Getting the wetlands back

The biggest challenge for the community group Te Puna Estuary is getting rid of the mangrove trees to preserve the wetlands in The Bay of Plenty. The support of community work parties is making a huge difference.
 
The Jess Road salt marsh restoration project is a priority project for the community group. It covers more than eight hectares and combines fresh and salt water. An unnatural spread of mangroves is related to additional nutrients and sediments entering the harbour.

It is significantly increasing the presence of mangroves. They retain silt and mud around their base, making the environment uninhabitable for many birds and wildlife.

Kirsty Walker, chair of the community group Te Puna Estuary, says clearing the area of mangroves is especially hard work. “Most of our volunteers are not really up to that kind of physical activity.”

Manpower
“Although the offenders on community work can’t use machines, they can help us dig the mangroves out manually. A complication is that the digging work can only be done two hours on each side of the tide. So community work parties are really upping our manpower
which we appreciate greatly.”

The offenders help stack the mangroves that have been dug up. In addition they have provided many hours of labour and given a huge, positive boost to the pest weed clearing and planting of our coastal margins.

“Because we as a community group care about this environment, we think it’s important that people who do work here also know something about it,” says Kirsty. “So we like to explain to the offenders beforehand what the aim and importance of this project is. And from what I have seen they have really given their best to help.”

Challenge
Senior Community Work Supervisor Paddy Matthews is always happy for work parties to go to Te Puna Estuary. “Because the tides play such a big part in getting out the mangroves, it is a bit of a challenge which is good. I think this is a great project for community work parties because everybody benefits from it.”

Kirsty says that since the mangrove clearing started in 2007, they have seen more birdlife; among others an increasing number of pied stilts as well as fern birds have been heard.