Our places: Doubtless Conservation
Image: Doubtless River
Context and origins of the group
Celia Allison and George Moran started our work in the Lewis Pass in 2015 simply because they wanted to put back to a community and environment that had given us so much over the years. Celia and George have climbed, skied, tramped, cycled and pursued various water sports for over 40 years; deriving huge enjoyment from these outdoor activities, both in Aotearoa and overseas; payback was well overdue.
They began by maintaining the Doubtless hut, and the surrounding tracks, in the Doubtful Valley in the Lewis Pass. A wish to begin predator control lead to aiding Hurunui College in its trapping operation in the neighbouring Nina Valley through installing a trapline on Mt Norma in 2017, followed by another that runs to and from the Nina River to the Sylvia Tops.
In late 2021, they joined forces with Marcus King and Irene Powis and formed the registered charity, Doubtless Conservation. This formalised the structures of the group and increased their accountability and efficiency.
The trust’s principles are to:
• Foster conservation of native and endemic species
• Maintain facilities that support our conservation work
• Support volunteers who want to be involved in conservation
Doubtless Conservation is a completely voluntary organisation, no one receives any form of remuneration; 100% of all funds raised are spent on the first two goals.
Fig. 1: Trap distribution along the Sylvia Tops trapline
Key actions
- Established and maintain of 8km of traplines in the Nina Valley
- Established and maintain of 40km of traplines in the Doubtful Valley
- Renovated the Doubtless hut (Fig. 2)
- Developed a 3 year plan to bring together in one continuous area the trapping operations of 5 different groups in the Lewis Pass. Whether this comes to fruition or not is dependent up on the outcome of a current community funding round.
Current aims
- Support Hurunui College to replace their aging traps in the Nina Valley.
- Install traplines in Lucretia and Duchess Streams in the Nina Valley. This will primarily support raroa and whio populations in the Nina.
- Install a trapline along the Lewis / Boyle River and over the Sylvia Tops to connect the predator control operations being completed in the Nina Valley (Hurunui College and Doubtless Conservation), Doubtful Valley (Doubtless Conservation), Lewis River (Forest and Bird, and NZDA) and the Boyle River (Boyle River Conservation Group).
This will support roroa (Great Spotted Kiwi) and whio (blue duck) populations as well as other native and endemic species found in the area.
Fig. 2: Doubtless hut chimney restoration
How this helps mitigate and adapt to the impacts of climate change
- Because of our unique natural heritage, trapping predators (Fig. 2) is one of the most effective ways in which our biodiversity and with it, essential life-supporting ecosystem services can be restored. Kiwis feed by turning over leaf litter, enabling the biological
productivity including nutrient recycling and carbon sequestration in
the forest soils, which store more carbon than trees. - Trapping also support the habitats of other endemic taonga species in the valley including insects and smaller birds that pollinate native trees, which also absorb and permanently lock away carbon dioxide.
- Healthy intact forest ecosystems are far more resilient to the impacts of climate change, as extreme weather intensifies. If pest species were not controlled, forest ecosystems would degrade, leading to an increasing the risk of wildfire and erosion. When eroded soil washes into the river, it suffocates important aquatic species. The result is poor water quality downstream and algae blooms that release large quantities of methane, a greenhouse gas far more potent than carbon dioxide when they decay.
- Healthy forests also provide a source of seeds from which native plants can be spread by birds and insects into degraded areas.
- The project raises awareness of the role of a healthy
biodiversity to mitigate the impacts of climate change.
