The start of the 2024 Coastcare Waikato planting season has played out a little differently this year, thanks to the pitter patter of tiny feet.

Last year, East Coast Coastcare co-ordinator Andrea Whitehead, who is employed by Thames-Coromandel District Council, started noticing a lot of lizards around.

“While I was catching up with one of our long-term volunteers, I even noticed a big fat pregnant skink basking next to us in the dunes,” says Andrea.

“And I said don't move, check this out!"

Native lizards and other native fauna are either threatened or at risk of extinction and are fully protected by the Wildlife Act (1953), which means they cannot be harmed or disturbed without a permit from the Department of Conservation (DOC).

While Coastcare’s work helps these species by creating and restoring habitat, this means extra care needs to be taken not to harm or disturb them during the restoration process.

A Waikato Regional Council biodiversity was called in to set up a monitoring programme to assess the lizard situation at beaches earmarked for restoration.

Coastcare Waikato also got in touch with DOC to inform them of these discoveries.

“The outcome of the tracking tunnels was that as well as lizard footprints, we also discovered we had loads of mice and rats,” says Andrea.

A decision was made to leave earthworks out of this year’s restoration season until more investigations have been carried out: “We’ll also be doing lots of physical hand weeding, which is not fun or easy for our team or our volunteers.”

What is positive, however, is a heightened focus on coastal restoration to protect native wildlife and their habitats, says Andrea.

“And that is actually what Coastcare is about – we’re about protecting what lives here as well as growing plants for dune resilience!”

In addition to lizards, dunes across New Zealand support native birdlife and threatened invertebrates, including the amber dune snail (Succinea archeyi) and the katipō spider (Latrodectus katipo). Many of these native species live only at the coast and may become further threatened or extinct if their habitat is lost.

“We’ll be putting in more traps now, to support what we’re already doing, and to help protect all our native species.”

Coastcare is continuing to work with DOC and local councils to determine the best course of action for all its restoration sites.

Certain types of work may require proper permits to comply with the Wildlife Act.

An example is the ‘whole of dune’ restoration approach, where heavy machinery is used to scrape the top layer of weeds and earth and bury it under the beach sand.

Coastcare has previously used this method at sites where lizards and other protected fauna were not detected.

Wildlife Act approval will be sought for the larger scale projects that have been put on hold, including to survey for, capture and relocate wildlife before starting earthworks, and for implementation of mitigation measures such as pest animal control or additional habitat enhancement.

Waikato Regional Council Biodiversity Officer Andrew Anderson, who manages Coastcare Waikato, says the fact that taonga species still have strongholds in developed coastal areas is a real testament to the hard work of community groups.

“Trapping predators, planting native coastal species and removing exotic weeds all help these creatures to thrive. As habitat loss is one of the most serious threats to all these species, it’s more important than ever that we continue the mahi of restoring our dunes.”

Coastcare Waikato 2024 planting season

Planting season has begun, with about 75,000 native plants already ordered for Waikato coastlines.

For the east coast, 68,000 native plants are earmarked for the dunes. New groups working to restore their coastal environment include at Hot Water Beach, Hahei Reserve and Little Bay, with engagement beginning for future projects at Whiritoa. There will be marathon planting happening at Kūaotunu, with the group taking an ecological and cultural approach to dune care, and Wharekaho will also be getting quite a bit of attention with a second year of cyclone recovery planting going on. In conjunction with planting bees, two weed swaps for residents are being held at Cooks Beach (6 July, 9am-12 noon, opposite 54 Marine Parade) and Hot Water Beach (13 July, 9am-12 noon, opposite Hot Waves Café), with a biosecurity officer onsite to offer advice and answer any questions about pest plant management. Coastcare coordinators are also going into schools in Thames and Mercury Bay to educate students about coastal restoration and get them involved.

On the west coast, groups will be working to put 6300 plants in the ground at Raglan, Port Waikato, and Nukuhakari. This year, planting has been scaled back while the West Coast Coastcare Co-ordinator works with Coastcare groups to develop long-term restoration plans for our west coast sites. The plans are a way of giving the communities a voice and letting them make calls about what work gets done.

Coastcare Waikato is always welcoming volunteers to help with our mahi. Please get in touch with your local Coastcare Coordinator or group if you are interested in attending planting bees or helping with pest plant and animal management.

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