A team from Predator Free Hauraki Coromandel Community Trust are hard at work reducing pest plants in Mautohe Cathedral Cove as part of project to restore the area and reinstate walking access to the popular beach.

“We want this special place to be in great shape for visitors when it reopens,” said DOC’s Hauraki-Waikato-Taranaki Regional Director Tinaka Mearns.

“Alongside cyclone damage, the area is also under threat from introduced pest plants that stand to undermine the area’s unique beauty and native biodiversity.”

Globally recognised for its idyllic small beach and famous rock arch, Mautohe Cathedral Cove has been a marine-only experience since February 2023, when extreme weather events triggered landslides which significantly damaged the track and resulted in its closure.

The involvement of the Predator Free Hauraki Coromandel Community Trust (PFHCCT) in the Mautohe Cathedral Cove work programme is a great boost for the project, said Mearns.

“They’ve done some excellent work removing pest plant and tidying up vegetation across the reserve during the last few weeks.

“It’s been hard physical work and we’ve been impressed by the results.

“Involving an organisation like this trust to contribute to walking access reinstatement supports the local community and helps us build a partnership with a recognised conservation contributor in the area.”

Jude Hooson, CEO of PFHCCT, said the Trust’s members recognise the importance of Mautohe Cathedral Cove – and the significance of opening it up to the public – and are thrilled to be working alongside DOC and Ngāti Hei.

“We’re really delighted to be part of the collaborative effort. In many ways this is an extension of the recovery support our Field Support Team has already provided to groups across the peninsula.

“In addition to helping to open up the main walkway, this is also an opportunity to remove problematic pest plants as a first step towards enhancing the native biodiversity of this very special place.”

Meanwhile, visitors to the site continue to be an issue for staff and contractors working to reinstate the track.

Members of the public accessing the track while it is closed are compromising the delivery of the work required to fully reopen it and are entering an active and hazardous worksite.

DOC staff and contractors turn away dozens of visitors every day.