SERN Spring Trip 2024: Meandering the Mataura River

Another successful field trip was attended by 35 people involved or interested in the Southland ecological restoration work going on, in this case in the lower and mid-Mataura catchment.

The day began with a visit to O’Neills Bush at Titiroa. Formal restoration of this forest began after the purchase of the lower Mataura floodplain in the early 1980’s by the Southland Regional Council. At the time they fenced off and protected the forest remnants with a QEII Open Space Covenant. This small bush block was being replanted by local schools in the early 2000’s (https://www.sern.org.nz/project-directory/oneills-bush-mataura-floodplain/) , filling in areas of grass within the fenced off QEII covenant. The goal was to give this small forest remnant better protection from the elements and reduce the opportunity for weeds to establish. At the time there was also work done on the removal of holly.

More recently there has been plantings undertaken by the ES Biodiversity team, filling in an area between the forest and the Southern Scenic Route, along with more plantings in other areas remaining around the forest edge. As well as this there is now extensive animal pest control work going on in these lower Mataura remnants by Environment Southland, ensuring the better health of flora and fauna.

There was talk of future visions and the opportunity to retire more land, acknowledging that the area is low-lying, wet and experiences flooding several times in a year. So, although lessees have managed to bring in good pastures in places, it was recognised as a difficult farming environment.

From Titiroa we travelled up the east side of the Mataura River to a recently registered QEII covenant on John Somerville’s farm. The interesting feature here was the protection of 500+ year old matai and rimu standing in pasture with a Life of the Trees covenant. QEII rep Jesse Bythell explained the value of these trees as a source of genetic variability in seed and for pollination, habitat for birds and insects (even as a partially dead tree), providing protection for the adjacent fenced off forest and as a landscape feature.

At Gore, we were addressed by Keith McRobie, Parks Manager with GDC. Since his arrival several years ago he has reinvigorated the Gore Forest Restoration project (https://www.sern.org.nz/project-directory/gore-native-forest-restoration/). This is native plantings on the old Gore landfill site, just below Hamilton Park, which was initiated by Men of the Trees members, especially Don and Margaret Lamont, 20 odd years ago. A Trust was established at the time and funding gained, with the project being overseen by Janet Gregory, Landcare Trust and Arne Clelland, Pukerau Nursery. On their moving away, little work was done here for a number of years, but more recently Keith has engaged with the schools and service groups, who have helped to plant several thousand plants into the area each year.

The final visit was to the Pukerau Nursery, where we heard from James and Maree Holloway about their belief in using eco-sourced stock. They were all too aware that a number of places sell plants brought from further afield and that these did not survive as well as plants whose seeds were collected locally. This is especially important if you are working on a restoration project, that the plants you are putting in are those species found in the Ecological District.

Our final discussion was about how nature will change things over time. The DOC managed Red Tussock Scientific Reserve just below Pukerau, is gradually becoming a flaxland in drier zones and dominated by wire rush in another area. So, what you protect and restore today may become a quite different habitat in a hundred years. However our native flora and fauna will find its balance, all the better for the work being done by those involved in these and other Southland restoration projects along the way, with planting and animal and plant pest control.

Our thanks again go to Environment Southland for their sponsorship of the bus costs.

Another day, visit the amazing Jo Ogier exhibition at the Eastern Southland Gallery and discover some of what was and potentially could be there in the future.