks in place, avoiding bank collapse and reducing sedimentation into the larger river catchment. This is important as hill-fed streams can flow at high velocity, making them especially vulnerable to streambank erosion if left bare. 

In 2022, we supported the Sefton Saltwater Creek Catchment Group (SSCCG) to establish monitoring in their catchment. This year’s funding will be the final phase of support and will see a third year of monitoring completed.  

The monitoring and sampling covers two intermittent hill-fed streams originating in Ashley Forest (Stony and Fox’s Creek), three spring-fed streams (Boyne’s and Benzie’s Creeks) and a saltwater spring (Saltwater Creek Spring). 

Volunteers collect samples at six sites, testing for E.Coli, nitrogen, phosphorus, freshwater environmental DNA, temperature, pH and basic stream health and site information. A seventh tidal site is monitored for environmental DNA. Eventually, the project will offer a baseline of information on the state of individual waterways and give a ‘whole of catchment’ picture to help decide on possible mitigations and measure their impacts.  

Looking to the future, the group was pleased to also receive support from Westpac Bank which will extend the term of the programme.

The funding recommended will be administered by the Waimakariri Landcare Trust. 

After a successful inaugural year in 2023, the Environmental Awards will run again in 2024. The awards are run by the Biodiversity Working Group, supported by the Waimakariri Water Zone Committee and the Waimakariri District Council. They celebrate locals contributing to better environmental outcomes within the Waimakariri Zone.  
The 2024 awards once again will consist of three categories:

• Organisation or business: can be a not-for-profit such as a catchment group or a business that has contributed significantly to environmental gains.
• Individual: someone who has driven, educated, or inspired environmental outcomes in the zone. May be a member of an organisation or a landowner/private enterprise.
• Youth Award: the criteria are the same award for an organisation or individual. Recipients must be under 18. 

The awards will run in conjunction with Waimakariri District Council’s annual Community Awards. A panel made up of ecologists, working group community members, and iwi representatives will assess applications. All projects must align with at least one of the Zone Committee’s Action Plan values. 

The winners will be presented with a framed certificate and gift, and each award comes with a financial grant to go back into the environmental project presented. 

The Ashley River Care Group has been monitoring the Ashley/Rakahuri riverbed above the estuary for almost 20 years. Three years ago, the Waimakariri Water Zone Committee supported the group to extend this work to the estuary itself.

The main species monitored are the turiwhatu/banded dotterel, piako/pied stilt, tara pirohe/black-fronted tern, tara/white-fronted tern, tōrea/South Island pied oystercatcher, tarāpuka/black-billed gull, and karoro/black-backed gull. 

This round of funding will continue to support the monitoring of these precious shorebirds around the estuary, recording the species present, their nest locations, and breeding outcomes.