Defence Force hits pests hard
A High Country conservation project is already producing results, as Matthew Littlewood reports.
THE New Zealand Defence Force is laying down its guns and helping regenerate the delicate natural environment of the South Island high country.
The pristine highland area of the Mackenzie Basin is home to more than 30 native, endangered plant, bird and insect species, including the black stilt (kaki), jewelled gecko, rock wren and at least six native lizard species.
After years of decline, the NZDF joined forces with the Department of Conservation, the Next Foundation, local landholders and iwi to protect native broom and tussock.
The Defence Force is helping the project, because of the size of its 17,000-hectare military camp at Tekapo. It is the largest stretch of continous nongrazed land in the upper Mackenzie Basin..
The principal ecologist for the NZDF, Stephen Phillipson, said it had been ramping up its regeneration work over the past five or so years, particularly after the Tekapo Military Camp received an extra 8300ha as a result of a tenure review.
‘‘There were all sorts of species that were declining all over the place,’’ Phillipson said.
‘‘Thanks to our planting and pest control, we have been able to restore a lot of species, or at least provide habitats.’’
One of the projects of Te Manahuna Aoraki involves the Defence Force, in partnership with Nga¯ i Tahu, creating diversion weirs to stop invasive trout clogging up the waterways, and improving the passages for native fish.
Defence Force Tekapo warden Sam Staley said they were already seeing the results.
‘‘Since we put the weir in, we’ve been able to collect hundreds of trout and diverted them to other river systems,’’ he said.
‘‘What we’ve been able to determine from early surveys is that the native fish population is sustainable.’’
Phllipson said the native fish project came about after years of ‘‘idle chatter’’ between various agencies but it was only through Te Manahuna Aoraki that it actually gained ground.
Pest control was a vital component of the Defence
Force’s work. The increasing wallaby population was a particular problem.
‘‘They’re pretty secretive, and pretty smart. They will find habitat that suits them and stay there,’’ Staley said.
‘‘It’s important to get them straight away, otherwise they just multiply.’’
The spread of wilding pines is also an issue, Phillipson said, but the site’s sheer diversity of tussocks, and unbroken sequences of tarn, also meant the Defence Force’s land in Tekapo was an ideal habitat for native reptiles, insects and even braided river birds.
Conservation Minister Eugenie Sage said Te Manahuna Aoraki’s latest project could be a model for other conservation initiatives.
‘‘I’m hugely optimistic about what it can achieve for the Mackenzie Basin,’’ Sage said.
‘‘While no minister can guarantee government funding outside a four-year Budget appropriation, I’m confident that we will see the benefits of three years commitment to pest and weed and predator control and threatened species management in this amazing landscape.’’
‘We have been able to restore a lot of species, or at least provide habitats.’ STEPHEN PHILLIPSON, DEFENCE FORCE PRINCIPAL ECOLOGIST
MYTCHALL BRANSGROVE/STUFF