Getting to grips with Old Man's Beard

Forest and Bird, Volume 21, Issue 1, 1 February 1990, Page 36

Getting to grips with

Old Man's Beard

by

Earle Norriss

Kim: "Oh! These poor trees! I want to get them saved!" Richard: "When | was little, | never thought about it, but now it’s so bad, I think we might have to kill everything and start again." Abie: "At first I felt overwhelmed, but when I saw what others can do, I thought, why can’t we?" Chris: "I think it’s a good idea for us to get in there; we should continually plant more trees." Bridget: "It made me feel good getting in there. | am prepared to go up and clear in my own time." Aaron: "It’s good for us to get out and work. I think it is good fun."

W Bicee COMMENTS are from primary and intermediate children I talked to during their involvement in the Marsden Valley Project. Marsden Valley is in the hills behind Stoke, a suburb of Nelson City, and within a few kilometres of five primary schools: Stoke, Enner Glynn, Nayland Primary, Birchwood, Tahunanui; and two intermediate schools: Broadgreen and Waimea Intermediate. The idea of an educational, environmental project in this area came from a class visit to the upper valley to explore a coastal forest remnant. The children were shocked at the tangled mess of old man’s beard (Clematis vitalba) and of banana passionfruit spread over dead trees. Many were keen to do

something about the problem. All seven schools — supplying 650 children — agreed to become involved. Because of the size of the task it was decided the project should be a community one, including parents, children, Forest and Bird members, the Department of Conservation, and local authorities. A representative committee has been set up to oversee the project, which is to run for four years. The main objectives are to control problem plants in the area, and to begin restoring the reserve land to its original condition. The project, now in its second year, has generated lots of enthusiasm and local support. Everyone involved has been delighted with the practical conservation results

achieved to date. To begin with, class groups explored the area. Four main problem plants were identified: old man’s beard, banana passionfruit, blackberry and gorse. Many other weeds were present, but it was decided to focus on the four common ones. The children discovered the fun of finding, collecting, sorting and identifying plants — a very necessary activity as many were totally unfamiliar with plant recognition. Initially, one group of 13-year-olds confused blackberry with black nightshade and a group of parents confused old man’s beard with

kawakawa! The samples of the four problem plants were put in bags supplied and appropriately labelled by the Conservation Department and taken back to school where they were reidentified, studied and then destroyed. All groups decided that old man’s beard was the worst problem plant in the area, with banana passionfruit second. One 11-year-old commented: "I don't like putting banana passionfruit second, because | like eating passionfruit, but I can see I will have to, because it smothers the trees like old man’s beard." _ Another activity was to measure the annual growth rate of an old man’s beard vine. After some practical mathematics, children found

that vines in the Marsden Valley were growing an average of about 90 cm a month during the growing season. Classes of children then climbed into the head of the valley to inspect the fringe of infestation. Here a coastal remnant forest is regenerating and slowly spreading. Children were able to observe that gorse, which had covered the slope after early burning, was being choked out by colonising natives such as manuka, kanuka, mahoe and matipo. The children decided that these would be the appropriate trees to plant in areas cleared of problem plants, as this was the natural and most effective way to encourage the restoration of the original native forest. Some classes wrote to the Conservation

Department with suggestions on the best ways to solve the problem, and these ideas are being acted on. Martin Conway, the local Queen Elizabeth II Trust representative, is propagating colonis ing natives; Eric Eden, in charge of the noxious plant unit attached to the Tasman District Council, has arranged for clearing and spraying of a badly infested area in the reserve, and schools have been given manageable strips in this reserve to clear, plant and look after. The Nelson City Council (which now owns the reserve) and the Conservation Department, have provided sufficient equipment to enable all children and adults in a group to be actively involved. All 650 children will plant at

least one or two colonizing native trees each on cleared ground this year. Each school strip is to be labelled, as are individual plants with type and planter’s name. All classes returned to the area in November to clear away unwanted regrowth. This year the strips will be extended. A working day for adults was organised by the Nelson branch of Forest and Bird in April, and they tackled the problem plants in the head of the valley. It was encouraging to see about 50 people, aged 14 to 80 plus, making good progress in helping to save a diverse coastal forest remnant. Another further successful work day was needed in November. Through these efforts, Marsden Valley can regain its original charm. Children have

observed mature pukatea, matai, titoki and many other coastal natives; they have also observed seedlings on the forest floor, which, given a chance, will grow to maturity. Marsden Valley is thought to have the most southern stand of pukatea in New Zealand. Perhaps past attempts to control old man’s beard have failed because they tended to be "one-off’ attempts at solving the problem. It is the view of those involved in the Marsden Valley Project that with a co-ordinated community effort over a period of time the problem in this area can be controlled. #&

Earle Norriss is a district adviser with the Department of Education in Nelson. He has been an active Forest & Bird member for many years, having played a large part in the founding of the Ashburton and the Waitaki branches.