Natural Restoration of the Ōtākaro Avon River Corridor: Opportunities and Challenges
Evan Smith, Avon-Ōtākaro Network
Avon River Red Zone
• 5,500+ Homes
• 5+ years
Ōtākaro Avon River Corridor:
• 602 ha
• 11km
Avon Ōtākaro Network Vision
Avon Ōtākaro Network Vision
• 4 year programme, 12% of 11ha• 7,000 native plants• 3,250 vol hrs / $37k planting• 3,500 vol hrs / $25k maintaining• 1,500 pd hrs / $45k coordinating• c40 events (incl 5 major)
= c$100k/ha, $10/m2June 2019
Lessons learned• Restoration Challenges• Collaboration Challenges
Acknowledgements
Avon Ōtākaro Forest Park, Travis Wetland Trust,Avon Heathcote Estuary Ihutai Trust, DOC Rangers,CCC Ecologists and Regional Park Rangers, Dr Colin Meurk, Di Lucas, Greening the Red Zone
Incredible Opportunity -Natural RestorationIn an Urban Setting:
200,000 trees
Lessons learned• Restoration Challenges• Collaboration Challenges
Acknowledgements
Avon Ōtākaro Forest Park, Travis Wetland Trust,Avon Heathcote Estuary Ihutai Trust, DOC Rangers,CCC Ecologists and Regional Park Rangers, Dr Colin Meurk, Di Lucas, Greening the Red Zone
The Challenges: Ecological Authenticity
• Ecological Authenticity
• Methodologies• Nursery Services• Pest & Weed
Management• Resilience to SLR
& Climate Change• Community
Engagement • Economics• Logistics• Collaboration &
Integration• Governance
The Challenges: Ecological Authenticity
• Ecological Authenticity
• Methodologies• Nursery Services• Pest & Weed
Management• Resilience to SLR
& Climate Change• Community
Engagement • Economics• Logistics• Collaboration &
Integration• Governance
The Challenges: Ecological Authenticity
What does this mean in an environment transformed by a couple of • centuries of land clearance, drainage and
urbanisation, • minutes of intense seismic activity, • decades of infrastructure regeneration,
and • centuries of future climate change and sea
level rise?
• Ecological Authenticity
• Methodologies• Nursery Services• Pest & Weed
Management• Resilience to SLR
& Climate Change• Community
Engagement • Economics• Logistics• Collaboration &
Integration• Governance
The Challenges: Restoration Methodologies
• Ecological Authenticity
• Methodologies• Nursery Services• Pest & Weed
Management• Resilience to SLR
& Climate Change• Community
Engagement • Economics• Logistics• Collaboration &
Integration• Governance
The Challenges: Restoration Methodologies
• Ecological Authenticity
• Methodologies• Nursery Services• Pest & Weed
Management• Resilience to SLR
& Climate Change• Community
Engagement • Economics• Logistics• Collaboration &
Integration• Governance
Orchard et al (2017)
• Engineered Ecosystems• Evolving Ecosystems• Naturally Regenerating Ecosystems----• Community participation vs professional
implementation • Aesthetics: evolving wilderness vs manicured
ecosystems • Large scale sites to reduce edge effects.
The Challenges: Restoration Methodologies
• Ecological Authenticity
• Methodologies• Nursery Services• Pest & Weed
Management• Resilience to SLR
& Climate Change• Community
Engagement • Economics• Logistics• Collaboration &
Integration• Governance
The Challenges: Nursery Services
• Ecological Authenticity
• Methodologies• Nursery Services• Pest & Weed
Management• Resilience to SLR
& Climate Change• Community
Engagement • Economics• Logistics• Collaboration &
Integration• Governance
Nursery services:• Sustainable enterprise model; • Ecologically authentic;• Not undercut by community efforts;• Established but scalable; • Planned lead-in time; • Making the most of training and employment
opportunities; • Benefits vs costs of local, professional expertise.
The Challenges: Pests and Weeds
• Ecological Authenticity
• Methodologies• Nursery Services• Pest & Weed
Management• Resilience to SLR
& Climate Change• Community
Engagement • Economics• Logistics• Collaboration &
Integration• Governance
• Discouraging the invasive exotics; • Encouraging the indigenous;• Sustainable vs pragmatic controls; • Impacts of logistical sequencing: stopbanks;• Drainage vs ecological priorities.
The Challenges: Resilience to SLR & Climate Change
• Ecological Authenticity
• Methodologies• Nursery Services• Pest & Weed
Management• Resilience to SLR
& Climate Change• Community
Engagement • Economics• Logistics• Collaboration &
Integration• Governance
• Allowing room to flood; • Allowing room for
ecosystem migration Upstream;
• The importance of intermittent flooding to sustain some ecosystems.
The Challenges: Community Engagement
• Ecological Authenticity
• Methodologies• Nursery Services• Pest & Weed
Management• Resilience to SLR
& Climate Change• Community
Engagement • Economics• Logistics• Collaboration &
Integration• Governance
Everyone wants to plant – but: • quality control; demand vs supply• integration and planning;• maintenance first 5 years; • accurate costing of volunteerism?
Harnessing the passion while:• nurturing the technique; • fostering the science; • teaching our kids;• strengthening community; and • sustaining commitment.
The Challenges: Economics and Funding
• Ecological Authenticity
• Methodologies• Nursery Services• Pest & Weed
Management• Resilience to SLR
& Climate Change• Community
Engagement • Economics• Logistics• Collaboration &
Integration• Governance
• Cost of plants, ancillaries, volunteers, maintenance; • Cost and timing of enabling infrastructure work;• Reducing the cost to the public purse• Pressures to plant up to 50% fast-growing exotics:
o to harvest carbon credits, o to get timely canopy coverage and habitat,o to nurture underplanted natives;
• Undervaluing of wetland habitats in carbon sequestration;
• Inadequate economic quantification of ecosystem services.
The Challenges: Logistics and timing
• Ecological Authenticity
• Methodologies• Nursery Services• Pest & Weed
Management• Resilience to SLR
& Climate Change• Community
Engagement • Economics• Logistics• Collaboration &
Integration• Governance
• Sequencing of capital works programmes: o impacts site availability, o hydrology, o salinity,o soil, o exposure to weed infestation, o exposure to indigenous seed sources.
• Getting this right is crucial!
The Challenges: Collaboration & Integration
• Ecological Authenticity
• Methodologies• Nursery Services• Pest & Weed
Management• Resilience to SLR
& Climate Change• Community
Engagement • Economics• Logistics• Collaboration &
Integration• Governance
• Ensuring agencies communicate, collaborate and integrate:o internally and externally with each other, o especially when iwi, academia, CRIs, NGOs and community are
added into the mix;o dependency on relationships – succession and capacity issues;
• Overcoming risk averse bureaucratic process;• Need for culture of partnership and empowerment.
The Challenges: Governance
• Ecological Authenticity
• Methodologies• Nursery Services• Pest & Weed
Management• Resilience to SLR
& Climate Change• Community
Engagement • Economics• Logistics• Collaboration &
Integration• Governance
Need for an overarching entity with the power:• to lead, guide and approve;• to define agreed:
o strategic framework, o implementation strategies, o clear roles and responsibilities;
• to provide access to ecological, cultural and planning advice;
• to grant licence to experiment and innovate• to monitor and review…
Though the challenges are many, they are not insurmountable.
The opportunity to bring indigenous nature back into our city is just too great not to give it our best shot!
We owe it to our future generations!
Thank you!