Welcome to Whakamana te Waituna - Newsletter 3, January 2019
Kia ora,
Welcome to our third Whakamana te Waituna newsletter – we will be regularly updating progress and asking for input from anyone with an interest in the catchment programme throughout 2019.
A lot of work from the Waituna community and Waituna Partners has made a good start towards improving freshwater management in the catchment – and the Whakamana te Waituna work programme hopes to continue that momentum.
The programme aims to further improve water quality and biodiversity, support cultural aspirations and support sustainable farming in the catchment.
As part of the partners’ committment to better inform you and other stakeholders, we’ve added some more indepth information to the Waituna website, and will continue to add information as the programme develops.
An overview of the programme’s proposed 2019 work plan is also available.
Read More
In early 2019, the focus will be on listening to you and working with people on ideas for community representative structures.
We really want to hear your views about:
• How you would like to be involved in the programme/projects
• Ideas for Waituna Creek transformation
Please take a few minutes to complete the survey below to help guide the Waituna Creek project.
If you have an idea around community involvement in the programme please contact the programme manager:
nikki.tarbutt@es.govt.nz
Whakamana te Waituna is a partnership project between the Department of Conservation, Environment Southland, Fonterra, Living Water, Te Rūnanga o Awarua, Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu and Southland District Council.
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Restoring a creek next to a RAMSAR wetland
Through the Living Water partnership, the Department of Conservation and Fonterra are working with Fonterra farmers, scientists, councils, communities and Mana Whenua together to “find game-changing solutions that will enable farming, fresh water and healthy eco-systems to thrive side-by-side” – and one of the Southland projects is to restore Waituna Creek.
Read more
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Waituna Creek transformation survey
A key piece of work within this partnership is to transform Waituna Creek.
We would love your input into forming a plan for your creek - building on work done to date.
Please complete the short survey to let us know your vision for the creek.
Click here to complete the survey.
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Possum Control Work Successful
Almost 3000 possums have been removed from the Waituna PCA in the initial control round.
Environment Southland Biosecurity Officer Craig Smith says post control monitoring recorded a 1.7% residual trap catch (RTC), the number of possums caught per trap night, with the target being less than 5% RTC.
“It was a fantastic result,” he says.
The area is 6,630 hectares and involves about 40 landowners.
The possum control has been completed/implemented by Environment Southland through the use of a possum contractor on the agreed farms.
A network of possum bait stations has also been installed on various properties.
Landowners are responsible for maintaining a low number of possums with assistance from Environment Southland.
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Farm Plan Rollout
Fonterra and Environment Southland staff have recently been undertaking a farm plan rollout within 21 farms in the catchment.
The rollout is going well with all visits completed for the dairy farms and associated dairy support blocks in the upper catchment.
Plans are being produced at the moment with a delivery date in the next couple of months.
Sustainable Dairy Advisor Cain Duncan says the plans look at all aspects of farm operations.
Sustainable dairy advisors work alongside Environment Southland’s land sustainability team as part of the plan rollout.
For more information on the Fonterra Tiaki programme click here.
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Biodiversity
DOC is currently undertaking some work around ways to enhance biodiversity in the Waituna catchment. We will pull together some preliminary ideas and come and talk to the community around what you would like to see done.
Do you have an idea now? If so we would love to hear it.
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Conservation Week fun at Waituna Lagoon
Children from Gorge Road School were treated to a great day out at Waituna Lagoon as part of Conservation Week. The children had fun doing some detective work to find where on a map a Bittern nest was hidden. The winners received a Kowhai tree, while everyone got a gift pack with a certificate, chocolate Kokopu and a Living Water sticker book.
Other activities included identifying native species that live in the catchment, seed planting, potting native plants, identifying introduced species/pests, a scavenger hunt and attempting to pick up small objects with bird beak-like tools. Whakamana te Waituna partners, including Environment Southland, Fonterra, Department of Conservation, Living Water, plus the Waituna Landcare and Recreational Users groups, organised a fantastic day of activities.
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