There are multiple streams of work and people supporting natural heritage work in parks. This includes extensive pest plant and animal management, restoration plantings, supporting mana whenua and community conservation work, science programme monitoring and much more.
Belmont Regional Park restoration planting surrounding a wetland near the park entrance at Waihoura Crescent. Keep an eye out on social media channels for opportunities to join the many community planting days. See Ngahere Korowai | Porirua on Facebook.
Park ecosystems are in different states of health. A significant programme called Recloaking Papatūānuku, or the Parks Restoration Programme, is focused on restoring the formerly grazed areas of parks which are in the poorest states of health. Recloaking Papatūānuku includes wetland and forest restoration plantings in Queen Elizabeth Park, Belmont, Kaitoke and Baring Head/Ōrua-pouanui (East Harbour Regional Park). The programme has been funded initially through Greater Wellington's Low Carbon Acceleration Fund (LCAF) and then the Long-Term Plan. The overall programme has a technical guide, the ‘Recloaking Papatūānuku Restoration Guide’, and park-specific restoration plans are being developed in collaboration with mana whenua.
The restoration programme is not just about planting trees. Most of the region’s bushland has regenerated through natural processes. The restoration programme is supporting natural processes of regeneration with extensive pest plant and animal management work. Fire threat management plans, new fire break trails and removal of redundant fencing are also included.
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An area of peat soils has been identified in the northeastern corner of the park, and restoring this area by ‘re-wetting’ the peat has been identified as a priority. This project is complex, with a railway, state highway, power lines, and local homes all nearby the peat soils. Our teams are collecting detailed hydrological data to inform our next steps.
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Eight ephemeral wetland pockets in the central part of the park have been identified as a priority for restoration. This will involve blocking drainage channels to slow water and allow the wetlands to recover, as well as planting of appropriate wetland species.
Get involved
Many hands make light work. If you would like to get involved in any parks restoration-related work, there are recreation and conservation groups active in every park. You can find a group and contact details on our volunteering page.
We are also looking for contractors to join our Restoration Services Panel and provide the many services required to help us restore the formerly grazed areas of parks over the next ten years.
Greater Wellington acknowledges the immense work of Colin Ryder in establishing the Friends of Baring Head and successfully seeking grants to enable the development of the Story Hub at the lighthouse complex and other heritage and landscape restoration work. Extensive restoration work is in progress in this park.
From this to this... it just takes commitment and time and there is still much work to do (two very different landscapes in Belmont Regional Park).
Get in touch
- Phone:
- 0800 496 734
- Email:
- info@gw.govt.nz