Mangrove removal sees birds return

 

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Less than a year after Environment Court approval to remove 17.4 hectares of mangroves, two important areas have been cleared thanks to the work of the Mangawhai Harbour Restoration Society, its contractors and volunteers.

To comply with the Environment Court decision, work has now stopped on mangrove removal until March 1, 2015.

The areas cleared are the Lincoln St Reserve, and from Moir Pt. Road to Molesworth Drive.

Society president Trevor Downey praised the work of volunteers, and in particular the work of golfers from the Mangawhai Golf Club.

“We have seen a total of about 60 volunteers give their time and energy over a five month period which is particularly pleasing, “he said.

Although the are-as cleared to date have been relatively small, Mr Downey said it gave the Society valuable experi-ence before it tackled the

large areas to be cleared under the Resource Consent; the Insley St causeway and Black Swamp vicinity; Mangrove Island; and the area adjacent to the eastern side of the Insley St causeway.

Over the coming months the Society will assess the requirements for removal of the mangroves fromthe larger areas.

“To date we have used two local contractors, but now we need to think through how we are go-ing to continue, recognising we face some are-as that are only accessible from the water,” he said.

Convener of the Society’s Mangrove committee, Colin Bennett, said volunteers had done a “superb job” to date. Mr

Bennett led the Society’s 10 year effort to obtain approval for Mangawhai mangrove removal.

“Unfortunately we’ve done the relatively easy stuff, and it’s all quite difficult from now on,” he said.

To date the Society has spent about $25,000 on mangrove removal in the two areas, he said.

Society committee member and trustee of the Fairy Tern Society, Graeme Smith, said there was evidence at the Lincoln St Reserve that wading birds were re-turning to the shoreline following the mangrove removal.

“Herons and spoon-bills have been seen in the areas cleared, “he said.

He said that at the Insley St cleared area, there was now far more room for wading birds and he expected godwits to return as there was more space for feeding.

Mr Smith pointed to Keith Woodley’s book Godwits- Long Haul Champions.

Mr Woodley, who is manager of the Miranda Shorebird Centre, writes on page 217 of his book:

“Mangrove accretion is known to have reduced high-tide roosting options for birds at a number of New Zealand sites. It is also suspected to have reduced the net area of intertidal foraging available at some sites.”

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