Manaaki Kaimai Mamaku group in action. Photo / Supplied
Manaaki Kaimai Mamaku group in action. Photo / Supplied
From the heights of the Kaimai down to the long stretch of coastline, groups across the region are working for a better environment.
With this past week being Conservation Week, the Bay of Plenty Times took a look at what some local groups were doing.
Conservation Week 2022 took place between September 5-11 and this year's focus was on taking action for nature.
Forest & Bird have been busy, including working to protect the New Zealand dotterel.
Efforts focused on nesting sites at Pāpāmoa Beach, and branch president Carole Long said an important site had eroded at Panepane Point and the small birds had been seeking other safe sites.
Several groups are working to help boost New Zealand dotterel in the Bay of Plenty. Photo / File
The main beach at Mount Maunganui was somewhat of a success as it was dog-free and the Department of Conservation (DoC) had put up light fences to keep people away from nests.
Long said while Forest & Bird worked with councils, iwi and DoC, no chicks survived at Pāpāmoa Beach last year.
"There is a pair of NZ dotterel back on site in breeding plumage and we are planning pest control and fence erection to let people know where these precious small birds need our help."
Residents and staff of the retirement villages along the coast close to the site are keen to help, Long said.
Other conservation work being done is kiwi restoration in Otanewainuku forest, kokako habitat enhancement in the areas between Rotorua and Te Puke, pest control and bird conservation at Aongatete, and restoration of a quarry site on conservation land at the top of No 3 Rd, where a Forest & Bird field trip discovered a very rare native frog. The extended site is now a sanctuary for the protection of these Hochstetter's frogs.
Manaaki Kaimai Mamaku Trust chief executive Louise Saunders said the entity was created after 12 years of community concern that the forests were not healthy.
The Kaimai Mamaku Restoration Project was announced in September 2020, with $19.4 million in funding through the Mahi o te Taiao/Jobs for Nature programme.
Saunders said the trust takes care of iwi and hapū-led conservation projects across the Kaimai Mamaku, which includes pest animal and pest plant control, and kauri protection.
There was an "immense" project area, and the trust was working to collaborate with existing community groups in it.
This was in its beginning stages but Saunders was excited about how the next 12 months would progress.
She said conservation and restoration were important for forests for a number of reasons, including the impact they had on the economy and on the community's health and recreation. Forests' health had a flow-on impact on the health of waterways and oceans.
New Zealand dotterel and other shorebirds are also being cared for and protected at Maketu, and the local conservation group is caring for Pukehina Beach and other wetland areas close by.
The Maketu Ongatoro Wetland Society held working bees about every other month, secretary and education officer Janie Stevenson said, with the next this Sunday at the Pukehina Esplanade Reserve. Volunteers would be planting appropriate plants for the area.
