Porirua Community Environment Fund Projects (2021/22)

The Aotea Conservation Volunteers worked for seven years actively restoring are part of the effort to restore the Kenepuru Stream in Bothamley Park with planting and weed control. With much of the work completed, this group has now changed their focus to maintaining their existing plantings.

This group has been revegetating the Pāuatahanui Wildlife Reserve for over 30 years. They grow their own native plants, but their plant nursery has been affected by flooding which is likely to increase in frequency and severity due to climate change. The funding allowed the group to install a number of tables to protect plants from future flooding events, reduce plant pathogens and provide easier and safer options for potting up plants.

Based at Cannon’s Creek in Belmont Regional Park, this group has been working to restore biodiversity in the area for almost 20over 22 years. This fund has helped them put in a pest animal control network of self-resetting traps. These traps are useful for areas that are hard for volunteers to reach, as they don’t require constant clearing, rebaiting and resetting.

This group has been clearing weeds, replanting with native plants, and doing pest animal trapping at the southern end of the wetland. They are also advocating for the important values of this biodiversity hotspot and they have spoken at hearings about developments planned for a nearby area of farmland that drains into Taupō Swamp.

FOTBR has been active in the Tawa Basin for over 20 years. Their work, includes protecting and restoring native bush in local reserves, bush track building and maintaining, and controlling pest animals and weeds. They make submissions on reserve management and advocate the expansion of reserves and their native nursery propagates plants for reserves and stream banks. They also teach local school children plant propagation skills and hold guided walks.

Find out more about Friends of Tawa Bush Reserves

Through partnering with communities the Growing Places Trust restores neglected land along the road and railway corridor. They organise funding, plants and equipment, and arrange landowner permission to enable community groups to get involved in projects they might otherwise miss out on. We have been supporting this group since 2016 and the fund has helped them continue and expand on this work.

An amazing group of hard working people have been clearing climbing asparagus and other weeds by hand from native bush in and around the Marae at Hongoeka Bay, without using herbicides. Volunteers meet every Sunday and the group has been going since May 2019. The funding provided tools and equipment for volunteers and some animal traps and bait to allow native plants to regenerate naturally without being smothered by weeds or eaten by pest animals.

This project was developed to enable school and kindergarten students in Tawa to help improve the health of their local waterways. As well as planting projects, students will be involved in a wide range of activities including pest plant and animal control, litter clean-ups and telling others about what they can do to improve their local stream health. This project is also supported by local restoration groups including the Friends of Tawa Bush Reserves and the Growing Places Trust.

The Newlands Native Nursery was created by volunteers 10 years ago, and now grows over 6000 native plants each year, suitable for planting alongside streams, wetlands, and forest areas. They provide free plants to community and school restoration projects around the catchment and to Wellington City Council. Recently they’ve also designed and planted a new area at Khandallah School. In addition to growing plants, they are also clearing weeds and planting in a nearby restoration area.

Volunteers from the Pareraho Forest Trust are controlling predators in a 33 hectare remnant forest within Belmont Regional Park which is an important ecological corridor between forests in the Te Awakairangi and Te Awarua-o-Porirua catchments. They are also monitoring both pests and native animals to make sure they are targeting the most important areas.

This group focuses on controlling a range of pest animals in neighbouring reserve areas, including wasps. They also support local people trapping pest animals on their own land. The fund is helping the group with this work and to expand their efforts to include a small weed control and planting project.

This group traps pest animals at a number of sites around Titahi Bay. Their work supports community environmental restoration projects along the Kahotea Stream and at Stuart Park. They also support local people trapping pest animals on their own land. The fund has provided traps and bait including self-setting traps that are particularly useful for areas that are difficult to access safely.

This small group of passionate residents are restoring a section of the Mungavin Stream where it flows through Mexted Reserve in Ranui, Porirua. The funding was used for native plants that provide habitat and food for native animals both in the stream and along its banks. This group also has regular ‘coffee bees’ to help create community and fun around the planting and weed control.

Neighbourhood residents at Tasman Close are working together to reintroduce heritage native forest trees to the nearby edges of Bothamley Park, were residents can enjoy the trees while they grow. They started by planting stands of Rewa Rewa and Beech, which are doing well. These will then provide a great seed source for birds to distribute throughout the park.  They are also undertaking pest animal control so that these and other native plants throughout the park can flourish.

This kura Māori are replanting some areas near their school, including a small stream. Students are hoping to restore the mauri of this local koawa (tributary) which is at the start of the Kenepuru awa (stream) with a range of native species including some rongoā Maori (traditional medicinal) species.