Waiheke Resources Trust - Love Our Wetlands Love Our Wetlands Annual Report 2019-2020 2 Waiheke Resources Trust - Love Our Wetlands Index Project background 2 Toitū te Marae a Tane, Toitū te Marae a Tangaroa, Toitū te Iwi If the land is well and the sea is well, we the people will thrive Why are wetlands important? 3-4 Wetland restoration team 5-6 Our organisation COVID-19 response 7 Waiheke Resources Trust (WRT) was established in 1998 Volunteering and internships 7-8 and became a registered Charitable Trust in 2008. Over time, the Trust’s work on Waiheke has broadened to the following aspects of sustainable living: biodiversity, Building community capacity 9-10 ecological restoration, energy, food resilience, water Project timeline 11 quality and waste minimisation. WRT works to celebrate and protect all the resources Restoring a wetland on Waiheke 12 we have and build capacity and knowledge in the Restoration management phases 13-17 community toward the creation of a resource-full future for all. It seeks to provide the Waiheke community with Funding 18 information, inspiration, innovation and education to make ethical, effective and powerful decisions with sponsors and partners of LOWW 19 respect to sustainability. Workplan 20 Project background Love Our Wetlands Waiheke (LOWW) began as a community partnership between WRT, Waiheke Local Board and the wider Waiheke community in 2015. The project is guided by local experts working with volunteer groups and the Waiheke community towards the ecological restoration and protection of the important wetland habitats and surrounding environments on Waiheke. Email [email protected] Phone Our goals 09 372 2915 Long term ecological restoration of Waiheke's threatened environments. Waiheke Resources Trust Waiheke Sustainability Centre Project work that focuses on planting, maintenance and Mako Street, Oneroa monitoring, and reducing weed species. 1081 Auckland Project delivery that empowers volunteers, nurtures community partnerships and provides sustainable ecological education. 1 2 Waiheke Resources Trust - Love Our Wetlands Waiheke Resources Trust - Love Our Wetlands Why are wetlands important? Key messages Wetlands are a Taonga Our Role I Love Our Wetlands Wetlands act like Waiheke is a local Only initiative led and guided by II local experts. The project works III Wetlands with the Waiheke community improve 10% of wetlands remain and volunteer groups towards kidneys water quality the ecological restoration and in Aotearoa protection of four significant IV for the earth wetland habitats and surrounding environments on Waiheke Island [Wetlands trap carbon ] – Matiatia Headland, Te Whau, Rangihoua and Te Matuku. Wetlands are giant sponges, Wetlands trap sediment and Matiatia has a history Te Whau, a showcase Te Matuku, Auckland Rangihoua was once absorbing water during soils, filter out nutrients and of slips since farming of all wetland layers, Region's most a highly infested, floods and releasing water remove contaminants I times. In this area the II from freshwater to III significant wetland is IV neglegted old priority is to weed and saltmarsh. highly sensitive and a farmland. It has been during drought plant in a manner that moth plant hotbed. transformed into a prevents erosion. The priority is to near-fully restored preserve its unique, wetland. heritage and stature. More species of wildlife inhabit wetland than bushland the Wetlands improve water quality, process Wetlands are a nursery and habitat for same size nutrients, trap sediment and soils, and rare and endangered bird, fish and plant filter contaminants as water flows from species. More species of wildlife inhabit a land to the ocean. wetland than bushland. Objectives • Partner with the Waiheke Local Board and deliver • Celebrate and acknowledge volunteers. agreed outcomes. • Develop sponsorship and funding relationships to Wetlands reduce flooding effects. They Wetlands reduce the effects of climate • Use local expert knowledge on plants and further support and advance project work. act like sponges, sucking up water during change by removing carbon from the ecosystems. • Employ local contractors for mechanical and floods and releasing it during droughts. atmosphere and trapping it. • Use only locally eco-sourced plants. dangerous site work. • Consult with iwi, Piritahi Marae, local community • Have a methodical weed management plan that is organisations, private landowners and the wider spray-free, uses minimal herbicide and prioritises Waiheke community. manual control where possible. • Engage local and offshore volunteers wherever • Priority weed eradication includes mothplant, Being an island community, we are 90% of wetlands in Aotearoa have been possible to build ecosystem awareness and japanese honeysuckle, asparagus, tobacco, privet, highly connected to the ocean and drained for agricultural and development relationships between restoration sites and pampus and gorse. 90% waterways that surround us. purposes. people. 3 4 Waiheke Resources Trust - Love Our Wetlands Waiheke Resources Trust - Love Our Wetlands Local project advisors With more than 100 years of combined experience on Waiheke between them, our advisors produce well rounded approaches to restoration work. Kym Rawson Restoration Manager Kym has been the Restoration Manager for the Waiheke Resources Trust since 2016. Kym is an experienced and passionate local bringing a superior knowledge base to action for restoration on Waiheke. He has worked for 13 years under the tutelage of the advisory team both professionally and voluntarily. Kym is a huge asset secured for the benefit of the wetlands and their legacy. Ivan Kitson Project Advisor From an architecture and design background, I moved to Waiheke in 1983. Since then I have been involved in propagation and restoration of Waiheke Native Species as a local plants-man. In the mid-1990’s I was co-writer of Greening Our Gulf Islands, a manual for native restoration on Waiheke Island. I have been involved with and advocating for wetland restoration since the late 1980’s on Waiheke. Tony King-Turner Project Advisor I have a BSc in geology and botany. I have worked as guide and track builder within Fiordland and Abel Tasman National Parks. I have also worked as an outdoor education teacher, wharfie, geologist, farmer, nurseryman, landscaper, pathfinder and environmentalist. Of recent years my work and interest has veered increasingly from landscaping to ecological restoration of forests and wetlands, in the role of volunteer, designer, grant writer and contractor. I also design and build most of the public walkways on Waiheke. Ten years ago I helped set up the Waiheke Island Wetland Initiative (WIWI) with the aim of restoring wetlands and raising public awareness. The Waiheke Resource Trust’s “Love Our Wetlands” is now carrying on this valuable work on Waiheke. Rob Morton Project Advisor I have been involved with ecological restoration on Waiheke for over 25 Restoration team years. I have been growing eco-sourced native plants during that time from The restoration team is a group of passionate our nursery Gulf Trees. Most of our work is with restoration and revegetation environmentalists, made up of experienced plantings, and I have done a lot of hands-on and consultation work as part ecologists, local enthusiasts, volunteers and WRT of these projects. We have supplied trees to many of the Gulf Islands, as interns. The team works using a tuakana/teina model well as from Waiheke. 20 years ago, a group of us bought 169 ha of land at where experienced team members work with, Awaawaroa Bay and we have done massive amounts of restoration with support and build the knowledge of others. This all weeding done manually; no herbicide has been used. We have made fosters belonging and a culture of building future enormous progress against invasive strangling weeds. Waiheke’s natural environmental sustainability leaders. environment is a very critical part of my life. 5 6 Waiheke Resources Trust - Love Our Wetlands Waiheke Resources Trust - Love Our Wetlands WRT a Living Wage Employer Professional development Volunteerism Internship programme WRT has been practicing living wage since early 2016 We believe that teaching a holistic approach to LOWW welcomes corporate, community and school WRT hosts interns from all around the world. and is now an accredited Living Wage Employer. restoration and best practices for staff and volunteers groups from across Aotearoa and the world looking to LOWW gives opportunities to develop skills in GIS yields the best long-term results. Staff are offered engage with environmental community projects. mapping, restoration methodologies, marketing and “A living wage is the income necessary to provide opportunities to gain qualifications through advanced community engagement. In the 2019-20 year, WRT workers and their families with Positive environmental and social impacts for Grow Safe and NCEA Outdoor First Aid courses. These hosted 11 international interns through a partnership the basic necessities of life. A volunteering is huge. Here is what LOWW volunteers training courses are sourced through a partnership with Internships New Zealand. They worked alongside living wage will enable workers to have given back to our wetlands this year. with Auckland Council, and have been offered both the restoration team, gaining knowledge of Waiheke’s live with dignity and to participate to the LOWW Restoration Team as well as the wider native biodiversity and why the restoration of our as active