Fifty people turned up to celebrate the official opening of the MIRO Nursery at its new site at the GNS National Isotope Centre on Friday 5 March. Officials attending included, Dr Alex Malahoff Chief Executive GNS, Greater Wellington Regional Councillors Fran Wilde and Prue Lamason, Mayor Ogden from Hutt City, Liz Mellish and Mark Te One from the Wellington Tenths Trust. Rob Stone, Department of Conservation, Stan Butcher and Steve Gentry from Lower Hutt Forest and Bird and a number of Greater Wellington staff also attended along with MIRO volunteers.
Officials at potting table
(Photo by Margaret Low GNS Science)
Mayor David Ogden speaking to the
group
Guests milling around
Plants in the Nursery
In 2009 GNS generously offered MIRO the use of the land at the National Isotope Centre for the MIRO Nursery which is propagating trees for the restoration of the Parangarahu Lakes Block in East Harbour Regional Park. The site is ideal, offering security, a sunny aspect, lots of space and a central location for volunteers. MIRO moved on to the site in late December and work parties started in earnest in January.
The opening was a chance to thank GNS for supporting this important restoration initiative. Thanks are also due to funders of the project – Pub Charity, Lion Foundation, Hutt Mana Energy Trust, the Ron Greenwood Environmental Trust and Lower Hutt Forest & Bird.
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In February, on a walk into the Gollans catchment, MIRO Volunteers Colin Ross and Rob Finch saw and photographed a juvenile robin near the banks of Gollans Stream. The first un-banded bird sighted this season and welcome evidence that breeding has been occurring.
The robins were first released into the Butterfly Creek catchment in the winter of 2008 but almost all have moved east into Gollans, and beyond. Although this has made monitoring very difficult, 12 of the original birds released have been recorded.
We encourage those of you out walking in the Park, especially in the Gollans Stream area, to keep a watch out for robins and contact us if you see any.
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On Friday 18 December several thousand plants and equipment were relocated onto our new Nursery site. With lots of willing hands, the shift went very quickly and smoothly. We look forward to starting work there in the New Year and also to having an official opening which which will give everyone an opportunity to have a look at the operation.
Many thanks to all our volunteers for your work throughout 2009 and Best Wishes for 2010.
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At a meeting on 5 June 2009 the members present voted unanimously to apply to the Registrar of Incorporated Societies for incorporation under the Incorporated Societies Act, and to apply to the Charities Commission for charitable status.
By 30 July 2009, MIRO had been incorporated and had been registered as a charitable entity under the Charities Act 2005.
Seventeen MIRO Volunteers and two Greater Wellington staff had cold but clear conditions to plant 750 trees in the third plot on the western side of Lake Kohangatera on Sunday, as part of the restoration of Parangarahu.
Pioneer species, including large numbers of mahoe, karamu, taupata and ngaio were planted closely at metre intervals in what was formerly pasture. Plots are fenced to exclude rabbits, hares and any stock that may intrude from adjacent farms. Possum traps will also be placed in the plot to prevent any stray possums browsing on the new vegetation.
Plots one and two were planted in 2007 and 2008 respectively. To compensate for losses, these two plots will be topped up with extra trees by more volunteers in the second winter planting on Friday 12 June.
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New MIRO volunteers spent part of ANZAC Day in the East Harbour Regional Park learning the fine art of setting possum traps. The two new trap-lines running on spurs up to the ridge and back down have been added in Lowry Bay by Greater Wellington for MIRO. While possum catches by MIRO volunteers continue to fall overall in the Park, it was thought that some pockets not being reached in the large Lowry catchment needed attention. |
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New MIRO recruits Pete and Doug have volunteered to look after these two new lines. The possum master kill traps are fixed to trees, a non-toxic long-lasting cereal bait is put in the trap and a flour lure containing icing sugar and aniseed is spread on the trunk below the trap. This acts as both a visual and olfactory lure for any possums that may be around. A nearby rat bait station is also topped up, to keep rats from targeting the possum bait. The volunteers will return each fortnight to remove any dead possums and re-bait traps. |
In the absence of fences to keep predators out of the Park, MIRO volunteers must ensure that traps are serviced regularly to keep predator levels low. This requires a huge effort by volunteers, but one that will be rewarded by big returns for the flora and fauna of the Park.
Global Volunteers carrying out their routine monthly possum trapping in Gollans Valley have made the first sighting of an unbanded robin in East Harbour. All the North Island robins introduced to the Park last winter were fitted with coloured leg bands so that birds could be individually identified.
The find by Global Volunteers in March 2009 of a bird with no bands is firm evidence that at least one pair of birds has bred successfully. Global Volunteer, Jamie Poe, managed to snap a photo of the bird as it approached the group.
Each month a different group of international Global Volunteers check some 34 possum traps for MIRO in Gollans valley spending most of their day there. The sighting was a fitting reward for Global Volunteers who have contributed to the successful possum control in the Park.
It is hoped that other pairs of the North Island robins have been equally successful and that more juveniles will be sighted over the coming months.
February 2009 - Greater Wellington Regional Council (GW) has just commissioned a possum monitor by an independent contractor in East Harbour Regional Park, to determine levels of possums in the Park. This is the first monitor taken since June 2006.
The figure of 2.7 percent rate of trap catch (RTC) is well below the target level of 5 percent. This is the third monitor in a row that has been below the 5 percent level, confirming that possums have now been effectively suppressed in the Park for the last 5 years.
The reduction in possums across the Park, in concert with the low level of rats within the Mainland Island will be providing favourable conditions for the North Island robins released into the Park last winter.
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A visit to the MIRO plantings in the Parangarahu Lakes Area revealed that trees were being swamped by dense grasses. While the grass had afforded protection over the height of summer, giving the trees some space now should see the plants take off when autumn rains arrive.
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A group of volunteers spent half a day in Plot 1 near Kohangapiripiri releasing the trees from the grass. A number of plants have also had protectors put around them to see the effect of this extra protection on their growth. |
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A brief check of Plot 2 revealed a healthy survival rate in spite of the hard dry summer, and in the next few weeks weeding of grasses surrounding the plants will take place here also. |
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Seven Upper Hutt college students taking part in the Hillary Challenge Programme spent a day doing a possum trap-line in East Harbour Regional Park. |
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As part of the Hillary Challenge, students were required to spend a day on a conservation project. The students agreed to do the Middle Ridge possum trap-line under the guidance of regular MIRO volunteer Brian Burke. |
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All students took a hand emptying and rebaiting possum traps and filling rat bait stations along a challenging line running through the middle of the Mainland Island. The already very fit students completed the task in super quick time. |
MIRO led a day walk into the Mainland Island area of the Park as part of the Greater Wellington Summer Walks programme. MIRO shared with the 30 participants from around Wellington their vision for the Park and explained the latest development in this project - the return of the North Island robin. Participants on the walk appreciated the opportunity to visit off track areas of the Park not usually seen by visitors, especially the giant rata on the Middle Ridge.
The GWRC Rata Community Partnership Award was presented to MIRO at a ceremony in November 2008.
The award recognises the hundreds of hours the sixty members of MIRO have put into almost eradicating possums from the MIRO area. Over a period of four years, volunteers have brought possum rates down from 27 caught per 100 traps set to 1.8 per 100 traps, which has led to the regeneration of native bush and a growth in the numbers of birds.