The historic and isolated Rangitoto Reserve is overrun with weeds opposite its counterpart, Rangikapiti Pa, where volunteers have fought a 16-year campaign to kill weeds. Photo / Supplied
The historic and isolated Rangitoto Reserve is overrun with weeds opposite its counterpart, Rangikapiti Pa, where volunteers have fought a 16-year campaign to kill weeds. Photo / Supplied
For 16 years, the people of Doubtless Bay have waged war against the invasive weeds that were choking the beauty and history of historic Rangikapiti Pā at Mangonui.
Now, those fighting the spread of invasive plants want the Far North District Council to step up its support.
At the heart of their call to the council is a core principle in fighting weeds - success relies almost as much on what your neighbours do as it does on one’s own efforts. And many are convinced the council isn’t doing anywhere near enough.
The Rangikapiti Pā Historic Reserve has transformed over the years since the Friends of Rangikapiti formed with the aim of restoring a coastal forest from Mangonui to Coopers Beach on Department of Conservation reserve.
Group chairwoman Sue Ricketts said it began with fundraising to pay for a professional crew to push back against the worst of the weeds with volunteers then organising to take on asparagus fern, moth plant and wattle trees.
“They crowd out the natives, the bird population disappears and provide areas for pests to come in and next,” she said.
One of the many volunteers, Charles Adamson, 80, told the Age of the frustration of seeing council-managed and owned land where invasive weeds were growing without any pushback.
A volunteer weeds at Rangikapiti Pa in Mangonui.
From where those weeds became established, it could be just a short bird flight or wind gust to carry seeds to areas where weeds had been suppressed or wiped out.
“Private individuals are left to try and clean up council’s mess. We’re trying to clean up the area and there’s frustration in seeing outbreaks occurring on council land.”
It has lead to the emergence of rogue weed warriors - such as Adamson - setting out on council land to fight back against invasive growth. He’s been watching weed growth on the roadside bank between the Mangonui police station and the Mangonui Fish Shop, contemplating how he can navigate the steep slope to kill the weeds.
In contrast, Adamson has only praise for the responsiveness of Waka Kotahi when it was asked to tackle weeds growing on state highway road verges in the area.
“I think there’s a lack of willingness. Council say they don’t have the resources to do it. The regional council should be directing the local council that they have a major invasive species problem in Mangonui and should be doing something about it.”
This frustration led Adamson to write to the district council, urging it to take action on reserves and roadsides. The response didn’t help - it spelled out what wasn’t possible, including saying “current available roading funds are insufficient to address this district-wide issue”.
This was described as “unhelpful” in an email to council by Te Hiku community board member Sheryl Bainbridge. “Are we to gather from this that council property can be covered in noxious weeds and that’s quite okay?
“Instead of just saying what you can’t do, you should have given Mr Adamson some guidance as to what would be a positive way forward, as pest plants can have an adverse effect on properties belonging to others.”
Early work by the volunteer crew at Rangikapiti shows the difference to foliage when asparagus fern is removed.
It comes with the prospect of a new front in the war on weeds opening up at a second historic site. Across the harbour is the less-accessible Rangitoto Pā, which pins down the northern entrance to Mangonui harbour.
Unlike its neighbour on the southern side, the reserve that includes the pā is landlocked with access by coast or across Ian Palmer’s property, from where he has pushed council for years to take action.
Like Anderson, Palmer has on occasion taken matters into his own hands with attacks on weeds in the reserve. When it comes to the pā, though, he recognised the wahi tapu nature of the site and the need for the council to coordinate efforts - and to do so quickly as the growth of weeds was causing ongoing damage.
At nearby Waiaua marae, from where Rangitoto Pā is highlighted by sunrise and at sunset, Donna Burkitt (Ngāti Ruaiti) said there had been recent talks with the district council over involvement in a new management plan for the reserve.
The Rangitoto Reserve photographed from Rangikapiti pā around 1981 shows the hillside relatively clear of weeds.
In a visit to the pā site with Palmer, Burkitt described herself as “gobsmacked” by the spread of weeds with moth plant particularly prominent. “When he took us over to look at the weeds, I couldn’t believe it.”
Northland Regional Council pest plants biosecurity manager Joanna Barr said Northland was facing a “massive onslaught of weeds” with its tropical climate putting it at the “pointy end” of incursion from invasive species.
Barr said one difficulty with weed control was species that were possible to actively suppress or even eradicate were those with the least visibility. In weed control language, they were at the early stage of the “invasion curve” while those most visible were so advanced that eradication was likely impossible.
“Plants tick along quietly and then hit an exponential curve and it’s quite a way up that curve that people notice.’'
This current photograph of Rangitoto Reserve photographed from Rangikapiti Pā shows the extent of pest plant invasion.
FNDC’s group manager for delivery and operation, Kevin Johnson, said it had no information on the scale of the weed problem on council land, but there were “considerable challenges” getting the information because of the size and spread of the council-owned areas of land across the district.
He said a proposed Tree and Vegetation Policy accepted by council meant the scale of the problem would be assessed as part of its Pest Plant Management Plan.
Johnson said there was a current review of its contract for maintenance of parks and reserves that included investigating increasing control of weeds.
“Budget is a constraint,” he said. “FNDC is responsible for large areas of land across the district and the comparatively small ratepayer base available to financially support maintenance of this land makes this challenging.”
