Whangarei District Biodiversity Background Report Prepared by: M McGrath/L. Honnor Maps and Statistics by: D. Zucchetto TRIM 10/6563 Table of Contents 1. Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 6 1.1 Purpose and Objectives .......................................................................................................... 6 1.2 Methodologies and Limitations ................................................................................................. 6 1.3 What is Biodiversity? .............................................................................................................. 6 1.4 Threats to Biodiversity ............................................................................................................ 7 1.5 Governance of Biodiversity ....................................................................................................... 8 2. Biodiversity in Whangarei District: ..................................................................................... 10 3. Measuring Whangarei District Biodiversity: ...................................................................... 11 3.1 Environmental Indicators for Biodiversity ................................................................................ 11 4. Native Land Cover: .............................................................................................................. 12 4.1 Land Environments of New Zealand (LENZ) .......................................................................... 12 4.2 Land Cover Database .......................................................................................................... 15 4.3 Threatened Environments ..................................................................................................... 17 4.4 Ecological Districts and Protected Natural Areas ...................................................................... 18 5. Indicator Species: ............................................................................................................ 23 5.1 Threatened Species .............................................................................................................. 23 6. Formally Protected Areas ................................................................................................... 30 6.1 Public Conservation Land (Department of Conservation) .......................................................... 30 6.2 Nga Whenua Rahui Kawenata ............................................................................................... 34 6.3 Whangarei District Council .................................................................................................... 34 6.5 Fish and Game New Zealand Wetlands ................................................................................... 39 6.6 NZ Native Forest Restoration Trust Reserve ............................................................................ 39 7. Management of Areas Without Formal Protection ............................................................. 41 7.1 Landcare Groups ................................................................................................................. 41 7.2 Coastcare Groups ................................................................................................................. 41 7.3 Weedbusters ....................................................................................................................... 41 7.4 Whitebait Connection ........................................................................................................... 41 8 Assessment of the Three Futures ........................................................................................ 43 8.1 Future One: Lightly Regulated, Market Led Development (Business as Usual) .......................... 44 8.2 Future Two: Twin City/Urban and Coastal Spread ................................................................. 49 8.3 Future Three: Satellite Town/Rural and Coastal Villages ......................................................... 54 9 Conclusions ......................................................................................................................... 59 10 Bibliography and References ............................................................................................. 60 List of Figures Figure 1 LENZ Level I ..................................................................................................................... 13 Figure 2 LENZ Level IV ................................................................................................................... 14 Figure 3 Proportion of LCDB2 Classes Within Whangarei District ........................................................ 15 Figure 4 Landcover Database 2 ...................................................................................................... 16 Figure 5 Proportion Of Threatened Environments Within Whangarei District ....................................... 18 Figure 6 Published Protected Natural Areas ..................................................................................... 22 Figure 7 Observations of Threatened Animal Species Within Whangarei District .................................. 28 Figure 8 Observations of Threatened Plant Species Within Whangarei District .................................... 29 Figure 9 Protected Natural Areas Within Whangarei District .............................................................. 31 Figure 10 Public Conservation Land (Doc) and Parks and Reserves (WDC) Within Whangarei District ... 32 Figure 11 Designations of Public Conservation Land Within Whangarei District ................................... 33 Figure 12 Purpose of Legally Protected Land Managed by WDC......................................................... 34 Figure 13 Assessment score of Conservation Covenants ................................................................... 36 Figure 14 Conservation Covenants within Whangarei District ............................................................ 37 Figure 15 Threatened Environments for Whangarei District and Future 1 ........................................... 46 Figure 16 Kiwi distribution areas for Whangarei District and Future 1................................................. 47 Figure 17 Whangarei District Protected Areas and Future 1 ............................................................... 48 Figure 18 Threatened Environments for Whangarei District and Future 2 ........................................... 51 Figure 19 Kiwi distribution areas for Whangarei District and Future 2................................................. 52 Figure 20 Whangarei District Protected Areas and Future 2 ............................................................... 53 Figure 21 Threatened Environments for Whangarei District and Future 2 ........................................... 56 Figure 22 Kiwi distribution areas for Whangarei District and Future 2................................................. 57 Figure 23 Whangarei District Protected Areas and Future 1 ............................................................... 58 List of Tables Table 1 Change In Indigenous Land Cover Between LCDB1 And LCDB2 ............................................. 17 Table 2 Ecological Districts Within the Whangarei District ................................................................. 19 Table 3 Summary of the Key Features of the Ecological Districts ....................................................... 20 Table 4 Summary of the Key Features of the Published PNA Reports ................................................. 21 Table 5 Classification Status of Threatened and At Risk species Within Whangarei District ................... 24 Table 6 Regionally Significant Species Within Whangarei District ....................................................... 24 Table 7 Outcome of Management of Threatened Species by the Department of Conservation in Whangarei Area ............................................................................................................................. 26 Table 8 Formally Protected Areas Within Whangarei District ............................................................. 30 Table 9 Pest Plant Control Undertaken by the Parks Department, WDC .............................................. 35 Table 10 Community Pest Control Areas within Whangarei District .................................................... 38 Table 11 Management at Community Pest Control Areas within Whangarei District ............................. 38 1. Introduction 1.1 Purpose and Objectives This report describes biodiversity make up and distribution within the Whangarei District, focusing upon terrestrial and freshwater biodiversity. Development and settlement patterns can have impacts on various factors such as landscape, wildlife, urban amenity, open space, water quality (freshwater, coastal and ground water), as well as economic output and infrastructure provision. The first part of the report provides an overview of Whangarei District‘s biodiversity based upon indicators of state of environment reporting. The second part of the report examines areas of active management and legislative requirements. The last part of the report looks at the land use pattern composition under the three alternative futures proposed by the WDC Sub-Regional Growth Strategy (Sustainable Futures 30/50) and illustrates their