Sanctuary within Otawa Forest

Te Whakakaha Conservation Trust is inviting the public to a free barbeque at the newly designated Otawa Sanctuary Area at the top of No 3 Road on the outskirts of Te Puke this Saturday. Photo: waitaha-iwi.org.nz

From quarry site to wildlife sanctuary, it's a huge leap in status for 400 hectares of land at the top of Te Puke's No. 3 Road – and certainly a cause for celebration.

The Te Whakakaha Conservation Trust is inviting the community to come down and celebrate the official designation of the Otawa Sanctuary Area as a wildlife haven with a free barbeque at the site this Saturday.

The land, formerly the Pakis Quarry, is administered by the Department of Conservation and was officially designated a sanctuary area on December 29, 2016.

A spokesperson for the trust says gates, which are normally locked, will be open between 10am-2pm to access the old quarry site at the end of the gravel road.

'There will be a short formal ceremony at 11am followed by a barbeque and a chance to meet DOC, council and members of the newly formed Te Whakakaha Conservation Trust to find out about the challenging work that lies ahead.”

The spokesperson says the trust has big plans for the sanctuary and will be aiming to bring the land back to an area of ecological integrity, fit for habitat for New Zealand's native wildlife. Pest control is a priority and also replanting of native trees in the bare spaces where buildings have been removed.

'Kiwi were present many years ago and local branches of Forest & Bird have lobbied hard for two decades to have the area protected because of the presence of a small population of rare native frogs. They are present in a remote area of the sanctuary and extremely vulnerable to disturbance.

'DOC staff have already done an impressive amount of work on removal of buildings and restoring natural flows to the waterways by removing large culverts put in for quarry access.”

Support for the work has come from the BOP Regional Council, Western Bay District Council, local iwi Waitaha and Tapuika, Forest and Bird, and local volunteers through the community Trust, adds the spokesperson.

For more information about the Otawa Sanctuary Area celebration which takes place on Saturday, April 29, email tewhakatrust@gmail.com

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1 comment

Great initiative

Posted on 26-04-2017 09:46 | By Papamoaner

Good luck with it folks. We need more of this. Every bit of native bush regeneration helps. Hmm, because it was a quarry, I wonder if the old native seeds have all gone. Normally a good trick is to let it all revert to gorse to provide shade for native seedlings. Then when the bush grows, it kills off the gorse. Bit of a long wait though. In this instance it might be better to plant seedlings.


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