On Sunday, 25 February, we partnered with The Forest Bridge Trust and Wai Connection – Tatai ki te Wai to host an open day for the community to connect and engage with nature at CUE Haven.

The Forest Bridge Trust (TFBT) is an organisation devoted to creating a corridor of thriving native forest from the Kaipara Harbour to the Hauraki Gulf. Wai Connection – Tatai ki te Wai, is a Mountains to Sea Conservation Trust community catchment group project to protect and restore our rivers, streams, lakes, and wetlands.

TFBT representatives arrived early to help with the set up.  They had displays about pest control including traps and the types of predators that are threatening New Zealand native plants and animals.

Hana from Wai Connection also made an early start to set nets to see what fish were currently present in the CUE Haven stream.

Rhiannon also of Wai Connection, collected samples of water so that visitors could study macroinvertebrates living in the stream.

Guests started arriving by 10am and socialised over morning tea.

Claire, TFBT Community Liaison, welcomed the guests and gave an overview of the plan for the day. 

Mahrukh then gave a short welcome and introduction to CUE Haven and Thomas gave a safety briefing and description of the nature walk.

Everyone then went for a walk to explore a bit of the CUE Haven bush.  Because of the large number of guests, we broke into two smaller groups, one led by Thomas and the other led by our wonderful volunteer, Richard.

Along the way, Thomas and Richard pointed out various aspects of the bush and answered questions about the restoration project.

Alex, one of TFBT’s predator control specialists chatted with visitors about the various traps and methods of controlling pests.

Hana had set up a small information stand near where she had placed the nets and the groups stopped by to learn more about the benefits of protecting waterways. 

Hana gave a short talk about water quality issues and how restoration planting improves water quality both locally and downstream. 

She then showed what had been caught in the fish traps.

We were delighted that the traps had netted both juvenile and more mature banded kokopu.  These native fish are not endangered but require a suitable habitat to thrive.  They spawn in the salt water of the Kaipara Harbour and then swim upstream to live in the fresh water streams and pools.

Hana then invited one of the guests to pull up the last trap and a pleasant surprise was finding a baby eel!

Hana pointed out that the native plantings at CUE Haven had led to improved water quality in the streams and wetlands, creating a habitat for native aquatic animals to thrive.

The group then continued on the walk up the main walking track, stopping briefly to see interesting features along the way.

The final destination of the walk was Te Rite o Taranaki, the viewing platform, where guests could relax and, despite the light showers, enjoy views of the Kaipara Harbour and the regenerating CUE Haven bush.

Guests were then welcome to walk back at their leisure and explore more of CUE Haven’s walking tracks.

One of the guests, Astanda, made a video of the walk and kindly shared it and some amazing pictures with us.  Thanks Astanda! You can see the video here:

It was a fun and informative community gathering, and a wonderful opportunity for a very diverse group of people to learn, socialise and make new connections. We look forward to many more such community events at CUE Haven. 

We want to thank The Forest Bridge Trust and Wai Connection for their support and assistance in hosting the open day.  We especially want to thank, Claire, Karen, Alex, Elena and Angela of TFBT, Hana and Rhiannon from Wai Connection, and our wonderful volunteer, Richard, for giving up their Sunday, sharing their knowledge with the group and ensuring that the day was a success.  Thank you all!!