High Achiever
Regeneration the Bradley way By Rachel Milne
Community Ranger, Waikato Department of
A
Conservation District Office
community group in Hamilton proves many small actions combined can have a significant impact on our native flora. How do you achieve a big, challenging goal? You break it down into
small, simple steps. This is something Hamilton’s Friends of Mangaonua Esplanade group knows very well. The group gathers on a bright Thursday morning in September, ready for three hours spent carefully getting rid of pest plants one by one. Today the group is made up of
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22 Walking New Zealand, issue no 285 - 2021
dedicated retirees, an enthusiastic university student and two Department of Conservation (DOC) community rangers lending a hand. George Lusty is the group coordinator: “We use the Bradley method. Have you heard of that?” he asks. “You start by working from the ‘good’ part of the forest. So, for example, a native tree covered in honeysuckle. You remove the honeysuckle from the tree and the area a couple of metres around it.” “Work at the pace the forest is regenerating, encouraging the forest to be the best version of itself,” George explains. “It’s about working with nature instead of against it.” “The Bradley method is our preferred approach because it actually works. The ‘plant and walk away’ approach doesn’t work, and is destroying the natural regeneration process,” says George Lusty. The method was developed in Sydney in the 1960s and 1970s by Joan and Eileen Bradley, who started picking out weeds when they walked in their neighbourhood park. Over time, the weeds decreased significantly, and they noticed a huge improvement in the regeneration of native species. It’s a slow, bit by bit approach but it works. Each weed pulled up is a step closer to a restored ecosystem. You can see the effect this approach has had in this small corner of Hamilton.The valley is a collection of lush plant life with regenerating ngahere/ forest. “Some of the significant plant types here are kahikatea - New Zealand’s tallest tree - harakeke, kawakawa, and fern species like bracken fern, mamaku, wheki and ponga,” says George, reeling off plant names and showing his deep knowledge and passion for the species here. There is an intensely peaceful feeling in this calm oasis, away from traffic and surrounded by greenery. The native species are silently reclaiming this hidden landscape, tucked in below the Abovbe left: DOC Ranger Rachel Milne with Maxine Fraser, George Lusty and Flavian Ember of Friends of Mangaonua Esplanade Photo by Natasha Staheli-Lowe, DOC
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