Education Report This month has given me a sense of normality having students back up at the centre. June has seen three schools return to the centre. Trident High School Great Barrier class had a great camp. They did some work in the food forest, helped with track clearing and setting up the auto traps with Peter. They also got to experience the Kokako block and Karaponga falls. Whakatane High School: Enviro group. We had the most amazing experience with Popokotea in the Kokako block. These students built trap boxes and also started the winter planting programme. SEC as usual are great [...]
Read MoreEducation Report It is nice to be in Level 2 and to be able to get out and about a little more. I have enjoyed being back in the bush, filling bait stations and checking traps as well as being involved in the health checks on KIWI. Tho in terms of actual work I am really starting to miss engaging with students. Schools are in a difficult situation; many are very keen to get their students to settle into the routine of school again. Although EOTC programmes can work, it is definitely more difficult under the level 2 guidelines, most enquiries are for [...]
Read MoreEnvironmental Educator Report The centre is up and running after the summer holiday. It has been good to get the place looking good and ready for camps. The garden survived the summer and is producing food. Achievements this month: School and house clean up in preparation for camps. Creating a weta/insect house out of pallet wood supplied by Glenns Glass. Meeting and working with Teresa from DOC, completing a community agreement to do the trap line in the Matata lagoon. NCEA Education for Sustainability planning for Trident Developing a different programme to cater for students that are returning to the centre. Establishing [...]
Read MorePredator Trapping - During the past year we have been successful in using funding from the Regionals Council’s EEF and from DOC to consolidate and extend our predator control. We have a long term plan of extending a perimeter of traps around the Manawahe corridor margins and we have made progress towards achieving that goal. Progress report on trapping extension Eastern Boundary - Braemar Road runs North- South along the base of the Manawahe escarpment and forms the eastern boundary of the Manawahe corridor. We have divided this into two blocks, Braemar South which runs up to the Tumarau wetland and Braemar [...]
Read MoreI started in the role of Environmental Educator for the Manawahe Eco Trust on the 29th of October 2018. It has been an exciting and busy year. We had no schools booked for the end of 2018. This was good as it gave me time to understand the programmes at Manawahe and also come up with some ideas of my own. It was also a great time to market the centre. In 2019 schools have been involved in various different programmes encompassing many different activities - there has been 15 schools over 35 days, with 584 students and 157 adults accompanying [...]
Read MoreHi there Folks, It has been a busy first half year for me at the Manawahe Eco trust. I have really enjoyed the challenge of a new job in a new area of teaching as well as getting to know an amazing part of the Eastern Bay of Plenty. So far we have had: Over 280 Primary, Intermediate and Secondary students make Weta houses, start a food forest, be involved in pest control and trap checking, plant native trees, learn about minimal waste, be involved in rubbish clean up, blackberry and weed bust, build and start composting bins, team building activities. [...]
Read MoreEducation Report It has been another busy month up at the Ecological Centre. We have had three groups from Trident High school all doing slightly different things. They have had a problem-solving team building day for a group of Year 13 and Year 10 students, as well as a three-day camp with a group of students that are preparing for a five week trip the Great Barrier Island later in the year. The final group of students were doing an assessment in which they did a four-hour adventure race on the roads and farms around the centre. Whakatane Intermediate Environmental class has also [...]
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After the war, large areas of forest were felled for wood and then burned off to create farms for returning soldiers and their families. However in some cases only the biggest trees were taken and the remnant bush left. In this way approximately 4000 hectares of native forest around Manawahe were retained. About half of this is found on private land in the corridor. The bush type in the corridor is predominantly Rimu- Rata/ Tawa-Kamahi with Rewarewa thriving in situations where the other dominant canopy trees are struggling. The understory of the well protected areas resembles fairytale books with nikau, ferns, [...]
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The area protected in the lower reaches of the Corridor represent just 1% of the ecosystem type that was found on the Rangitaiki plains before they were drained for farming. This makes its connectivity to the consecutive ecosystems in the corridor all the more important by allowing the movement of certain desirable species. For example native birds use these corridors to access food supplies that vary with the season. Many native birds in the corridor (e.g. kokako) are not well adapted to crossing large areas of open farmland. The short distances between the blocks of forest cover within the Manawahe [...]
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The Manawahe is clearly identifiable not just by arbitrary lines on a map but by conspicuous geographical features; rugged hills that rise suddenly from the Rangitaiki plains and bound by the Pacific Ocean and Rotoma. Perhaps this factor lends itself to the Manawahe identity that has , despite its small size, created such a social and supportive community. So what draws people to the Manawahe? For some it is the rugged hills and the stunning views (for the resident Dutchies it’s the hills full stop) for others the rural life style and recreational opportunities close at hand. For myself (Fran) [...]
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