Restoration Projects in the Hutt Valley
Lower Hutt F&B removes weeds and grows eco-sourced plants and revegetates selected public areas. Members of the public are welcomed to take part in these restoration projects.
Work that can be done in Korokoro Valley
Korokoro Valley
Work Nursery work, planting and weeding are the main activities in
Korokoro.
Contacts: All work is run by Karen Baker kj-baker@live.com and Kate
Malcolm kate.malcolm@actrix.co.nz. You are advised to contact them to
see what they have planned.
Work group: When a work party is arranged, Russell Bell will send an
email to the Korokoro email group that he maintains. To become part of
this email list contact Russell
When: Activities, especially weeding can be done by anybody at any time - It can be
arranged informally - but greater progress will be made if you are aware of the areas that will benefit greatly from weeding and where some work has already been done so contact Karen, Kate or Russell and they will walk through the area with you.
Access: Access is very convenient. The work is concentrated in the lower part of the stream and is accessible from car-parks at the end of Cornish Street, Petone.
Other activities: The walk up the Korokoro Stream is very enjoyable and there are plenty of areas in the lower valley to enjoy a picnic etc. The area is family friendly.
For fish passage restoration of Korokoro Stream, see below.
Work that can be done in Waiu Wetland Reserve
Waiu Wetland
Work: Killing exotic trees and other plants, weeding, planting and restoring the hydrology are the main activities in Waiu. Killing exotic trees Willows, hawthorns and hollies need to be poisoned. Otherwise willows will grow from slips and all will re-grow from the stump. Russell will help get you set up to do this. Killing other weeds Other weeds are himalayan honeysuckle, japanese honeysuckle, blackberry, wattle, gorse, cherry, etc. These require cutting down or grubbing out.
Weeding: Some areas have been planted and may need plants released.
Planting: Some planting will take place in Waiu and the Waiu email list will be advised and all of LH F&B will also be advised by newsletter. These areas are mainly close to the road end. There are specific areas that could be made ready to plant if you had a group who wanted to do that. Russell would help you organise it.
Restoring Waiu’s hydrology
The lower reaches of Waiu have been comprehensively drained. The stream has had its water diverted down drains and no longer flows in its natural stream bed. Thus the amount of surface water is much less - the drains are much narrower than the stream bed and the water table is much lower than formerly - the drains are very deep, in some cases over 2 meters. Restoring the hydrology of Waiu required careful study and consideration before taking action. This is not an activity that lots of people can get involved in but if someone has expertise in hydrology, this could be very helpful. Because the drains are deep and narrow and the old river courses are dry, dry-land plants have grown around them. They will probably have to be removed, or will die when ground water levels return to normal and wetland plants established. As you can see this is a fairly challenging project.
Contacts: All work is run by Russell Bell rbell@slingshot.co.nz and you are advised to contact him to see what he has planned. Work group When a work party is arranged, Russell Bell will send an email to the Waiu email group that he maintains. To become part of this email list contact Russell rbell@slingshot.co.nz.
Work: Killing exotic trees and other plants, weeding, planting and restoring
the hydrology are the main activities in Waiu. Killing exotic trees Willows, hawthorns and hollies need to be poisoned. Otherwise willows will grow from slips and all will re-grow from the stump. Russell will help get you set up to do this.
Killing other weeds: Other weeds are himalayan honeysuckle, japanese honeysuckle,
blackberry, wattle, gorse, cherry, etc. These require cutting down or grubbing
out.
When: Activities such as killing exotic trees and weeding can be done by anybody at any time - It can be arranged informally - however we wish to target one area at a time so we can monitor progress so contact Russell and he will walk through the area with you.
Access: is from the end of Waiu Street in Wainuiomata. There is a car-park and a large open grassed area before the wetland.
Other activities: There is a circular walk around the wetland on a well established track. There are many mountain bike trails and there is a very large grassed area for picnics, playing etc. The area is family friendly.
Restoration History and Future
Matiu/Somes Island and Pauatahanui Wildlife Reserve
Mohaka Wetland
Lower Hutt Forest and Bird has been involved in Matiu/Somes Island and Pauatahanui
wildlife reserve (See “associated projects”) for many years. These have taken the
branches resources. The branch now wants to establish new projects because the
leadership of the above projects has moved to others and the restoration work that saved them from an alternative future (possibly development) has been completed.
Deciding on New Restoration Projects Potential Areas where Forest and Bird projects that were considered were Waiu Wetlands, Mohaka Wetlands, Korokoro Valley, Speedy Stream, Dry Creek and Baring Head. In addition, Forest and Bird volunteers could assist DoC in the restoration of estuaries in our area, (a DoC report has been published). Waiu Wetland and Korokoro Stream have been chosen.
Waiu Wetland
Waiu wetland was one project decided on because although it is not the highest quality wetland in our patch, it is the wetland that requires restoring more than others.
This is Lower Hutt Forest and Bird’s largest current project. The wetland is in Wainuiomata tucked under the Wainui Hill road. It is 7 hectares in size. The wetland area comprises a number of wetlands connected together by streams. Each is different and each requires different restoration activities, from restoring the hydrology, removal of weeds, growing and planting eco-sourced plants mainly flaxes, manuka, narrow leaved mahoe, and native grasses.
Korokoro Stream
Korokoro Stream, our other restoration project was selected because it is our highest
quality stream.
Potential Future Restoration Projects
Mohaka Wetland
Mohaka wetland is almost a sister to Waiu in an adjacent valley. It is in far better condition that Waiu but will need to be monitored for weeds and weeded from time to time. Apart from that there is little to do because the wetland is in such a good
condition.
Korokoro Valley
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Korokoro Valley
Korokoro Valley contains our best stream. Most of its headwaters of the Korokoro Stream are in public ownership in the Belmont Regional Park. They are vegetated in native and will increasingly become so. The stream’s waters are clear. Native bush
and grasses are once again overhanging the water keeping it cool and making it a good stream for native fish. Fish passage restoration has been discussed with the Korokoro Environmental Group KEG and Greater Wellington. Draping mussel
spat ropes across the dam was considered, but experts have advised that this will not restore fish passage for the fishes we want over the dam. Currently, aluminum fish ladders are being considered. It is hoped that an workable solution can be
implemented before whitebait return in September. There are also revegetation projects that are underway and the floor of the valley has other areas ripe for
revegetation.
Speedy Stream and Baring Head Estuaries
A report has been written about the estuaries in the Wellington Region. it describes theestuaries and what should occur there to improve their ecological value. We would hope to contribute to their restoration when it occurs.
Speedy Stream
is a very high quality bush environment. It could become a mainland island. It is very accessible to the populations and schools in the Hutt. We don’t have the capacity to take on such a project but would collaborate with anyone who could.
Baring Head
Baring Head
Baring Head would have become a project except that it is so big and complex and there are many different views about its future. We are committed to having all of it restored to its highest ecological potential but that will involve difficult choices
involving transitions that may take many years. We believe that the best course of action is to participate in the development of a management plan for the area. this will be drawn up over the next few months by Greater Wellington.
