Penny Gaylor: Fine balance between grazing and land restoration

Penny Gaylor in Queen Elizabeth Park.

Opinion:

I wrote in this column a few weeks ago about Greater Wellington Regional Council's Low Carbon Acceleration Fund, which is enabling the dune and peatland restoration of 128.5 hectares in Queen Elizabeth Park (QEP).

The Kāpiti Coast's QEP is the largest restoration project of its kind in Aotearoa, which we're really proud of.

At the same time, there's another 208 hectares in QEP that isn't ready for restoration yet. This land had been grazed up until last year. Greater Wellington are intending to grant a grazing licence, on some of it, for three years.

The licence will come with conditions, and it won't operate like a normal commercial farm. The stock will be used as a land management technique for grazing only (no pasture renewal).

To protect the dunes only young animals can graze, which also provides flexibility to move them when feed stocks are short in dry summers. Additional public access will be made available on new trails, with health and safety exclusions.

I've been asked why Greater Wellington are doing this, especially in light of the Toitū Te Whenua Parks Network Plan 2020-30 which signals moving away from grazing.

It might sound like a good idea to leave it alone, as there's reports of wildlife in the area since the farmer left last year. But unless it's managed carefully, the weeds growing there are a fire risk.

And there was a fire there in February. But thanks to Greater Wellington park rangers and emergency services it was quickly brought under control, as the damage could have been catastrophic.

The three-year timeframe has reviews built in to allow for land to be retired for restoration. It will enable Greater Wellington to continue their scientific analysis and make long term plans for managing fire risk, restoration and recreation.

I'm happy to see that there will not be grazing in the areas in the south that contain high levels of peat, natural wetlands, or areas where wetland species are present. I walked around there just last Friday, and as pictured there is no stock there — and there haven't been any for 11 months.

The final grazing area, within the 208 hectares, is still to be determined. Further inspections will ensure that grazing is still a suitable land management approach for each area.

As I've found out, restoration is an expensive and complicated business, and is not to be rushed. If you have any feedback on this, please visit haveyoursay.gw.govt.nz/qep-grazing.