All previous newsletters can be found here.
Work Day Reminder, August 15 2026
The next monthly work day will be from 9.00am – noon this coming Saturday.
This month we will be doing some planting and weeding somewhere around the wetland. If you arrive late there will be a notice on the Education Centre door explaining where we have gone and a phone number for you to call if you need more guidance to our location.
All tools provided. Gumboots are recommended. If you don’t have any we have pairs for loan at the Education Centre. Please bring your own gloves if you can, but we have some of them for loan too.
If the weather on the work day is poor and we decide to cancel then an email will be sent by 8am on Saturday morning. So if you think the conditions are marginal, please check your emails.
If you’re reading this on the website and are not on the email list then you can add yourself to it through the form at the foot of the home page. If you change your mind there’s an unsubscribe link in each newsletter.
Volunteers welcome
Would you like to volunteer to help with caring for the wetland? We would be interested to hear from you. You may have a community group, workplace or extended family that would like to be involved too. Please contact us via info@traviswetland.org.nz
Report on the last work day, 18th July
The day dawned fine but very cold, so it was impressive to see 18 people turn up. Ranger Matt arrived early and did a fantastic job setting up for planting in the Mairehau dunes area. It was great to have 2 other rangers present on the day too, plus some first-time volunteers.
More than 400 plants were put in to fill gaps, particularly along the very dry areas close to the roadside. A variety of hardy species were planted, including spiky matagouri which is helpfully nitrogen fixing. Energetic children helped with empty pot collection and watering the new plants.
Well deserved refreshments were enjoyed in the sun back at The Ed Centre. Thanks everyone.
Article: Sue Britain and images: Sue Britain and Alice Waterhouse
Bryony Macmillan and Mosses
Bryony Macmillan was a very well-known Bryologist – a botanist who has an active interest in observing, recording, classifying or researching bryophytes (mosses, liverworts and hornworts). Bryony worked at the DSIR (Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, which was a government department reconstituted as 10 Crown Research Institutes in 1992) then at Landcare Research in Lincoln. She tallied 234 known species of bryophyte on Banks Peninsula. [See Hugh Wilson’s book — Life on Banks Peninsula.]
After the 2011 Christchurch earthquakes mosses flourished at Travis, due to the increase in water, and formed very healthy populations near the Western Boundary. After she retired Bryony took on the very time-consuming and delicate, microscopic task of identifying specimens from Travis. One of the mosses found at Travis, Aulacomnium palustre, is the first recorded lowland wild habitat in Canterbury.
Bryony passed away peacefully in June this year aged 92. We are grateful that she shared her plant experience to add to Travis knowledge.
Article: Eleanor Bissell and image: Alice Shanks
Snippets from the Rangers
Planting the area in front of the information centre is being considered. This because the bank is eroding away due to waterfowl traffic and a high-water level. This would also limit people walking too far off track. Carex secta would secure the area and discourage birds feeding in the wet area. This aligns with the threatened species conservation plan for Grey Duck. See picture the below.
On Mondays rangers Alice and Matt have been steadily repairing the wet sections of the Wetland Walk by adding new culverts and gravel. Lots of people have been commenting about how good it is to have dry feet. This shows that people love Travis so much that they have been prepared to get wet feet to enjoy the track.
Rangers Alice and Jo completed the monthly pest animal trap round in June with a total of 59 rats caught!
Matt flushed an Australasian bittern (Matuku-hūrepo) a couple of times during June/July. The resident two Cape Barren Geese were grazing at Clarvale Park. He also saw one black fronted dotterel fly over him in the paddock behind the cattle yards.
Excerpts from ranger Matt Rose’s report to the Trust’s board meeting in July.
Conservation Amendment Bill
I don’t know about you but I keep reading of more reasons to oppose this bill. It seems that no one likes it but I suppose that’s the bubble I live in. The Environmental Defence Society says the “Conservation Law Reform Bill needs more fixes”. Forest & Bird says: “the proposed Conservation Amendment Bill puts nature under serious threat, introducing a new function for the Department of Conservation that risks turning it into an economic development agency, and significantly reduces public oversight concentrating decision making among Ministers.” Greenpeace says: “The Conservation Amendment Bill would gut the law that protects millions of hectares of public conservation land across Aotearoa. It would make it easier for mining corporations, logging companies and billionaires to exploit and degrade the forests, rivers and wildlife that define Aotearoa.” The Federated Mountain Clubs say “This is possibly the biggest threat to conservation law and outdoor recreation in 40 years. It fundamentally changes why public conservation land exists and how decisions are made about it.”
On Saturday 15 August there is a national day of action against the Conservation Amendment Bill with the Bin the Bill rally in Christchurch starting at noon in Cathedral Square (directly after the Travis work day), followed by a walk to the gardens (for those that can).
Article: Dave Evans
Recent images from Ōruapaeroa Travis Wetland
