Our sandhills wow dune-lovers

By ANNE-MARIE EMERSON
CASTLECLIFF's sand dunes have the "wow" factor.
That was the opinion of the 70 members of the New Zealand Dune Restoration Trust, who are holding their 11th annual conference in Wanganui this week.
The conference - which has come to Wanganui for the first time - brings together a wide variety of interested stakeholders from all round the country: scientists, researchers, farmers, council staff, consultants and community groups.
Out-of-towners were impressed by the size and condition of the Castlecliff dunes when the group went on a field trip to the beach yesterday morning.
"Wow, they're amazing!" was the response from Innika Broadman.
Ms Broadman, from Waimarama, in Hawke's Bay, grows native dune grasses and trees for restoration projects at her nursery, Hakikino Nurseries.
Ms Broadman said dune restoration was "just taking off" in Hawke's Bay.
"We do need to restore our dunes at Waimarama. But we also need to educate people so they know how important this is for the good of our coast."
Harley Spence, a trustee of the Dune Restoration Trust and coastline consultant, said ensuring the health of New Zealand's dunes was essential.
"Everyone loves beaches, and beaches and dunes go hand-in-hand. Around half of New Zealand's coastline is dunes.
"So they're very, very important, socially and culturally."
Mr Spence said dunes were also ecologically unique, containing plants, insects and birds that lived nowhere else.
A little-known practical benefit of healthy dunes was the protection they offered from natural hazards, he said.
"They're nature's protection from the sea, the wind and tsunamis."
Mr Spence said the conference was "not just a talkfest".
He used the example of an endemic dune grass, pingao, known for its brilliant orange colour. Under threat from a variety of human and plant factors, pingao was extremely rare by the early 1990s.
"One of the early projects [the trust] worked on was pingao. Back then we didn't even know how to grow it.
"But now we do, and we've taught our communities how to grow it.
"The result is that pingao has turned a corner. It's no longer as endangered as it was."
Local dune enthusiast Colin Ogle said the Castlecliff dunes were threatened by the same problems that plague dunes throughout New Zealand: farming, exotic species and damage by vehicles.
Mr Ogle said that, between the north mole and the northern end of the beach, there were 150 species of weed on the dunes.
"That's a lot more than the native species."
But Robyn Smith, from the Greater Wellington Regional Council, was impressed by the naturally-occurring spinifex mats on the dunes.
Ms Smith said the Wellington region contained many dunes, from Wairarapa to the south coast to the Kapiti Coast.
"But most of them have been modified, although we're working on getting them back to their original state.
Ms Smith said there were nine groups in Wellington working on dune restoration. Although they're funded by the council, the groups operate entirely by community volunteers.
"This work is very important to the council, and it's very important that we have community involvement."
Ms Smith said she always enjoys coming to the annual conference.
"Being with other people who are passionate about dunes it's a real shot in the arm."
n For more information on the Dunes Restoration Trust, visit www.dunestrust.org.nz.