ROTARIANS HELP WITH PLANTING DAY AT WAIRIO WETLAND

Rotary volunteers Tamara Allerhand and Jim Law at the Wairio Planting .

The Wairio wetland is on the east side of Wairarapa Moana near the Boggy Pond. For the last 15 years a major restoration project has been underway spearheaded by Rotarian Jim Law and Ross Cottle of Ducks Unlimited (DUNZ). The project was divided into four stages and the first three are complete, with work now being done on stage four. The Rotary Club of South Wairarapa has given nearly $20,000 to this project over the years as well as providing volunteers.

In mid July Ducks Unlimited organised a planting day at Wairio. The planting area had been well prepared, after grazing cattle to knock down the tall fescue grass.  The preparation included spot spraying, subsequent grubbing of remnant tall fescue from planting spots and some auger drilling of selected spots for 100 larger Kahikatea – all done by a great crew from Better Nature. Nursery plants, mainly manuka with some coprosma and other natives were also planted. The vision is that this northern area will one day be a magnificent kahikatea forest.

There were at least twenty volunteer planters, including members of the South Wairarapa Rotary Club, masters students from Victoria University of Wellington with Associate Professor Stephen Hartley, DOC staff and members of the  general public and Ducks Unlimited, all supported by the Better Nature team. From the point of view of a planter, the pre-drilled holes for the larger trees were an enormous help.   About 850 trees were planted in two hours

Coffee and hot sausages were provided by Ross Cottle (DUNZ President) in his mobile café, ably supported by Jim Campbell (DUNZ Patron).

The Wairio wetland is part of the largest wetland complex in the southern North Island, supporting native plants and animals of national and international importance. It has been recognised as a wetland of international importance under the Ramsar Wetland Convention. Initially DOC were cautious, but the method used for the restoration has become a template for other restoration projects in New Zealand.

Tamara Allerhand