Te Ara Kākāriki – creating a corridor of green ‘dots’
Between the Waimakariri and Rakaia Rivers, spreading across the Selwyn district of Mid Canterbury, concentrations of native bush are growing in height and popularity although people are unlikely to get the chance to admire most of them.
Green ‘dots’ – areas of regenerating bush containing at least 500 plants – are sprouting across the district with the help of the charitable trust Te Ara Kākāriki, to help form a corridor of plant cover for native birds and other endemic species. The plantings are primarily on farms and other privately owned land, so while the birds will enjoy access most travellers in the district won’t.
“A green dot is just over 1000 square metres,” explains the trust’s coordinator, Letitia Lum, who helps coordinate the organisation’s strategic and planned approach to the large-scale restoration of natural habitat.
“We support Selwyn landowners to plant. We can help them with a little bit of funding, by doing restoration plans with our ecologists, and then we take volunteers out to plant,” she explains.
To date, more than 150 green dots are ‘dotting’ the mid section of the plains, helping reestablish a vegetative corridor. It seems many of our birds are shy of flying across too much open land; bush cover offers them – and other wildlife – sanctuary and food sources.
“We’re planting to replicate what would have originally been at each site: so that can be a wetland, or a dryland forest, to a beech forest closer to the Canterbury Foothills,” says Letitia.
The corridor initiative – sometimes referred to as a greenway – is underpinned by research of well respected local ecologist Colin Meurk. He and two other ecologists work for the trust and provide landowners with a lot of expertise.
“Another bit of research was that, besides the small green dot every few kilometres, every 5 kilometres you would need a hectare of planting or something larger,” explains Letitia. “Over the past couple of years we’ve been able to start some of those bigger sites.”
A hectare is equivalent to 10,000 square metres of land: a hundred times larger than the ‘average’ green dot. Two sites, a 6 hectare one in Springfield and a 3.5 hectare one at Lincoln, were created through Jobs for Nature work-ready programme that was created by central government post-COVID.
Unfortunately the undertaking of larger plantings is on hold since the cessation of the conservation employment initiative. Letitia is philosophical and remains optimistic about the long-term objectives of the trust.
“We are exceptionally proud of these larger sites, she says. “We our ups and downs and we just have to sit tight until the next opportunity comes along and be ready for it.”
Te Ara Kākāriki was established in 2005 to help rectify the sobering statistic that less than 1% of Waitaha Canterbury’s original native bush cover remains. While estimates are that it may take up to 100 years for the percentage to increase to 2%, there are encouraging signs.
“We’ve got populations of tūī higher up in the Canterbury foothills, and then you’ve got the ones on Banks Peninsula, and so the idea is that they and other birds will be able to travel throughout the plains and meet in the middle” says Letitia.
She also acknowledges the “big commitment” of participating landowners, who relinquish grazing some of their land and contribute many labour hours maintaining the plantings while they get established. Selwyn District Council also contributes funding to the project.
(Nov 2024)
Photos (L to R):
Letitia Lum, Coordinator
Planting at Te Motu Huritini in the Ahuriri Reserve, August 2024
Planting event at West Melton, September 2024
Website digital map indicating green dot plantings
