In 1999, concerned by the declining state of the Ashley-Rakahuri River near Rangiora, New Zealand, members of the community came together and formed the Ashley-Rakahuri River Rivercare group, ARRG. While different interest groups, from gravel extractors and 4WD enthusiasts to bird watchers, are often on opposing sides of issues, we all had a common desire to reverse the decline in numbers of the unique birds that breed on the river.
From the outset, we worked together with the Department of Conservation, Environment Canterbury, and the Waimakariri District Council to develop and implement a strategy to manage an 18km section of the river from the confluence of the Okuku River downstream to the State Highway 1 (SH1) road bridge.
Regular pest trapping, bird monitoring, and public education campaigns began in earnest in 2004. For the next few years we received funding from WWF, Pacific Development and Conservation Trust, NZ National Parks and Development Foundation, and the NZ Lottery Grants Board. The co-operative model worked. So in 2007, we organised a braided river birds workshop. That led to the formation of BRaid, an organisation that advocates for braided rivers across the South Island.
In 2010 we won the Canterbury-Aoraki Conservation Award, and in 2018 we won the Australasian Wildlife Management Society annual award for Practical Wildlife Management.
Today, some twenty years after that first meeting, our dedicated volunteers build, install, and check predator traps, monitor bird populations annually, undertake field research, support graduate student research, trial programmes to enhance habitats through weed clearing and island formation with the assistance of a local gravel extraction company Taggart Earthmoving, lead ‘river ramble’ walks during Conservation Week, and regularly visit schools and community groups (see our reports for details and this educational video). Apart from large one-off projects, for which we seek outside finances, we are largely self-funded through the work of volunteers, some of whom make DOC200 traps that we sell. Plus we are sponsored by a local business, Karikaas, artisan makers of a ‘braided river birds’ series of award-winning cheeses.
It’s not just the birds that benefit. The community as a whole is enriched by the knowledge that a rare ecosystem is right here in their backyard and some of the most endangered birds in the world choose to call it home.
Our job is to ensure that we protect and nurture this environment for future generations.
The River....
Contact Us
Chairman, Nick Ledgard
03-312-8799
Secretary, Joan Miles
Black-fronted Tern and Black-billed Gull colonies, 2019 – 2020 Season
Summary (download the full report here) Two black-billed gull (BBG) and four black-fronted tern (BFT) colonies were monitored over the 2019-2020 season. Another 5 BFT colonies were located but not monitored closely. Colony locations and general outcomes are outlined in the following table: The main points arising from seasonal observations are: Breeding Record number of […]
Overhead Line Bird Kill
It has been long known that some river birds are killed by collision with the overhead lines that cross the Ashley River, but this has not previously been properly documented. Seven overhead lines cross the river in the area between about a kilometre upstream of the Cones Road bridge and 1.5 kilometres upstream of State […]
Fire and trapping update
Top image: remains of a DOC200 trap in the background and a Timms in the foreground. River Traps Early in February, there were two fires on the northern berm of the Ashley. The upstream one has incinerated 2 traps on Line M, all 13 traps on Line D, 10 of 13 on Line C […]
Drying river rewards birds
As the birds which breed on the Ashley-Rakahuri river come to the end of their breeding season, stretches of the river are often in the process of drying up. That means their food, small fish and aquatic invertebrates, are vanishing into ever-shrinking pools, where they are easily captured by the birds. “Numbers of hovering terns […]