Replanting Lake Tekapo/Takapō Regional Park

Thank you for your interest and feedback in the future of Lake Tekapo/Takapō Regional Park.

• The harvest of Stage 1 of the park will begin on approximately 29 May and continue for about three months, weather permitting.
• We have taken community/stakeholder feedback into account in our harvest and replanting plans, and our forestry team is taking all practical steps to protect and retain healthy non-pest trees in the park. You can read more about our responses to community feedback in the 'Summary of feedback and questions from the Have Your Say site' article on this page.
• We're committed to reviewing future harvest/replanting plans (as it affects the overall project timeline) after Stage 1.
• Council decisions during the next Long Term Plan process will determine the concentration of native planting (5%, 7.5%, or 10%) in the park.
• An updated management plan for the park is in progress. The plan won’t be published until Council makes decisions about replanting.
• This Have Your Say page will stay live throughout the harvest of Stage 1. You can ask questions about the project via this website or by emailing duty.ranger@ecan.govt.nz

• The harvest of stage one will start in late autumn/winter 2023. It will last approximately three months.
• Foresters will be working in the area between 7am and 7pm, Monday to Friday.
• The park will remain open while the harvest takes place. The central area being harvested will be restricted to workers-only for the duration of the harvest.
• Detours will be in place for Te Araroa Walkway, which runs through the stage one area.
• All internal roads bordering stage one will be closed. Access will be blocked with signs and barriers to ensure park users' safety.
• Lilybank Road will remain open, but traffic management will be in place while trees along the road edge are being felled.
• Temporary signs will be placed throughout the park to mark detours.
• There will be more noise than usual in the park . However, we expect minimal noise to travel beyond the park, as stage one is buffered by forest on all sides.

Native planting

Te Rūnanga o Arowhenua have gifted us the name 'Te Ipuraki o Motu Ariki' meaning 'the foodbowl of Motuariki', for this replanting project. Motuariki is the name for the small island in the middle of the lake. We have also been gifted the name 'te piripiri' (based on the word piri, which means 'to stick close together') for the native planting areas that will be established throughout Lake Tekapo/Takapō Regional Park. Te piripiri will increase the biodiversity of the park and provide attractive, interesting displays for visitors. Signage next to each native planting area will provide information about the traditional uses of some of these plants.

We are planning to create 25 to 30 of these native planting areas throughout the park. Each of te piripiri will include trees and shrubs that are indigenous to the area and suitable for the conditions. Some examples include dwarf kōwhai, koromiko, tōtara, tussock, and taramea.

Exotic planting

Most of the forest will gradually be replanted with fast-growing, non-spreading exotic trees.

Soil reports from Manaaki Whenua - Landcare Research show the area around the regional park is predominantly made up of Humose Orthic Brown soils and Weathered Orthic Recent soils, deposited over time from glacial melt and river flows. These are generally well-draining soils due to the sandy/silty composition and have a variable water-holding capacity. Most of these soils have low vulnerability to water logging. The soils in the regional park are weakly structured and are very vulnerable to wind erosion if left bare – they have undergone significant erosion in the past and this was problematic for the soils themselves and for the adjacent highway, which often had poor visibility due to soil blown from the area that is now the regional park. The presence of vegetation was established to mitigate this wind erosion.

This information was carefully considered when designing our replanting plan along with the topography/geography and ecological features of the area. The replanting of the established trees will be done in stages and will be managed to minimise soil disturbance as much as possible. The forest floor will be left intact as much as possible to ensure soil is not left vulnerable to erosion while new species are establishing, and replacement species will be planted within 18 months once the existing trees have been felled. This is to facilitate control of emerging seedlings and weeds present in the soil seed bank. This timeline will be reviewed after stage one planting along with the monitoring of soil erosion during this time.

Data from Environment Canterbury’s soil monitoring programmes has shown that soil properties don’t differ markedly under exotic and indigenous forest, so we don’t expect that the replacement of pest conifers with indigenous and exotic species will have a substantial effect on soil quality. However, preliminary data suggests that soils under indigenous vegetation may have higher microbiological activity, so it is possible that the establishment of indigenous species may improve soil microbiological conditions. This in turn can lead to improvements in soil structure.

The exotic replacement is a non-pest conifer that exhibits the same resilience and growth rate in Takapō as the pest species targeted for removal. We expect their success and growth rate to be at least as good as the established species, or potentially better as we will be applying two years of post-harvest maintenance that focusses on improving survivability and reducing pest regeneration. We currently have native plant reserves located in specific areas within the park best suited for those species. Native species composition will complement local genetic diversity, historical composition relevant to current and future climate and consequent survivability if planted in suitable areas. Native establishment will be supported with the use of mulch to both protect soil and provide organic matter to the soil. We expect a similar success rate to that achieved in our ongoing native planting activity (approximately 70%).

We have worked with Te Rūnanga o Arowhenua, who are mana whenua for the area, to create a replanting plan that incorporates the indigenous biodiversity of the park.

We have also worked with Mackenzie District Council, the Lake Tekapo Recreational Park Society, Wilding Free Mackenzie, and other stakeholders to ensure our plans meet the needs of the community, landowners and businesses.

The list below includes the native and exotic species that will be replanted in Lake Tekapo/Takapō Regional Park. This list is subject to change based on seed availability. The list of exotic species may change after consultation with Lake Tekapo Recreational Park Society.

Native species

Exotic species

Community meetings were held on 21 and 22 February at Lake Tekapo Community Hall. Thanks to everyone who took the time to attend, ask questions, and discuss the future of the regional park.

To view the slideshow shown at the community meetings, click on the 'slideshow' link on this page.