Waorahi - another amazing year
Written by Bruce Copeland
2023 was an eventful year on Waorahi. The year started with a warm glow, enjoying our upgraded roads as the native bush bloomed and quickly covered the scars from moving earth and metal. A couple of ex-Cyclones didn’t trouble us and we congratulated ourselves that the investment in upgrading water channels, including over 30 culverts had paid off.
Until that is, late February when an atmospheric river lined up Langs and Mangawhai and dumped a phenomenal amount of rain, over 160mm in a few hours. The water overwhelmed man-made and natural water courses, damaging the new roads and triggering significant slips.
Our entrance road and culvert are completely overwhelmed and impassable.
It is probably an unwelcome consequence of our changing climate and an indication of what will reoccur and likely be exceeded in future. The positive is natural streams have been gouged out, and massively expanded creating a new base for nature to recover around.
This year, the team planted 20,000 plants sourced from Mangawhai Natives. We are hoping the 2024 summer isn’t too dry and they continue to flourish after a great start during the “great wet”. I feel a sense of urgency to get the ngahere reestablished, to stabilise the whenua, protect it from more erosion, and allow it to flourish to make it more resilient to what lies ahead. And for our regenerating ngahere, another year with very low rat and possum numbers, the bush is boosting and the understory is flourishing. It’s astounding.
Another challenge was feral pigs. Always present in the Piroa and valued by local hunters their numbers have expanded massively, possibly because hunting was curtailed over Covid. Many locals have found their beautiful grass areas torn up by these pests. They are chief suspects in spreading Phytophthora agathidicida the soil-born organism that causes Kauri dieback that is killing our Kauri in the Piroa.
Some of the 69 Pigs caught this year, and the others chowing down on fruit on the trees
We feel privileged to have had the assistance of a brilliant pig specialist Kelly Peterson, from Taipa. To date, Steve, Waorahi’s Ranger has removed 69 pigs. Kelly provides the traps, techniques and years of cunning. Monitoring is by cameras Steve and Kelly monitor remotely and advice from Kelly in Taipa. Here is a video that explains Steve and Kelly’s work.
The pigs were all put to good use.
This year we built a shelter with water tank and a longdrop toilet out West on a grassy area as a campsite for walkers on the Te Araroa trail. It’s been enthusiastically received with walkers stopping for lunch and many staying overnight. This is an alternative to stopping at Waipu Cove and then having to backtrack to Cullen Road, walkers can travel the 27km from Ruakaka straight to this site.
A group of Te Araora Walkers at the new shelter
This year, a fantastic group of guys from PPP Trailbuilders in Kerikeri have spent a challenging winter camping at weekends and building our new Mountain Bike Tracks through the Pine Cutover Areas. It's still early days but the first stage is nearing completion.
Some of the first downhill features of the new Waorahi MTB Tracks
As well as the downhill tracks, contractors have been building the “up tracks”, easier grade tracks for riding uphill and for walking. Some sections go through the bush and are spectacular, the areas through the cutover will improve as the new planting becomes established.
A section of new uphill track for walking and riding
The never-ending job of pest control continued. Steve with help from Wairahi Volunteers finished a second 1080 program in spring before bird nesting. During the year the Piroa Conservation Trust Kiwi Survey confirmed Kiwi Calls coming from Waorahi.
It’s a privilege and a challenge to have taken on the responsibility of looking after this Whenua. It continues to throw up new challenges and provide deep satisfaction in ways that we could never have anticipated.
Bruce Copeland