News • Southland Ecological Restoration Network

Garston and Hedgehope Schools Lead the Way

Environment Southland judges for the School’s Section of this year’s Environment Awards were most impressed by the great effort of Garston School with the 1,500 hours put in to restoring the roadside bank beneath the school in natives. Garston shared first prize in the School’s Section with Hedgehope School, who have had a busy year working with the community in a Treemendous Makeover of a waste area of their school grounds, planting it out in natives. They have also become involved in restoration plantings at the Turnbull Sherwood Forest.

Posted on: Saturday, 4 July 2009

Kakapos Rock!

This Saturday, 26th May, Southlanders again have a chance to get up close with those very special birds, the kakapo. Celebrating a very successful breeding season, some of the kakapo chicks that have been hand reared in Invercargill for the last couple of months, will be on display at the Working Mans Club from 10.00am to 4.00pm. Congratulations must go to a very dedicated kakapo team that have managed to handraise 26 of the chicks. Another 7 chicks have been left with the mothers on Codfish Island, still requiring a lot of input from the kakapo team. The National Kakapo Team was started in 1995 when there was only 51 birds left, most of them being males. This year’s ‘boomer’ breeding season brings the population of kakapo to 124.

Posted on: Wednesday, 20 May 2009

Robins back on Pomona Island

The hard work of the Pomona Island Trust volunteers eradicating predators off the Manapouri island over the last few years has come to fruition with the recent release of the South Island robin into the area. This achievement recognises the major effort of the trustees, along with the 160 plus people that they have encouraged to put in over 3,300 volunteer hours. This robin release is the beginning of the reintroduction of bird species now gone from the island, with the release of yellowhead, saddleback and then kiwi planned over the next few years, along with the ongoing pest control work. Check out the Pomona Island restoration under Projects.

Posted on: Wednesday, 20 May 2009

Pateke back in Fiordland after 15 Years

Pateke (Brown teal), one of the world’s rarest ducks, has just been reintroduced back into the Arthur River, having last been recorded in Fiordland 15 years ago. A survey by DoC several years ago showed that there were no naturally occurring populations remaining. The pateke captive breeding program is a joint DoC/Ducks Unlimited project and for the last few years the focus has been to release the ducks back into areas where animal pest control is going on for other species. Prior to this, the releases into the wild have all been in the North Island, so it is exciting to have them now back into the wild on the mainland! Thanks to Banrock Station Wines, who have been sponsoring the pateke releases for a number of years, twenty pateke were let go in a quiet back water of the Arthur River

Posted on: Monday, 23 March 2009

Improved Habitat on Mararoa River

At the Landcare Networking Day at The Key last Saturday, the gathering of groups heard about the influx of nesting black billed gulls and terns just below the bridge as a result of the willow clearance project that has been undertaken over the last couple of years. Fish habitat is expected to improve as the river reforms the natural meanders, after having been constricted into channels by the previous willow domination.

Posted on: Monday, 9 March 2009

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