Auckland's regional parks

Forest and Bird, Issue 293, 1 August 1999, Unnumbered Page

Auckland's regional

parks

by

is editor of Forest & Bird.

GORDON ELL.

GORDON ELL

With visitation figures probably twice that of our national park system, Auckland's

regional parks are a conservation treasure. Text and photographs

The expansion of the mainland gannet colony at Muriwai Regional Park was assisted by North Shore Forest and Bird, which gave money for fencing new areas. Still growing, the colony receives more than 250,000 visits from locals and tourists each year. White-fronted terns also nest on the cliffs, and seals from a colony on offshore Oaio Island are sometimes seen in the surf. Altogether, visitor statistics for Muriwai on the west coast exceed one million a year, with people also enjoying its dramatic coastal scenery, the challenging surf beaches, and public walkways. — ._ tf = me

park system which began as a place city folk to relax has expanded in 30 years to become the major conservation parkland in the north. With a physical area of more than 37,000 hectares, the Auckland regional parks include two mountain ranges and more than 100 kilometres of prime coastal land. Attached to it are marine reserves, ‘mainland islands’ of habitat restoration, 500 kilometres of tramping tracks, and special wildlife reserves. In the absence of any national park north of Tongariro, the Auckland regional parks are the major public lands available to more than a third of the country’s population. Perhaps not surprisingly, statistics show they receive nearly eight million visits a year, around twice the number of all our national parks put together. The prime driver for the initial parks system was recreation, but the habitat set aside is also vital for the survival of many native plants and wildlife, including forest and coastal species. Management of the parks increasingly takes into account these natural values, with pest eradication budgets which must be the envy of national park administrators, and wildlife habitat recovery schemes which are bringing back native populations of birds and fish. Among the outstanding wildlife projects is the strict control of rats and other pests from the Wenderholm coastal park just north of Auckland, so that native pigeon numbers have soared to flock sizes of 40 or more, and threatened bush robins have recently been

reintroduced. The Muriwai gannet colony, developed some years ago in conjunction with North Shore Forest and Bird, attracts more than 250,000 visitors a year: add visits to the nearby surf beach and this park draws more than a million people a year. Broadly speaking, the Auckland regional park service provides what it likes to call an ‘accessible countryside’ of bush, beach and farmland within a 20 to 90-minute drive from central Auckland. Several parks are serviced by regular buses. Obvious gems are the fine coastal parks, often purchased as working farms, and giving ready access to areas otherwise closed off from the populace. A string of 12 such parks extends around the eastern shores of the Hauraki Gulf from its southwest shores in the Firth of Thames to near its northern limits at the Tawharanui Peninsula facing Little Barrier Island. These parks, which are often headlands surrounded by reefs and edged with beaches, preserve the quintessential north. While picnic grounds may front the beaches, the headlands and valleys hold substantial remnants of coastal forest. The remains of Maori pa sites and settlements are often obvious, usually interpreted as part of the park, along with the pioneer homesteads and local history. On the adjacent farmland, pathways give further access to the countryside.

est ranges, west and south of Auckland. The Waitakere Ranges Regional Parkland of 16,000 hectares stretches from the northern shores of the Manukau Harbour and up the west coast for 50 kilometres or so. The ranges are rugged and still heavily forested, despite kauri milling there in the nineteenth and early twentieth century. It is the country seen in films like The Piano and the television series Hercules and Xena Warrior Princess. The coastal walks high above the seething Tasman are spectacular; some of the inland forest tracks (there are more than 200 kilometres of walking here) can be just as rugged as any back-country route, particularly after the frequent rain. This parkland includes the Waitakere Ranges Centennial Memorial Park, established by the old Auckland territorial councils in 1940 and now a regional responsibility. It also includes the watershed of a city water supply, but basically there is tramping access through the area managed by Regional Parks. There is tramping access also to the water catchments of the Hunua Ranges, south of the city. In this rugged block of around 17,500 hectares, a few endangered kokako still survive in the wild. Under a lease arrangement with Watercare, the publicly-owned water utility, these ranges have been incorporated into the park system as the Hunua Ranges Regional Parkland. At its feet are the Whakatiwai and Waharau regional parks, running down to the waters of the Firth of Thames. Many of the more developed parks are close to the southern margins of the metropolis. With Manukau statistically New Zealand’s third most-populous city, the proximity of parks and access to the countryside is vital. Many local children get their first glimpse of farm animals at Ambury Regional Park by Mangere Mountain. Further afield there are a number of farmed (and some forest) parks two largest parks, however, cover the mountainous forLeft: Pest control on the 60-hectare headland of Wenderholm Regional Park, north of Auckland, has resulted in a ‘comeback’ for nature. Working with techniques similar to those applied to ‘mainland islands’ by the Department of Conservation, regional parks staff have controlled possums and rats to the point where the North Island bush robin has been released again. (Here Shaarina Boyd of DoC threatened species staff and parks chairman Bill Burrill share in a recent release). Native pigeon numbers have also burgeoned, the superb coastal forest is recovering, and there has been an astounding increase in native insects which in turn are food for more birds.

around the shores of the Manukau Harbour. There are some oddities, too, but they recognize the nature of a regional city. Volcanic Hamlins Hill, where sheep once unsafely grazed alongside the Southdown freezing works, is now called Mutukaroa, an oasis in the industrial district of Penrose. While the hill is only a small piece of countryside, best suited to picnics, walking and jogging, its gullies are being replanted with native trees, an activity which has involved Auckland Central Forest and Bird. T™ Regional Botanic Gardens at Manurewa is another park in an urban context. Unlike those of more cohesive cities, the gardens are not so much places for civic display as an educational facility. They were begun to show Aucklanders what kinds of plants to grow in this region of difficult soil and climatic variety, and include suitable native plants. Public education in things natural is a major emphasis in managing the parks. High on the Scenic Drive which follows the bush-clad ridges of the Waitakere Range, the Arataki Environmental Centre includes the park’s field headquarters, and attracts more than 200,000 people a year. From its prizewinning interpretation buildings, visitors can overlook Auckland city and the Hauraki

Gulf one way, and the wilder waters of the Manukau Harbour on the other. The surrounding forests are particularly rich in species, for it is here that the subtropical forests of the north meet those influenced by the subantarctic climate. More than 500 different native tree and plant species have been recorded. Short interpretation walks in the forest are complemented by displays in the centre. From here, accommodation in eight outdoor centres is coordinated There are more than 300 formal school visits to regional parks each year, with children taking part in 24 ‘learning through experience’ programmes funded by the Ministry of Education. Brochures produced for each park generally describe the natural environment, its geology, nature and wildlife — including conser-

vation messages — and local history. Walking guides to each park are included, along with an outline emphasizing what visitors can do to maintain the environment. Dogs are banned in many farmed parks; rules elsewhere are strict. The absence of rubbish tins underlines a ‘take home your rubbish’ message. The park service maintains a visible presence with uniformed rangers who combine tour-guiding and interpretation with recreation, conservation and management roles. (Contractors do the ‘housekeeping: ) On the recreational side, picnic sites and camping grounds are provided in most parks. Heavily used parks, such as Long Bay on the edge of North Shore City, are often crowded with organized picnics and booking is essential to ensure a serviced site, with a barbecue and sometimes a shelter. Camping, by con-

trast, is A usually genesis of by the cold-water variety, with limited vehicle access, or backpacking required. Thus it is often possible to camp, ‘old-style; on a beachfront, with a genuine feeling of remoteness, even at the height of summer. Altogether, there are 60 countryside and remote campsites in the regional parks. uckland’s regional parks had their in an enlightened body of politicians appointed by local councils in the late 1950s to run a new regional planning authority. This group persuaded the Government to give a £1 million ($2 million) and set up a regional council which could own reserves, in 1963. Auckland local bodies gave their Centennial Memorial Park in the Waitakeres, the Crown gave management of the surf beaches at Muriwai, and work began on acquiring coastal reserves north of the city. A legal appeal against subdividing the

pohutukawa-fringed sandspit at the mouth of the Puhoi River saw the Authority negotiate its first park purchase at Wenderholm in 1965. Shortly afterward, Long Bay at the top end of the North Shore was purchased. It now vies with Muriwai as the most intensively used regional park, with a million visitors a year. It also has a marine reserve offshore, and is at the core of an extended Great Park proposal. The park builders had a major setback when the Georgetti family won a court case to get a fair price for the then-isolated Tawharanui Peninsula. Having their farm revalued for potential subdivision upped the ante for its purchase and gave other coastal landowners some idea of the potential value of their properties. Consequently, planning designations applied to a number of properties marked down for purchase were lifted and the focus of park purchasing shifted to cater for burgeoning populations south of the city. Subsequent years have seen the fortunes of the parks vary with their political masters but the system has continued to grow steadily, with five new parks, and extensions to four more, in the past six years. Regional parks now exist at 23 discrete locations. Most of the parks lack formal reserve status under the conventional conservation acts. Their role is defined under the Local Government Act: providing for the protection of regionally significant natural and cultural features, and providing recreational opportunities for regional populations. Some are also reserves under the Reserves Act, however, where the Crown has a stake, as landowner or contributor to purchase. A distrust of central government mechanisms for park protection has brought the park service to the edge of peril on occasions. In 1991, the Minister of Local Government, Warren Cooper, threatened to disband the Auckland Regional Council and give its

parks network to local councils. A ‘New Deal’ regional authority in the 1980s plotted to sell off farmland, while more recently there was controversy over the possibility of converting some of that farmland to plantation forests, with a consequent major impact on visual amenities and public open space. The regional council is currently in trouble over its desire to swap a portion of the comparatively new Whakanewha Regional Park on Waiheke Island for a wetland, to facilitate the extension of a privately operated airfield. Another concern is the possibility of local councils removing the 50 percent rates relief which applies to regional parks and doubling the current rates of $717,000. The future of the regional parks relies on their demonstrable value to the region. The system costs $16 million a year to run, (compared with $9 million a year budgeted by the local conservancy of the Department of Conservation which cares for the Hauraki Gulf islands and some 5000 more hectares on the mainland). The money comes substantially from rates but nearly $4 million of the regional park budget is recovered from income — while entry is free, there are charges for formal picnic sites and camping, licence fees from water sales, and income from farming, forestry, and the Ericsson Stadium, a major sports venue at Mount Smart. The 10-year plan for 1998-2008 includes the purchase of three more regional parks and extensions to another four. A grant from the Auckland Regional Services Trust of $10 million from the profits of former regional enterprises will help. The first $2.5 million paid for half of the latest park purchase (Scandretts near Warkworth, in April this year). Aucklanders have been asked to send in their park ‘shopping lists’ as part of planning for the future. It is more than an historical accident that there are so many regional parks and comparatively few Crown reserves about the Auckland isthmus. As the regional parks network grew, the Auckland district of the Lands and Survey Department switched its attention to Northland. For a period in the 1980s, the Crown spent its annual million dollars for parkland buying up beaches and headlands in the northern half of its ‘district, leaving regional government to look after the expanding city. Now, with the population predicted to double to two million in the next 50 years, there is concern that by then regional parks may be the only places where people can ‘get out of town’. Certainly, they need to be protected now as a public treasure and preserved with a rigour similar to national parks.