Newsletter No. 3 - July 2009

www.soundsrestoration.org.nz

2009-10 CONTROL PROGRAMME ALL SET TO GO
The Marlborough Sounds Restoration Trust has secured more than $200,000 to continue its wilding pine control programme in the Marlborough Sounds this year.
The funding will see tens of thousands of the nuisance trees controlled in Inner Queen Charlotte Sound, in a bid to protect the area’s scenic beauty and native forests.

Trust Chairman, Andrew Macalister, says the Trust has received funding from the following sources:

• New Zealand Lottery Grants Board’s Environment and Heritage Fund - $89,534.00
• Canterbury Community Trust - $30,000.00
• Department of Conservation - $20,000.00
• Marlborough District Council - $20,000.00
• Biodiversity Condition Fund - $15,217.00
• New Zealand King Salmon Company Ltd - $9,298.00.

In addition, about 100 Sounds landowners have donated a total of $28,500, using the Trust website at http://www.soundsrestoration.org.nz/how-can-you-help.html.

Marlborough Lines is supporting the programme by offering to fell trees adjacent to power lines which are not able to be poisoned. Negotiations are also underway to obtain herbicide from an agrichemical company.

This year, control will take place throughout the Bay of Many Coves, the head of Blackwood and Torea Bays, Double Cove, the east side of Onahau Bay, and the coastal faces between Whatamango Bay and Dieffenbach Point (see map).  A 750ha block in Pelorus Sound, at Elie Bay, will also be targeted, providing a showcase of what is possible in a different part of the Sounds.

Last year, the Trust controlled about 8,500 trees across 2,500 ha in the inner Sound, in the first of a three-year programme. This year, which constitutes the second year of the programme, will target trees across 3,000 ha.
The Trust plans to undertake its wilding pine control between September and December, with contracting firms engaged through a competitive tendering process. Five firms are expected to be involved this year –from Marlborough, Nelson, and the West Coast.

The control method will be the same as last year – the injection of small amounts of a commercially-available herbicide, metsulfuron-methyl, directly into holes drilled into tree trunks. Small trees will either be hand-pulled or cut using a pruning saw. Trees adjacent to power lines, baches and other sensitive areas will be excluded from poisoning, but may be felled if funding allows.

If you want to support the 2009-10 programme, please visit http://www.soundsrestoration.org.nz/how-can-you-help.html or email  info@soundsrestoration.org.nz.

TRUST ON TV
The Trust’s activities will be featuring on TV shortly. TVNZ’s Rural Delivery programme was hosted by Trustee, Sara Archdale, in June to view the wilding pine programme.

The programme airs on Saturday mornings at 7.30am on TV One. For those with Freeview, it also shows on TV 7 on Saturdays at 7.10am and Sundays at 10.10am. Itis expected to feature in early-mid July.

If you miss it, it can also be seen on the TVNZ website. Go to http://tvnz.co.nz/rural-delivery for more information.

Kenepuru wilding pine workshop
The Kenepuru & Central Sounds Residents Association is holding a meeting on Friday 23rd October to progress the idea of getting wilding pine control underway in their part of the Sounds, following the success of the Trust in Queen Charlotte Sound.

The Association is keen to progress control in areas of regenerating native forest, and also along the foreshore and road reserves, where pines are posing a threat to roads and public access.

For more information, please contact Association Chairman, Pat Williams, at 03 573 4668 or nowanden@silkweb.net.nz.