Community Newsletter
September 2014
Contents
Community feedback guides Strategy refresh
Community feedback guides
Strategy refresh
Over a hundred people from Ōhiwa Harbour iwi, stakeholder groups and
the community attended recent workshops to highlight what they value,
raise concerns and identify what should be done.
Shade, seating and signage
planned
Native fish given ‘helping
hand’
The feedback is an important part of the Ōhiwa Harbour Strategy review,
which is now almost complete. The review will establish a clear vision and
action plan, for the partner agencies, for the next five years.
Department of Conservation
update
Onekawa Te Mawhai news
Park management - your
thoughts
Ecological monitoring
continues
Upcoming events
This newsletter is brought to you
by the Ōhiwa Harbour Strategy
Coordination Group (OHSCG),
which is a partnership between
Bay of Plenty Regional Council,
Whakatāne and Ōpōtiki District
Councils, Department of
Conservation, Upokorehe,
Whakatōhea, Tūhoe (Waimana
Kaaku) and Ngāti Awa.
This group is responsible for
implementing actions from the
Ōhiwa Harbour Strategy (OHS)
and keeping the community
informed.
Add your voice
Your feedback is welcomed. If
you would like to share your
stories or find out more about
any of the projects in this
newsletter, please contact the
coordinator of the Ōhiwa Harbour
Strategy implementation, Tim
Senior, at the Bay of Plenty
Regional Council. Email
tim.senior@boprc.govt.nz or
phone 0800 884 880.
Community input into the recent Ōhiwa Harbour Strategy review
highlighted what locals value, are concerned about and what they
consider needs to be done.
Feedback has shown that many of the issues raised almost a decade ago,
when the Strategy development first began, are still relevant today.
However, feedback highlighted that greater emphasis in needed on the
following:
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New opportunities for recreation, such as walking and cycleways
Safety issues
Provide more information about history
Encourage further research by local people
Increase understanding of kaitiakitanga and stewardship
Enhance waterway protection and manage sediment and nutrients
Increase pest control
Increase protection for wildlife
Protect and manage mangroves
Manage shellfish and commercial fishing
Work more effectively with businesses, farmers and community.
A summary of consultation feedback is available from Tim Senior and the
‘refreshed’ Ōhiwa Harbour Strategy will be available for comment later this
year. Thanks to all those who gave up their time and contributed to the
Strategy review.
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Shade, seating and signage planned
Native fish given ‘helping hand’
Seating, shade and signage were highlighted in last
summer’s community and visitor recreation surveys
and in the recent review of the Ōhiwa Harbour
Strategy. As a result, new structures are planned for
two popular sites; the Harbour Road end car park and
at the Ōhope boat ramp.
For many years, native freshwater fish have not been
able to migrate freely between the Ōhiwa Harbour and
the harbour’s small streams.
Many of the streams have structures, such as culverts
and tide gates that stop fish from traveling up and
down. This migration is essential to the lifecycle of the
fish and the structures have negatively impacted local
fish populations, including whitebait.
The structures will provide much needed seating and
shelter. They will also be home to updated signage
about things to see and do in the area, fisheries limits,
local history, birds and wild life, and maritime safety
information, such as how to safely cross the Ōhiwa bar.
A new project, led by Kelly Hughes from ATS
Environmental, has seen ‘fish passage’ devices retrofitted to thirteen culverts and tide gates around the
harbour.
Techniques include attaching mussel spat ropes to the
mouth of a culvert (shown below) and attaching rubber
baffles inside the culvert to slow water flow. The
devices enable fish to ‘climb’ from the stream into the
culvert to the stream above.
A new shade and seating structure, similar to
the Motu Trails example shown here, is planned
for the reserve near the Ōhope boat ramp.
The Ōhope boat ramp structure will be 3.6 metres long
by 2.6 metres wide with a single gable roof and a low
wide seat, similar to that shown in the photo above.
The rear wall allows for the addition of signage panels.
The Harbour Road-end structure will be approximately
1m wide and 4m long with a single gable roof. Seating
and signage panels can be attached along the entire
length.
Attaching mussel spat rope allows fish to climb
into a perched culvert. Fish passages will help
enhance fish populations, including whitebait.
Kelly also gifted a significant piece of research to the
project. He field surveyed and mapped all freshwater
contributions to the harbour and this, combined with
other mapped data, will help identify potential
freshwater fish habitats, and priority areas for action. It
will also increase understanding of how freshwater from
the catchment interacts with the harbour.
The structures will be funded by the Bay of Plenty
Regional Council. The Department of Conservation,
Ministry of Primary Industries (Fisheries), the Regional
Council (maritime safety), Forest & Bird, Te Upokorehe
Iwi and Whakatāne District Council will contribute to
new signage.
Fish passage barriers were identified in a research
report completed earlier this year. Relevant reports can
be obtained from Tim Senior.
Next year, if funds allow, the project will see similar
structures built at Ōhiwa and the Ōhiwa boat ramp. For
more information about this project, please contact Tim
Senior.
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Community Newsletter
September 2014
A recent planting day at Onekawa Te Mawhai saw
some 800 native species planted on previously weed
infested slopes overlooking Ōhiwa. The planting day is
part of a long-term plan that will see areas of gorse
converted back to coastal forest.
Department of Conservation update
The Department of Conservation’s (DOC) focus on
helping the community to achieve its conservation
goals is paying dividends around the Ōhiwa Harbour.
DOC staff have been working with local care groups
and organisations to achieve the following:
Onekawa Te Mawhai Regional Park will soon
include Ōpōtiki District Council reserves at
Ōhiwa.
Local North Island robin population boosted
Reintroduction of North Island robins to the Ōhope and
Whakatāne reserves kicked off on Saturday 9 August.
The 40 birds transferred, from Mokoia Island in Lake
Rotorua, will boost the very small remnant robin
population already present in the Whakatāne Kiwi
Project area.
The translocation was part of the Whakatāne Kiwi
Trust’s vision to restore and enhance biodiversity in
Whakatāne and Ōhope reserves. An extensive network
of pest animal control stations, and hundreds of
volunteer hours spent tending the stations, has reduced
pest numbers and created a safer environment for
robins, kiwi and other native species.
Park management - your thoughts
Bay of Plenty Regional Council is seeking your views
on the Draft Onekawa Te Mawhai Regional Park
Management Plan.
Kiwi confirmed in Waiotahe reserves
DOC staff helped volunteers from Upokorehe to survey
for kiwi in reserves around Waiōtahe. Survey data is
still to be collated but there is certainly evidence of a
significant resident kiwi population in the area.
The Management Plan sets out how the Regional
Council portion of the park will be managed over the
next ten years. The Plan will guide the day-to-day and
long-term management of the Park and will set a
context for future use and conservation of natural and
cultural heritage.
Whitebait season opens
Whitebait advocacy is an important part of DOC’s role
in managing native freshwater fisheries. DOC rangers
are out and about making sure that fishers comply with
the rules.
The draft plan is available:
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The whitebait season is open between 15 August and
30 November (inclusive). Fishing is only permitted
between 5:00 am and 8:00 pm or between 6:00 am and
9:00 pm when New Zealand Daylight Saving is being
observed.
Online www.boprc.govt.nz/onekawa
Hard copy at the Ōpōtiki i-site or the Regional
Council office, Quay St, Whakatāne.
Submit your comments:
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Onekawa Te Mawhai news
Ōpōtiki District Council reserves at Ōhiwa will soon be
incorporated into the Onekawa Te Mawhai Regional
Park. A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) will
formalise the arrangement between the Regional
Council and Ōpōtiki District Council. This will facilitate
more harmonious and efficient co-management of the
reserves.
Online form at www.boprc.govt.nz/onekawa
By email to courtney.bell@boprc.govt.nz
By post to The Chief Executive, Bay of Plenty
Regional Council, PO Box 364, Whakatane 3158
Closing date for comments is 4.00 pm on Friday, 26
September 2014.
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by pest plants, such as saltwater paspalum and sea
couch.
Ecological monitoring continues
Regional Council staff have been busy managing pest
plants and animals and monitoring saltmarsh.
Pest plants
Regular control is reducing populations of the
problematic pest plants lantana, wild ginger, woolly
nightshade, African feather grass and Japanese
walnut. The invasive aquatic weed Spartina was
completely eradicated from the Harbour some years
ago, and old man’s beard is close to eradication from
the catchment. Both remain part of on-going weed
monitoring. Other pest plants, such as moth plant,
eleagnus, wild kiwifruit, wilding pines, blue morning
glory, pampas, privet, gorse and blackberry are being
controlled by landowners and care groups at sites with
high biodiversity values.
A typical Ōhiwa Harbour saltmarsh: glasswort
and sea primrose in foreground, oioi and sea
rush behind.
Upcoming events
Birds-a-Plenty Festival
This year’s month-long festival kicks off on 20
September and includes a range of activities
throughout the Eastern Bay. For a festival programme
visit http://birdsaplentyfestival.blogspot.co.nz/
Pest animals
Pest animals, including rats, mustelids and possums,
are regularly controlled at high-priority biodiversity sites
over an ever increasing area of the catchment and
again carried out by community groups or landowners
as part of a Regional Council funded Biodiversity
Management Plan (BMP).
Festival highlight -Godwit Welcome at Ōhiwa Spit.
This year’s event includes a book launch and starts at
8.30am on Sunday 28 September.
Booking is not required for this event.
Saltmarsh investigations
Saltmarshes are an important but fragile ecosystem
found around the ‘muddy’ harbour margins. In the
Ōhiwa Harbour, saltmarsh vegetation is dominated by
jointed rush (oioi), sea rush and saltmarsh ribbonwood.
Saltmarsh provides habitat for several rare marsh birds,
acts as a buffer between land and water and collects
sediment flowing in from the catchment.
For the kids - Kiwi Conservation Club event
Join in the fun activities, including a visit to the dotterels
at the Ōhiwa Spit.
Wednesday 1 October, 10am – 3pm
To book, phone Mei on (07) 3157556.
Cheddar Valley bird walk and bird pottery
Wednesday 1 October, 1.30pm
To book, phone Stuart on 073124583.
Nukuhou Saltmarsh Care Group bird monitoring
Sunday 5 October, 6.45am.
To book, phone Stuart on 073124583
There have been no long-term studies about local
saltmarsh, but a new Regional Council research project
will help rectify this. The project will identify areas of
saltmarsh, their ecological values and any threats to
these areas. In the longer term, saltmarsh monitoring
will become part of the Regional Council’s regular
ecological surveys so that there is greater
understanding of what is happening to this important
ecosystem and what needs to be done to protect it.
Uretara Island exploration and working bee
Sunday 5 October, 9am.
To book, phone Stuart on 073124583
Kayaking with the birds- Ōhiwa boat ramp
Saturday 11 October, 10am.
To book, phone Meg on 073154981.
Ōhiwa Harbour Implementation Forum (OHIF)
The next meeting of OHIF will be held on 6 October
2014 at the Ōpōtiki District Council. This meeting is
open to the public.
Many saltmarshes were drained to create farmland and
so their area is greatly reduced. The greatest threats
come from loss of connection to the harbour, due to
roads, culverts and drainage structures, and invasion
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