Lake Ōhau restoration planting
The Ōhau Conservation Trust has planted about 3500 native plants alongside Lakes Ōhau and Middleton in the last 10 or so years. The Trust started using EmGuards in 2019, after deciding the days of plastic and wire plant protectors were over!
Restoration planting took on a new importance after the October 2020 Lake Ōhau wildfire that destroyed houses and around 5000 ha of predominately native vegetation. Around 80% of the Trust’s planting efforts were destroyed or damaged. Remarkably some beech seedling and their EmGuard protectors survived the wildfire as it roared along the shores of Lake Ōhau. (photo)
A priority project for the Trust now, is to undertake the restoration of a former douglas fir plantation site, so it becomes, over time, a native forest. This “Avoca Forest” is nearly 3ha in size and is located between the Lake Ōhau Village and Lake Middleton. It will include walking tracks, lookouts with seats and a rich variety of native plants found in our special local environment.
Planting started this autumn with volunteers planting 758 plants in the Avoca Forest, as well as 185 other plants, including an area of kowhai along the shore of Lake Ōhau where the wildfire had destroyed a kowhai grove.
Planting at Lake Ōhau involves a number of challenges including a high rabbit population, resident hares, very strong winds, hot dry summers and cold winters. The EmGuards have stood up to all these challenges. In fact, we have noticed plants do really well with protection from EmGuards as a wee micro-climate for each plant is created, reducing the stress on the plants from wind, heat and cold.
The Trust will be organising planting sessions each autumn for the next few years, as we take the opportunity to create a new environmental and recreational asset for residents and visitors to Lake Ōhau. Information about future planting sessions are posted on the Trust’s website - https://ohauconservationtrust.nz/news/
Come and give us a hand if you are in this wonderful part of the country in autumn.
Vivienne Smith-Campbell,
Chairperson, Ōhau Conservation Trust
