SOSSI and Tuesday volunteers have completed a major upgrade of the Sossi nursery, with financial support from Auckland Council and Pub Charity.
We have committed to producing around 10,000 plants every year for re-vegetation planting so there is lots of work to be done, and new volunteers would be most welcome to help.
A long-term planning process for the Hauraki Gulf called Sea Change is under way. It is intended to secure a healthy, productive and sustainable future for the Hauraki Gulf. The first stage involves finding out which places people visit – sea, coast, and islands – and why they value these locations, and you can give…
While helping to plant trees at the planting day yesterday, Lucy Nie and and her friends from Kristen School also planted some ‘money trees’. They dramatised their day’s work and Lucy has made it into this very appealing video. Make sure you watch to the end.
This serious fungal disease is well established in Australia and affects plants of the myrtle family. Unfortunately this includes some common natives like rata, pohutukawa and manuka, and since the spores could be carried here by wind a biosecurity alert has been issued to watch out for it. It can also attack fruit like feijoas…
There are some gregarious new residents at Shakespear Regional Park! While other birds have repopulated the area naturally since pests were removed, recent events saw the first release of native birds behind the predator-proof fence. In July 2015, after many months of behind-the scenes work, a group of bird translocation experts and experienced volunteers caught…
Now that whiteheads have been successfully re-introduced to Shakespear the next step is to bring back the North Island robin (toutouwai). These are very sociable little fellows, often to be seen foraging just a few meters away. They are also known to sing loud and long so we expect they will be a popular attraction….
Another 20 robins have now arrived at Shakespear, this time from nearby Tiritiri Matangi. This brings the total to 40, which should be enough to establish a permanent population. Update Aug 2016: Here is a new iseevideo documentary about translocation. It is 15 minutes long and very informative. The earlier and shorter version is below.
