Protecting A Slice Of Paradise

Manawahe Eco Trust: Protecting A Slice Of Paradise

24 Nov 2014 08:00 am | Sheldon Nesdale

Standing beneath towering rimu, rata and tawa trees in the Manawahe Ecological Corridor can make you feel like you’re in the middle of a fairytale scene.

The Manawahe Ecological Corrider in the Eastern Bay of Plenty

Nikau ferns and mossy glades surround you, while the extraordinary sounds of kokako, tui, bellbirds, grey warblers and cuckoos ring out from the sky above.

This regional ecological treasure spans 800ha between Lake Rotoma and Matata in the Eastern Bay of Plenty. It is home to some of New Zealand’s rarest birds and threatened species, and is the only forested corridor that exists between Rotorua’s lakes and the sea.

Looking after the land

One of the guardians of this beautiful bush is the Manawahe Eco Trust (MET) – a group of 40-odd volunteers and 100+ members who work to protect the environment, educate local children and other groups, and encourage recreational use of this area.

MET chairperson Fran van Alphen says the group formed seven years ago to represent the community’s interest in the corridor, and to help improve biodiversity within the native forest.

“The corridor has a lot of unique biodiversity attributes beyond just the kokako [which the area is famous for]. There are amazing, beautiful pockets of bush up to 200ha each and our vision is to one day see those pockets linked up.”

MET currently has over 100 mustelid traps in place to catch ferrets, stoats and weasels, and they also service bait stations throughout the corridor. Much of the land is privately owned and MET offers landowners pest and plant management advice.

“If we had all the resources we wanted we’d have the whole corridor protected from introduced predators,” Fran says.

Julie Collins restocking a bait station on behalf of the Manawahe Eco Trust

The Manawahe Kokako Trust (MKT) have been working to improve breeding conditions for the rare birds since the mid-1990s. And the results have been impressive, with the population having grown from 14 to more than 50 kokako at present. MET works in collaboration with MKT to provide predator control for these birds and foster wider biodiversity.

Inspiring others

As well as protection, MET focusses its efforts on promoting education and recreation in the area.

“To love it you’ve got to have seen it and played in it. Just to have that experience often inspires people to come back and love it like their own backyard. We really want this area to be accessible,” Fran says.

In 2010 the local Manawahe School was controversially closed down. MET combined forces with the local community to retain and lease the school building, and now uses it as an education/ecology centre and a base for their operations.

BayTrust has granted MET $10,000 this year towards operational costs. That money has gone towards maintaining this building – something Fran and her trustees are eternally grateful for.

“It is a local hub – something which binds our community together. It’s a lovely old building and a really important asset.

“What BayTrust has allowed MET to do is to keep the building open and up-and-running. They’re allowing us the opportunity to use it as an education centre to inspire local kids. It’s taken a huge amount of stress off us by knowing the essentials like lease money are covered.”

MET employs an environmental educator who works with teachers and schools across the Bay of Plenty and further afield to provide outdoor education and environmental learning experiences that tie in with the curriculum.

“What’s important to us when the kids are up here is that they have fun and are inspired and take that enthusiasm for the environment and the area away with them.”

Other community and environmental groups are also encouraged to make regular use of the MET centre, Fran says.

“BayTrust’s support smooths out the financial challenges so we can focus on the details of what we do.”

The post Manawahe Eco Trust: Protecting A Slice Of Paradise appeared first onBayTrust.org.nz.

ends

© Scoop Media