After the Storm: New Life on the Slopes of Manawa Karioi

The big storm that rolled into Wellington in early May caused minor damage at Manawa Karioi. One small ngaio was blown over and a few branches broken on other trees, and some trees have suffered from salt-burn.

Things could have been worse, but fortunately the stand of pine trees along the ridge above the marae carpark were removed a couple of months ago. The pines had been suffering storm damage for years, and were becoming hazardous.

In the process of being felled, a number of them fell onto the slope above the Nature Trail. This resulted in a number of native trees being damaged or even flattened in the process.

But every cloud has a silver lining. The felling of the pines means that the soil will no longer be acidified - you may have noticed that very little grows under pine trees. And pine trees also draw a lot of moisture from the soil, severely limiting what else can grow. With the pines gone, the 30 years of native tree seeds that have accumulated on the slope will begin to germinate, quickly filling in the gaps that have been created.

The gaps also give us the opportunity to fill the area with podocarps like kahikatea, matai and miro on the lower slope, which is shaded and holds soil moisture longer into the summer.

The upper slope will provide the opportunity to plant a large stand of titoki.

Other areas we will be focusing on this season include the mid section of Moemoea, the mid section of Te Uma i Mokotia and the upper length of Koiwi Tohora. These all will involve lots of titoki. We have about 140 titoki that were grown for us, most of which are ready to plant this year.

Potting up working bee of Manawa Karioi seedlings at SEA / Tawatawa Nursery.

Titoki (Alectron excelsus)

Titoki grows to about 10m high, and is quite common throughout Te Ika A Maui. It often forms the forest canopy on north-facing slopes, growing in association with rewarewa. Not many stands of titoki/rewarewa forest remain within Poneke, but there is an impressive remnant at the canopy walkway at Otari. We have planted over 100 rewarewa at Manawa Karioi, but until now we have had trouble obtaining titoki.

Titoki has small flowers, with male and female flowers being found on separate trees. Flowering occurs from spring to early summer, with the fruit capsule taking a year to mature. It then splits open to reveal one large shiny black seed that is covered with bright red, fleshy fruit. Trees can become loaded with fruit, which is targeted by birds like tui, who swallow the seed whole, thus dispersing it when they fly away.

Titoki - Alectryon excelsus (fruit, seeds) Photo by Tatiana Gerus, Татьяна Герус. Attribution: https://www.flickr.com/photos/tgerus/5032544657

Post written by Ross Gardiner

From Risk to Resilience: Suncorp Steps Up

In recent years a group of over 20 old pine trees at Manawa Karioi were beginning to show signs of collapse and both the Tapu-Te-Ranga Trust and the Manawa Karioi Society had become concerned about the risk that these trees posed to people visiting Manawa Karioi. It was decided that to ensure the safety of visitors and volunteer workers the old pine trees should be felled. 

In March 2025, arborist Richard McIntosh, with assistants Morgan and Niki, set about the job. The first day was spent working on the trees in preparation for felling – judging how and where each tree would fall and cutting branches to ensure that when the trees fell they would not get hung up in other trees and would not end up resting on their own branches suspended above the ground and a danger to anyone working near them. 

Tree Fellas', Niki, Morgan and Richard with Manawa Karioi Society Chairman Chris Livesey

One tree that had already fallen into a neighbouring tree proved quite problematic to deal with. Despite using ropes to climb up into it Richard was unable to safely make the cuts high up that would have freed it. Eventually the arborists had to resort to hiring a winch to safely dislodge the tree by moving the base of the trunk after they had cut through it. 

For the second day a roster of volunteers had been organised and at the start of the day the first shift of volunteers were stationed at three appropriate points on Te Ahi Kā to stop walkers and bikers from entering the work zone. Thereafter, the day was filled with the sound of chainsaws and thunderous crashes as the trees were successively felled. Cheers were heard from some of the neighbours each time there was a loud crash. 

With two exceptions the felled pine trees stayed where they fell: this is what we had hoped would happen. However, two large pine trees had a mind of their own – as they fell they bounced and shot further down the hillside onto Te Ahi Kā making a considerable mess and blocking the track. For most of the day the volunteers keeping walkers and bikers out of the work area had a pretty boring time but these two trees crashing down the hillside onto the track did provide them with some excitement. It also demonstrated the value of having the volunteers stationed on the tracks to keep people away from the work area – it would have been curtains for anyone under those trees when they came crashing down! By a stroke of very good fortune the trees that fell on Te Ahi Kā narrowly missed hitting and destroying the Nature Trail signage that was there.

Richard and Morgan spent a further two days cleaning up the mess on Te Ahi Kā and ensuring that all the felled material was stable and did not create a risk for people using the tracks. With the pine trees safely down we will be able to extend our native plantings into that area but we will also need to carefully monitor and control the inevitable weed growth that will now occur.

With the two extra days of work the whole exercise turned out to be more costly than had been anticipated but again we were very fortunate in that our application to Suncorp New Zealand’s special funding project to support charities that work with vulnerable communities as well as climate/natural hazard resilience was approved and we were able to use some of that money for this work. Suncorp New Zealand is in the insurance business and owns the brands Vero and AA Insurance.

Written by Chris Livesey.

Look out for our Lookouts!

We put effort into improving our lookout points. There are currently 4 of these with seats. Gorse was removed, and only low-growing species have been planted to avoid blocking the view. We take care to keep the plantings natural-looking, but make sure we put in a variety of food sources for the birds (and consequently bird-watchers). This includes kowhai (late winter flowers for hungry nectar-feeders like tui,  korimako and kaka. Kereru also eat the flowers). Wharariki provides more nectar throughout springtime, and all the lookouts have nearby rata for summer nectar.

The view from Green's Lookout.

Careful pruning opened up the view at Mokopuna Lookout. In this view north you can see the hospital, the western flank of Mt Vic, and across the Harbour to Ngauranga gorge.

Mokopuna Lookout

Careful pruning opened up the view at Mokopuna Lookout. In this view north you can see the hospital, the western flank of Mt Vic, and across the Harbour to Ngauranga gorge.

The (zoomed in) view from Mokopuna Lookout of Mokopuna Island.

Looking to the right from the same lookout point, you can see Mokopuna, the small island just to the north of Matiu in the middle of the harbour. Both of these islands were named by Kupe when he voyaged here with his wife and daughters about 1,000 years ago.

View from the seat on the Moemoea track.

The view from the seat at the north end of Moemoea, above Manawa Karioi gully. This looks east over Berhampore and Newtown. In the distance is the northern tip of Te Motu Kairangi (Miramar) and beyond that, you get a glimpse of the southern end of the Remutaka Ranges.

What Did We Plant This Year?

We started the planting season in June 2024 by planting along Moemoea, the track on the upper slopes that connects us to the Berhampore Golf Course to the north and Tawatawa Reserve to the south. It's become an increasingly popular track, so we put in some effort to improve the track surface too. As it is quite high up the slope, it gets very dry in the summertime. For this reason, most of what we plant is lower-growing species that can tolerate the dry conditions and lower soil fertility. We use this to our advantage to put in locally uncommon shrubs like mingimingi.

Where there are folds in the hillside with small gullies (with better soil that holds moisture further into summer) we can put in things like totara, rewarewa and titoki in the open spots, and under established trees we add nikau, poporokaiwhiri and kohekohe. We also added a few more rata, following from the success of last year's rata plantings. Some of those flowered last summer, despite being less than 1m high.

We also focused on Te Uma I Mokotia, a track that runs roughly east-west through Manawa Karioi, linking up to Moemoea. The track surface was widened in places, and slightly rerouted in the centre stretch to make it easier to walk up and to reduce erosion.

Our planting is focusing a lot more on expanding biodiversity, with forest giants such as kahikatea, totara, matai and miro featuring more. We put in close to 30 of these podocarps (ancient conifer trees) this year.
 
While much of the current forest canopy at Manawa Karioi is currently ngaio, mahoe matipo and pittosporums, these will eventually become sub-canopy as the tawa, kohekohe and titoki that we have been planting in increasing numbers take over.

New Focus for planting

Our June working bees saw a focus on planting around some of our lookout points, with an emphasis on low-growing shrubs to avoid blocking the view. Stuff like wharariki, tauhinu and mingimingi.

For August, we are taking a different approach, with an emphasis on BIG. This will include putting in some future canopy species that grow from 15-20 metres tall. In sunny, drier spots this will include titoki. In shaded spots that retain soil moisture further into the summer, this will involve kohekohe and tawa.

And of course, there will be some of the forest giants planted in various locations - totara and rewarewa in sunny locations. Kahikatea, pukatea, matai and miro in more sheltered areas.

And under all that we will be putting in about 30 nikau!

Trees, tracks and a demographic shift!

There were 5 Sundays this June, which along with some pretty good weather, allowed us to get a lot done.

Today's working bee focused on Te Uma I Mokotia, a track that runs roughly east-west through the center of Manawa Karioi.

Firstly, we realigned some track to make it easier to walk on when the ground is wet. This runs through a small grove of totara. We then planted a few understorey plants such as pate and porokaiwhiri, future canopy trees such as totara, and several each of emergent species, matai and rewarewa.

A few more low-growing shrubs were added around the seat at the north end of Moemoea, and at another viewpoint seat on Te Ahi Kaa.

3 late arrivals boosted our numbers to 12, and enabled us to get some more track improvements and planting done to the top end of Te Uma I Mokotia.

We had a complete reversal of the usual age demographic for a working bee - only 2 people over 50, with nearly everyone else being under 20!

We're looking forward to having a rest during July. See you in August for more planting!

Nature Trail Opening

Press Release - Te Ara o te Wao Nui a Tāne / The Nature Trail - Opening Event.

We are inviting the community to join the Manawa Karioi committee and Tapu te Ranga Marae trust in celebrating the opening of Te Ara o te Wao Nui a Tāne/The Nature Trail. Held on Saturday, 17th February 2024 from 1pm - 2.30pm as a part of the Island Bay Festival.

Te Ara o te Wao Nui a Tāne/ The Nature Trail

Running through the oldest area of the Manawa Karioi Ecological Restoration Project is a short loop track marked on the map as Te Ara o te Wao Nui a Tāne/ The Nature Trail.

The track has been planted over the last 35 years and the canopy is well overhead. This part of the reserve has been marked for development for seven years and thanks to a generous donation from T D Mankelow Family Charitable Fund, we are able to create a special track for children and adults alike.

The Process of Developing the Trail.

We started the project by digging out some slips that had covered the track after the heavy rainfall in 2023, then we hired track clearing work to be done to open up the tracks.

We commissioned three bug hotels to be made, which is a fun way for children and adults to engage with insects and see what lives inside.

We have created a fun game of ‘Spot the Birds’ on the nature trail - we have hidden metal birds on the trail for people to find as they walk around, which encourages people to look up and see real birds too.

We worked with Metal Image signs and accredited translator Melanie Nelson to create large bilingual botanical signs to help identify some of the special trees on the track.

We have beautified the area around the spring-field stream with rocks, planting ferns and putting in new seats. It is a great place to sit, reflect and watch the baby fantails flit around the stream and pick out bugs.

Working Bee on Te Ara o te Wao Nui o Tāne / The Nature Trail.

Te Ara o te Wao Nui a Tāne/The Nature Trail is a short loop that starts at the base next to the Tapu te Ranga Marae car park. The Nature Trail is marked #8 on our Trail map. It is a short easy walk taking approximately 15-mins to walk. The track is sloped but it is suitable for groups of younger children and buggies. It has fun educational features to discover along the track.

Event Listing:

We are inviting the community to join the Manawa Karioi committee and Tapu te Ranga Marae trust in celebrating the opening of the development of Te Ara o te Wao Nui a Tāne/The Nature Trail as part of the Island Bay Festival on Saturday, 17th February from 1pm - 2.30pm.

Date: Saturday, 17th February 2024

Time: 1pm - 2.30pm

Location: Manawa Karioi 

Parking: Tapu te Ranga Marae Carpark, Bike Parks are available

CompassionFest - Honouring Kae Millar

CompassionFest seeks to remember and celebrate local heroes, this time focusing on Kae Miller who started the movement to replant native bush along the South Coast in the 1980s, when she herself was in her mid-70's.

She was a remarkable woman, and before doing this had set up NZ's second ever recycling center at the Porirua tip. Bruce Stewart joined her there and got the inspiration to use recycled materials for the marae from her. She then come to this part of the city to be close to him, he was possibly the first helper she had planting trees above Princess Bay, and he built her a meditation lodge out of recycled car crates up there which will be a venue for the festival.

It is a fascinating story, there is more about her is on the CompassionFest website if you want to read up.

See the CompassionFest program here. They have sessions on using Seaweed, customary dyeing techniques from native plants, and Kae's grandson Max Rashbrooke is ending the festival with a Symposium on her legacy at the Home of Compassion.

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Kae Miller -  the person we seek to remember and celebrate in our CompassionFest 2023.

As South Wellington locals, we especially celebrate her vision to replant native bush along the coast, starting with the Te Raekaihau Point above Princess Bay. A place we can all visit and enjoy today.

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Nick Logan and the Adopt-a-spot scheme

After-planting care is important for some sites, especially where our plants can be smothered by fast-growing grass and other weeds. We have several small-sized sites that we are looking for people to care for over the next year or two. This will increase plant survivability and allow them to grow faster too.

We've been fortunate to have nearby resident Nick adopt an area along Te Uma I Mokotia track.

Nick Logan who has adopted a spot at Manawa Karioi.

1) Why did you decide to Adopt a Spot?

Whilst walking one day from my home in Berhampore into nearby areas of the town belt, I was disturbed by the prolific growth of Tradescantia (wandering Willie) in a small stream bed. I thought “Why doesn’t the council control these weeds”. On reflection I realised if I wanted these or other weeds to be removed, to allow regeneration of the native plants, I should do something about it myself. My walk took me into Manawa Karioi where I observed other weeds climbing into the replanted native trees, and thought I would return with secateurs to release one tree at a time from being smothered by such weeds.

2) What does your work involve?
It’s about a 25 minute walk from my home to Manawa Karioi, then I spend about 60 - 90 minutes “rescuing” a tree or two from being overwhelmed by weeds. I remove weeds from around the trunk, and spread forest mulch in its place to suppress future weeds. I mound many of the weeds into a nearby heap which I will later use as compost beneath the juvenile trees, as the soil is quite shallow and the root run is often limited. I carry out minor pruning to allow additional light onto the replanted podocarps, which are intended  to become the dominant forest.

Totara tree at Manawa Karioi.

3) Tell us a little about the area you look after.

Several decades ago about twenty totara trees were planted (by others) near the top of a gully, mainly spaced about 3 metres apart, but as much as 50 metres. I want to help these trees to become better established and attain their potential as long lived forest giant. It’s a very peaceful place to be, surrounded by nature; I feel we heal each other.

New Planting at Manawa Karioi

Planting Ferns on the Nature Trail

The spring-fed stream which attracts the pīwakawaka, and has the perfect conditions for Nikau to flourish.

One focus of the Nature Trail is ferns. They are difficult to propagate, which is why we have planted very few of them. But they will establish on their own once sufficient cover is provided as they don't like too much direct sun.

Several fern species have established in locations around Manawa Karioi, and fortunately they are easy to transplant. Which is good as a lot tend to grow right on the track, where if left they will block access.

Species we will be transplanting along the Nature Trail are:

Huruhuru Whenua.

This is the most common fern around south Pōneke as its' thick glossy leaves can cope with salt-laden winds. They also give it a tropical look. It gets quite large - growing up to 1m high and 1.5m wide.

Mamaku

The tallest tree fern, Mamaku grows 20m tall, with the fronds being 4m long. It's the most common tree fern in Poneke, and while it thrives in deep, damp gullies, it can grow in quite exposed areas too.

The unfurling frond of the Ponga.

Ponga

The second tallest tree fern, Ponga grows 10m tall. The fronds have a white underside, which have been used for hundreds of years to aid with walking at night as they reflect moonlight - kind of like a torch! Also known as "Silver Fern", the Ponga frond is a common logo, particularly on sports uniforms.

People often refer to all tree ferns as "ponga", but there are 8 species of tree fern in total.

The trunk of a tree fern is actually an extension of its root system, which is why some species will grow back from sections of cut trunk.

A welcome Surprise in our Tree Order

This year we got a surprise when Wellington City Council's Berhampore plans nursery supplied 10 large Northern Rata (Meterosideros robusta) with our usual order of 500 plants.

The 2023 plant order from the Berhampore Nursery with 500 trees to be planted this June and August.

Rata used to be fairly common around Wellington, especially on sunny slopes. It often grows as an epiphyte - that's a tree that grows on another tree! But it can start life on the ground so long as it doesn't get shaded out by other faster-growing trees. We have plenty of sunny, steep slopes where we can plant them, with our June planting sessions focusing on the downhill side of Moemoea track.

Rata produces crimson coloured flowers in summer, similar to its cousin the Pohutukawa (which is not native to Wellington). The flowers are an important food source for nectar-feeding birds such as kaka, tui and korimako, as well as for native butterflies and geckos.

Please register for the working bees on Eventfinda here.

These rata have already started producing flowers and seeds before they have even been planted!

Free Community Event: City Nature Challenge Guided Walk

The City Nature Challenge Guided Walk - The 3 Southern Reserves.
Sunday April 30th, 10.30am - 12.30pm
Bring sturdy shoes, water and a picnic lunch.

The City Nature Challenge is a great chance to help people connect with their backyards, natural environments, parks and reserves. As part of this city-wide event we are hosting a 2-hour walk through 3 of our southern restoration reserves. 

If you would like to make wildlife observations as part of the City Nature Challenge, please bring your smart phone to take photos. You can sign up on the iNaturalist website and use the iNaturalist app to record any wildlife observations, this is of course optional otherwise you can just enjoy the walk and meet some great people!

The City Nature Challenge Guided Walk
The 3 Southern Reserves - The Walk Rundown

Sunday April 30th, 10.30am

The meeting point for the walk is at 10.30am at 46a Derwent street in Island Bay at the entrance of Paekawakawa Reserve. Please be on time so we can set off as a group.

The walk will begin at the entrance of Paekawakawa reserve on Derwent Street and head up the valley passing by streams, and through restored native bush in the Paekawakawa reserve.  You will be treated to unique vantages of Tapu te Ranga Island and Raukawa Moana (the Cook Strait).

We will then enter the oldest restoration project in Pōneke, Manawa Karioi on Tapu te Ranga Marae land and hike along part of the loop track called Te Ahi Kā with amazing views over Island Bay Valley and back to the city.

We will depart Manawa Karioi on the ridge line and enter into Tawatawa reserve, we will past the reservoir on the City to Sea track stopping for a break at the Lizard Garden with views over Hawkins Hill and the Dog Park.

We will then head back down the hill and there is a picnic spot at the starting point for those who would like to have a picnic lunch.

We are looking forward to meeting you all and sharing our enthusiasm for our Southern reserves. We will have a few spots where we stop to tell you about the 3 reserves. Feel free to bring your dog (and a lead) and any keen children.

Please RSVP with names and contact emails to manawakarioisociety@gmail.com so we can keep track of numbers and incase of cancellation due to weather.

2022 Planting Session - Landslips and Feeding the Birds

Another planting season has finished and what a wet one it has been! While a wet winter means lots of moisture in the soil (allowing for good plant growth during spring and summer) it can also bring some challenges. Besides some less than optimal weather for some planting sessions, the main problem has been the landslips.

This season we got 700 plants in the ground, with a couple of our planting sessions being a combined effort with Southern Environment Association on our boundary with their project in Tawatawa Reserve.

As we run out of open spaces to plant the common first-stage plants into, we have continued to increase the quantity of plants that need to be put under established patches of bush. This in turn is helping provide a year-round supply of food for insects and birds, with the latter helping spread seeds around. The amount of natural regeneration of bush at Manawa Karioi is increasing. At this stage it is mostly fast-growing understorey plants such as kawakawa and rangiora, but we are seeing a lot of porokaiwhiri (also known as Pigeonwood) as well as the locally rare Towai (Streblus banksii).

We continue to plant small quantities of forest giants such as totara, kahikatea and matai each year. They can take decades until they produce fruit, but by the time they do we will have planted hundreds of them.

As for those landslips...there have been 5 significant ones this year. Surprisingly, four of them happened right at the beginning of winter and despite there being almost twice as much rain as usual, none of them got any bigger as winter progressed. The fifth slip occurred a few weeks ago at roughly the halfway point on Te Ahi Kaa.

All of the slips have been made passable to allow access, but at present everything is just too muddy to dig out. Once the tracks have dried out a bit we will put out a call for help with clearing them. We should be able to clear the 4 smaller ones in one session but the big slip will be a work in progress.

Written by Ross Gardiner

Trapping Update - May 2022

Trapping Update from Manawa Karioi.

We had a great turnout to Predator Free Wellington training with many familiar faces from the Manawa Karioi and Tawatawa trapping teams, about 18 volunteers in total.

The volunteers were trained on installing chew cards for monitoring, bait stations, and DOC200 traps.
 
Dan Henry from Predator Free Miramar helped with the training and gave top tips on where to install traps.
 
Visitors to Manawa Karioi will soon start to see a lot of blue flagging appearing as the bait lines are installed.  The bait stations are being filled with pre-feed, this is non-toxic and gives the critters a free meal whilst they get used to the new devices.  In the coming months this will be changed to toxic bait.  When this happens the trapping team will remove any catches from the traps and dispose of them in the garbage to minimise the chance of secondary poisoning of dogs and predatory birds.   

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If you haven’t already, sign up with Predator Free Wellington to get a trap/bait station in your backyard. PFW supply the traps/stations and do the checking! 

You just need to give permission to have one on your property. For more information go to https://www.pfw.org.nz/island-bay-to-cbd/

Map of catches so far this year. You can see the hot spot of rat activity near the ducks.

Map of devices going into Manawa Karioi as part of the Predator Free Wellington Phase 2 Buffer Zone.

Weed Action Workshop

 On a sunny Sunday morning in April, members of the South Wellington Weed Action Coalition (SWWAC!) met in the Voglemorn Community Centre for an exciting morning of weed work.

 SWWAC!’s members (Manawa Karioi, Southern Environment Association and Paekawakawa Reserve group, Friends of Ōwhiro Stream, Ōwhiro Stream Team, Ōwhiro Bay Residents Environment Group, and Conservation Volunteers Wellington) are planning more and better weed control coordinated across the beautiful south coast of Wellington.

Darryl Kee and members of SWWAC at Vogelmorn Community Centre

With the support of the Wellington City Council, we were thrilled to have expert weed controller Darryl Lee of Weedworks run a workshop specifically tailored to the needs of our South Wellington conservation groups. And thanks to SWWAC member Paul for the morning tea overflowing with juicy feijoas! After the morning’s presentation by Darryl, the team went to Ōwhiro Stream for a while to talk more about the weeds we saw over lunch.

 The main things we learned at this workshop were:

 -          We need to look at weed control as part of the overall environmental restoration mahi.

 -          We need to pay attention to the weeds that are emerging problems like climbing asparagus and another new weeds to the area, parsnip palm. Parsnip palm is suddenly quite conspicuous at Manawa Karioi, and now is a good time to stop it becoming more widespread. 

 -          We need good survey information about which weeds are most problematic where – this will allow us to do our own control work, and also to be successful in getting the extra funding we are looking for.   This is where the coordinated approach of SWWAC! is really helpful.

Manawa Karioi weed FAQs

 What are weeds?

Weeds are often defined as an unwanted plant growing in the wrong place.  We have plenty of these at MK, because we are trying to restore native forest and introduced weed species take up the space where we want to plant natives, or smother native species especially when they are young.  Introduced weeds also often grow and spread faster than native species and, without control, become more and more of a nuisance over time.

 What are the most troublesome weeds in Manawa Karioi?

• Japanese honeysuckle which can look nice but spreads fast and definitely can smother native growth

• Old Man’s Beard which is widespread and very spreading

• Climbing asparagus has not been around for long but forms very dense strangling patches and can ringbark and kill some native species

How can I help with weed control?

Learn how to identify the weeds mentioned and pictured here and keep an eye out for them. If you are confident that what you’re looking at is a weed – and not a native species - don’t hesitate to pull out the little ones from beside the track or where you are walking! You can then take them home whole and disposed of in the rubbish or commercial green waste. This will help limit their spread.  

30th Anniversary Celebration and Pub Quiz

Manawa Karioi – 30th Anniversary Celebration and Pub Quiz

After a postponement due to Covid, a very successful 30th anniversary celebration and fund-raising pub quiz for Manawa Karioi was held at the Parrotdog Bar in Island Bay on 19 October 2021.

It was a fun evening with the quiz, spot prizes, silent auctions and a raffle. A slide show showing volunteers at work (and rest) and various aspects of Manawa Karioi including the change in vegetation over the decades and the facilities for visitors such as the signage and the picnic table screened continuously throughout the evening. Manawa Karioi Society Chairperson Chris Livesey gave a short talk about the Manawa Karioi Ecological Restoration Project: its genesis through Koro Bruce Stewart and the Sisters of the Home of Compassion, its relationship to the Tapu Te Ranga Trust, what has been achieved over the 30 years since the first tree was planted, the vision for the Project and the critical role of dedicated Komiti members and the many volunteers who give their time to the Project.

 Amongst the almost 120 people present were several honoured guests, people whose contribution has been crucial to the success of the Project over the years: Sister Margaret Anne and Sister Sue from the Home of Compassion, Marion Sanson and Chris Horne. Chris Livesey noted that unfortunately Jim and Eve Lynch and Sally Bowman who have all made major contributors had hoped to attend but were unable to do so at the last minute. Similarly, Pare Sannyasi from the Tapu Te Ranga marae whanau but intended to be there but was unable to make it at the last minute. Chris also noted the major contributions of Peter Russell and the late Barbara Mitcalfe to the Project.

The evening raised about $4,043.70, a tidy sum that will cover the operational expenses at Manawa Karioi for a year or two and assist with some special projects. A number of attendees at the celebration also took the opportunity to support the Manawa Karioi Society by signing up to become members.

 Our deep thanks go to Parrotdog for their very generous support of the evening, to all the donors of the items for the silent auctions and the raffle prizes, and to the members of the Manawa Karioi Komiti who worked with Parrotdog and organised the evening.

Onwards with the next 30 years!

Lockdown Weed Eradication - We would love your help!

We hope you are all doing well during Level 4 lockdown. You may find that you’re spending some time in the garden, and here’s a way you can help us with our ecological restoration project without leaving your property.

At Manawa Karioi as with all similar projects, controlling environmental weeds is a high priority. These are weeds that can take over an area thus preventing natural regeneration of native plants, or even kill off fully-grown native plants. This is especially true of vines, which will wrap themselves around trees and smother them.

Chris Livesey and Tom Box removing the Old Man’s Beard weed found at Manawa Karioi. See more photos on the NZ weedbusters site.

We have spent more than 20 years knocking back some major infestations of Japanese Honeysuckle and Old Man’s Beard. In the last 5 years we have had to start doing the same with Climbing Asparagus, which has made an unwelcome appearance in a few locations.

We are doing well in reducing these 3 weeds at Manawa Karioi, and neighbouring reserves and groups such as Tawatawa Reserve, Paekawakawa reserve and Friends of Owhiro Stream are also knocking them back. We would love your help.

 We can eliminate these weeds, but if they are found in the gardens of properties on or near our boundaries, the seeds of these weeds can keep on reinvading. Take a look in your garden and see if they are present. If they are, try eradicating them. This will help prevent them from spreading to your neighbours and our reserve.  Below is a brief description of these weeds, information on how they spread, and how to eradicate them.

Climbing Asparagus - Photo: Carolyn Lewis. See more photos on the NZ Weedbusters website.

Climbing Asparagus (Asparagus scandens)

This is a vine that originates from South Africa. It tolerates deep shade and can invade even established forests. It grows quickly and can strangle smaller trees and shrubs. In open areas, it can form a dense mat and prevent seedlings from growing.

Tiny white flowers appear from Sept-Dec, followed by small round berries that change from green to red-orange when they ripen. Birds can eat the berries and spread the seed in their droppings.

If you find it in your garden, you need to make sure you dig the plant out by the roots using a garden trowel. Smaller vines can be carefully plucked out of the ground. If the stem snaps off at ground level, the vine will grow back. Climbing asparagus material with seeds should be bagged and put in a landfill. Whereas the plants without seeds can be hug up to dry then composted or put in the greenwaste after the tubers are completely dried out.

 Some herbicides for vines can also be used from September-April when the weather is warmer and the plants are experiencing active growth.

Japanese Honeysuckle - Photo: Carolyn Lewis. See more photos the NZ Weedbusters website.

Japanese Honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica)

This weed was once commonly grown as an ornamental plant for the garden, sold in garden centres. Its’ stems grow more than 2 metres a year, smothering all in its’ path. It produces Creamy-yellow flowers from Sept-May, followed by black berries 5-7mm in diameter. Birds eat the berries, thus spreading the seed. Cut stems (sometimes dumped by lazy gardeners onto public reserves) can re-sprout and create new infestations.

It needs to be dug out by the roots, with stems and roots hung up to dry or disposed of in a rubbish bag or at the green waste section of the southern landfill.

 Some herbicides for vines can also be used from September-April, when the weather is warmer and the plants are experiencing active growth. 

Old Man’s Beard - Photo: Carolyn Lewis. See more photos on the NZ weedbusters site.

Old Man’s Beard (Clematus vitalba)

This weed was once commonly sold in garden centres, and has spread into the wild in many parts of Aotearoa. It can be controlled by cutting stems and digging out the roots. Hang cut stems and roots up to wither and die, or dispose of in a rubbish bag or at the green waste section of the southern landfill.

Some herbicides for vines can also be used from September-April, when the weather is warmer and the plants are experiencing active growth.

If you can please have a look for these weeds in your garden and use this gardening time to get rid of them. Let us know what you’ve done too, it helps us monitor where these weeds are found outside of our boundaries.

If you know of occurrences of any of these weeds close to Manawa Karioi and you are unable to deal with them yourself (if they are not on your property, or they are on your property but the infestation is too large for you to deal with) please let us know. We are developing plans for extensive weed control in and around the areas of Manawa Karioi, Tawatawa Reserve, Paekawakawa Reserve and Owhiro Stream and a first step is to map the occurrence of these weeds in the area - any information you can provide will be very useful.

You can contact us here - manawakarioisociety@gmail.com

Written by Ross Gardiner

Manawa Karioi 30th Anniversary & Pub Quiz Fundraiser

Please join us for a fundraiser quiz night at Parrotdog to celebrate Manawa Karioi Ecological Restoration Project's 30th anniversary! Your ticket includes a free pint and snacks, spot and winning team prizes, an informative presentation about the Ecological Restoration Project, and a great pub quiz! We’ll also have a cash raffle with great prizes from Island Bay and Wellington region businesses. Parrotdog’s bar and restaurant will be open for additional purchases.

The money raised by this event will help pay for the tools, materials, and community outreach that is necessary for ongoing planting, weed control, animal pest control, track development, and maintenance mahi.

August Working Bees

Our August planting and track maintenance sessions will see us continue with our planting along sections of Te Ahi Ka - the main loop track around Manawa Karioi. For many years gorse and blackberry had been a major problem, spreading onto the track and making large sections impassable for a few years. A lot of work was put into opening the tracks up again, which allowed us to get on with our planting. As gorse and blackberry don't grow well in shade, the best way to prevent them from spreading is to create a 'hedge' of native plants along the track edges.

Along the sections of Te Ahi Ka furthest away from the Manawa Karioi nursery, this hedge has been a little patchy to say the least! Some areas were almost only gorse, while others had a light barrier made up of ngaio (which had been planted) and mahoe (which has been rapidly self-establishing itself at Manawa Karioi). In the more open areas with poor soil, subject to strong winds and becoming very dry in summer, we have been planting hardy species such as puka, taupata and akiraho. Where there is a bit of established native canopy we have been underplanting with small trees such as wharangi and kawakawa. These smaller trees fill in the gaps underneath and prevent weed species from establishing. This is especially important in the totara grove near the top of Te Uma i Mokotia.

Where Te Ahi Ka has better soil we are making sure to plant other species that are now uncommon in south Wellington. This includes rewarewa in the sunny spots and titoki in the lightly-shaded areas. These two species often grow together on north-facing slopes - you can see an example of this on the canopy walkway at Otari native botanic garden. Where the track crosses shallow gullies with established trees we underplant with kohekohe, which was once the dominant canopy tree in coastal areas.

Along with the planting we will take some time to do track maintenance work. This will include cutting back branches from the track edges and digging drainage channels to lessen the effect of water-runoff eroding the tracks.

Our next working bees are planting, release weeding and track maintenance which will be

• Sunday 1 Aug 2021, 1:00pm–3:00pm

• Sunday 8 Aug 2021, 1:00pm–3:00pm

• Sunday 15 Aug 2021, 1:00pm–3:00pm

• Sunday 22 Aug 2021, 1:00pm–3:00pm

• Sunday 29 Aug 2021, 1:00pm–3:00pm

  Meeting at the Information Shelter in the Tapu te Ranga carpark at the end of Danube Street in Island Bay.

Register for our August working bees here.

Ministry for the Environment - Volunteer Day

We interviewed Charissa Billings and the team from Ministry for the Environment about their volunteer day organised via Volunteer Wellington.

How did the Ministry for the Environment's session at Manawa Karioi clearing tracks come about?

The Ministry are working with Volunteer Wellington on a pilot volunteering programme for teams. I assume following this first round of volunteering  sessions, we will decide whether this is something the Ministry wants to continue doing in the future. 

Tell me about your volunteer session, how was the experience for the group?

The team all expressed their enjoyment in getting out of the office and into the bush. Most of us had not visited Manawa Karioi prior to this, and were impressed with the history of the reserve.

Why was it important for The Ministry for the Environment staff to participate in the restoration project and what do you think the group got out of it?

This session was great for our team’s wellbeing, and helped us to feel connected to the environment which we work towards protecting and restoring. It was a great practical exercise to see the fruits of your efforts immediately.

Would you recommend the experience for other corporate groups/companies, for what reasons?

Yes, for the reason that making people more aware of local efforts to restore the environment can help enable people to feel they can make a small difference in their backyard towards restoring te taiao.