Many hands make light(er) work at Otaia/Lindsay Bush

Controlling weeds at Otaia/Lindsay Bush in Central Hawke’s Bay has been a great example of how collaboration, harnessing the community and experts, can accelerate progress in an environmental project.

Forest & Bird in partnership with Central Hawke’s Bay District Council are maintaining Otaia/Lindsay Bush, a native forest remnant with Kahikatea, Titoki, Tawa, Matai, and Totara. Weed control is a key concern at Otaia/Lindsay Bush, and the last 10 years have been focused on removing invasive species - Ivy, Tradescantia, Old Man’s Beard, Periwinkle, Sycamore, Elderberry, Japanese honeysuckle, and Privet.

In February 2023, Cyclone Gabrielle hit and had significant impact on the region, threatening to undo a decade’s worth of weed control. During the cyclone, the flooded Tukituki River broke its banks, transporting weed fragments and seeds throughout the reserve and toppling some mature trees. The resulting light wells have made the reserve vulnerable to weed invasion and many more weeds have now appeared.

Over the last year, a collaborative approach between community members and contractors has meant good progress regaining control over the weed population. Using a grant from Biodiversity Hawke’s Bay’s Environmental Enhancement Contestable Fund (EECF; which is funded through Hawke’s Bay Regional Council), The Conservation Company was contracted by Forest & Bird to begin pulling weeds and applying herbicides to decrease the weed population. Many weeds will require repeated treatments, so marking these plants using labels and GPS coordinates means they are treated on a regular basis. Finding and controlling all individual weeds is a difficult task as the silt contains many dormant weed propagules (seeds and plant fragments) that will emerge over time. Forest & Bird members are committed to regular working bees to comb the reserve to identify and deal with further infestations.

Rose Hay from Forest & Bird Central Hawke’s Bay comments that Cyclone Gabrielle was a significant setback, but funding has opened new doors for restoration work.

“Cyclone Gabrielle hit hard and wiped out 30 years of work. Thanks to the EECF grant funding, the team can focus on the future and continue restoration efforts at Otaia Bush.”

Work to restore the lightwells and margins and improve their resilience to weed invasion is in progress. In July 2023, 100 flax and cabbage trees were planted by the stopbank and along the Tukituki River. In August 2023, community members gathered to place 500 plants into the lightwell areas. These were staked with a cardboard surround to further protect the plants and deter rabbits. Remaining logs and other debris will be removed this month, after which further plantings will be possible.

Hawke’s Bay Regional Council Biodiversity Advisor Natalie de Burgh says, “We’re really pleased to be able to support enthusiastic groups doing great work for our environment. Their hard work over the past year is helping the ecosystems to recover and flourish.”

Engaging the wider community remains a focus, especially with Lakeview Kindergarten and Argyll East School. The students are generating seedlings for the restoration effort. In October 2023, they worked together to pot out Karamu seedlings that the kindergarten had eco-sourced from Otaia during one of their weekly visits to the Bush.

13 February 2024

Back to Latest news