WEST COAST STATUS REPORT Meeting Paper For West Coast Tai Poutini Conservation Board TITLE OF PAPER STATUS REPORT AUTHOR: Mark Davies SUBJECT: Status Report for the Board for period ending 15 April 2016 DATE: 21 April 2016 SUMMARY: This report provides information on activities throughout the West Coast since the 19 February 2016 meeting of the West Coast Tai Poutini Conservation Board. MARINE PLACE The Operational Plan for the West Coast Marine Reserves is progressing well. The document will be sent out for Iwi comment on during May. MONITORING The local West Coast monitoring team completed possum monitoring in the Hope and Stafford valleys. The Hope and Stafford valleys are one of the last places possums reached in New Zealand, arriving in the 1990’s. The Hope valley is treated regularly with aerial 1080, the Stafford is not treated. The aim is to keep possum numbers below 5% RTC in the Hope valley and the current monitor found an RTC of 1.3% +/- 1.2%. The Stafford valley is also measured as a non-treatment pair for the Hope valley, it had an RTC of 21.5% +/- 6.2%. Stands of dead tree fuchsia were noted in the Stafford valley, and few mistletoe were spotted. In comparison, the Hope Valley has abundant mistletoe and healthy stands of fuchsia. Mistletoe recruitment plots, FBI and 20x20m plots were measured in the Hope this year, and will be measured in the Stafford valley next year. KARAMEA PLACE Planning Resource Consents received, Regional and District Plans, Management Planning One resource consent was received for in-stream drainage works. Three district comments were completed for guided rafting, collection of botanical samples and helicopter landings. DOCDM- doc-2746656 - Status Report to April 2016 1 Visitor Management Strong summer tourism and visitor use has seen our number on the Heaphy Track up on previous years. At this stage it looks like we will set a recent year use record this season. An early Easter (traditional kiwi tramping weekend) and fair weather in the recent school holidays have contributed to the strong user numbers. We have received very complimentary feedback on the Heaphy facilities this season. A process is about to get underway looking at the extension of the Mountainbike season on the Heaphy. At all other facilities in the Karamea Place, regular maintenance work has been undertaken. Community Involvement/Initiatives A meeting was held between DOC, Conservation Volunteers NZ (CVNZ) and the Karamea Estuary Enhancement Group (KEEP) to discuss ways CVNZ could assist with the Karamea Estuary enhancement project. It was agreed that CVNZ volunteers would work with KEEP three times a year on planting, weeding and other projects at the estuary site. A meeting was held with DOC, CVNZ, KEEP and Karamea Area School to discuss ways to get the students engaged with the natural environment. Karamea Area School high school students assisted DOC rangers with a whio release in time for whio awareness month. Five whio were brought up from Peacock Springs and released by the students into Honeycomb Stream. The students named the whio Fern and Waddles (girls), Jeffrey, Theo and Maverick (boys). The story was on the DOC blog and picked up by the media (The Press and Stuff). The Buller Conservation Volunteers spent five days on the Heaphy Track with a ranger painting the Heaphy Shelter. The volunteers also spent an additional five days with a ranger painting the Honeycomb Hut in the Oparara Basin and weed-busting at Kohaihai. Historic No specific historic work has been scheduled or undertaken in the Karamea place in the reporting period. Species Management Surveys for short-tailed bat have been underway in the Oparara basin. Good numbers of long-tailed bats have been recorded with some possible short-tailed bat recordings. Further work is being undertaken to try and confirm short-tailed bat presence. Five whio ducklings raised from eggs at Peacock Springs in the Christchurch were released in the Oparara Basin by Karamea School students in March. DOCDM- doc-2746656 - Status Report to April 2016 2 A full census of whio in the Oparara/Ugly whio security site was undertaken using dogs in late February. The results were very encouraging with 45 pairs found. The site is now is close to reaching its goal of protecting 50 pair of whio. Animal Pest Control Goat Control No goat control in this area this period. Possum Control No pest control in the area this period. Weed Pest Control Ground based Weed control has been undertaken in Oparara and Umere areas. Habitat Protection Work on biodiversity enhancement plans for the Heaphy catchment this period has included: Survey to detect presence of long tailed bats at sites suitable for catching using harp traps; servicing of seedfall traps in hard beech, silver beech and rimu; running rodent tracking tunnels in the upper (10 lines) and lower catchment (10 lines); census of the coastal cress Lepidium flexicaule along the Heaphy coast, seed was collected for nursery raising and planting; and weed control undertaken along the coastline north of the Heaphy River (gorse and marram) as well as the Heaphy/Gunner/Lewis river margins and coastline south of the Heaphy River to Kohaihai (gorse, tree lupin, nasturtium) . Fire There have been no fires in the area attended by DOC staff this period. Monitoring Rodent tracking tunnel lines were run in February. There were moderate numbers of rat recorded in the Oparara basin, high numbers the Heaphy catchment, and low numbers in the Kakapo catchment. KAWATIRI PLACE Planning Resource Consents received, Regional and District Plans, Management Planning One resource consent was received for gold mining. Six district comments were completed on topics such as collection of rock samples, guided walking and filming. Visitor Management Our Westport rangers have undertaken maintenance at all front country facilities around Westport and the Kawatiri Place. A focus of use has been Tauranga Bay and the Cape Foulwind walkway. The solid summer’s tourism numbers have seen use for this place swell when compared to previous seasons. The track will receive an upgrade to deal with the worst patches of track formation and sub-base repairs. This is likely to commence in May/June. DOCDM- doc-2746656 - Status Report to April 2016 3 The Westport team have worked on the end sectors of the Old Ghost Road (OGR). Since its opening on the 12th December 2015, the Old Ghost Road has achieved a strong national (and international) profile. The use on the OGR has been well received and solid through the season. Businesses around the district have noticed the impact that the trail, and its subsequent users and visitors are contributing to the local economy. Community Involvement/Initiatives A “Teach the Teacher” day was spent with six teachers from Westport South School showing them how to run the whitebait connection education module. A ranger gave a presentation to eight Myanmar migrants and the whole Granity School on the flora and fauna found on The Old Ghost Road track. The migrants then ran Ghost Road Enduro the following day. The Buller Conservation Volunteers spent a day with three rangers planting 120 gentians (Gentianella scopulorum) at Charleston. The Department initiated a recovery project in 2001 as these nationally critical New Zealand endemic plants are only known at the coastal cliff tops at Charleston. The Buller Conservation Volunteers also spent a day doing historical preservation work on the locomotives at Charming Creek and another two days at Denniston working on restoring the tensioner. A ranger assisted the Buller High School planting day at Cape Foulwind. The school has been planting there each term for over 15 years and the re-vegetation project will be finished by the end of this year. Historic Planned historic maintenance work has been undertaken at Charming Creek and the wider Denniston and Coalbrookdale areas this reporting period. The Denniston Bridle track is still closed due to the big slip on its upper reaches and the loss of a bridge. Funding for its re-instatement still needs to be found, and there will be no approved re- instatement of this in the following year (2016/17fy) so will need to try for a 2017/18fy bid. Species Management Some survey work for great spotted kiwi in the Western Paparoa’s using acoustic recorded has been started. Planting of nursery raised Charleston gentians has been completed by volunteers and DOC staff. Animal Pest Control Goat Control No goat control in this area during this period DOCDM- doc-2746656 - Status Report to April 2016 4 Possum Control There has been no pest control work completed this period. Weed Pest Control Aerial spraying for Old Mans Beard has been completed in the lower Buller Gorge. An increased in the amount of the weed was found this year, possibly because of the good growing conditions this summer. Aerial spraying of blackberry in the Mokihinui catchment was also completed. Habitat Protection Work on biodiversity enhancement plans for the Denniston Plateau this period has included: servicing of seedfall traps in hard beech, silver beech, mountain beech and rimu; running rodent tracking tunnels for rats (1 night and 20 night periods) and stoats (3 night and 20 night periods); and weed control across the plateau targeting gorse and broom (widespread), Juncus squarrosus at priority sites and grey willow, Nardus stricta, Rhododendron ponticum, cherry laurel and Escallonia rubra. PAPAROA PLACE Planning Resource Consents received, Regional and District Plans, Management Planning Two district comments were completed on the collection of moss and filming. Visitor Management Punakaiki and the wider Paparoa Place is where we have noticed the strong summer tourism numbers the most. The wider place has been really well visited and the Dolomite Point “pancake rocks” walk particularly busy.