Motu Trails Expands Planting Programme

Motu Trails volunteers are preparing for two planting days in June, with organisers hoping to add another 3,000 native plants to the trail environment.

Motu Trails volunteers will return to the dunes next month for two planting days aimed at restoring coastal areas and protecting parts of the trail network from weather conditions.

Motu Trail Trust Executive Officer Jim Robinson said more than 35,000 native plants and trees had been planted alongside the trails since the initiative began in 2014.

“The resilience of spinifex, pīngao and karo and all those kind of species, it's really about getting roots into the sand and stopping windblown sand and all that kind of stuff.”

Planting days on June 7th and June 21st will focus on restoring dune areas currently dominated by weeds, with volunteers expected to plant up to 3,000.

“One of the planting days is at Hokowai where we did a short trail realignment about a year or so ago, and that means that there's an area that's currently just weeds that will be planted up,” Robinson said.

“And then really east of Hokowai out to Tirohanga, there's several sections where there's basically little hollows in the dune that are currently weeds and we'll do infill planting.”

An exposed section of the Dunes trail with damage from Cyclone Vaianu which was cleared in two days. IMAGE: Supplied. 

The planting days are part of an effort to create a better environment for the area and some protection from coastal elements, he said.

Over the past decade, he said the transformation along sections of the trail had been significant. 

"Visually the trail has gone from, when it was first put through a whole lot of pampas and just basically weak species, and now there's sections where there's tree canopy to three or four metres high and lots of areas where there's one or two metre high native vegetation cover."

Planting on sand dunes also helped provide shelter for the trails during severe weather, with any windswept ssand or debris usually cleared by hand. 

The restoration work has also coincided with ongoing pest trapping efforts.

"We're talking about hundreds of rats per year and about 30 mustelid, stoats and weasels per year, so those numbers have come right back and consequently you're seeing there's a lot more birdlife out there than there used to be."

Volunteer trapper Gary completing trapping work. IMAGE: Supplied.

Alongside the environmental work, teams continue regular maintenance on sections of the Pakihi Track and Motu Road trails.

"Pakihi Track is a really dynamic track, it's 20 kilometres long, it's extremely dynamic terrain, just in exactly the same way as the Waioeka Gorge is."

"The track's a lot narrower than the highway, but hey, slips come down, rockfall comes down, windfall comes down, and really, every significant weather event brings damage."

"But by and large, almost without exception, it's pretty straightforward to clear, it's just a lot of work." 

Since November last year, both tracks have been affected by a slip on Motu Road, which is being cleared by the Ōpōtiki District Council. 

The tracks, which typically attract about 2,500 users a year, have limited access because of the slip. 

"Because Pakihi is a one-way track that has to be accessed from the top, not having access is a real issue."

"The usage has been okay for walkers because they can come in from the Ōpōtiki end, but for cyclists, the slip is a real problem for us."

Robinson said he understood the slip clearance was a major project, but hoped access would be restored as soon as possible.

Once cleared, the trust expects cyclist numbers to recover, he said. 

Robinson encouraged both locals and visitors to continue making use of the trails.

“They're there for everyone, just enjoy them.”