RNZAF joins conservation team to fast-track High Value Area projects

PIROA-BRYNDERWYNS LANDCARE

23 May, 2022

Many locals won’t realise that every week, rain or shine, a large group of local volunteers work tirelessly to restore biodiversity in the Brynderwyn ranges and surrounding area for all to enjoy. The volunteers work across terrain classified as a High Value Area (HVA) which spans more than 22,000 hectares from Bream Tail in the east to SH1, Mangawhai to Langs and Waipu.

Why do so many volunteers help the cause? The area is home to threatened and regionally significant animal and plants. A high number of indigenous plants, the native Hochstetter's frog, and longfin eel also inhabit this area. With our proximity to the predator free islands to the east, our diverse forest habitat attracts a wide range of native birds from the widely seen tui and kereru to the less abundant such as kaka, tomtit, bellbird and fernbird populations, and red-crowned kakariki are occasional visitors from the Hen and Chicken Islands off the Bream Bay coast.

More than 40 kiwi were also released in the Piroa-Brynderwyn HVA from 2012 and are now successfully breeding and beginning to expand their range throughout the area. More on that soon as the volunteers are embarking on what is known as the ‘Annual Kiwi Call Count’ where trained volunteers will listen and gather data about the kiwi in our ranges.

As you might have read in a recent Focus (April 25), in early May a team of around 25 staff from the Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) joined DOC, Northland Regional Council (NRC) and the volunteers of Piroa-Brynderwyns Landcare (PBL) for a week's work progressing important conservation projects. The week-long collaboration tackled both pest control in a DOC reserve and cutting in a new track in the ranges that will soon be open to the public to enjoy.

NRC biosecurity officers Rolf Fuchs and Bevan Morgan who guided a group for a few days were thankful for the team’s hard work supporting the projects. Fuchs say the group was “great to work with and had awesome attitudes even if the rain made the walk a bit slippery. The work done by the RNZAF is vital in enabling the community to further protect the native biodiversity in the area.”

Rats, possum, pigs, ferrets, stoats and weasels all threaten the area’s biodiversity, which also suffers from kauri dieback. Significant effort has been made to reduce the number of pests in the area over the past two years, including the removal of thousands of possums and rodents and more than a million moth plant seeds, but more hands on deck is always welcome. There is a good chance one of your friends is already a keen volunteer helping with dunes care, pest trapping, planting projects, clearing waterways, building walking or mountain bike tracks, to name a few activities. If you are keen to be part of this important cause email PiroaBrynderwynsLandcare@outlook.com or contact them via Facebook.

A stunning setting for RNZAF base camp in the Brynderwyn hills, where they joined local groups for a week to work on important conservation projects. ALL PHOTOS/SUPPLIED

NRC biosecurity officers Rolf Fuchs and Bevan Morgan guided a group for a few days.

ANOTHER GOOD READ: Tracks and the famous local ‘Trackies’