Environmental Update April 2005

Wenita Website

Have you visited the Wenita website lately? We have made some changes and updates. The site contains information on:

• Five Year Harvest Plan (which forests are planned for harvest and when).
• Forest Access (including Motorcycle and Hunting permits)
  

Greaves Wetland

During 2004 the Government invited landowners to apply for funding for projects aimed at helping protect and restore native plants on their properties. Wenita successfully applied to the Biodiversity Condition Fund and was granted $9,200 to complete fencing and planting projects at Greaves Wetland over a period of 3 years. These projects are currently underway.

Environmental Certification

FSC Surveillance Audit

The FSC surveillance audit is scheduled for April 2005. Wenita currently has no Corrective Action Requests and hopes to maintain this level of achievement.

ISO 14001 Surveillance Audit

Wenita recently successfully passed a complete re-audit of its ISO 14001 systems and was re-issued with certification until July 2007. No Corrective Action Requests were issued. The next ISO surveillance audit is scheduled for July 2005.

Forest Public Use

Permitted public use of Wenita forests continues to be high with over 700 permits being issued over the last year. The most popular activities are hunting, firewood collecting and motorbike riding.

In the last issue of this newsletter, the high level of non-permitted motorbike riding was raised as a safety concern. Many motorcycle riders complained that having to obtain a permit during the week from our Mosgiel office was inconvenient. Therefore, in the interests of everyone, Wenita has attempted to make permit application easier and faster by getting local motorcycle retailers involved in the process. There are now four local motorbike outlets that have the authority to issue motorcycle riding permits on Wenita’s behalf. All motorcycle riders are required to register at a cost of $25 for 12 months. Currently we have 240 riders in the system. Permits are issued on Friday nights and Saturday mornings.

Monitoring

Biodiversity Monitoring

Vegetation species surveys are continuing within Wenita’s estate to ensure all indigenous areas have adequate protection. Over 270 hectares of reserve was surveyed and monitored during the last 12 months.

Waterways Monitoring

SHMAK monitoring has been undertaken in 6 streams which represents all major forest catchments. The streams continue to score favourably, with the highest scores being achieved by having low sedimentation, good water quality and clarity. The lowest scores result from streamside vegetation which tends to be weedy or exotic. One stream in the Narrowdales Catchment showed a decline in quality, following major harvest activity in the surrounding catchment. This is the first time since 2001 that water quality has shown a decline. This catchment however, was chosen as part of a major waterways monitoring project called the "Narrowdales Project" This monitoring is over and above the ongoing SHMAK monitoring. The Narrowdales Project started in 2004 and is planned to finish in 2009. Further SHMAK results and the results from the "Narrowdales Project" will in fact help Wenita interpret this decline and determine the true effects of both harvesting and forestry operations and whether this observed impact is short term or otherwise.

Chemical Usage

The amount and toxicity of chemical used in 2004 was under half that of 2003. However, this was very much due to the ‘fantastic’ summer conditions experienced. You will no doubt remember the wet and cold end to 2004, which resulted in operations being uncompleted due to unfavourable weather conditions. Almost all of this spraying was deferred to early 2005.

Environmental Incidents

There has been one environmental incident since the last issue of this newsletter. The incident related to an Animal Health Board contractor using an unauthorised pesticide (Talon) within Wenita’s forests. As soon as the mishap was discovered, the contractor immediately removed all toxin from the forest. The active chemical, brodificoum, is banned from our forests due to FSC regulations.

NZ Falcon

The 2004/2005 Falcon breeding season was one of highs and lows. Wenita’s contractors successfully reported a multitude of Falcon sightings throughout our forests. An ornithologist contracted by Wenita, then attempted to locate the nests based around this reported activity. In Berwick Forest, 2 nests were found and protected, which resulted in 5 juveniles being successfully raised.

In Otago Coast, 2 nests were found. One nest resulted in 2 juveniles. The second nest was abandoned due to the disturbance of the surrounding harvesting activity. Although the contractor immediately stopped work when the Falcon activity was apparent, it was later discovered that the harvesters were in fact within 20m of the nesting site. By this stage only a small number of trees were left standing in an isolated patch. A major wind event caused significant windthrow and the female Falcon, obviously unnerved, abandoned 2 eggs. A decision was made to try and extract fallen trees in the periphery of the nest at what was believed to be a safe working distance. Soon after, the 3rd and final egg was abandoned. This was a huge learning curve for all involved and consequently new guidelines have been drawn up for staff and contractors that are working around Falcon nests. An extensive search failed to find a second nest for this breeding pair. In summary, however, a total of 7 juveniles added to the NZ Falcon population is a great result for our contractors.