Our places: Hurunui College – Nina Valley Restoration Group
Image: Nina Valley Restoration Group
The Nina Valley
Mihi ki te whenua, mihi ki ngā otaota, mihi ki ngā rakau, mihi ki ngā manu, mihi ki ngā roroa, mihi ki ngā whio.
Mihi ki te awa Nina.
Mihi nui ki a koutou katoa.
Greetings children and others.
Welcome to the Tane’s world, the world of nature.
Greetings to the land, greetings to the plants, greetings to the trees, greetings to the birds, greetings to the kiwi, greetings to the blue duck.
Greetings to the Nina River.
Greetings all and everyone.
Photo: Steve Attwood
Context and origins of the group
a) control invasive mammals, especially mustelids
b) restore native species in the Nina Valley, especially Great spotted kiwi, whio (blue duck), and kea
As a school group, they have a strong emphasis on environmental education and research, and have worked closely with Lincoln University and Goodnature Ltd. to achieve their research and pest management goals.
Students have opportunities to work hands-on with kiwis (Fig. 1), and are taught to monitor and track kiwis using telemetry equipment. Students also undertake learning towards relevant unit standards. Occasionally, students will work with DOC on other projects outside the Nina Valley. Students often attend environmental hui and workshops around the country.
This project is largely extra-curricular, with fieldwork undertaken at the weekends on overnight trips. Education and research elements are transferred to the classroom, across subjects from Yr 1 – 13. Past and current research includes analysis of stoat gut contents (Fig. 2), investigating the effect of enlarging the entrance to DOC200 traps, and the development and trialling of electronic possum lures.
Many of their graduates are employed in environmental work at the post-graduate level and on the ground with DOC.
Key actions
- Consulted with students, teachers, parents, and community members to garner interest.
- Consulted with the Department of Conservation to establish the project, and continue to work with them.
- Attracted volunteers: students, parents, teachers, community
- Ensured succession planning (younger students at school).
- Raised more than $150,000 of funding (currently funded by the WWF) to undertake the following projects:
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- Established and follow up monthly monitoring of 20km of DOC200 trap lines in the Nina Valley.
- Reintroduced 18 (to date) Great spotted kiwi to the valley (Fig. 3).
- Monitors resident whio and kea populations.
- Hosted the Green Ribbon Award-winning Nina Valley Ecoblitz where hundreds of students from South Island schools worked with dozens scientists from around Aotearoa to document species in the Nina Valley.
Current aims
- Establish a genetically distinct population of 40+ great spotted kiwi in the Nina.
- Increase whio (blue duck) (Fig. 4) breeding success.
- Become more involved in kea monitoring.
How this helps mitigate and adapt to the impacts of climate change
- Because of our unique natural heritage, trapping predators (Fig. 4) is one of the most effective ways in which our biodiversity and with it, essential life-supporting ecosystem services can be restored.
- The successful trapping programme has enabled the reintroduction of Great spotted kiwis into the valley (Fig. 1). 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 like the Nina Valley also provide a source of seeds from which native plants can be spread by birds and insects into degraded areas.
- The project raises student awareness of the role of healthy biodiversity, hands-on-research, and the role and importance of applied science.
- Demonstrates how everyone can work together to restore and protect our natural ecosystems.
- Healthy ecosystems are ultimately the sources of mahinga kai, which will help us become more resilient as the climate changes.
