The eroded hills behind Anchorage and on Motuareronui Adele island are not what nature intended.  What we should be seeing is a low forest of kanuka, along with hard and black beech. Instead, fire events over the last 200 years (sometimes planned, sometimes not) have left exposed ridgetops ripe for colonisation by introduced weeds like hakea. Restoration supervisor Helen Lindsay updates us on the beech planting project aiming to bring beech back to the hillsides.

Project Janszoon is delighted to launch two Abel Tasman “Toolboxes” designed to give locals, visitors and education providers access to expert advice, activities and helpful information about visiting the Abel Tasman National Park.

DOC senior biodiversity ranger Jim Livingstone has a way with words when it comes to our latest Abel Tasman residents. 

As of today, all were accounted for – fit and well…… Perhaps too fit and too well….

Gregarious in habit, with a large splashy, unruly, feathery raft of around 60 individuals frequently paddling up, and then drifting down the river.

We were delighted to welcome 72 new pāteke at Hadfield Clearing on Thursday 3 May.

They were released on the banks of the lower Awapoto River, at Hadfield Clearing, near Awaroa.  The translocation  follows a successful release of 20 of the ducks by Project Janszoon and DOC last year. 90% of the ducks released in 2017 have survived their first year, with two pairs breeding and hatching 12 ducklings.  There are only 2,500 pāteke left in the wild, mainly in the North Island.

Like a bloodhound, sniffing out an elusive prey DOC biodiversity ranger Steve Deverell has been out hunting.  And the results of his efforts is good news for a rare species in the upper reaches of the Park. His prey?  Native mistletoe.  Until recently only 24 red mistletoe plants have been found at Moa Park and Canaan.  Steve’s survey has doubled that to 50 plants – an indication the forest is recovering as a result of sustained pest control.

It has been a busy start to the year for our education team who report that students are really enthused about heading into the Park.

DOC education ranger Brooke Turner says Motueka High School has had a range of students studying in the Abel Tasman in term 1, including Design, Outdoor Education, Geography and Science classes.  Some of the students are returning to the Park for their 2^nd and 3^rd years as part of their adopt-a-section classes.

As part of our series on place names in the Park author Dave Hansford takes a look at Hadfield Clearing and the family whose name Is forever entwined with it.

On January 21st, 2004, a strand in a 146-year bond was broken when Bill Hadfield passed away. The last of five generations to farm the Awapoto Valley, Bill came to the 790-hectare Golden Bay property in 1950; Bill came to the 790-hectare Golden Bay property in 1950; settled into the homestead where his grandfather William brought his bride Adele in 1878.

The objectives of Project Janszoon’s planting projects on the foreshore in Abel Tasman National Park are to reduce the fire risk to the national park and to help build resilience in native foreshore ecosystems.   Some area of foreshore can be stable for long periods of time, but it is a dynamic ecosystem and will always be subject to damage in extreme weather events.