Friends of Ōnoke Spit are calling for volunteers to roll up their sleeves and lend a hand with conservation projects, with the first working bee starting Wednesday 9 June for a weeding and management day.

Ōnoke Spit is at the southern edge of Wairarapa Moana, one of the largest remaining wetland complexes in New Zealand, and has ecological values of national and international significance.

The Spit’s thin strip of earth cops it from all directions; swells roll in from Palliser Bay, roaring winds come down off the Remutaka Ranges and flooding from Lake Ōnoke. And of course, the actions of humans.

This hostile environment is home to a collection of hardy native plants and birds, some rare; Caspian terns, banded dotterels, katipō spider and spotted skink, even the occasional little blue penguin and Australasian Gannett are found on the Spit.

Despite its rugged terrain, for more than a decade, locals Dougal and Denise MacKenzie have dedicated themselves to reviving the Southern-most part of Wairarapa Moana.

Native and rare species survival is very much reliant on the efforts of people like Dougal and Denise, which is a core reason for their establishment of the ‘Friends of Ōnoke Spit’ in 2010.

“It is such a unique and historic part of Wairarapa that is really under-threat - it is so important that we do what we can to protect it,” Dougal says.

Like the animals, the native flora such as sand tussock, sand daphne, raoulia and pingao also need human intervention to be protected from aggressively growing pest plants.

With an education background, Denise has enlisted Kahutara and Pirinoa Schools to help with some of the ground work. Kahutara School pupils have been involved in annual working-bee days for the past ten years, weeding and mulching the plantings and putting new native plants in the ground.

Following June’s weeding and management day, the group’s annual planting day will be on Wednesday 11 August.

For the rest of the year Dougal and Denise do the heavy lifting through an pest eradication programme, which includes around 60 predator traps out on the spit to help protect the birds, catching stoats, rats, hedgehogs, ferrets and feral cats. Along with managing the fencing off of areas high on the beach to discourage vehicles from drifting into the sensitive areas and destroying habitat and nesting sites.

Beyond Ōnoke Spit, Dougal and Denise’s also champion the neighbouring Pounui Lagoon - which they overlook from their property ‘Te Rakau’.

In addition to clearing and re-setting the 60 traps out on the Spit, there are a further 40 dotted in amongst the now thriving wetlands of Pounui Lagoon.

The Friends of Ōnoke Spit are one of many groups driving conservation work at Wairarapa Moana.

In 2007 the Wairarapa Moana Wetlands Project was established, with the aim of enhancing the native ecology, recreational and cultural opportunities on public land in the area, and includes restoration work at Ōnoke Spit, Lake Domain Reserve, Donald’s Creek as well as Lake Ferry and Ōnoke/Ōkorewa Lagoon.

The Project is a collaboration between Ngāti Kahugnunu ki Wairarapa, Rangitāne o Wairarapa, the Department of Conservation, South Wairarapa District Council and Greater Wellington.

EVENT:

What: Ōnoke Spit Weeding/Management Day

When: Wednesday 9 June 9,10am start

Where: Kiriwai Lagoon / Ōnoke Spit, end of Beach Rd, off Western Lake Road. Bring: Old clothes, sturdy footwear, spade, grubbers, secateurs and gardening gloves.

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