Latest news with #Tomahawk-SmaillsBeachcareTrust
Otago Daily Times
3 days ago
- General
- Otago Daily Times
Shady spots for sea lions created
More shady spots for sea lions are going to be created thanks to a Dunedin wildlife trust creating a coastal duneland forest for the marine mammals. On Saturday, the Tomahawk-Smaills Beachcare Trust planted 200 native trees in the dunes behind Tomahawk Beach The planting was part of their project to create a place for sea lions and their pups to rest as they make their way around the coast. Nursery manager Dr Nicole Bezemer said native birds and insects would also benefit from the foliage. Volunteers worked for about two hours to plant all the trees. "Two years ago, it was mulched, and we put in a couple hundred plants. "We have returned to get a bit more species diversity in the area." The local sea lion population was increasing and quite a few pups were being born at Smaills Beach, Dr Bezemer said. There was a lot of area that could serve as habitat. Nate Allen, 19, of Dunedin, plants a native māhoe at Tomahawk Beach on Saturday in order to help create a costal duneland forest. PHOTO: PETER MCINTOSH "What we're aiming for is a coastal duneland forest, which is prime habitat for our local sea lion population." Filling the area with trees would also hopefully keep them in the reserve and stop them going on to roads and backyards. Sea lions wanted a nice, shady canopy, "and the best trees for that is ngaio". "Totara trees are also something we'll add in as a longer-term investment, however they grow much, much slower than ngaio." Half the work had been clearing lupins and weed from the area to create space for the new trees. For years, the trust has been planting more to help create habitat, shelter and safe places for sea lions away from local roads. This year was their 25th year of operation, Dr Bezemer said. The trust had just exited a "funding slump" after being granted $48,200 over the next two years in this year's Otago Regional Council Eco Fund, as well as being granted $15,000 per year in the Dunedin City Council 9-year-plan process. "Thanks to the funding, we're picking up some momentum."
Otago Daily Times
04-06-2025
- Business
- 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).
