Branch Issues

These are some of the issues at the South Auckland branch.

Olive Davis Restoration

Forest & Bird’s Hansel and Gretal house on South Auckland’s eight-hectare Olive Davis Reserve is under a $200,000 renovation which is due to be complete in June.

Over the years, the South Auckland Forest & Bird branch members have worked to give the house a proper storybook setting: a forest of puriri, totara and nikau palms. The reserve is well pest managed as it has had continual replanting over the years. There are plans of looking into setting up a nursery at some point for growing specific plants, for both the Olive Davis reserve and other areas the branch cares for. This is in aim with the South Auckland branch plans to further regenerate forest life within their area.

Plans of future proofing for security are being organised with the involvement of an environmental planner, as the area surrounding the reserve is likely to become almost fully residential on all sides. This could mean all the restoration done on the cottage could be undone very easily if vandalized. Rare plants, fish and invertebrate species have already been stolen in the past.

What the house will be used for is still undecided, but it could become an education centre, or a place to propagate ferns.

The renovation was funded by the Manukau City Council, Perry Foundation, Lotteries Environment and Heritage, Stout Trust and The Southern Trust

Ngaheretuku Reserve Cleanup 

Ngaheretuku means “bush gift” or “a gift of native bush”, a name which recognises the gift of the 15 hectare piece of land by Hugh Alexander.

The branch has had to organise a massive clean up of the Ngaheretuku reserve in Clevedon. This reserve is set on a steep tract of land that contains significant strands of secondary growth, such as kauri, kahikatea, totara, rimu, taraire, puriri and tanekaha. The reserve also has one of the largest kahikatea in the Auckland region.

Unfortunately the reserve has become a ‘dumping ground’ for rubbish including old fridges, televisions and furniture.

This is very harmful to the wildlife that are commonly found in the reserve, such as tui, kereru, North Island fantail, silvereye and grey warbler.

The branch recently organised a major clean up of the reserve, involving many staff and volunteers, to get the reserve back into its natural state.