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MANGAWHAI'S NO.1 NEWSPAPER
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Residents involved in mangrove cleanupMore than 20 Mangawhai community members spent eight hours over two weekends recently cutting out mangroves and cleaning up debris from the Lincoln Rd reserve area where the first stage of the Mangawhai mangrove removal project is underway.
Lead by Mangawhai Harbour Restoration Society president, Trevor Downey, deputy-chairman Richard Bull and past-president Ray Welson, community members cut and pulled out hundreds of mangroves that were unable to be removed by the contractor awarded the first stage of the contract at the Lincoln Rd reserve. Debris washed up into the reserve from the recent cyclone and high tide was also taken away. Most of the mangroves removed by the community members were in waist high native grasses. The Society has been careful not to use heavy equipment in this area to avoid damage to the eco-system above the high water mark. “The Society was very pleased at the response from the community for assistance in the clean-up,” said Mr Downey. “This first stage of the removal project is critically important to prove to everyone that we can achieve excellent results from our removal methods,” he said. Mangroves cover a total of 87 hectares in the Mangawhai Harbour. On December 3 last year the Society won an Environmental Court decision to remove mangroves in the Lincoln Rd reserve, from Moir Pt Rd to Molesworth Drive, the Insley St Causeway and Black Swamp Road vicinity, and in the area known as “Mangrove Island.” Stage one, the Lincoln Rd Reserve Project, is almost complete. The Society will soon nominate team leaders to take responsibility for co-opting community members to assist in the on-going removal of the hundreds of small mangrove shoots that still remain below the high-water mark. “We have 70 volunteers on our books, all who are keen and eager to assist in this project,” said Mr Downey. Lynne Prictor from the MHRS executive is doing a sterling job of scheduling a volunteer workforce and anybody wishing to take part in this work should e-mail mhrs@ubernet.co.nz with name and contact number. The objectives of the Mangrove removal project is to maintain and enhance the harbour’s health, to reverse 60 years of marine habitat loss resulting from mangrove expansion, to restore open water areas for appropriate recreational activities, to restore and enhance tidal harbour flushing, and to enhance the foraging and breeding habitat for fairy terns, shore birds, wading birds and marine species Stage 2 of the removal project will begin in June with the letting of the contract for mangrove removal in the area immediately adjacent to the eastern side of Insley St causeway. Local firm Orang-Otang has been awarded this contract. PHOTOS/Lynne Prictor & Rob Pooley
Picture Caption: Community members hard at work with Mangrove removal and debris clean-up under the supervision of Harbour Restoration Society President Trevor Downey. Committee member Richard Bull is driving the tractor. |
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