Lake Taupō Forest Trust is responsible for the management of significant areas of lands and waterways which are crucial to the well-being and identity of the Tūwharetoa hapū who whakapapa to them.
Our commercial operations, whether they be forestry, tourism or property developments, need to be aligned with the wellbeing of our taiao. We take these responsibilities seriously and are continuously improving how we understand the taonga we are tasked with caring for, and how to ensure that our commercial opportunities are explored fully within non-negotiable environmental limits.
We are creating more opportunities to ensure what we do is measured and how we can restore our taiao.
The Lake Taupō Forest Trust participates in a blue duck protection project on the Waimarino River.
The whio are an endangered species with a national population estimated at approximately 2000–3000 birds, with only 1200 occurring in the North Island.
It is one of only three duck species world-wide that exclusively live on fast flowing rivers and is well adapted for this environment.
The central North Island’s rivers that arise from Tongariro National Park are one of the significant remaining strongholds for the whio, with their clean snow-fed water and forested catchments.
One of the main reasons for the whio’s decline is the threat from introduced predators such as possums, stoats, ferrets and rats, that, in spring, eat nesting ducks, their eggs and the ducklings and can attack again in autumn when the whio are temporarily flightless due to their annual moult.
A predator trapping project on the Waimarino River was initiated in 2014 by a collective of Lake Taupō Forest Trust, Crown Forestry and NZ Forest Managers. Additional funding support was received from the Central North Island Blue Duck Charitable Trust, Waikato Catchment Ecological Enhancement Fund and Waikato Regional Council’s Environmental Initiatives Fund.
Whio pics courtesy Blue Duck Project Charitable Trust.
The Waimarino River and the Mangakowhitiwhiti Stream are monitored for any potential impacts that forest management activities in Lake Taupō Forest may have on water quality. Both waterways feed into Lake Taupō and are culturally and ecologically important in the region.
Water quality monitoring started in 1994 at three sites on the Waimarino River and one site on a tributary stream. In 1996, the study was extended to include three sites in the Mangakowhitiwhiti Stream (a tributary of the Tauranga-Taupō River). Rainfall and stream flow data are measured in each catchment and water samples are collected monthly to measure water temperature, water clarity, suspended sediment (SS), total nitrogen (TN), total oxidised nitrogen (TOXN), total Kjeldahl nitrogen (TKN) and total phosphorus (TP).
Along with the addition of coliform measurements in 2021, these variables are used to evaluate water quality trends over time. Results have been reported annually since 1994.
Continued monitoring of the water quality will enable us to confirm that water quality remains stable over time. It will also help ascertain whether the slight decline in certain water quality indicators in 2022 indicates a trend caused by forestry practices, or a trend resulting from the extreme weather events.
Lake Taupō Forest contains a few areas of a rare ecological forest type – indigenous species frost flats. Monitoring this habitat involves the use of aerial imagery, photo points and permanent sample plots. Independent ecologists completed investigated the known and potential new frost flat areas in Lake Taupō Forest in late 2022. Conclusions from their report include:
– Frost flats at Lake Taupō Forest are some of the best remaining examples of frost flat vegetation and habitats and these sites are of national significance, given the reduction of frost flats that has occurred in Aotearoa.
– These Critically Endangered ecosystems provide habitat for a suite of threatened plant species and at least one at-risk bird species. This survey has identified additional areas of frost flat habitats in the forest, including within the Waitahanui River catchment.
– All frost flats are assessed as High Conservation Value under the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) standards, as they comprise a Critically Endangered ecosystem.
– Five other indigenous habitats sites in Lake Taupō Forest also rank highly against ecological significance criteria.
These sites are associated with indigenous vegetation in river gullies that link Lake Taupō to the Kaimanawa Ranges, the Te Tiringa block of indigenous forest, the Waipehi Ephemeral Wetland site, and other wetlands containing threated plant species.
– NZ Forest Managers (NZFM) actively manage the frost flat habitats, wetlands and indigenous vegetation more broadly, including controlling pines, willows and other weeds. Consequently, the frost flats and wetlands were recorded as being in good condition and generally having low weed diversity and abundance. Ongoing weed management will be required to maintain this condition.
A Lake Taupō Forest Trust initiative to understand what’s in our rivers and streams will have long-term benefits as we work to enhance the health of our taiao.
During 2023, LTFT completed Environmental DNA (eDNA) testing at 11 different stream locations within LTFT lands. Working closely with NZ Forest Managers to ensure the effectiveness of the testing and selected locations, the results provide valuable insights.
eDNA is genetic material shed by organisms as they move in, through and around their environment, predominantly in streams and waterways. Water samples were taken at each site and passed through a filtration pad. These pads were then sent to a laboratory where the particles were removed and results produced as eDNA samples.
LTFT can now potentially identify thousands of species, including fish, macroinvertebrates, birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, plants, fungi, protists, bacteria and other organisms.
This has provided baseline data for LTFT to review and compare results between sites, identifying trends or species thought to no longer be present. The eDNA results have also presented opportunities for identifying future projects to ensure we maintain the health of our taiao.
As a result of eDNA testing completed in 2023, Lake Taupō Forest Trust has begun developing a plan to better understand the presence of kōaro in its streams and rivers.
The small native fish, a member of the whitebait family, were once an important food source for Ngāti Tūwharetoa. Since the introduction of rainbow and brown trout into Lake Taupō, kōaro populations have come under immense pressure.
eDNA results indicate the presence of kōaro in most waterways within LTFT land. The monitoring programme will aim to:
Lake Taupō Forest features strong native riparian strips within its forestry settings, providing excellent habitat for kōaro during their migratory hīkoi upstream from spring to late summer.
Kōaro are exceptional climbers, capable of scaling large waterfalls, which allows them to access areas of Lake Taupō Forest waterways typically unreachable by trout. This monitoring project will seek to understand these dynamics in greater detail.
Lake Taupō Forest Trust began a native plant seed collection over the 2024–2025 summer.
This involves careful consideration of the Indigenous Forest Health Assessment work completed by NZ Forest Managers over the years, focusing on selected native plant species for the seed collection programme.
After collection, seeds are sorted, catalogued and stored in a seed bank to support future restoration projects.
As this work progresses over the coming years, thought will be given to propagating these seeds into seedlings, providing further opportunities to protect and retain the whakapapa of our native forest.
Lake Taupō Forest Trust has embarked on a large-scale project, bringing four decades’ worth of spatial information and data together into a visual analytics platform known as Takiwā.
This Aotearoa-owned and operated cloud-based web application offers a dynamic tool for visualising complex layers of data. LTFT is leveraging this advanced technology to enhance spatial awareness and provide critical insights for informed decision-making, aligning with the Trust’s commitment to preserving kōrero and safeguarding whenua.
The LTFT/Takiwā platform will enable Trustees to engage at various levels with regional and central government agencies, allowing for more robust discussions, particularly regarding the spatial awareness of the whenua they govern. All information and maps are stored in a cloud-based system in Aotearoa, with strict protection measures in place.
As the platform continues to evolve, additional data sets and information will be incorporated. Access to the LTFT/Takiwā will gradually be rolled out to owners, providing them with unprecedented insight into their whenua.
