With a long-term aim of bringing back kiwi and kōkako, the Haakarimata Restoration Group is working to protect a very special central North Island forest.
VIDEO
It’s a bright, blue sky morning at the foot of the Haakarimata Scenic Reserve, near the meeting of the Waipa and Waikato Rivers in Ngāruawāhia, north of Hamilton.
By 9am, the car park is almost full. Fit-looking locals warm up, photographers check cameras, and families adjust backpacks ahead of the 1349-step, 374m climb to the summit.
Sweeping views across the Waikato basin are only part of the reward – the real pleasure is the climb itself, winding through one of Waikato’s largest remaining broadleaf-podocarp lowland forests.
Bird calls fill the air as the damp, mossy smell of organic matter fills nostrils. Leaf litter hides native land snails and ancient ngāokeoke velvet worms. Tūī and kererū swoop through the canopy while fantails flit along the track beside trampers, snapping up disturbed insects in their wake.
IMAGE1
Image: A giant springtail - Holacanthella duospinosa - in the undergrowth of Haakarimata. Credit: Brian Cutting
Haakarimata is no ordinary patch of bush. It sits at the meeting point of two forest types – near the southern limit of kauri and the northern edge of beech. The overlap creates a rare mix of species.
Great trunks of rimu, matai, rātā, and kauri rise above tawa, kohekohe and hinau. Rewarewa and mangeao line streams, and a few rarer shrubs like toropapa linger in the shade.
You would be forgiven for thinking this forest has remained unchanged for centuries – but what most visitors don’t see is the slow, methodical work underway to protect and restore it.
The last range-wide pest control at Haakarimata was carried out in 2005, but for years locals have been chipping away at pest numbers in the more accessible parts.
The work is led by a committed group of volunteers who believe Haakarimata holds immense potential – including Brian Cutting of the Haakarimata Restoration Group.
IMAGE2
Image: Brian Cutting of the Haakarimata Restoration Group.
“Bellbirds used to be extraordinarily uncommon around here,” said Brian. “Now there are a few patches where you can regularly hear them again, including at the base of the Haakarimata stairs walk.”
Predators remain the biggest challenge – possums, mustelids, cats, and rats constantly press in from the wider ranges.
That pressure is most visible in the canopy. Trustee Greg Townsend says possums are currently the group’s main target.
“The future of the Haakarimata forest canopy is at stake,” said Greg.
“Possum browsing is placing immense pressure on canopy trees, pushing sections of the forest toward impending collapse.
“If we lose these old trees, Haakarimata will no longer have suitable habitat to bring back iconic species like kōkako.
“That is our vision for the ngahere – we still have some time, but it’s becoming urgent.”
The Haakarimata Restoration Group formed as a coalition of community members and organisations, all alarmed by the state of the ranges.
The group has removed about 10000 pests – almost 6000 of them possums – and it currently maintains about 436 traps in the forest.
Native birds are edging back in along the forest margins, including bellbirds and ruru, though the reserve above remains noticeably quieter.
“It’s going to take time,” said Greg, “but we’re making inroads.”
However, the contrast between managed and unmanaged areas of the forest is stark.
In the southern ranges, a 300ha pest-control grid has been maintained for more than 15 years by contractor Phil Thomson. Over that time, possum and rat numbers have reduced dramatically, with some years near zero. Tūī and kererū numbers have increased fivefold.
IMAGE3
Image: A morepork - Ninox Novaseelandiae - in the trees of Haakarimata. Credit: Brian Cutting
Further north, much of the reserve remains largely unmanaged. Greg is part of the landowner-led Morepork Action Group, which now spans about 200ha of adjoining properties and has recently begun extending its pest-control efforts into the reserve itself.
The Haakarimata ranges hold deep whakapapa. The name dates back to a 17th century feast celebrating abundance from the forest. While maps usually record it as “Hakarimata”, Waikato iwi pronounce it with a long first “a”, and do not use macrons, making “Haakarimata” its preferred spelling.
Rakataura, the tohunga and navigator of the Tainui waka, is said to have placed mauri stones from Hawaiki throughout the ranges to attract birds. Boundary markers were also set, embedding Waikato-Tainui’s spiritual, economic and genealogical relationships with the landscape. That sense of kaitiakitanga underpins today’s work.
“The ecology, the culture and the traditions are all connected to our history and our future,” said Brian. “Healthy forests don’t just happen by themselves - they need intention behind them to thrive.
“It’s been a long slog, but we’ve now created a few patches where you’re unlikely to find a rat or a possum – vigilance and persistence have been key.”
IMAGE4
Image: Kaka - Nestor maridionalis - are among the species benefitting from increased pest control. Credit: Lisa Evans
The community response has been strong, Brian added, with volunteers coming from Ngāruawāhia, Huntly, and Hamilton, and some even driving down from Auckland.
“We have over a hundred registered volunteers and a huge following of people supporting the work,” he said.
“Funding is absolutely pivotal to what we do. It’s hard to put volunteers to work if you don’t have money for the materials.”
Last year, the group received a $11,900 grant from the ANZ New Zealand Staff Foundation, funding about 80 new traps along the popular Haakarimata Rail Trail.
“We’ve embraced the newer trap models,” Brian said. “The AT220 is a really great trap for us because parts of the reserve are hard to access, so self-resetting traps act as a barrier for pests moving into the area.”
At the summit, the view stretches past the bends of the Waikato River and across rolling farmland – a vantage point that sharpens Brian’s long-term focus.
“We’re very much focused on the long term,” he says. “It would be a huge effort to get Haakarimata ready for kiwi again, but we think it’s achievable.
“It’s also prime habitat for kōkako, and we think there’s a real chance of bringing these species back to Haakarimata.”
For more information on the Haakarimata Restoration Group’s work, visit haakarimata.com.
This article was first published in the Winter issue of Forest and Bird Magazine.