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Past Restoration Projects

On this page you can view the historical successes we have had with our restoration planting projects. This includes our successful funding applications and the different projects that have been completed with the grants that were awarded.

2026

Another day was spent at Ivey Bay on Sunday 11 July, planting a selection of trees to cover the slope behind the kindergarten and kayak club grounds. This was the second time we tackled this area as many of the plants placed there last year on 15 June had failed. It is believed that this was due to the steep slope of the land which didn’t hold water well, and the fact that many of the plants were small and of poor quality.  Also, as is common practice, shields, designed to protect the young plants while they become established, added to the failure by reducing the amount of light getting to the leaves.

This time we planted 240 plants of 10 different species with two-thirds done on the day and the remainder put in on a return visit on the Monday. All these were of good quality and we watered each one while placing only a moisture barrier around the base to keep to reduce the risk of drying out.

This slope is quite tricky to navigate, and some found the going quite difficult, but the result looks good and they will now be monitored in the hope that many more will survive until they get their roots down to the water table.

240 plants of 10 different species with two-thirds done on the day and the remainder put in on a return visit on the Monday. All these were of good quality and we watered each one while placing only a moisture barrier around the base to keep to reduce the risk of drying out.

This slope is quite tricky to navigate, and some found the going quite difficult, but the result looks good and they will now be monitored in the hope that many more will survive until they get their roots down to the water table.

 

2025

Our 2025 planting work was facilitated by a grant from Greater Wellington Regional Council and focused on the foreshore and intertidal zone at Ivey Bay on the south western side of the Inlet. Volunteers planted 250 sea rushes (Juncus kraussii) and about 250 trees and shrubs, including kawakawa (Piper excelsum), five finger (Psuedipanax arboreus), kanuka (Kunzea ericoides), and whairangi (Melicope ternata).

Volunteers planted two areas. The first was an extension of the existing saltmarsh planting around the Ivey Bay shoreline. Earlier plantings in this area had taken root well and were spreading naturally, so volunteers added a new section along the shore. 

The second area the steep hillside along the road boundary north of the kindergarten. This site had been overrun with weeds, shrubs, and wattle trees. Porirua City Council had already cleared much of this invasive growth, and the June planting day was the next step in replacing it with native species. 

The new rushes are already visible from the road, and the new trees and shrubs will slowly grow over the next couple of years, becoming visible from the footpath along SH58, above the kindergarten.

We acknowledge the support for this planting from:

·      Greater Wellington Regional Council, for providing the funds

·      Porirua City Council, for providing the rushes and logistical support

·      The volunteers, for doing the planting.

2020-2024

In August 2020 the Minister of Conservation announced the results of the 2020 DOC Community Fund Applications. GOPI was awarded the sum of $41,989 for our project on Inlet Planting.

The focus of the project was a three-year plan to restore the poorly vegetated buffers at key sites around the Inlet and to re-establish saltmarsh and other species on the beach margins. Adding more vital saltmarsh (Juncus krausii) to the Inlet ecosystem is critical to Inlet ecosystem health – it fuels some 60% of the food chain.  The saltmarsh and other plants also provide much needed protection to bird-feeding and breeding areas and help reduce some of the pollutants from road traffic and other sources entering the Inlet. 

Porirua City Council was a key supporter, with PCC resources used to implement the project, and we worked with Ngati Toa Rangatira and other community organisations on some of the plantings. Its success was also due to the strong support and help from Porirua City Council, especially Nigel Clarke, former Council Manager – Harbour and Resource Recovery.

The plan covered:

      • Establishing saltmarsh restoration areas;
      • Buffer plantings to protect feeding and breeding sites for coastal birds using key plant species, eg: Apodasmia similis (oioi/jointed wire rush), Plagianthus divaricatus (saltmarsh ribbonwood) and Juncus kraussii (i.e Juncus maritimus — sea rush);
      • Weed control and restoration plantings in ecologically important sites;
      • Predator trapping on the perimeter of planted sites to protect coastal bird species and encourage gecko and skink habitat; predator trap counts to be added to the national database through PredatorFree.org;
      • Monitoring the success of all buffer and restoration plantings, weed control measures and the numbers of predators in the area;
      • Bird monitoring, undertaken by the Ornithological Society (this will supply information on the long-term outcomes of the project).


The project resulted in the following areas being successfully planted:

      • Motukaraka Point 23/1/21
      • Browns Bay 2/7/22
      • Camborne Walkway 2/7/22
      • Ivey Bay 20/11/22
      • Browns Bay 30/09/2023
      • Ivey Bay 24/06/2024

Here you can download a full report on the outcomes of this project.