Piako Catchment Forum WHAT IS HAPPENING AND OPPORTUNITIES TO GET INVOLVED https://piakocatchmentforum.co.nz Keep Beautiful 1 Community Nursery Propagation and growing of native plants for projects in and around Te Aroha. Meet every Friday 9.30 -1200 at Te Aroha 12 Reinstating and restoring riparian College. wetlands at the farm scale 2 Waitoa Industrial Current projects around town – Herries Park Estate Limited (WIEL) David Sing and other local farmers. and Skidmore reserve wetland restoration. The Ruru Programme Wetland enhancement and riparian planting. Opportunities to help with propagation/ Riparian and native forest restoration. potting up seedlings, planting and weed Contact David Sing: 0273 447 404 control. Supported by School and Wallace Corporation (now WIEL). Contact Rien van de Weteringh: You can visit this site by appointment. 021 930 960, email: [email protected] Contact Ruairi Kelly: 0204 0133 857

11 Keep Beautiful Opportunities to get involved with helping support the volunteers who are involved 3 Kahikatea Green Wheel in several beautification projects within 13 Our Bats in our place Morrinsville. Assessment tool developed by We have started surveying likely sites Regional Council to monitor health of Contact Olwyn Downing: 07 889 7482 around Morrinsville and the Waitoa kahikatea remnants. Catchment and are detecting long-tailed bats in many locations. This is exciting as The KGW tool is linked to the Connecting the they are threatened with extinction. Waitoa Project. Our Bats is linked to the Connecting the Opportunities to learn how to do an 10 Morrinsville Allen Street Gully Waitoa Project. assessment. Restoration Contact Norm: [email protected] Contact Norm Mason: [email protected] Native restoration project in the heart of Morrinsville. Opportunities for weed control, pest control. 4 Hawes Bush MPDC Reserve Contact Jude Tisdall: 021 947 815 or email: [email protected] Friends of Hawes Bush are an informal or David Sing: 0273 447 404 group who are interested in lowland forest restoration, and undertake weeding and native planting activities on a semi regular basis. This project is part of a bigger Piako Catchment Forum project called 7 Te Miro pest control group 9 Clean up the River Campaign ‘Connecting the Waitoa’ which aims Morrinsville Walkway Project. MPDC reserve – Waterworks Road Reserve, to restore and connect lowland forest also known as the Te Miro Mountain Bike Park. fragments along the Waitoa River between Removal of rubbish, weeds and replanting Waharoa and Waitoa villages. opportunities. Opportunities for volunteer pest control. Contact Jude Tisdall: 021 947 815 Contact Jude Tisdall: 021 947 815 Contact Milan Radonich: or email: [email protected] [email protected] or email: [email protected] or Warren Smith: 027 278 9181 or email [email protected]

6 Bridge to Bridge project 5 Te Kura o Waharoa 8 Topehaehae Restoration Project The Bridge to Bridge is a project involving Unlocking Curious Minds project Gully restoration along the Topehaehae all landowners between the two bridges Student designed resources for native and stream. Turning weed invested riparian over Puketutu Road, and Station Road, who weed plant species identification. areas, back in to native forest. are committed to improving and protecting the Waitoa River. Each farm has had an Collection, establishment and monitoring of Opportunities for animal pest control environment plan completed that identified biocontrol agents for Tradescantia fluminensis, and further planting. areas of risk. Riparian margins have been a major forest weed. Contact Jude: 021947815 increased and planting plans are being Surveys for presence of native long-tailed bats or email: [email protected] implemented. (pekapeka) in forest remnants near Waharoa. Contact John Vosper: [email protected] Contact Norm: [email protected] It seems from the locations where we have looked for bats, that long-tailed bats fly in far more areas than just along There are a lot of remnants in the Waitoa which need looking after. The map below shows existing and historic 13 the Waitoa River. We have surveyed habitats such as stands of old trees, kahikatea remnants, vegetation alongside 3 kahikatea ecosystems in the Waitoa catchment. Waikato Regional Council has developed a Kahikatea Green Wheel Waitoa River and we are extremely lucky that bats are still present in our area, as their Threat status is Nationally monitoring tool to assist landowners and resource managers assess the health of their kahikatea remnants, and Critical based on high rates of decline due to clearance and logging of lowland forests, cutting old-age trees for fire track recovery in response to ecological restoration and management actions. wood, predation by introduced animals such as cats, possums, rats and stoats, and exclusion of bats from roots by If you would like to learn more about the Kahikatea Green Wheel, contact Norm: [email protected] introduced mammals, birds, wasps and human interference. The map below shows where we have detected long- tailed bats thus far. If you would like to learn more about protecting bat habitat, contact Norm: [email protected]

Bat survey locations to October 2020.