Young native plantings prove hardy against flood damage in Te Tauihu

Friday, 16 September 2022

Young native plantings at Ronga Reserve are still standing tall after the August floods sluiced timber debris and mud through the Te Hoiere Pelorus catchment in Marlborough.

Riparian plantings in two top of the south river catchments have survived last month’s flooding well, to the relief of those doing the mahi.

The severe floods in August washed mud and debris through young native plantings at the Mahitahi Maitai catchment in Nelson and Te Hoiere Pelorus catchment in northwest Marlborough.

Stuff has travelled over the flooded Marlborough region to examine the extent of the damage after a devastating storm. Video first published August 21, 2022.

The catchments are being restored by Kotahitanga mō te Taiao Alliance, an aspirational collective of 15 partners, comprising iwi and councils from Te Tauihu (top of the south) and the northern West Coast, the Department of Conservation, and global non-profit The Nature Conservancy. It is currently the largest conservation collaboration in Aotearoa.

After checking how their work had fared in the floods, Te Hoiere project manager Heli Wade said it was heartening to see large riparian plantings along streams and rivers had helped those areas weather the storm.

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The alliance’s weed control plan for Ronga Reserve, an important alluvial podocarp forest, includes weed suppression plantings.

The Te Hoiere catchment was particularly hard hit by the floods, so finding the plantings intact really highlighted the need for ongoing planting in flood-prone areas, Wade said.

Te Hoiere Pelorus River winds through the catchment and out towards Te Hoiere Pelorus Sound.

“They really do help, by holding soil in banks and slowing down floodwater flows.”

Rivers bursting their banks, flash floods and more intense cyclones – how climate change is making floods more extreme.

The root networks of established riparian plantings stabilised banks along waterways like an underground net. Plants along waterways also filtered nutrients out of water run-off, which would otherwise encourage harmful algae, and shaded water, to cool it down and provide a food corridor for birds and other native animals.

Project Mahitahi field staff also reported limited damage to plantings in the Maitai Valley, even in some very vulnerable sites.

Project manager Susan Moore-Lavo said the flooding event proved the value of the riparian planting projects across both environmental and social outcomes. The project trained young people through funding from Jobs for Nature.

“Whilst some of our Maitai plantings are quite young, the resilience they have shown through this devastating event has surpassed expectations.”

Alliance programme manager Debs Martin said communities and staff were working closely together through the recovery phase.

Te Hoiere team out doing mahi for Kotahitanga mō te Taiao Alliance.

“We’ve seen the KMTT (Kotahitanga mō te Taiao) model of kotahitanga (unity) working just as it should, with people offering both community support and boots on the ground to help each other through difficult times,” Martin said.

“This mahi will only strengthen connections and resilience for our awa, our whenua and our whānau as we move into the recovery phase.”

Alliance co-chair Martin Rodd said the floods had been a test of how landscape-scale nature-based solutions could contribute to building regional climate resilience.

As part of its forward-planning, the alliance was looking at ways to rapidly accelerate nature-based solutions to build resilience to climate change, Rodd said.

“These tools exist now. We need them to help mitigate the effects of climate events like this and increase our resilience against the other climate extremes of drought and wildfire. Planned well, these tools can also improve the health of our waterways, forests and ultimately our marine environment.”

The multimillion-dollar alliance spearheaded several projects within its 3.5 million-hectare takiwā (area), home to rare and endangered species found nowhere else in the world. It was expected to grow in partners and supporters as its vision for environmental restoration also grew, in line with its kaupapa “kia kotahi te hoe – further together”.

Rātā Foundation recently joined the list of supporters with a grant of $754,007 to The Nature Conservancy, which would use the funds to provide strategic support to the alliance such as improved planning, incentivised land-use changes, and greater co-ordination of community conservation projects.

Rātā Foundation chief executive Leighton Evans said the grant would cover spatial mapping, community and iwi engagement, and development of Te Tauihu-wide success measures.

“The work of the alliance aligns with the Rātā aim to create a world where people care for each other and the environment so future generations can thrive.”

The Nature Conservancy aimed to help the project with on-the-ground outcomes such as its significant weed control project Restoring and Protecting Flora, prioritising high impact weed control programmes to protect ecologically significant sites across Te Tauihu.

That included a goal for 14,000 seedlings to be planted for weed suppression over 3ha of priority sites over the next few years.

Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Kuia General Manager and alliance co-chair Dave Johnston said mātauranga Māori and iwi aspirations were integral to the alliance.

“Some of our early results are phenomenal as we think big and lead the change together,” Johnston said.

“We are gaining great momentum, which is needed, and others are partnering with us as they see the effectiveness of our new way of working together.

“All perspectives are important, and sometimes we need to look back to go forward. We are guided by our ancestors, who were instinctive in their approach. Some of their methods are considered best practice in sustainable living, and providing a solution to deal with this crisis at our doorstep.”

Te Hoiere catchment residents needing help with clearing and repairing fences to keep cattle out of the waterways, or assessing the condition of planted areas, could contact Aubrey.tai@marlborough.govt.nz or Shannon@ngatikuia.iwi.nz.