We were privileged to have a visit from the QEII National Trust Board on 23 November 2015. We realised as soon as we had bought our bush sections that we wanted them to be protected forever, so it was an easy decision for us to approach QEII. Our covenant was registered in 1999 and we would highly recommend covenanting natural areas on your property if you want to protect them in perpetuity. A covenanted area remains your own property but is registered on your title meaning future owners are required to respect your wishes for its protection. There are obligations for weed and pest control but there can also be help from QEII with fencing, weed and pest control. It can also be easier to get funding for projects if the land is protected by covenant. New Southland QEII Rep Jessie Bythell is the person to contact and for more information visit www.openspace.org.nz
Posted: 12 December 2015
A great response to the bird week painting competition resulted in these great winning bird paintings from Fiona van der Poel, Liam Graham, Kaitlyn Ramsey, Daniel Pask, Kyla Brown. Southland Forest and Bird donated KCC (Kiwi Conservation Club) memberships for a year to the winners which includes the great “Wild things” activity magazines – for more information about KCC or contact local KCC Coordinators Bronwyn Graham Invercargill 03 2130017 or John Carter Te Anau 03 2494315 or 02108650535 - www.kcc.org.nz
Posted: 12 December 2015
Learning about native plants was the subject of the Brownie visit to the Community Nursery on 3rd December 2015. A group of 12 enthusiastic girls studied different native plants around the pond tracks and then potted up native seedlings as their contribution to helping at the Community Nursery.
Posted: 12 December 2015
Science teacher Lynley King brought her environment class back to the Nursery on 10 November 2015. The girls started in the Education Centre, where Chris explained the concepts behind the Community Nursery. The group then headed to Bushy Point to re-measure a plant exclosure plot. The plants in the plot had been planted as part of the “Living Legends” planting project in 2011. As a lasting legacy of the Rugby World Cup, there is a Living Legends site in every Region of New Zealand where the Tindall Foundation funded 10,000 native plants per site. At Bushy Point, Southland Girls have been involved in measuring plant height and other biological factors for the last two years. They then use the information collected on the site statistics to analyse back at school. The girls also put out tracking tunnels to detect pests using the area. These tunnels would be collected by the next group of students in a week’s time.
Posted: 16 November 2015
Twenty-seven children and parent helpers accompanied teacher Stacey Anderson to the Education Centre. They were very specific in their requirements – learning all they could about the native kowhai. Limehills School have a special relationship with a QEII Covenant “Kowhai Reach” at Kuana near their school. The covenant, one of the first in Southland, was initiated by a group of farmers wanting to protect in perpetuity, a meandering section of the Winton Stream containing many mature kowhai trees. The children had brought along kowhai seeds collected from that site and Chris explained, and then demonstrated how to clean, prepare and sow the seeds. Before that the children showed their knowledge about the kowhai tree – how many species of kowhai are there in New Zealand? How many species live naturally in Southland? Where do kowhai like to live? What does the kowhai tree look like (flowers, leaves, bark)? What birds like kowhai and why? Why might kereru like eating the leaves? What did Maori people use the kowhai for? The students showed an excellent knowledge of kowhai trees by answering many of these questions. Then the group was split into two with Chris leading a plant trip around the ponds while Bronwyn lead a kowhai potting up session. Other activities included measuring kowhai leaves from Sophora microphylla (small leaved), the only kowhai species naturally found in Southland and the day ended with lunch in the education centre followed by a race around the koru maze in the paddock. It was a very busy and successful visit.
Posted: 16 November 2015
