Today started out with a presentation from Dr. Hostetler that prepped us for a day of weeding at Banks Peninsula. The lecture touched on the many complications that conservation faces in urban areas of development, or any development for that matter. We also visited the local farmer's market and stopped for a morning tea break.
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Morning lecture with Dr. Hostetler covering the importance of
planning and developing green developments and their long-term
management. |
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| Morning tea time! |
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| Farmer's market adventures! Enjoying the local hospitality. |
For our conservation activity of the day we visited Banks Peninsula to work with the property owners of a land covenant of 77 acres that is being converted to natural native forest. They're working to restore the pastureland to the previous forest by plantings and extensive weeding of exotics from the area. The land has been mammal-free for only two years and they have already seen a recurrence of rare indigenous species, such as a moth that has not been seen since the 1920s. They set us to the task of ripping up the invasive Common Barberry plant that, if not continuously managed, can overtake and shade out the young native vegetation. It was a chance for us to really get an understanding of the man power needed to manage these sites to truly restore New Zealand's native habitat.
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| View from the forest restoration at Bank's Peninsula. |
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| Weeding out the invasive barberry plant. |
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Common Barberry plant.
(It can grow into quite a thicket with very spiny stems). |
After a day of weeding in the woods and with such great weather we stopped at Birdling's Flat. The wind was blowing and our noses were numb but the experience was worth it. It was the perfect ending to a beautiful day.
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| Birdling's Flat view. |
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HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!!!
~Kimberly
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