March 2020

CATLINS COAST INC. NEWSLETTER

Kia ora & Welcome

Please enjoy the newsletter from Coast Inc.

If you would like to contribute to the next edition of the quarterly newsletter please email Catlins Coast Project Coordinator [email protected]

Join us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/Catlinscoast/https:// The newsletter is a

Catlins Coast Official Website great way to ‘share’ www.catlins.org.nz information on what

is happening in The Catlins!

Photographs by Tony Somerville

WHAT’S GOING ON IN THE CATLINS

Catlins Coast Incorporated (CCI) Greetings from The Catlins The visitor season is well upon us, the roads have been busy and I hope businesses are thriving and now with the Covid 19 virus, surviving. We have all been inundated by the news and information around precautions to take to keep ourselves, families and communities safe so I won't take up your time with more of that. What I will say is try to stay positive, don't panic, keep a sense of humour and lets not lose our ability to help others at this stressful time. I believe things will return to normal. Although we welcome visitors to The Catlins, we do not welcome inappropriate behaviour. If you witness such behaviour, please report it to e.g. dangerous driving report to the police *555 or 111, littering report to (where applicable), Council (CDC), Southland District Council (SDC), Department of Conservation (DOC), harassment or endangerment of our precious wildlife or de- struction of environment (DoC or for fire 111). Any road crashes please report to councils via (SDC green crash card) or CDC these reports help council identify and hopefully address roads that are deemed ‘unsafe’. I attended a Sustainable Catlins Partnership meeting in Clutha on the 4th February, where there were many discussion points (and some are still on-going) but we have recently been able to release a statement to the Community about the Partnership, which is a great start. Once the Partnership has been established, one of the roles of Catlins Coast will be liaising with Catlins groups, organisations and community members. Freedom camping continues to be a hot topic, but CCI remain focused on this issue. If you are experiencing Freedom Camping issues, where applicable please contact DoC, CDC or SDC. The Tear Off map has been extremely successful this year in terms of its popularity and distribution. We will be looking to start the review of the 2020 map in April 2020. For those who wish to continue to advertise or want to advertise for the first time on the CCI website, you will be contacted shortly so please look out for our email in your inbox. If you would like more information as to why you should advertise on the CCI website on advertising on the CCI website please contact [email protected] .The CCI website not only promotes your businesses but it also supports, educates visitors and advises of the wonderful attractions in The Catlins. If I could suggest, when talking to visitors or guests, please encourage them to visit the website www.catlins.org.nz for more information on the area.

CCI Continued………

Some interesting things are happening around The Catlins e.g. Te Rūnanga o Awarua has a Mataitai submission process underway with MPI for the Tautuku and Fleming rivers. Also, there is a proposed Mataitai for the Waipapa area. Whatever your views, I suggest now is the time to make a submission. Predator Free 2050 is still alive and well. Southland District Council are undertaking brainstorming meetings around Southalnd and I have requested a meeting in The Catlins, as this issue is important for the whole of the Catlins. As always, CCI welcomes you to come along to our monthly meetings which are held the second Monday of the month from 7.00pm – 9pm at the Fire Station. (with the exception of April as CCI meeting falls on Easter, thus CCI meeting on Monday 20th April) Regards Dianne Miller Chairperson CCI ——————————————————————————-

The Catlins website is the ‘Official website’ for The Catlins, being the first to be displayed in a Google search and, since our upgrade, is proving to be very successful with 69,854 hits during 2019 - a 59% increase on the 2018 total of 43,927 (Google Analytics data) which is great news!

Anyone who has any stories and/or poems of The Catlins they would like to ‘share’ on the website, we would love to hear from you as we would include these on the Our Stories page.

The CCI now have a new Catlins banner and it is available for those that wish to use it at any appropriate event/s. If you would like information on the use of the Catlins banner, its availability or would like some community information e.g. news and/or up and coming events be included on the new CCI website, please do not hesitate to contact [email protected]

Lisa Biginato CCI Project Coordinator

Clutha District Council

Minor Accident Report Form

Council has a Minor Accident Report Form that lets us know When, Where and How the minor accident happened so we can investigate the condition of the road, and make sure it is safe for everyone to travel on.

This form is for tourists to fill in AND for locals, including those friendly locals that have helped out at minor incidents by pulling a car out of a ditch and helping someone get back on the road. Please remember if we don’t know an accident has happened then we don’t know to investigate the road surface, and repair if needed.

This is form is for our information only. Simply fill out the form, hand it back in at any of our service centres or email to [email protected]

Do remember that if you are involved in a crash while driving, and you are not badly injured, the first thing you must do is stop and check to see if anyone is hurt and provide assistance. If someone is hurt, you must tell a police officer as soon as possible and no later than 24 hours after the crash. If no one is hurt, you must give your name, address and vehicle registration (and, if asked, the name and address of the owner of the vehicle you are driving, if it isn't your vehicle) as soon as possible but no later than 48 hours after the crash to:

- The owner or driver of any other vehicle that has been damaged - The owner of any property that has been damaged.

If you can't find these people, you must tell a police officer as soon as possible and no later than 60 hours after the crash. Note- its not electronic – so needs to be printed out then filled in and delivered / sent to CDC or scanned to help desk

Also in next 6 months a new system is to be setup to report direct into councils electronic records i.e. photos, text from devises.

We are also looking at doing a link in the ‘my little local’.

Sir Truby King Bridge Walk in Stephen Day has just published a Walking Access Commission podcast about the Sir Truby King Bridge Walk in Tahakopa, which is close to completion. You can listen to it here: https://www.walkingaccess.govt.nz/about-us/news/track-a-memorial-to-truby-king/ Stephen Day Communications Advisor | Kaitohutohu Whakapā Walking Access Commission | Ara Hīkoi Aotearoa —————————————————————————————————————- Water Quality and Consent Issues Mid-January we held a field day on our property (located at Tahakopa), to discuss water quality and consent issues, it was well supported with 35 people attending. Much discussion was on the subject of water way / drain management. Currently we don't have sensible, practical rules which enable farmers to protect their farm infrastructure, or do we have any historical water test, to compare our current test to. What is the state of Tahakopa’s ‘natural’ water? I don’t believe anyone knows! But farmers from all over are spending their own money to find out what is in the water, testing their own creeks/drains, to find some answers. Currently the common test is chemical based, testing for Nitrogen and Phosphorus, but our 'on farm' tests are showing that both these elements are found natural occurring at high levels from creeks leaving our native bush before it even enters our farm land. This has been the case on our farm, a high level of Phosphorus at our boundary with DOC, but this level drops as the water passes through our farm before entering the Tahakopa river. I have no problem with this, I believe it is the environment I live in so I accept it. But we were luckily enough to have a MCI (Macroinvertebrate Community Index) test done, which measures the stream life. As expected, the Tahakopa River was very good. The stream we tested is located beside our woolshed, thus giving an honest indication of any effects from our farming practices; it had a good MCI reading. I believe these MCI tests give a much clearer picture of our water quality, as I understand any damaging event which harms the quality of the water can be seen for up to 2 years after, by a reduced MCI count, as the macroinvertebrates re-build their numbers. Where the chemical test taken, is a " moment in time reading" effected by any climatic conditions. We found the chemical elements fluctuate with the seasons, as the leaf matter in the bush rots away. We intend to get yearly MCI tests done to ensure that the water leaving our farm is healthy, supporting good macroinvertebrate life, while we further educate ourselves, about the environment we live in and the best ways to protect it, while managing a viable business. Rachel Napier (CCI Committee member)

New Signage at the Purakaunaui Falls Car Park

Many thanks to the Clutha District Council (CDC) and Department of Conservation (DOC) in supporting and assisting the CCI with the new signage at the Purakaunaui Falls car park. Special thanks to CDC for covering the costs of printing/erecting the signs.

Yellow- eyed Penguin By Fergus Sutherland Penguin nest numbers and chicks were low again this summer, but there are indications that their food supply problems may be improving as a result of cooler sea water. Penguin tracking work at Long Point has shown remarkable foraging trips, see report and tracking map for one of the Long Point hoiho below. Thanks to the very intensive work of researchers Thomas Mattern and Mel Young, we are gaining more knowledge of our vulnerable iconic penguin.

Continued Yellow–eyed Penguin…..

Yellow-eyed Penguin Trust (YEPT) Te Tautiaki Hoiho

The 2019-2020 hoiho breeding season is nearing an end with the majority of chicks from the 11 nests at Long Point and Cosgrove Creek fledging naturally without requiring intervention for rehabilitation.

Owaka resident and Trust Catlins Ranger Sarah Irvine, continues her intensive monitoring of Trust reserves and following chick fledging is now concentrating on the adult hoiho that are beginning the moult. The major concern is ensuring that the adults have foraged successfully and put on sufficient weight to survive the fasting period of the moult.

Recently the Trust has picked up several adults with flipper wounds and other injuries. If you come across injured hoiho be sure to ring either the DOC Hot Line 0800-362-468 or the Trust on 03-479-0011.

In other penguin related work, the Trust is supporting the research of Antoine Filino ( University Phd candidate) who is sampling mosquitoes, passerines and hoiho, to look at timing of the malarial blood parasites and hopes to identify the vector of malaria in hoiho. This disease has been known to kill otherwise healthy yellow-eyed penguins, so gaining a greater understanding of the disease will be invaluable.

Good things take time and the Long Point / Irahuka Field Base has been completed, with the official opening attended by between 50-60 people, being held on the 15th February. The base sleeps four and is operational in time for the soft releasing of rehabilitated hoiho chicks at Long Point beginning in early March. As well as providing accommodation, kitchen and ablution facilities – the base also provides the freezer and fridge space needed for the storage and preparation of fish needed for the soft release process. Chicks are held for up to five days to get used to the coastal environment, during which time they are fed twice a day before being released to go to sea.

The completion of the base is a significant moment for the Trust and for supporting hoiho conservation at the point and the Catlins in general. The first two containers arrived onsite on the 15th January and thanks to all the contractors involved in the build who worked tirelessley to get it up and running.

David McFarlane / Field Manager – YEPT

Continued YEPT……….

From the left - Clinton O'Brien (Build manager - Recreation Construction Limited) , Dave McFarlane - YEPT Long Point Project Manager), Sue Murray - YEPT General Manager.

Base ready for the open day

Distant view of the base from the Long Point walking track

Catlins’ Bats on the Map Project update

It really wasn’t good batting (farming or holidaying) weather to start the season! Despite this, bats were seen and heard on the bat walks in the Spring and recorded on many detectors that have been deployed all over the region through the Summer. These results, and those of the annual surveys carried out this year, will be added to the previously known bat sightings and mapped for an exhibition about the whole project to be held in the Museum throughout May: make sure you get time to call in and have a look!

Students from both Tahakopa School and The Catlins Area School (TCAS) have learned heaps about bats! They have surveyed for both the local Long-tailed Bat and its prey (night flying insects) and they also learned how to analyse the data produced and decide if the spectrograms indicated bats or something else (such as a lot of rain!). There have been some very extremely excited students (and quite a few adults) making discoveries of new bat locations across the region from KP to Tautuku and even one in Invercargill!

At the end of November Y4-5 TCAS students had a Bat Camp where they were assisted by Bat Researcher Ian Davidson-Watts in trying to catch these rare and elusive animals. Three of the Tahakopa School students attended the international Australasian Bat Conference in Te Anau at the start of March where they presented their work to the other 100+ bat researchers attending. They then tested the Australian delegates’ knowledge of NZ bats with a quiz! They are now planning an intensive survey of one farm in the Tahakopa Valley.

The annual bat surveys have been walked with some new volunteers and some new locations of hearing bat calls (‘bat passes’) on the active detectors. Many of the survey volunteers have been using the passive bat detectors to check out new sites and had a couple of meetings to learn about other bat projects happening in New Zealand. The Magenta (‘active’) bat detectors are now available for Catlins’ residents to borrow from Earthlore, Owaka iSite and Papatowai Forest Heritage

Trust.

If you want to borrow a passive (recording) detector to check for bats using your own land or just know more about what batty stuff is happening, contact Catriona 0223 914 698 [email protected] or come along to the events happening in April and May - Catriona Gower

Continued Catlins Bats (some events)………..

The Catlins Area School’s Bat Camp in November

Setting up the harp trap to catch bats Helping Gordon from Earthlore to empty the moth traps

Long-tailed Bat that flies in the Catlins A spectrogram of a Long-tailed Bat recorded in the Owaka Valley

Tahakopa School students mapping where they have recorded bats

THINGS TO MARK ON YOUR CALENDAR FOR THE CATLINS! (please contact any events ahead of time for an update on their status re any COVID-19 restrictions)

Catlins Promotions asking for volunteer help Saturday 18th April Catlins Promotions will be working on three of its projects on the 18th of April. Folk coming to the Rotary conference in Balclutha will be providing some volunteers and any one else is welcome to join. The projects are: 1. Catlins Lakeside project, revegetation maintenance. 2. Matai Rail Trail, water table clearing. 3. Chaslands cemetery - weed control and revegetation maintenance. For further information contact Fergus Sutherland ([email protected])

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Location: 348 Catlins Valley Road, Tawanui. Set in the stunning Catlins valley surrounded by Aotearoa’s unique native greenery, EPOCH is a whanau friendly two-day music & arts festival not to be missed! With two music stages, a fire zone with fire spinners, a local artisan market, massive waterslide for all ages, onsite cafe (with all dietary require- ments met), an impressive bar serving an array of international and local beverages, camping, workshops and MORE! Facebook event link: https://www.facebook.com/events/387625521930070/? active_tab=about Cosmic ticketing link: https://www.cosmicticketing.co.nz/? search=epoch&locationid= I'll be going ahead with the bat walks and KCC event unless weather is bad or ALL gatherings are banned. I will however provide hand cleaning facilities, equipment will be cleaned and people will be able to stay a distance away from each other easily whilst still taking part. The need to get out and enjoy our natural environment for our mental health is also important!

Catriona Gower

EVERY BIT COUNTS

Sat 28 March 1–2:30pm

If you’re planning to establish native plants as part of a restoration programme, however small, you’ll be interested in the opportunity to view this project near Papatowai. The success of the 1–8 year-old plantings, which include a wetland, show which species are well suited for local conditions.

Many of the plants come from Forest & Bird’s Pro Rātā nursery near Owaka. You will be able to follow up on the Papatowai visit by coming along to Forest & Bird’s native plant sale in Balclutha on 02–03 April.

Make a booking Numbers attending “Every Bit Counts” will be limited, and booking is essential. Contact Jane Young at 03 415 8532 [email protected] no later than Wednesday 25 March.

Please note: CCI are not responsible for the accuracy of the material/information that has been supplied for the Newsletter, this is the responsibility of the author/s of the article/s. The CCI reserve the right not to include material/information in the Newsletter if deemed inappropriate.