Whio Release

Students from Orautoha School had an experience of a lifetime recently and two of the students, Neihana Hall (11 yrs) and Quintin Rapana (12 yrs) played a special part in releasing four whio (blue duck) into the Manganui o te Ao River on Monday.

The whio were released near Ruatiti Domain (Raetihi) after spending most of there young life in the South Island where the eggs were hatched as part of a captive breeding programme at Orana Wildlife Park in Christchurch and then reared at Peacock Springs Wildlife Park, also in Christchurch.

They arrived in the North Island on the 23rd April and spent their first week in Palmerton North Esplanade under the watchful eye of Peter Russell the Esplanade Avery keeper. On Monday 30th April local kaumatua Hokio Ngataierua-Tinirau blessed the birds near Ruatiti Domain along with iwi representatives, Orautoha school kids, DOC staff, Esplanade staff and a few locals. The students and staff gently released the four whio into the crystal clear waters of the Manganui o te Ao, now there permanent home.

The Manganui o te Ao is one of eight critical recovery sites for whio in New Zealand. Conservation of these populations is imperative if the whio is to be saved from extinction. DOC, Iwi, Horizons Regional Council and Central North Island Blue Duck Charitable Trust and local landowners are key partners under a project called Kia Wharite. Local landowners have continued to support the programme with access to their land and protection of bush blocks and river margins, and local schools Orautoha & Kaitieke each manage stoat traps near the school and support whio habitat by increasing riparian planting along their streams and being actively involved in wetland restoration.

The whio is a unique threatened species of waterfowl endemic to New Zealand and has no close relative anywhere else in the world. Around 50 pairs of whio are protected from stoats and cats along the Manganui o te Ao and Retaruke Rivers as part of Kia Wharite.

Photo From left; Belinda Phillips, Ellen Beattie, Quintin Rapana, Neihana Hall

Restoring the balance

Many of us take for granted the unique landscape and wildlife that characterises New Zealand. But organsations like DOC and Horizons Regional Council know first hand the challenges involved in maintaining the balance needed for our unique flora and fauna to flourish.

DOC, together with Horizons Regional Council, Whanganui iwi and private landowners, has been working in the remote forests around Whanganui National Park to manage biodiversity on a scale not previously attempted in New Zealand.

The Kia Wharite project, as it’s known to DOC and Horizons, spans over 180,000 hectares and includes a mixture of private land and parts of the Whanganui National Park, the second largest lowland forest in the North Island. This remote area is home to the largest population of North Island brown kiwi and plays host to a number of native bird and plant species.

The introduction of possums, goats and other predators has threatened the health of the forest and put the long-term future of its inhabitants in jeopardy. Recognising the importance of this area, Kia Wharite was established in 2008 to improve land, water and biodiversity health, and enhance community and economic well-being. The largest project of its kind in New Zealand in terms of scale and scope, it has already achieved national species protection targets.

“DOC, Horizons and AHB are undertaking extensive possum control operations, with over 150,000 hectares now being managed for possums. As a result the canopy is improving which is good news for the birds and plants we want to encourage,” says Craig Mitchell, Horizons’ group manager environmental management .

“There’s also been a lot of stoat and cat control carried out and we now have approximately 50 pairs of whio [native blue duck] within protected areas of the Manganui o te Ao and Retaruke Rivers.”

Department of Conservation area manager Dr Nic Peet says that although it’s early days the signs are looking promising for the kiwi population as well.

“We have just completed baseline monitoring of the kiwi population which will allow us to monitor changes in the population over the next three years but the number of reports of kiwi calling we are receiving from people in the area is very encouraging,” says Dr Peet.

Dr Peet said that kiwi aversion training has also been completed with over 200 dogs in the area to reduce kiwi kills by dogs and such training will become a requirement for any hunters using dogs in the area.

It’s not just the environment that’s benefiting from the project though. Horizons and DOC believe there are positive economic returns to be had from the project as well.

Horizons, DOC, the Ministry of Economic Development, Te Puni Kokiri and the Hinengakau Development Trust have supported the establishment of a training and business development unit, Te Amo Taiao which has seen 10 trainees develop their skills in pest control and biodiversity management.

Through the Kia Wharite project Te Amo Taiao has been able to establish itself as a stand alone business unit with 10 staff, allowing the employment of local people to carry out fieldwork alongside DOC and Horizons staff.

Mr Mitchell said that the improvements in the areas are also proving to be a draw card for visitors to the area through the Mountains to Sea Cycle Trail and Te Araroa Walkway.

“Healthy native forest and the chance to see blue duck or listen to kiwi are attracting tourists to the area which in turn helps provide economic return to the wider area.”

Chair of Horizons Environment Committee Jill White said she is pleased with the progress made to date. Cr White will be part of a delegation visiting the area later this month.

“I’m looking forward to seeing the achievements of Kia Wharite and what can be accomplished when organisations join forces and work collaboratively,” said Cr White.

Noisy birds in Kia Wharite project area

Contractors working in the Kia Wharite project area have been coming back with reports of increased bird numbers in recent years.

Independent contractor Jason Hart, manager of Back Country Contractors spends a lot of time in Whanganui National Park and surrounding reserves. Jason and his team have recently completed over 2000 hrs of goat hunting work in the northern part of the project area so have a good idea of the goings on in the back country.

Camping in pairs with tents they are flown into some of the most remote and rugged back country areas in NZ where they set up camp and base themselves for 10-12 days at a time.

“The work conditions can be extreme but the upside is you get to go into some very remote places and enjoy the great outdoors” says Jason.

Jason and his team have noticed an increase in birdlife throughout the Kia Wharite area. “We work all over New Zealand and feel that the bird life in here is better than or as good as anywhere else in New Zealand, it has really picked up in the time we have been completing our contract work and is similar to that of places like Pureora Forest Park which has been under pest control for many years showing the positive benefits of sustained pest management”

Other contractors are finding a different environment than that which they started working in many years ago. “The campsites are alive with kiwi screeching all night long, they’re keeping us up and that has never happened before” says Woody Reed, goat hunter.

This is great news for the future of Kia Wharite and these are just some of the positive results that the project is delivering.