RESTORATION PLANTING

For the recent Inlet Planting Project go to our current page on this initiative.

Sediment deriving from avoidable soil erosion in the catchment is a serious threat to Inlet ecology. There is an urgent need to combat this by restoring rooted vegetation cover to erosion-prone parts of the Inlet catchment.

GOPI encourages landowners and local authorities to replant these erosion-prone areas. We also help in a practical way. Whenever replanting programmes are planned, we offer the services of volunteers from among our membership to help.  

The main areas of concern are steep slopes and the denuded banks of streams. The Greater Wellington Regional Council (GW) and Porirua City Council (PCC) Pāuatahanui Vegetation Framework addresses these areas by working on revegetation plans with landowners. Working within this framework, we have helped revegetate stream sides in the Horokiri and Pauatahanui streams.

Revegetation of stream sides is a vital step towards improving the environmental health of streams and increasing their biodiversity, but these are not the only benefits. Streamside planting can also be of direct benefit to landowners by easing problems in pasture and stock management.

The photograph at right shows volunteers at work planting on the Pāuatahanui Stream bank. Those below show the effect three years later.

In addition to programmes aimed at reducing erosion and improving stream water quality, GW and PCC also have projects that aim to restore ecologically and aesthetically important areas around the Inlet where, through neglect, natural habitat is being lost to invasive weeds. We have helped replant the Camborne escarpment, alongside the Inlet Pathway Te Ara Piko east of Motukaraka Point and the area by the old boat-building slip at Paremata.

Advice and encouragement on restoration planting and streamside care is available in a variety of forms. General enquiries about restoration may be made by email to biodiversity@gw.govt.nz. General information and advice on streamside care can be downloaded at Mind the stream. Specific information about restoring streams and wetlands can be downloaded at Restoration Planting Guide.