Restoring Takarunga Hauraki and the Pupuke Birdsong Project are leading the way in ecological care and restoration of the Devonport-Takapuna areas of the North Shore. Supported by the Devonport Takapuna Local Board, Auckland Council and other funders, as well as by numerous volunteers, the two organisations work to eliminate plant and animal pests in the area, and to restore the ecology of the area.
Restoring Takarunga Hauraki (RTH) was formed in 2018, building on efforts by the Devonport Environmental Network and a Forest and Bird initiative to protect the shorebirds of Ngātaringa Bay, says its programme coordinator Lance Cablk. “Our programme aims to be strongly bicultural – our network of volunteers and professional includes mana whenua and three local marae, other iwi and whanau, and we all aim to learn from tikanga and mātauranga Māori [Māori procedure/custom and knowledge]. We have pest plant and pest animal control and eradication strategies and teams of volunteers working in reserves. We also promote backyard biodiversity by promoting backyard rat trapping, weed removal, and planting trees, and we promote and support eco-literacy and outdoor learning at our nine local schools and two public kindergartens.”
Channel Magazine met with Lance and Gordon Brodie, chair of the RTH steering group, at one of the organisation’s most recent initiatives. They were hard at work on the Takararo Native Plant nursery, which will augment the already thriving native plant nursery at the Devonport Community gardens in Mt Cambria. Three weeks ago this was overgrown with noxious weeds and trees, unrecognisable as either the heritage coal bunker it is, or the plant nursery it is to become. It is now ready to welcome volunteers to plant (and tend) locally collected seeds for eventual planting in local reserves.
By adding such projects, Restoring Takarunga Hauraki has grown substantially. Its 2021 work plan portrays a maze of activities and interlocking relationships with other local organisations. The four work streams encompass overlapping teams that work towards pest-free Devonport and Bayswater peninsulas, an ecology bike trail and a Fort Takapuna memorial forest, a weed hit squad, a zero stoat team, a possum defence team, biodiversity monitoring teams, water quality teams, a green neighbourhood collaboration, and a climate action group, among many others. In all these activities, Restoring Takarunga Hauraki (RTH) is umbrellaed and supported administratively by Devonport Peninsula Trust and works alongside the Tūpuna Maunga Authority, the Kaipatiki Project, Devonport Recycling Centre and Zero Waste Belmont, various parts of Auckland Council’s biodiversity, environmental education, pest-free and parks teams, local schools, and Depot Artspace as well as other regional partners. It’s little wonder that Lance has recently used a coach to help “integrate and streamline my programme coordination and management roles” and is starting to use on online planning and task-management process.
The Pupuke Birdsong Project (originally named the North Shore Birdsong Project but renamed to better reflect the area it covers) is a more recent initiative. Run on a part-time basis by environmental coordinator Fiona Martin, it developed out of a July 2019 pest eradication and environmental restoration plan for Takapuna North, which was completed by representatives from local volunteer groups alongside Takapuna North Community Trust and Auckland Council representatives. The project’s main aim is to coordinate a local pest-free and restoration plan in line with the goals of Pest Free Auckland 2050. Like Restoring Takarunga Hauraki, it is supported by the Devonport-Takapuna Local Board, as well as by Auckland Council. At present, its main activities are encouraging households to use pest eradication techniques such as traps on their property, providing advice on the eradication of invasive plants and facilitating a quarterly Takapuna North Environmental Network Meeting, an informal gathering with attendees discussing and sharing issues and ideas around environmental protection and pest free programmes. Pupuke Birdsong has traps available to householders free of charge to assist with the efforts of individuals and communities to eradicate rats. Fiona notes that to have any significant effect, at least one in five householders need to be actively trapping, with that number increased to one in three houses around bush reserves.
In the immediate future, Fiona says it is likely that Pupuke Birdsong will focus on “growing our trapping and pest plant initiatives in the form of halos around reserves first, then rippling out into the community. We need to find new and adventurous ways to get more native trees planted in the community, and find ways to educate residents about restoration opportunities in their backyards.
“Our first pilot attempt at contacting neighbours around the Patuone reserve has been really encouraging so we would like to do more letterbox drops and possibly door knocking too, which has been really successful in other areas. I'm also looking forward to incorporating more water-related education initiatives to allow us to approach environmental restoration more holistically. I'm hopeful about the project receiving more resources for teammates to facilitate and support our growing army of amazing volunteers.”
It is from such seemingly small beginnings, and the leadership of environmental enthusiasts like Lance and Fiona, that substantial gains can be made. Just as important is the work of volunteers. “Restoring Takarunga Hauraki’s network of volunteer leaders and key partners are building momentum with our programme and current projects,” reports Lance. “We have hundreds of volunteers of all ages and levels of commitment to working in the field. They have contributed thousands of volunteer hours and we have numerous well-established teams, growing momentum, enthusiasm and community support.”
Both Lance and Fiona are passionate about the programmes they lead.
“It’s a hearts and minds project,” says Lance. “I love interacting with people, and I get a lot of joy out of people’s eyes lighting up…. We work, hang out, sing songs, learn about te reo; it’s the whole journey, connecting with people and community building. You see the results, and the support of Gordon [Brodie, chair of the RTH steering group – see sidebar] and others keeps you coming back.”
Fiona likewise is inspired by “the army of passionate volunteers that seems to grow at an increasingly rapid rate which is becoming really hard to keep up with! I'm really excited about reports of the bellbird, kaka and other natives coming back to our area and I'm keen for this area to be safe for them and that there is a chance that our children can still grow up in a world where our rarer species still exist”.
She notes that Pupuke Birdsong has in just two years grown to 15 restoration teams across the area, and is starting a ‘Love Lake Pupuke’ working group and collaborating with RTH on a shorebird working group project.
Both programmes welcome (and need) volunteers, but equally important are actions individuals and households can take in their own backyards. Pupuke Birdsong suggests that in addition or joining or starting a local group, you can become an environmental champion in your street, involve your business or local school, or simply access traps, weeding or monitoring tools or herbicides for your own garden.
Lance Cablk reiterates that people can start in their own backyards. Pets, especially cats, are a threat to native birds. He urges “responsible cat ownership”, including keeping cats indoors at night. “Plant natives,” he adds. “It’s important for our native birds. Come to events and workshops and learn more. And support young climate activists.”
What has been achieved so far is impressive: rat numbers are down, and groups are making noticeable differences to reserve areas across Devonport, Hauraki and Takapuna. But as Gordon Brodie says, environmental work must be sustained – rats swim and there will be incursions of pests into areas thought to be pest-free unless we all continue to play our part.
Restoring Takarunga Hauraki
Facebook: Restoring Takarunga Hauraki https://www.facebook.com/restoringtakarungahauraki/
Website www.devonportpeninsulatrust.nz/ecological-restoration
Email: pestfreedevonport@gmail.com
Pupuke Birdsong
Website: www.pupukebirdsong.org.nz
Email: enviro@takapunatrust.org.nz
Side bar:
The project leaders
Fiona Martin has a post grad qualification in Natural Resource Management and a Bachelor of Business Studies (Agribusiness) and has worked in environmental management and resource consent roles in New South Wales, at Horizons, Greater Wellington and Auckland Regional Councils. Appointed as the project began in 2019, Fiona was inspired to join Pupuke Birdsong by an innate love of native wildlife and visits to the Zealandia wildlife sanctuary in Wellington and later the Brook-Waimamara Sanctuary, the South Island's largest predator-free reserve, “where you could really see the results that the predator eradication was having”. That trip “really triggered a passion in me and inspired me to look for a community-based role in environmental protection myself…. It worries me when birds and wildlife come second to human progress and development so I am always looking for ways to help wildlife co-exist together safely. Forty-one of NZ endemic forest birds are extinct already, I want to be part of stopping that trend.
Lance Cablk grew up in the middle of a national forest in northern Michigan, and has lived in Devonport for 15 years. As a student he studied biology and then completed a post-graduate programme in Landscape Ecology and Conservation. He worked for Greenpeace and campaigned as a volunteer with the Rainforest Action Network, and followed this up with field studies in the Sierra Nevada mountains of California and rainforests of Costa Rica. Working with a steering group, Lance has built the RTH programme and the coordinator role and funding, and recently added tikanga Māori coordinator and pest animal field coordinator roles. He anticipates that the coordinator role will be full time “sometime this year, with increased support from the Local Board”.
