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Pest koi carp will be processed as a native plant fertiliser in a dune restoration programme, Associate Environment Minister Scott Simpson announced today.

The $108,000 grant to the Coastal Restoration Trust, provided through the Community Environment Fund, will see digested koi carp, a pest fish, sourced from Waikato Regional Council’s pilot capture and processing facility, being used as fertiliser in community-based dune restoration programmes.

“This project is about turning an environmental problem into part of an environmental solution. Koi carp are a pest that the Waikato Regional Council was already working to eradicate. This project will take the derived fertiliser and pilot using it to support the growth of native plants on some of our degraded coastal dunes,” Mr Simpson says.

“What impresses me most about this project is that it demonstrates incredible levels of innovation, collaboration and commitment, and addresses not one but a range of environmental issues. All of the parties to the project are to be congratulated.”

Koi carp were introduced as an ornamental fish, but pose a significant threat to freshwater ecosystems by uprooting water plants, lowering water quality and eating insects normally consumed by native fish. Koi carp are considered to be one of the most invasive freshwater fish in the world.

The Trust hopes to see at least 10 coast care groups using Koi carp derived material in their dune restoration programmes by the end of project.

The broader goal of the Trust is to give coastal communities a better understanding of dune systems, the current state of these habitats and practical options for restoration.

The Community Environment Fund provides funding to empower New Zealanders to take environmental action. It support projects that strengthen partnerships, raise public awareness of environmental issues, and encourage community participation in environmental initiatives. The fund has awarded more than $12 million to environmental projects since 2010.

As published on the beehive website.

MPI has issued some recommendations regarding the planting of plant species that may be infected with Myrtle Rust.  To find out what their latest advice is, please refer to their website: http://www.mpi.govt.nz/protection-and-response/responding/alerts/myrtle-rust/ .  Their current advice is on the “photo” on the right.

The Coastal Restoration Trust was a fellow finalist, but this group won the Green Ribbon Award in the Coasts and Oceans category and it is well-deserved! Here a little bit about their group:

This regionally and nationally recognised project aims to discover and document the subtidal rocky reef communities found in the South Taranaki Bight. Initially focusing on one target reef (approx. 11km offshore and depth of approx. 23metres), a number of surveys will be conducted throughout the year allowing us to capture the ecological variance across seasons.

Four survey methods employed are: A camera (situated for many weeks at a time on the reef, until retrieved for maintenance) taking short video bursts over night and day, benthic (reef floor) surveys involving a diver transect method with the diver capturing images of 0.5m2 quadrats randomly situated around the reef, fishing surveys (conducted by Hawera High School and Patea Area School), and acoustic surveys through a loaned hydrophone. 

Partners in the Project are: South Taranaki Underwater Club, Hawera High School, Patea Area School, Te Kaahui o Rauru and Te Runanga o Ngati Ruanui Trust.

Check out their Facebook page.

Our 2013 Student Award winner Renee Johansen has now published her research in Soil Biology and Biochemistry Journal. It is titled: Scattered far and wide: A broadly distributed temperate dune grass finds familiar fungal root associates in its invasive range.

Here are some highlights:

• Rich fungal communities occupy the roots of Ammophila arenaria (marram grass) in its invasive range (Australia and New Zealand).
• Dominant fungi occupying the roots of Ammophila arenaria are widely dispersed.
• Plant species impacts the community composition of root associated fungi in dunes.
• The community composition of root fungi in the same dune grass differs among dunes.
• Temperature, nitrogen and pH change correlate with fungal community differences in dunes.

For more or to purchase the full story follow this link.

Northland Regional Council ran a beach clean-up initiative for NZAEE (New Zealand Association for Environmental Education) Seaweek 2017.  This year was bigger than ever with 55 groups registering their beach clean-up and an estimated 3000 people taking part.  Groups included CoastCare groups, sports clubs, marae and schools (Photo: Whananaki clean up group). Beach clean-ups took place all around the region, including Baylys Beach, Mitimiti, Taipā, Whangarei Harbour and Ruakaka. Groups who registered were provide with a ‘Beach Clean-up Kit’ which included rubbish bags, gloves, sunscreen, beach clean collection information, beach id guides, and more.  Northland’s three district councils all provided free rubbish disposal for participating groups.

As well as taking the time to clean up their beach, 16 groups made the extra effort to audit their rubbish. These groups collected 4670 litres of rubbish from an estimated area of 1430m2.  A very high proportion of the rubbish collected was plastic, with this group making up almost three quarters of the waste audited by some of the groups. NRC’s coastal monitoring team have analysed this data and will be using it to work on waste reduction initiatives.