<![CDATA[Aranovus Limited - News]]>Thu, 14 Feb 2019 19:09:42 +1300Weebly<![CDATA[Auckland's microforests]]>Fri, 18 Mar 2016 09:50:56 GMThttp://www.aranovus.co.nz/news/microforestsAuckland's original forest cover has been almost completely removed by humans leaving a patchwork of fragments in valleys and on steep slopes.  This began when Auckland's rich volcanic soils were sought after for growing food, first by Maori and then by European settlers.
​The pressure for land clearance still remains, to allow the building of motorways and other infrastructure, and the forest fragments that do remain have often been logged to remove the largest trees for timber leaving them as a shadow of their former glory.

Despite this, Auckland's microforests are really interesting to visit if you have a little spare time. Possibly the easiest to visit is the forest in Gribblehirst Park in Sandringham which grows in a carpark on a lava flow from Mt Albert. Another is a lava forest in Withiel Drive on the slopes of Mt Eden whereas others include Kepa Bush in Meadowbank and Dingle Dell in St Heliers.

On the northern edge of Auckland there remain surprisingly large forest patches, such as at Wenderholm. In this area we have begun working with a landowner who has covenented some significant forest patches to protect them and plans to enhance them with restoration plantings to expand them, link them together, and to undo the ravages of decades of stock grazing.

The proposed development of adjacent farmland for housing will release capital to allow this ambitious work to proceed and is a great example of a win-win outcome. The public will get protection and enhancement of ecological resources at no cost and future residents will get a wonderful environment in which to live, complete with their own dawn chorus.
]]><![CDATA[Getting behind Awaroa Inlet]]>Sat, 30 Jan 2016 10:52:03 GMThttp://www.aranovus.co.nz/news/getting-behind-awaroa-inlet
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Aranovus Limited has joined the crowd funding Buy-a-Beach campaign to purchase the Awaroa Inlet beach in the beautiful Able Tasman. This is a wonderful opportunity for New Zealanders to engage with the conservation of this magical place and to facilitate its switch from private to public ownership.

New Zealanders connect strongly with the coastal environment and there is continual pressure to subdivide and develop coastal land. Spits and shellbanks are inherently fragile environments that are prone to rapid change, but at the same time they are critical habitats for wildlife, including threatened species. Having an intact and uninterrupted continuum of habitats from low tide through the intertidal zone to the dunes and coastal forest increases the ecological value of the site.  Having to make an effort to get there means that disturbance will also be reduced.

Having previously visited Totaranui, further to the north, we are familiar with the area and now we have a great excuse to go back. We look forward to seeing the campaign come to a successful conclusion and to the beach being added to the national park. Congratulations to the visionaries who made the effort to make this happen and "good on ya mate" to everyone who has stepped up to support it.  We are proud to have joined the crowd.
]]><![CDATA[Season's Greetings]]>Thu, 17 Dec 2015 10:52:40 GMThttp://www.aranovus.co.nz/news/seasons-greetings
Once again the festive season is upon us and we wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. We hope you have the opportunity for some break time with friends and family to rest and recharge the batteries for the challenges that 2016 will inevitably bring.

​Our office will be closed from 23 December until around 11 January.  During this time we will be monitoring emails and phone messages in case anyone needs us urgently, however we can promise there will be at least a week when we will be beyond the reach of modern telecommunications, preferably at a beach with black sand and crashing surf.

​Thank you to all our clients and customers for your support throughout 2015.  We look forward to catching up with you again in 2016.
]]><![CDATA[Streams and springs]]>Tue, 10 Nov 2015 10:53:10 GMThttp://www.aranovus.co.nz/news/streams-and-springsEarlier this year we were closely involved with mediation and hearings around the definitions and rules for streams for the Proposed Auckland Unitary Plan. As with many aspects of natural resource management what looks like a good idea on paper can be challenging to put into practise in the field. However, with input from a range of perspectives we are confident the process will produce a sensible solution.
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With these changes in mind we have recently been working on a stream classification project on the lower northern slopes of the Bombay Hills. Here there are many small headwater streams running through rolling pastoral and horticultural country that drain north and east under the Southern Motorway. Whereas some of the streams have been heavily impacted by farming activities and many hanging culverts are preventing the upstream migration of fish we were amazed to find a very large number of springs.

Springs were bubbling out of the ground at the head of every watercourse, despite there not being any higher land nearby to supply the water pressure. In places we also found lava outcrops in the streams, which recall the Bombay Hill's volcanic origins.  The spring water is moving below the rock and emerging wherever it can find a way out, a reminder that we also need to remember water in aquifers when we consider the management of this vital natural resource.
]]><![CDATA[The island on the horizon]]>Mon, 28 Sep 2015 10:33:02 GMThttp://www.aranovus.co.nz/news/the-island-on-the-horizon
On a fine day the Coromandel Peninsula is clearly visible from Auckland and if you look further north you can see the high points of a large island just beyond the horizon. Great Barrier was named by Captain Cook as its shelter makes the Hauraki Gulf the maritime playground of Auckland, and while many Aucklanders know of it very few have visited it.  It is New Zealand's fourth largest island and although close to New Zealand's largest city it is still a remote and wild place.

Since March this year we have been undertaking a project for the Great Barrier Local Board to work with the island's community to develop an ecological vision for the future of the island.  You can learn more about this project at www.gbiecologyvision.nz.  Its forest is possum free and the island also has no stoats, ferrets or weasels.  As a result many species that are very rare on the mainland can be easily seen on Great Barrier including kaka and brown teal.

The first phase of this exciting project has now been completed and we returned to the Barrier over the weekend to present the report to the community. On a beautifully fine early spring day the island's rugged mountainous spine and its sweeping sandy beaches are magnificent. Although the island doesn't have some of the amenities taken for granted in the rest or New Zealand, like reticulated electricity, you can get a great coffee, some magnificent local art and the chance to meet some authentic kiwi islanders. If Great Barrier isn't on your bucket list, it should be.
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The beautiful sweep of white sand at Medlands Beach on the east coast of Great Barrier Island
]]><![CDATA[Living with a forest]]>Thu, 27 Aug 2015 09:17:24 GMThttp://www.aranovus.co.nz/news/living-in-a-forest
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Over the past year or more we have been working with Sanctuary Heartland Ltd on their exciting and innovative residential development in Flat Bush. "The Reserve" is a 65 unit townhouse development being built on the corner of Murphy's Road and Flat Bush School Road where half the site is a protected forest remnant just north of Murphy's Bush, the largest remaining native forest patch in the Auckland metropolitan area.

​Despite being in poor condition after decades of grazing, the forest is showing remarkable resilience after the removal of animals and regeneration is appearing everywhere, including a white rata seedling growing on a tree trunk. Ecological restoration has focused on invasive weed and pest control, combined with supplementary planting to re-establish a subcanopy layer.

The design of the development provides an innovative, people-friendly, built environment with all vehicle traffic in underground garages and wide, open ground level pedestrian lanes between the buildings with pathways extending into the forest as a common space. New residents can look forward to living at the level of the tree canopy with two remnant puriri trees also forming large specimen trees amongst the buildings. This is a great example of how development can be clustered to provide room for environmental resources to be preserved and restored and one of Auckland's scarce native forest remnants can look forward to a much brighter and more secure future as a result.
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