First stage completed for lower Waipa planting
The well established environmental group Whaingaroa Habour
Care has completed the first stage of project funded by the
Authority in the lower Waipa catchment.
Whaingaroa Harbour Care has a long term to goal to plant a million native trees
over the next decade by working with willing landowners in the catchment.
In a project funded by the Authority in 2012 Whaingaroa Harbour Care has
planted tens of thousands of trees in the area between Pirongia and Ngaruawahia.
The planting will reduce sediment and nutrient runoff from farmland in the area
into the Waipa River and its tributaries.
NIWA is working with the Waikato Raupatu River
Trust, Waikato River fisheries kaitiaki and tribal
members to boost whitebait numbers – a five-year
project funded by the Waikato River Authority. This
is a major restoration project being carried out in
several stages and is now well under way.
There are three main aims:
• To design and create new spawning habitats
• To restore access for all whitebait species to
critical habitats currently inaccessible due to
migration barriers
• To enhance adult whitebait habitats
• An additional feature of the project is for the
reciprocal knowledge sharing between the
project team, tribal members and the local
communities.
The clean-up project starts at the Mangaonua
Stream’s gully system, in Hillcrest, Hamilton. The
trust is taking a collaborative approach, to achieve
the project’s four main objectives:
• Site clearance through eradication of pest
species, both flora and fauna, along the banks
of the Mangaonua Stream gully system
• Planting of native flora species
• Developing and implementing a monitoring
system that tracks the health and wellbeing
of plants, and monitoring of pests and water
quality
Construction of walkways through the gully system
to improve access.
Gully clean-up undertaken by Trust
New spawning ground identified during whitebait project Continued...
Inanga eggs, each about 1mm long, found in a new
whitebait spawning site on the Waikato River.
“We were very surprised by the size of the site, it
was a significant and exciting find that will help us
understand more about the spawning requirements
of this important species.”
In addition, 20 artificial substrates were placed
along the river banks near Te Puuaha o Waikato/
Port Waikato to determine their effectiveness as a
spawning substrate for inanga. It is anticipated that
a training workshop will be held in 2014 to assist
tribal members to use these artificial substrates as
a monitoring tool.
Dr Baker says an abundance of whitebait is one
of the indicators used to signify the health of the
river. “The Waikato as a catchment lends itself
to producing inanga habitat, the main whitebait
species. So when there is an abundance of that
species it would signify you’ve got some good
quality habitats for fish.”
Between April and May, the team carried out
surveys over four spring tides and identified two
new inanga spawning sites. At one site a major
spawning event was documented, where eggs were
laid over approximately 94m2 of the river bank.
NIWA aquatic ecologist Cindy Baker said this is the
largest spawning site discovered to date on the
Waikato River.
A significant gully restoration project to help
the health and wellbeing of the Mangaonua
Stream, which flows into the Waikato River, is
showing good results. The Ngaati Haua Mahi
Trust who received $277,000 funding from the
Waikato River Authority is undertaking
the project.
