A channel which has been opened up as part of the inanga habitat improvement, with the Hokitika Bridge in the background. Photo: Greymouth Star / Brendon McMahon
A Jobs for Nature project just metres from the Hokitika town centre is transforming what has been a weed-infested wasteland alongside the Hokitika River.
Wadeson Island has a long history of human use and damage dating back more than 150 years of European settlement in Hokitika.
But now the mix of recreation reserve, administered by the Westland District Council, and stewardship land administered by the Department of Conservation (DOC), is being transformed to highlight the key role it has locally as a whitebait spawning ground.
The project is also gradually restoring a piece of Hokitika's hinterland to a more natural indigenous space, with species typical of a West Coast coastal-river wetland starting to emerge.
The West Coast Conservation Board took a tour of the 16ha site along with DOC staff, with Jobs for Nature personnel on hand.
A wide view of the new spawning channels, designed to slow down flow and enhance water levels which with appropriate shore vegetation will enable whitebait spawn to attach and grow along the water's edge. Photo: Greymouth Star / Brendon McMahon
DOC ranger Tim Shaw related how in more recent history the area had been compromised for various reasons.
Much of the work to date had been focused on removing weeds - often introduced plants originating from garden rubbish - and refuse, altogether about three tonnes of it.
The department was interested in enhancing the island because among other factors it was "one of the key pieces of open green space available for the Hokitika community".
As such it was of strategic importance for local recreation as well, Shaw said.
Initial work carried out under a 2000 Millennium Project kicked off the rejuvenation of the area. This included a 2004 memorandum enabling a community effort to develop the existing short walking track and some planting.
Westland Milk Products was initially involved from 2013 after indicating an interest in the environmental health of the area - the presence of the dairy factory upriver at Hokitika dominates the landscape of the eastern end of Wadeson Island.
One of the many plants for the project on the bank of a swale, looking south towards the river. A biodegradable protection wrap is there to protect establishing plants. Photo: Greymouth Star / Brendon McMahon
Shaw said the natural wetland aspect of the area was good for spawning whitebait but it needed to be enhanced due to its interface with the town's stormwater system.
A series of parallel channels initially funded by Westland Milk had been built in line with this to enhance whitebait spawning in the vegetation along the banks of the tidal zone.
Jobs for Nature brought a broader whitebait habitat enhancement project for the West Coast, and Wadeson Island fitted the bill, he said.
"The main focus is channel development."
Under Jobs for Nature, three people had been continuously working at the site and had about one year left.
A large focus on weed control and maintaining the incremental gains of that preceded further extensive planting to complement earlier vegetation renewal.
"There are 10,000 plants in various stages ready to be planted [in March] ... there is going to be a legacy of weeding to look after this area."
West Coast Conservation Board members and DOC staff walk across an existing bridge, with walkways through the site being improved and extended. Photo: Greymouth Star / Brendon McMahon
The concept plan for the area was a series of whitebait spawning channels, with further habitat development to enhance biodiversity across the broader area.
A new track extension towards the southern end of the island is also under way. The existing Hokitika Taipos Rugby League grounds will stay as part of the overall concept.
"Jobs for Nature is very clear about funding the biodiversity aspect ... WMP (Westland Milk Products) have funded the track extension."
All up, the project was a good example"of various groups working together, which also included a role for the West Coast Regional Council around the stopbanks, Shaw said.
Local Democracy Reporting is Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air.
