Big plans for Tinaku autumn planting

Once again, planning is underway for another round of Tinaku restoration projects, to be planted in April-June 2022.

Twelve sites along eight waterways across the Ellesmere district have been selected, and the Tinaku team is currently liaising with landowners to make sure that the sites are cleared of woody weeds and fenced in preparation for planting.

The waterways will benefit from increased waterway buffer widths, and native restoration planting.

The objectives of the plantings are to filter overland runoff, uptake nutrients, increase habitat, biodiversity and mahinga kai values, and shade the waterways to reduce weed growth and moderate water temperature.

In total, a further 11,000 native plants will be planted across Ellesmere, covering 2.1 hectares and lining 3.1km of waterways.

Project sites are spread across the district, from a tributary of the Selwyn River in the north, down to Jollies Brook, near the Rakaia River mouth in the south.

The Irwell River has become a special focus this autumn, with three projects planned along its margins.

Other waterways set to have planting projects along their edges include the Lee River, Harts Creek, Birdlings Brook, Boggy Creek and Te Awapunapuna Springs.

While the restoration projects are positive on a farm scale, their cumulative effects also benefit the wider area by increasing the district’s extent of wildlife habitat and native biodiversity and improving water quality.