By Karen Baird, Tue,
26/01/2016 - 02:22
Around half of the ten or
so New Zealand Fairy Tern pairs remaining in the world breed at the beautiful
Northland harbour of Mangawhai. They nest on the enormous sandspit where the
Department of Conservation and NZ Fairy Tern Trust maintain a trapping
programme for predators and the nests are closely monitored during the breeding
season. However in recent years the so-called Mangawhai Harbour
Restoration Society (MHRS) have decided they want a mangrove-free harbour and
applied to the planning authorities to allow removal of mangroves. In 2012 the
Environment Court allowed for some removal in the middle harbour which was
carried out this past winter. Conservationists have been concerned that removal
of mangroves would deplete one of their major food resources, the gobies which
live and feed amongst the mangrove pneumatophores. A foraging study was carried
out by Karen Baird from the New Zealand BirdLife partner, Forest & Bird in
collaboration with other scientists and published in Bird Conservation
International (Ismar et al, 2014: Foraging Ecology and Choice of Feeding
Habitat of the New Zealand Fairy Tern Sternula nereis davisae). The
study showed that NZ Fairy Terns feed their chicks on these mangrove inhabiting
gobies, preying on them when they move out of the mangroves at lower tide
levels and into channels and pools on the tidal flats.
MHRS have now unveiled
plans for a ‘stage two’, to remove more mangroves. This is despite a ruling
already by the Environment Court that the area they’ve targeted should remain.
There is increasing pressure in northern New Zealand from Tauranga northwards
for councils to relax planning rules around mangroves which have previously
enjoyed reasonable protection due to their high ecological values.
Mangroves are continually
the target of prejudice, considerable misunderstanding and what amounts to a
concerted campaign often based on misinformation. These negative views on
mangroves include that they are: an introduced ‘pest’ plant which is taking
over our northern harbours, limiting people from enjoying open space for speed
boats and jet skis; obstacles to marina developments and reclamations,
and are seen by developers as reducing the attractiveness of the coastal
properties they hope to sell.
Mangroves are native to
New Zealand. Their ecological value as nurseries for marine life is well known,
they are home to threatened bird species such as the Australasian Bittern and
Banded Rail, and act as natural buffers protecting shorelines from erosion.
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