Save the Otago Peninsula
Our autumn feature group is Save the Otago Peninsula Inc Soc, more commonly referred to by its acronym, STOP.
Earlier this year, we visited the Otago Peninsula for a workshop, hosted at the NZ Marine Studies Centre. Lala Frazer was there to represent Save the Otago Peninsula and learn more about how eDNA testing can benefit their environmental protection efforts. We were delighted when she asked if we’d like to see the local creek she had sampled last year, and take a tour of the area STOP has been restoring and protecting over the past 20 years.
The chain tethering a heavy wooden gate to posts clinks behind us as Lala Frazer, Smiths Creek Catchment Project Co-ordinator, leads us along the Future Forest walk at Smith’s Creek on the Otago Peninsula, near the townships of Portobello and Broad Bay.
From a clearing, we drop off the path through long grass towards a streamside patch of bush. Lala points out a kahikatea that has just entered a new phase of life, now bearing branches of adult leaves above the juvenile foliage. The tree was among the first in the ground when they began planting in 2013.
Birds twitter and play in the shrubbery as we skirt around the stream bank to visit the creek.
Discovering what’s in Smith’s Creek
Smith’s Creek passes by with a crisp, happy trickle among ferns and fallen leaf litter. A korimako / bellbird pipes up among the rustle of this small remnant of native forest. Here, Lala took two samples, at the same site but on different days. One sample was taken after rainfall, washing DNA down from the upper reaches of the catchment, and the other was taken alongside students from Broad Bay Primary School, whose pupils took a keen interest in the results.
Tuna / longfin eel and banded kōkopu were detected in the samples, alongside the DNA of sheep, cows and pigs. Kōwhitiwhiti / watercress and kōtukutuku / NZ tree fuchsia showed up in both samples, along with a few worms and snails.
STOP are familiar with many of the creatures detected, but know that the test missed some. The group is applying to our eDNA projects fund to take their sampling deeper for a comprehensive baseline of the area, which will continue to change as the landscape around it is cared for.
Learn more about our eDNA projects funding
Future Forest Walk begins
Lala leads the way to the creek
The eDNA testing site on Smith's Creek
Save the Otago Peninsula
Alongside tree plantings and water monitoring, STOP has a long history of environmental advocacy and community-building in the area. It was formed in 1980 in response to the possible construction of an aluminium smelter at Okia Flats. These days, the STOP rallies volunteers and members to protect and enjoy the stunning natural beauty of the catchment and wider environment.
As we continued on our walk, telltale signs of people come and gone peek out. A small hut has been constructed by the stream by children playing, tags on young trees bear the names of the people who donated them for planting, and an apple orchard bears fruit ready for picnics.
Lala explains that the area was once popular for people coming out from the city for picnics. Before there was a road to the peninsula they would arrive by ferry and take horses to enjoy a day in the sun by the creek. Heritage varieties of apples, pears and plums are now planted there for the local community to enjoy.
Community orchard of apple, pear and plum trees beside Smith's Creek
A regular group of volunteers gather on Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday mornings to protect the remaining areas of bush, re-vegetate and enhance habitat for indigenous bird, reptile, invertebrate and freshwater life, trap pests such as possums, and fence off the creek from stock. They produce publications and displays to encourage public education and awareness of issues on the Otago Peninsula. The group works alongside three Enviroschools in the area, and organises events for the wider community to attend.
Environmental protection gone gangbusters
Looking up from the gully to the top ridges, you can see the fruit of their labour. Kānuka grow all along one of the creek’s tributaries, planted in patches that are maintained to prevent the return of gorse and broom. The care that goes into planning the planting and restoration mahi is evident, and Lala proudly says the trees have a very high survival rate of 95 to 99 percent.
Even a rare tree daisy, Olearia lineata, is thriving amongst the grasses and undergrowth, despite there only being two wild plants left on the peninsula. The group grew six from cuttings, with low hopes they’d all survive. “But they have all gone gangbusters!” says Lala.
It was incredibly inspiring for us to see and experience the environment that a group participating in Wai Tuwhera o te Taiao is protecting.
The site we visited was just one of the areas along the Otago Peninsula they care for. Bit by bit, they plan to keep restoring and advocating for their peninsula paradise. We look forward to following their progress, and wonder what it could look like in 30 years, or indeed 300!
You can find out more about the society and upcoming activities on their website and Facebook page:
Environmental DNA is a tool that can be added to the environmental protection kete of the many people of Aotearoa who are out in te taiao making a difference. Through Wai Tuwhera o te Taiao, we’d love to share your story of using eDNA alongside your existing mahi and knowledge with the wider community of participants and readers.
Get in touch if you are interested in featuring on our website.