Diamond Harbour Reserves

person planting native seedling

About

We are a group of local people who get together to look after the reserves and other precious green places around this area.

Aims – We have lots of interlocking aims, but essentially, we are trying to:

  • improve these areas by making the vegetation more local, in other words promote the growing of plants derived from Banks Peninsula, Canterbury or at minimum South Island.
  • improve habitat opportunities for New Zealand’s wonderful birds, reptiles, insects, and other fauna.
  • foster opportunities for local people to experience, enjoy and take ownership of these beautiful areas.

Our email address is dhreserves@gmail.com. We meet every 2 months in the Diamond Harbour Community Centre on Waipapa Ave.

History

It wasn’t until the latter part of the 20th Century that local people started taking a more positive outlook towards native regeneration. Before that, native bush was very patchy and was often the victim of farming burn-offs to protect pasture land.
Following the development of the Banks Peninsula Community Board as an intermediary of CCC, a “Reserve Management Committee” was started in this area, although there has also been more and more informal activity by locals such as by those involved in regenerating the forest in Morgan’s and Sam’s Gullies.
Many of our volunteers have ecological and land-use experience, so our work benefits from in-depth knowledge of the local terrain, vegetation, and problems (weeds and pest animals).

Areas of activity

The main ones are:

  • Stoddart Point Reserve (14.3 ha)
  • Sam’s Gully (7.6 ha)
  • Morgan’s Gully (8.8 ha)
  • School Gully (approx. 6 ha)
  • Coastal Cliff Reserve (Church Bay to Diamond Harbour)
  • Purau waterfront beach
  • Black Point Reserve (1.33 ha)

Types of activities

  • Planting – obviously. Our main planting season is Winter, but depends on how much it rains.
  • Weed control – actually more important than planting. This area is infested with various exotic plants that come from other countries or from the North Island. Some of these plants look pretty but they can often smother or displace native plants that would be more beneficial for our local environment.
  • Track creation and maintenance – to ensure enjoyable, easy access to our reserves for local people.
  • Predator control – becoming more and more necessary and fortunately much better funded and organised than in the past.