Ngā Uruora - Kāpiti Project is a community conservation project set up in

Paekākāriki Paekākāriki () is a town in the Kāpiti Coast District in the south-western North Island, New Zealand, and one of the northernmost Commuter town, towns of the wider Wellington region. It lies north of Porirua and northeast of Wellington Cent ...

, New Zealand in 1997 by Fergus Wheeler. It is named after the book ''Ngā Uruora: The Groves of Life - Ecology & History in a New Zealand Landscape'' by ecologist Geoff Park. The main aims of Ngā Ururoa are protecting and restoring the Kāpiti Coast's unique

kohekohe Kohekohe (''Didymocheton spectabilis'') is a medium-sized tree in the Meliaceae family, native to New Zealand. It is found in lowland and coastal forests throughout most of the North Island and also occurs in the Marlborough Sounds in the no ...

forest, re-establishing forests through planting programmes, and undertaking pest and weed control.

Area

Ngā Uruora covers 292 hectares of coastal

escarpment An escarpment is a steep slope or long cliff that forms as a result of faulting or erosion and separates two relatively level areas having different elevations. Due to the similarity, the term '' scarp'' may mistakenly be incorrectly used inte ...

between Paekākāriki and

Pukerua Bay Pukerua Bay is a small seaside suburb at the southern end of the Kāpiti Coast, New Zealand. In local government terms it is the northernmost suburb of Porirua City, in the Wellington Region. It is 12 km north of the Porirua City Centre o ...

. The land is owned by

KiwiRail KiwiRail Holdings Limited is a New Zealand state-owned enterprise (SOE) responsible for rail operations in New Zealand and operates inter-island ferries. Trading as KiwiRail and headquartered at 604 Great South Road, Ellerslie, New Zealand, Ell ...

, and the QE II National Trust has a licence to undertake conservation projects. Ngā Uruora has an agreement with the QE II National Trust to undertake planting, weed and pest control on the escarpment. The Paekākāriki-Pukerua Bay escarpment is located within the Cook Strait Ecological District. The dominant native vegetation is ''

Coprosma propinqua ''Coprosma propinqua'' is a New Zealand plant of the genus ''Coprosma'' in the family Rubiaceae. It is a widely-distributed small leaved divaricating shrub found throughout New Zealand. Taxonomy and nomenclature Its Māori name is ''mingimin ...

'', '' Ozothamnus leptophyllus'' and '' Olearia solandri'', with scattered kanuka- karaka-kohekohe forest remnants.

Biology

There are three biologically-significant sites on the escarpment: # Site No. 2u: An area at the north end noted for exposed coastal vegetation and ''Coprosma propinqua'', ngaio, karaka, and kawakawa shrubland. It is one of the few remaining regional examples of coastal cliff shrubland and could develop into a coastal forest if left undisturbed. # Site No. 2v: This is the major kohekohe, mahoe, and karaka shrubland remnant. It is a regionally representative example of coastal cliff vegetation. # Site No. 2t: The general escarpment, including coastal cliff pohuehue shrubland, plus pasture grassland and scattered karaka-kohekohe forest remnants. Four species of native lizards have been identified on the escarpment as part of the Kāpiti Biodiversity Project: raukawa gecko ('' Woodworthia maculatus''), northern grass skink ( ''Oligosoma'' aff. ''polychroma''), copper skink ('' Oligosoma aeneum''), and the at-risk brown skink ('' Oligosoma zelandicum''). Since 2017 weed clearance, habitat restoration, and rock-pile building has been undertaken to improve lizard habitat. The native bird species present include New Zealand kingfisher ('' Todiramphus sanctus vagans''), pied shag ( ''Phalacrocorax varius varius''), grey warbler (''

Gerygone igata The grey warbler (''Gerygone igata''), also known by its Māori name or outside New Zealand as the grey gerygone, is an insectivorous bird in the family Acanthizidae endemic to New Zealand. It is sometimes known as the teetotum or rainbird. Its ...

''), North Island fantail ('' Rhipidura fuliginosa placabilis''), silvereye ('' Zosterops lateralis lateralis''), harrier ('' Circus approximans''), kererū ('' Hemiphaga novaeseelandiae''), korimako ('' Anthornis melanura melanura''), and New Zealand pipit ('' Anthus novaeseelandiae novaeseelandiae''). Pipit are considered an at-risk species in New Zealand, and pied shags are nationally vulnerable.

History of project

Ngā Ururoa was set up in 1997 by Fergus Wheeler. It was nominated for an award for "weedbusting excellence" by Weedbusters in 2012, and won the Wellington Community Trust Regional Heritage & Environment award in 2013. Ngā Uruora volunteer Peter Kentish of Paraparaumu won a Kāpiti Coast Civic Award in 2017 for his work. The Paekākāriki-Pukerua Bay escarpment is home to the 10 km

Escarpment Track The Escarpment Track is a hiking track between Pukerua Bay and Paekākāriki in the Wellington region of New Zealand. It forms part of the Te Araroa trail from Cape Reinga to Bluff. The track climbs to approximately above sea level, along a ...

; costing $1.4 million, this is the most expensive section of the entire national walkway network known as

Te Araroa Te Araroa (The Long Pathway) is New Zealand's long distance tramping route, stretching circa along the length of the country's two main islands from Cape Reinga to Bluff. Officially opened in 2011, it is made up of a mixture of previously m ...

. Ngā Uruora was integral in getting the Escarpment Track established, as they had been using tracks through the area since 1997. Ngā Uruora is a member of The Kāpiti Coast Biodiversity Project that received $294,000 by the Ministry for the Environment in 2015. They hope to create a virtually predator-free 16.5 square kilometre "mainland island" in Kāpiti. Ngā Uruora has a particular focus on restoring habitat for lizards and has an agreement with

Department of Conservation (New Zealand) The Department of Conservation (DOC; Māori language, Māori: ''Te Papa Atawhai'') is the public service department of New Zealand charged with the conservation of New Zealand's natural and historical heritage. An advisory body, the New Zealand ...

to carry out a lizard protection trial. At the beginning of 2017 Ngā Uruora installed a community webcam at the top of Paekākāriki Hill Road overlooking the Kāpiti Coast. In 2018 Ngā Uruora was one of the recipients of funding from the

Radio New Zealand Radio New Zealand (), commonly known as RNZ or Radio NZ, is a New Zealand public service broadcaster and Crown entity. Established under the Radio New Zealand Act 1995, it operates news and current affairs station, RNZ National, and a classi ...

programme known as Critter of the Week. Ngā Uruora's conservation work with lizards featured on the

Summer series programme in 2019.

References

External links

* Ngā Uruora discussed on RNZ ''Country Life'
8 July 2011
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ngā Uruora - Kāpiti Project 1997 establishments in New Zealand Conservation projects in New Zealand Paekākāriki