Bay of Plenty Times
  • Bay of Plenty Times home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Sport
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Sport

Locations

  • Coromandel & Hauraki
  • Katikati
  • Tauranga
  • Mount Maunganui
  • Pāpāmoa
  • Te Puke
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Thames
  • Tauranga
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Bay of Plenty Times

Grooming tactics target mangrove mulch mess

Bay of Plenty Times
30 Jan, 2011 09:25 PM2 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

A new method of clearing mechanically mulched mangroves has been trialled by Bay of Plenty Regional Council after calls for action by local Forest and Bird members to address "dead zones".
The council's trial in the Waikareao estuary on Friday was the first step to investigate different ways to manage or
remove the mulch as part of a wider removal project in selected sites around Tauranga Harbour.
Council chairman John Cronin said the trial was "timely" as concerns had been raised that mangrove mulch was not being flushed from areas as quickly as hoped.
Forest and Bird members spoke out in the Bay of Plenty Times this month for the council to halt the mechanical removal of the remaining 30ha of mangroves in its programme, over fears it was creating "dead zones" or oxygen-depleted areas, where many different species such as titiko mud snails and crabs could not live.
The concerns were earlier raised by the National Institute of Water and Atmosphere, which has been monitoring mangrove removal in the estuary as well as at Matua, Waikaraka, Te Puna and Omokoroa.
The council has acknowledged some areas where there was limited tidal flow and a higher density of mangroves, these combined conditions had hampered the flushing of the mulch.
Mr Cronin said he was pleased Friday's trial went ahead, adding it was "important to alleviate any concerns that the mulch is causing a smothering effect".
"We hope that by removing mulched material, the estuary bed will revert to open mudflats quicker."
The trial involved the purpose-built mechanical mangrove mulcher being followed by a beach groomer. The groomer has been used to remove sea lettuce from Mount Maunganui beach and other areas around the harbour.
The mulch will be taken off site as green waste to be composted.
Data collected would be analysed over the next week to test the efficiency of recovering the mulch.
"This has been, as expected, a good learning experience. We should be able to improve a couple of equipment issues which will help in the long term," Mr Cronin said.
The results of the trial will be considered by the council and, if successful, will continue in other areas where mangroves will be removed this year, under consent.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Save

    Share this article

Latest from Bay of Plenty Times

Bay of Plenty Times

'Current hotspot': Back-to-back national titles for Tauranga basketballers

10 Jul 06:13 AM
Bay of Plenty Times

Kaitiaki fight pathogen endangering iconic Mauao pōhutukawa

10 Jul 06:03 AM
Bay of Plenty Times

'Highly venomous': Deadly sea snake washes up on Coromandel beach

10 Jul 05:38 AM

From early mornings to easy living

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Bay of Plenty Times

'Current hotspot': Back-to-back national titles for Tauranga basketballers

'Current hotspot': Back-to-back national titles for Tauranga basketballers

10 Jul 06:13 AM

The Under-18 and Under-20 women's teams won their championships.

Kaitiaki fight pathogen endangering iconic Mauao pōhutukawa

Kaitiaki fight pathogen endangering iconic Mauao pōhutukawa

10 Jul 06:03 AM
'Highly venomous': Deadly sea snake washes up on Coromandel beach

'Highly venomous': Deadly sea snake washes up on Coromandel beach

10 Jul 05:38 AM
Heavy rain warning likely for BoP – MetService

Heavy rain warning likely for BoP – MetService

10 Jul 12:40 AM
Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Bay of Plenty Times e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Bay of Plenty Times
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP