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Looking
landwards onto gully part of bush regeneration site showing progress.
The area at the top of the hill is old bush, about 50 years old. Below
that on the left is an area of untouched gorse. The area in the gully
in the middle of the photos and to the right shows regrowth from sowing
manuka/kanuka and replanting with pohutukawa, karo, coprosma and other
native plants. The few patches of yellow indicate gorse that is yet
to be dealt to.
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| Looking northwards, showing
the mix of bush including flax, manuka, karo, pohutukawa etc that
is coming away in areas where there has been clearance of gorse and
replanting. In this situation it is not possible to simply spray or
cut gorse and replant as there is too much harsh coastal wind for
plants to survive. Instead, existing natives are hand released and
plants are planted in gaps cut in the gorse. The gorse is used to
give shelter to young plants and is progressively cut away. This is
labour intensive work, but gets quicker results than allowing the
gorse free rein. This is why the area in the photo looks patchy. In
fact, there are natives coming away in most of this area, although
not on the hillside at the extreme right top which has not been touched.
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Queen's
Birthday June 2004 Update
| Two scenes from
the site of the bush regeneration site taken on Queen's Birthday Weekend,
June 2004. The top photo shows old unburned renegenerating bush, below
which is a yellow strip running up on each side of the gully. This
is flowering gorse in an area where we have not done any work. The
green area in the foreground and running up the middle is bush that
has regenerated as part of the project. |
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| The second photo
shows old regenerating bush at top right then a large expanse of gorse
below that. No work has been done in this area of gorse monoculture.
The gorse has smothered everything else. The green area in the foreground
is a gully where we have removed gorse and replanted and seeded with
manuka. Back-breaking work but great when you see the results! |
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Bush
regeneration project after fire
Since 1994 a major
bush regeneration project has been occurring on the Pearce property. A
disastrous fire in February 1994 destroyed seven hectares of bush. The
fire spread up from ARC land on the Tasman Lookout Track onto the Byers
and Pearce land.
February 1994 -
flames eat their way up the hillside, devouring many hectares
of bush that had been regenerating since the 1940s. Photo: NZ Herald
The land had been
farmed until about the 1940s, and the regeneration has been a stop-start
process because of fires. The bush that was destroyed was mainly kanuka
and manuka, with nikau, ponga and other forest species starting to appear
underneath it.
Devastation as
far as the eye can see - days after the fire. Photo: H Pearce
In October 1998 a
second fire devastated part of the same area.
Site of the bush
regeneration project. The white diagonal line is created
by dead trees in a gully on the property.
Photo was taken from the top of Lion Rock, January 1997. Photo: P Hosking
Since 1994 Sandra
Coney and Peter Hosking have been working on the Pearce land to get the
land back into bush as quickly as possible. The site is steep, prone to
being battered by strong winds and there is no water source. The project
was given a start by the Piha Environmental Group which planted pohutukawas
and scattered manuka seed.
Since then, Coney
and Hosking have been battling the sea of gorse that sprung up in the
wake of the fires. Fire causes gorse seeds that have lain in the soil
for decades to spring into life, and the thick growth, rather than sheltering
natives that are coming away, smothers and outgrows them. Much of the
work has involved making space for the manuka, flax, coprosmas and mahoes
to flourish. The fastest growing gorse - in sheltered locations - is tackled
first. Spraying pampas is another important task as this imported weed
flourishes at Piha.
To ensure that plants
are genetically acclimatised to Piha, seed is collected from bush elsewhere
on the property or around Piha, grown into plants and then returned to
the site. Other plants have been purchased from local people. Many hundreds
of karos, pohutukawas and coprosmas have been planted.
This is a long term
project. Because of its size, the whole area cannot be taken on at once.
The hope is that as areas of bush are re-established, seeds from these
blocks will be spread by birds and wind throughout the site. Already bush
in the gully above the Green Rock is well underway, as are other areas.
Tackling a hillside of
gorse, reeds, bracken and dead teatree, with a few flax from
a planting.
Photo taken July 2000. Photo: L Simmons
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Bush
Regeneration
