Wainuioru Community River Care Group

The Wainuioru Community River Care Group (WCRCG) formed in 2017 to unite the community around a shared vision for a healthy river and sustainable catchment. Their work includes water quality monitoring, riparian restoration, and the establishment of a native plant nursery at Wainuioru School. Highlights include a 150-hectare catchment restoration plan, over 250,000 trees planted, removal of invasive crack willow along 20 km of river, and recognition at the 2022 Ballance Farm Environment Awards.

Location

Wainuioru is a small rural community east of Masterton. The Wainuioru River is in the eastern hills of the Wairarapa, in the southeast of New Zealand’s North Island. From headwaters in the Stronvar area, it wends south between the Maungaraki and Brocken (or Taipo) ranges before joining the Pahaoa River’s path to the sea on the east coast.

The group encompasses over 37,000 Ha of land around the upper Wainuioru River and its tributaries. The Wainuioru community is a group of farmers and lifestyle-block owners, many of whom have family ties to the area stretching back over multiple generations.

Map pdf

Vision

The group's vision is for a healthy river, thriving community, farms, forests and ecosystems with the aim to:

Monitor the water quality and condition of the upper Wainuioru River;
Develop and implement plans to improve and restore the water quality and condition of the upper Wainuioru River for future generations; and
Foster education and community spirit in the upper Wainuioru River catchment area, including the local school and Iwi.

Outcomes

Reduction in Crack Willow Invasion: The successful management and control of crack willows along riverbanks will lead to a significant reduction in their spread. This combined with replanting will restore native vegetation and biodiversity within the ecosystem and provide bank stabilisation.
Coordinate and Strategic Pest Control and Management across the Catchment (animals and plants).
Successful Nursery: Ongoing support from within and outside the community.
Improved Land and Water Management: By connecting catchment land management with water quality monitoring, erosion control practises and sustainable farming, water quality outcomes can be optimised to reduce runoff and nutrient load.
Strengthened Community Connections and Collaboration: The group can tell the story of the wider benefit to community
Reduced Soil Erosion and Improved Soil Health: By integrating planting with sustainable farming practices, soil erosion will be minimised, leading to healthier soils that retain nutrients and moisture, promoting long-term agricultural productivity.

Projects

Willow control

With the success of the willow removal along the Wainuioru River and tributaries under the 1BT and J4N funding, the community wants to ensure the hard work is not lost. The community aims to create a plan to map the treated and untreated areas including at risk sites. From here a plan will be made and a budget created for the ongoing maintenance.

Pest control

There is existing pest control going on in the Wainuioru catchment but it is not connected or targeted. With the Wairarapa Catchment Collective, the group aims to create a pest plan with John Bissell. This will help to coordinate existing efforts from partners in the area alongside the community to ensure that pests are targeted in a strategic way.

Wainuioru Nursery

After the successful establishment of the community nursery, the community wants to ensure that it continues to thrive. The nursery not only supports the community's projects, it is a social hub and connects with the forest school and wider Wainuioru school. The group want to support the nursery to continue the existing work and help with expansion of contracts.

Water quality monitoring

The community have been monitoring for seven years using community based monitoring across six sites in the Wainuioru River and tributaries. Landowners want to understand what the results are from the seven years of monitoring so they can continue to improve land and water management in the catchment.