What is re-wilding?
Re-wilding is a movement to bring wild spaces back to our local environment. Our idea to do a pilot re-wilding project Sandringham is to create a "no mow" zone in one of Sandringham's parks. This involves convincing Council to make a decision to "not mow" in a specific area.
This no-mow zone will:
Re-wilding initiatives such as these help to rebuild the soil, solidify ground in parks from slips and prevent silt from going into local waterways and the harbour, disrupting aquatic life.
This no-mow zone will:
- allow grasses and shrubs to re-grow
- recreate a healthy eco-system
- bring bird and insect life back to the park and surrounding area
Re-wilding initiatives such as these help to rebuild the soil, solidify ground in parks from slips and prevent silt from going into local waterways and the harbour, disrupting aquatic life.
A re-wilding project for sandringham?
We heard about the amazing work the Wild Initiative had done in re-wilding a section of Grey Lynn park it got us thinking, was this something that the Sandringham community would like to see? And could we find the perfect park for a similar project somewhere in Sandringham?
Steeply sloped areas of park that are not used for sports, and less frequented parks are the best option for re-wilding as they have the least impact on existing use. So out of the parks in Sandringham, a section of Watea Reserve seems like the best option to start our own re-wilding pilot project. The photo above shows Bruce and Georgia at the top of the slope we are considering.
We wanted to make sure we had the support of the local community for this re-wilding project at Watea Reserve. So we dropped a leaflet around the houses in the surrounding streets and shared our plans in our newsletter and on social media. We also held a local Community Meeting on Sunday 20 March from 1.30 pm in Watea Reserve.
Steeply sloped areas of park that are not used for sports, and less frequented parks are the best option for re-wilding as they have the least impact on existing use. So out of the parks in Sandringham, a section of Watea Reserve seems like the best option to start our own re-wilding pilot project. The photo above shows Bruce and Georgia at the top of the slope we are considering.
We wanted to make sure we had the support of the local community for this re-wilding project at Watea Reserve. So we dropped a leaflet around the houses in the surrounding streets and shared our plans in our newsletter and on social media. We also held a local Community Meeting on Sunday 20 March from 1.30 pm in Watea Reserve.
Despite the very windy and occasionally rainy weather (and Covid!) we had a wonderful turnout. Bruce and Wendy from the Wild Initiative shared their experience in Grey Lynn and answered questions. We then did a walk in the park to get everyone's view of where we should have the "no mow" area. This map shows our plans, which is to stop mowing the steep sections on the south-western part of the park - also shown as the hill in the photo below.
The feedback we have had both from the Community Meeting and our other community engagement has been overwhelmingly positive so we are now going to present our request for the no mow zone to the Albert-Eden Local Board at their April meeting.
If you could not make the Community Meeting we'd still love to know your view so please contact us. We have set up a group of Watea Reserve Kaitiaki Group to help with this project, so if anyone would like to be a member of this please let us know.
If you could not make the Community Meeting we'd still love to know your view so please contact us. We have set up a group of Watea Reserve Kaitiaki Group to help with this project, so if anyone would like to be a member of this please let us know.
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