ORC's pest plan ‘partially effective'
Eradicating wallabies from the region is proving a challenge for the Otago Regional Council as credible sightings are increasing. Of the three pest species the council aims to eradicate from the region, the marsupials appear to be giving the council the most trouble, a new report suggests. PHOTO: SUPPLIED
The Otago Regional Council is effective at raising awareness of the threats wallabies pose to the region, less so at actually dealing with the pest, a new report says.
The mid-term review of the council's 2019-29 Otago regional pest management plan, by consultants Sapere, found the council was "partially effective" in achieving the objectives of its plan to exclude, eradicate, contain or control the 51 pest species it addresses.
The council was graded as "effective" at excluding, or keeping out, six pest species identified in the plan — African feather grass, Chilean needle grass, egeria, false tamarisk, hornwort and moth plant.
It was also effective at eradicating both rooks and spiny broom.
The consultants found the council was effective in raising awareness of the wallaby issue in Otago but "not effective" in reducing populations and preventing spread.
But there was hope, the review report said.
In particular, the consultants were impressed with the council's work on its "Judas wallaby trials" where helicopter-based hunters follow GPS-collared wallabies to find other wallabies, which are destroyed.
"Targeted monitoring by ORC has demonstrated effective outcomes, especially in controlling rooks, spartina, and spiny broom," the report said.
"In wilding pine management, ORC has achieved partial effectiveness by leveraging national funding support.
"While ORC's wallaby population control efforts are not effective at present, their collaboration with the national wallaby programme has yielded promising results.
"Initiatives such as the Judas wallaby trials have contributed to developing targeted and cost-effective control measures."
The report said containing wallabies, which could move up to 9km a day, was a challenge because there were limited numbers of the animals across a very large area.
It said council staff told the reviewers the at present 1.5 fulltime staff positions would need to increase to five fulltime staff to meet the objectives of the pest plan.
"A recent report identified that current funding is indeed too little to maintain gains and progressively eradicate wallabies in Otago, stating that $1.4 million is needed."
The reviewers said the plan provided a "framework" for the council to identify priority pest species, set objectives for their control, and outline responsibilities for landowners, local authorities, and other stakeholders.
Funding increased from $1.3 million in 2019-20 to $2m in 2021-22.
It then jumped to $3.2m in 2021-22, then $3.8m (2022-23) and $4m (2023-24).
"The increased funding reflects the fact that the 2019 [plan] introduced significant changes to align with national policies and address local pest management challenges more effectively."
The review found overall, the council had made important investments, such as improving pest data capture and increasing its biosecurity team, in response to meeting the the pest management plan's objectives.
The changes it had made were "significant", and the council could build on its progress in the first five years and achieve "greater effectiveness" by the conclusion of the 10-year plan.
The report suggested "ineffective enforcement" was plaguing rabbit control efforts.
Wilding pine containment suffered from inadequate "good neighbour" rules.
It contained 13 recommendations to improve the 2019-29 plan and nine recommendations to help prepare the next 10-year pest plan.
hamish.maclean@odt.co.nz
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Otago Daily Times
12 hours ago
- Otago Daily Times
Otago rivers by and large ‘in really good state'
A container sits in Otokia Creek at Dunedin's Brighton Beach as the creek goes to sea. The area is the only coastal site monitored by the Otago Regional Council that has a long-term grade of "poor" due to elevated bacteria levels. Previous investigations have identified avian sources for the contamination. There are an additional four freshwater sites with "poor" long-term grades, the council says. PHOTO: GERARD O'BRIEN Otago's rivers are by and large "in a really good state", the latest summer recreation report card says. Otago Regional Council science and resilience committee co-chairman Gary Kelliher said this year's recreational water quality annual report showed the region had healthy waterways. "By and large our rivers are in a really good state and we are able to enjoy them generally most of the time. "So I think it's a good report card - I would hope that would be the case." The council's contact recreation monitoring programme assessed recreational water quality at swimming spots weekly between December and March each year, a report to the committee said. Faecal bacteria Escherichia coli, at freshwater sites, and enterococci, at coastal sites, were measured as an indication of the presence of pathogens that could cause illness in swimmers. Last summer, 509 routine samples were taken and analysed for 32 sites - 93% of the results showed the water was safe for swimming at the time the sample was taken, the report said. For 14 samples across 12 sites, bacteria concentrations indicated the site was unsafe to swim at at the time of sampling and a health warning was issued, it said. Another 17 results across seven sites met the criteria for the council to advise caution, it said. Long-term E. coli grades for freshwater sites showed 67% of freshwater swimming spots were either "excellent" or "good". Four sites were graded as "poor" - the Taieri River at Waipiata, the Taieri River at Outram, the Waikouaiti River at Bucklands and the Manuherikia River at Shaky Bridge. Among coastal sites, 88% were graded "excellent/very good", or "good" and just one site, Otokia Creek at Brighton, was graded "poor". Previous investigations had identified avian sources for the contamination at Otokia Creek, the report said. The long-term grade for the Pacific Ocean at Tomahawk Beach west improved from "fair" to "good". The site was monitored by the Dunedin City Council as part of the consent requirements for the Tahuna wastewater treatment plant, the report said. "The grade change can be attributed to several elevated results in the 2019-20 season not being included in the latest five-year period, and two years with no exceedances in the current period," it said. — APL
Otago Daily Times
15 hours ago
- Otago Daily Times
Funding ‘game-changer' for nursery
The recent announcement of funding support from both Otago Regional Council and Dunedin City Council is a "game changer" for the Tomahawk-Smaills Beachcare Trust nursery and native planting projects. Nursery manager Dr Nicole Bezemer is ecstatic that the trust has been granted $48,200 over the next two years in this year's Otago Regional Council (ORC) Eco Fund grants round, as well as being granted $15,000 per year in the Dunedin City Council 9 Year Plan process. "Receiving this funding is an absolute game changer for us — it gives us a really solid base for our work moving forward," Dr Bezemer said. Having been forced by funding constraints to scale back its activities in the first half of this year, the grants meant Tomahawk-Smaills Beachcare Trust could "ramp up" to support more volunteer days at the trust's nursery. "It will be wonderful for our volunteers, who can have more opportunities to be included — and we can really pick up the pace again," she said. "It is going to be especially meaningful for local disability service providers and young people wanting to complete their community service hours." The Eco Fund grant was tagged for the Tomahawk-Smaills Beachcare Trust's work on enhancing sealion habitat, which was becoming an increasing focus for the organisation. "We have growing numbers of sealion mums giving birth in the Smaills Beach area, including the pup who was in residence at our nursery over the summer. "Also, sealion mums who have given birth at other locations have been bringing their pups to this area as a kind of pre-creche — we have had about one-third of the pups born in Dunedin brought here this season." Another reason for the increasing numbers was that some families of sealion females had been coming to Smaills Beach for generations. "So, as the generations grow, we get more and more sealion pups here, which is just wonderful," Dr Bezemer said. In recent years, the Tomahawk-Smaills Beachcare Trust has been increasing its plantings to help create habitat, shelter and safe places for sealions away from local roads. "Sealion mums like to take the pups off the beach and into coastal forest, and some mums go a long way inland to give birth," she said. At Smaills Beach there are quite large areas of marram grass and thickets of taupata, which did not provide good shelter for birthing sealions, and the trust was keen to work on re-establishing coastal forest species. These included ngaio and slow-growing podocarps like totara. Dr Bezemer said the Tomahawk-Smaills Beachcare Trust was also working closely with the Ecotago team on riparian planting at lagoon creek, which fed into Tomahawk Lagoon. Local landowner Warren Matheson had been "extremely supportive" of the work and had offered to fence off a paddock near the Tautuku Fishing Club to open up a whole new planting area for sealion habitat. Dr Bezemer said the recent donation of tools from the Green Island Shed had also been very welcome. "We are very thankful for all the support we have had," she said. Work on potting up seedlings will continue at the trust nursery throughout winter to help build up a supply of native trees and plants ready for planting in spring. "From July, we are looking forward to announcing more volunteer days at the nursery," Dr Bezemer said. For more information, email beachcare@ • Another major recipient of funding through the ORC Eco Fund was Te Nohoaka o Tukiauau — Sinclair Wetlands, which was granted $49,800 to help manage its growing stream of visitors. Te Nohoaka o Tukiauau — Sinclair Wetlands trust chairman Ian Bryant said the wetlands, which formed a 315ha portion of the Waihola-Waipori wetland complex, south of Dunedin, already welcomed visits from several schools and volunteer groups. "Our aim is to increase the number of schools coming to the wetlands and to create a resource to cover our history and restoration, and the role of wetlands, birdlife, aquatic life, native plantings, pests and predators and weeds," Mr Bryant said. The resource would likely be a photographic guidebook-style publication and the funds would also help establish a regular, dedicated guide-person role to add to the volunteers promoting and working for the wetland reserve. ECO FUND GRANTS Otago regional councillors granted $1,059,178 to 28 community-led environmental projects across Otago from its annual Eco Fund disbursement. Eco Fund assessment panel chairman Cr Alan Somerville said the funding supported community-driven projects which protected, enhanced and promoted Otago's environment. Recipients in the Dunedin-Coastal Otago area include: Yellow-eyed Penguin Trust ($44,528), Te Nohoaka o Tukiauau — Sinclair Wetlands ($49,800), Tomahawk-Smaills Beachcare Trust (48,200), Dunedin Environment Centre Trust ($2985), Sutton Creek Trust ($9757), Reid Family Trust ($15,000), Matai Hill Trust ($15,000), Waitati Beach Reserve Society ($15,000), Makarara Farm ($15,000), Otokia Creek and March Habitat Trust ($15,000) and Deborah Bay Residents' Association ($16,020).
Otago Daily Times
15 hours ago
- Otago Daily Times
The lessons waiting to be learned
One of the cliches of tragedy is the hope that some good will come from it. There is no doubt that the fatal stabbing of 16-year-old schoolboy Enere Taana-McLaren at the Dunedin bus hub last year was a tragedy — for all concerned. A report to be considered by the Otago Regional Council today offers a glimmer of hope that, indeed, something good may come from this sad affair. The council commissioned an independent report, on behalf of the Dunedin Central City Safety Advisory Group, into cities both in New Zealand and abroad that have dealt with disorder issues similar to those which have plagued the bus hub. While it makes no recommendations and councillors need not frame any resolutions based upon it, it sets out a sensible framework for future action. Although Enere's death serves to make such analysis redundant, the report confirms — both through anecdotal accounts of bus hub users and examination of reported crime data — that there is indeed a problem in the area, and that many people feel unsafe in the vicinity. From that starting point the researchers cast their nets far and wide to see how places like Rotorua, Auckland, Wellington, Sydney, Adelaide and Bath have managed safety at their transport hubs and gathering spots. A key finding is that safety measures must not only be done, but that they be clearly seen to have been done. People feel safer if they see obvious moves to protect them in plain sight, be that prominent signage or regular well-trained patrols. Dunedin police have established a beat team to increase foot patrols in the city centre. This is encouraging, but cynicism — whether justifiable or not — remains about other security staff at the bus hub. Restoring faith that people will be around to help if needs be is paramount. The example of Tauranga, which has involved its young people on ways to enhance perceptions of safety in city spaces, will be instructive. CCTV also has its place, but it needs to be in conjunction with a review of the urban design of the bus hub. The report notes that in Wellington's Te Aro Park surveillance cameras were ineffective as the landscape meant there were several known black spots which could not be seen remotely. One universal theme in the other city's safety plans is that this is no one department or agency's problem and that many people will need to work together to effect change. Establishment of the safety advisory group should therefore be seen as a wise move; the ball is now in its court as bus hub users — many of whom are young and/or vulnerable — wait for effective action. The one thing Dunedin cannot have happen is what some of the city's school principals already fear is occurring — that the problems of the bus hub are simply being moved elsewhere in the city. As reported by the Otago Daily Times yesterday, Otago Girls' High School principal Bridget Davidson's submission to the ORC's Draft Regional Public Transport Plan said bus stops elsewhere in the city were now becoming overcrowded and dangerous. Trinity Catholic College principal Kate Nicholson agreed, saying that pupils had told her they were still using the bus service but from other city stops rather than the bus hub. While it is pleasing that reports of incidents at the bus hub are down, that may simply be as a result of the phenomenon that the principals and pupils have recognised — of patrons, and therefore possible trouble, moving on to fresh fields. The report considers this too, noting that when this has occurred in other cities safety teams have been quickly sent to the new trouble spot to provide reassurance. That does run the risk of wardens playing whack-a-mole with trouble-makers, but it is far better to be pro-active than reactive. As the report notes, transport hubs have become hotspots for anti-social behaviour in most areas. As a natural meeting point, they have become high-risk areas for many young people who need to wait for connecting buses. Dunedin is not alone in confronting this, but the city now has many examples from elsewhere of how these issues can be confronted. Lessons are there to be learned so that, indeed, some good may spring from the ghastly events of last year.
