Thomsons Bush Looking Healthier
Our SERN Autumn Field Trip was to Invercargill’s significant forest remnant, Thomsons Bush. There’s been various groups working on improving the health of this area for decades now, however two years ago the Friends of Thomsons Bush group was set up, under the leadership of Judy Fotheringham, and they have taken on removing weeds from the area with a vengeance! On the day of our visit, we were shown the areas where they have worked on removal of ivy, cutting and pasting blackberry, drilling and filling willows, holly, elderberry, barberry and spindleberry. With ivy, the work is generally pulling and removing, with ICC helping to clear the material away. However on large trees, where the ivy trunk can be up to 3cms thick, they cut and paste with glyphosate gel. You can see 300 year old kahikatea with ivy climbing up into the canopy, a constant source of seed and reinvasion, now dead from the FoTB teams work. As well as this all too important weed control, the group are also replanting the cleared areas, to ensure it’s natives that come back, rather than more weeds. It is a battle, but they are winning! The ongoing animal pest control done by a contractor and organised by ICC is ensuring the ongoing health of the seedlings that are coming back naturally and also the plantings being done. Friends of Thomsons Bush have a Management Agreement with ICC and are very appreciative of the help they recieve from them. They have also had funding assistance to buy tools and chemical from the Ron Greenwood Fund and Environment Southland’s Environmental Enhancement Fund, for which they are grateful. The FoTB have a regular Wednesday morning working bee. If you’re interested in getting involved, check this project out here for contact details.
Posted on: Tuesday, 14 April 2026
