Mel Galbraith, Senior lecturer at Unitec Institute of Technology /Te Pukenga, has been bringing students in the Ecological Restoration class to CUE Haven for the past several years to give the students a chance to do some first-hand observations of a restoration project in progress.  Because we have been planting since 2008, they can readily see different stages in the regeneration process and learn about the issues and challenges associated with each phase of the work.

Mel unfortunately couldn’t join us today, so it was just Professor Dr. Peter de Lange and Adjunct Professor Dr. Dan Blanchon accompanying students Courtney, Jacob, Kevin, Maisie, Michaela, Onjoli and Thomas for the field trip. 

Mahrukh started off the session by giving the students the history and objectives of the CUE Haven restoration project and plans for the future.

Then Thomas talked a little more about the restoration plan and how it was executed, explained what we would be seeing and doing on the walk and gave a safety briefing.

It was a beautiful sunny late winter day and just right for a leisurely walk in the bush.

As the group explored the bush, Thomas pointed out a number of features of the property and explained some of the challenges of the restoration project.  We discussed weed and pest control and the positive effect that pest management has had on the natural regeneration process as well as native bird and animal life.

Walking near the boundary with the neighbouring farm, the students could see the impact of different land uses on the landscape and how farming practices have affected the land and activities at CUE Haven.

Dan and Peter both kept an eye out for interesting and unique features to point out.  They identified a unique ground plant and a fungus that they hadn’t previously seen at CUE Haven.

We carried on to the top of the property with frequent stops along the way to observe various aspects of the regenerating bush and took some time to identify unusual plants.  We took a small detour to Otakamaitu, to see the Maori rock pools which are evidence of past human habitation on this site.

There was so much interesting discussion on the walk that Thomas forgot to take many pictures.  But we made it all the way to the top of the property where the students could see surrounding properties, the Araperera River and Kaipara Harbour and get a sense of how CUE Haven was part of the wider landscape.

On the walk down we had more discussions about what the group observed.  Once back at the cottage there was a quick debrief and discussion about opportunities for further research study at CUE Haven.

As always, we had a very enjoyable visit with the Unitec students.  We learn a lot from these visits and are always impressed with the enthusiasm and varied interests and knowledge of the Unitec students and staff.  Our heartfelt thanks to Mel for his continuing support of and organising the visit. Mel, we really missed you today and we look forward to having you back out to CUE Haven with your class next year.  Our thanks to Dr. Lorne Roberts for handling the logistics of this trip, many thanks to Dan and Peter for the very useful input and feedback provided during the walk.  And of course a big thank you to the students for their enthusiasm and interest in the project. We look forward to having you all out to CUE Haven again soon.