Our first stop today was tea-time at a coffee shop cozily
decorated with artwork from local artists. The warm drink was much appreciated
on the chilly morning. We stopped along the way for a scenic look at Lake Ellesmere
whose beauty neatly hid the pollution beneath the surface.
Arriving at the land convent we were greeted by two women,
Marie and Annaliese, from the Banks Peninsula Conservation Trust who spoke to
us about the purpose and mission of the trust. The conservation trust is a nonprofit that helps landowners voluntarily protect their plots through a legal covenant. The voluntary
basis of landowner’s decision to participate in conservation is a powerful
approach to citizen support for conservation and sustainable land management.
The trust's goal is to achieve balance between habitat connections, farming, and
other land use activities. Visit their website at: http://www.bpct.org.nz/
After learning about the trust we were introduced to the
invasive exotic Barberry.
Its origins are in
the Western Himalayan’s. The growth of the plant among indigenous species
smothers surrounding vegetation. It is a tricky plant to eradicate, but manual
and chemical removal proves successful. The plant is prickly, but younger
stages can be easily pulled from the ground. More mature plants require sawing
and application of herbicide on the freshly cut stumps. The wood yielded a
curry-like dust while sawing that made it easily identifiable. When removing
one must be cautious not remove indigenous plants with similar phenotypes such
as pigeon wood and native ash.
We ate lunch outside a beautifully glassed house on top of
the hill from which we were working.
Before heading back to Lincoln University we visited
Birdling Flat. The beach was covered in water-smoothed rocks. We walked the
beach picking up stones and searching for the transparent agate stones.
To end the day we stopped at a rock shop with an amazing
collection by a local collector.
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