Environment
The forests in the Water Collection Area include superb rata podocarp, sub-tropical emergent forest above a canopy of hinau, kamahi, rewa rewa and tree ferns. Some black beech is found on drier sites, and silver beech on the high ridge-tops.
Greater Wellington carefully manages the area to protect the rich variety of plant, fish, insect and bird species that make up the forest ecosystem. A wide range of pest animal species are being intensively controlled in the area including possums, rats, stoats, deer, pigs and goats. We use permanent vegetation plots and photo points as well as animal browse plots to monitor vegetation recovery and animal numbers in the area, and regular bird monitoring is used to track the recovery of native bird populations.
Plans are currently being made to reintroduce North Island robins to the catchment during the winter of 2010. Robins are one of several bird species that were once common in the catchment, but died out following the arrival of mammalian predators in the late 19th century.
Kiwi are self-introducing themselves into the catchment from the adjacent kiwi reintroduction programme run by the Rimutaka Forest Park Trust.
.