The willows and the wetland

The battle on the frontlines of conservation continues around the motu. This week we head to the central North Island to join some of the staff and volunteers of Project Tongariro. Ecologist Nick Singers is coordinating the fight against the invasive grey willow that’s taking over a wetland area, while Shirley Potter is applying a ‘let’s get it done’ attitude to reforesting a patch of public conservation land near her home in Tauranga-Taupō.

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Guests:

• Kiri Te Wano, CEO of Project Tongariro
• Shirley Potter
• Nick Singers

Learn more:

• Read the article that accompanies this episode: 40 years of Project Tongariro
• Willow is an issue in many wetland areas where it binds up waterways and transforms the land. Just outside Dunedin, a team are using drone spraying to combat it near the Te Nohoaka o Tukiauau wetland complex.
• In the Rotopiko wetland complex, near Hamilton, the pest battle is a bit unusual: conservationists are concerned about the half a million sparrows and starlings that roost at night.
• The fight for the forest also continues on multiple pest fronts in the Catlins area in Otago.

Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details