Restoring the Forest in Suburban Upper Hutt

Forest and Bird, Issue 305, 1 August 2002, Page 36

Restoring the Forest in Suburban Upper Hutt

—SIAN ROBINSON

In the sedate northern part of the Hutt Valley, a small group of people has been making a big difference to the natural environment. Native pigeon and tui were largely unheard of in the former State housing area of Upper Hutt, until a few years ago, when the local branch of Forest and Bird got to work. Where once there were weeds, rubbish and pest-infested patches of bush, there are now two pockets of lowland podocarp forest that support a burgeoning population of native birds and plants. Situated in Trentham Memorial Park, the Domain and Barton’s Bush are examples of what can be done to restore and regenerate remnant areas of native forest, given the

willpower of the community and local council support. The adjacent patches of bush (totalling 9.4 hectares) were the only areas of original lowland native forest left in the Hutt Valley, but they had seen better days, with rats, possums, weeds and vandalism all taking their toll. The bush is dominated by tawa, but also has some large rimu, kahikatea and totara. Back in 1995 the Upper Hutt branch of Forest and Bird put together a 50-year plan for the restoration of the bush to something

resembling its former glory, and presented it to the city council. Branch chairperson Barry Wards says that at first the council was not very keen. ‘No one had ever offered them a solution. We’d gone to them saying "we are willing to put in some work, let’s see what we can do working together for the future’’ The branch’s proposal was well researched and the council was obviously impressed — they approved the plan virtually on the spot, committing $250,000 to the project over 10 years. Working with other organisations in the community has shared the workload, saved money, and allowed much more to be achieved than was expected in a relatively short time. Cost estimates for the plan had been done with the assumption that native plants would have to be bought, but instead the branch helped set up a native plant nursery at the nearby Rimutaka Prison, giving inmates new skills and the restoration project free plants. A local secondary school was also heavily involved for a few years and was able to contribute to the project while at the same time using it as a teaching resource. ‘We wanted it to be a community project. We didn’t want to do it all ourselves, says Barry. Although the branch has a membership of about 250, only a core group of 20 people have been active in co-ordinating and doing the plant restoration work. Barry says the group is already halfway through achieving the goals outlined in

their original vision, after only six years. He attributes this fast progress to council funding and a lot of hard work by volunteers, many of whom are retired. Funding allowed contractors to be used so most of the weeds and pests have already been eradicated. Problems they still have to face include a population of rabbits infesting the bush in recent years, and the dryness of the area since the nearby Hutt River no longer floods it. The group is now exploring ways they can get water back into the bush and rid it of rabbits. Even with these future challenges, the restoration project has been a huge success for the community, forest and native wildlife. The branch’s 50-year vision to restore the bush to a healthy, sustainable forest is well on the way, especially with the thriving birdlife doing its bit to bring new seeds back into the area.