ENGULFED: The vegetation takes a battering from the Good Friday fire. PHOTO/ ANDREW BONALLACK
ENGULFED: The vegetation takes a battering from the Good Friday fire. PHOTO/ ANDREW BONALLACK
A fire that ripped through the western side of Onoke Spit has ruined years of hard work by volunteers restoring the native plant habitat.
Hundreds of native plants and trees have been planted there in an ongoing habitat restoration project.
A hectare, about the size of a rugby field, was damaged in the blaze which broke out last Friday night, said Grant Detheridge-Davies, deputy principal rural fire officer.
It took four fire crews two hours to stop the fast-moving blaze, which was believed to have been started by someone who left a fire going on the beach.
"Over the last five years DOC, schools and Friends of Onoke Spit have been spraying, clearing and planting native shrubs and grasses," Mr Detheridge-Davies said.
He said more than half of the native grass plantings could be lost due to heat damage.
Denise MacKenzie, co-ordinator of Friends of Onoke Spit, said the spit used to be thick with gorse.
Volunteers have been restoring the area, which is a breeding ground for the rare Caspian tern and home to rare red katipo spiders, lizards and a diverse range of native plants.
Mrs MacKenzie said cookianum, a flax, was the predominant plant in the area, as well as coprosma.
"We have been planting in small blocks, clearing the gorse and replanting it with flax. Unfortunately the fire went through half of the planting."
She said the gorse could spring back where the fire had destroyed substantial areas of spinifex.
"It is years of hard work, it is pretty devastating."
It was also frustrating because the plants already had a hard time growing in the harsh, coastal conditions, said Mrs MacKenzie.
"It's very hard to get plants established down there because of the incredibly harsh conditions. Any plant that grows there deserves a gold medal."
Onoke Spit fire damage.
Mrs MacKenzie said the fire was unlikely to have affected the Caspian tern nesting area further down the spit. They didn't know the full extent of the damage yet but after the rain they would assess what would need replanting.
She was disappointed someone had lit a fire because conditions have been very dry.
She said she hoped everybody learned a lesson from this about the risk of lighting fires.
Half of the native grasses planted may not survive.
