A very special visitor has added extra joy to the busy summer season at the Tomahawk-Smaills Beachcare Trust nursery.
Nursery manager Dr Nicole Bezemer said sea lion mother Tektite had given birth right behind the nursery shed, and she had been privileged to glimpse the male pup when he was just minutes old.
"It was wonderful to have them there, and when Tektite started going to sea, she left her pup at the nursery," Dr Bezemer said.
"We had erected some sea lion barriers, but they didn’t really work, and so we had a sea lion pup playing with the nursery plants and blowing bubbles in my dog’s water bowl.
"They have moved on now, and he has learned to swim in the creek."
Now celebrating its 25th anniversary, the Tomahawk-Smaills Beachcare Trust is one of more than 30 community groups working to support habitat restoration and biodiversity at widespread Dunedin City Council parks and reserves.
Originally founded informally by a group of passionate locals, the trust involves volunteers of all ages and from all walks of life in its activities.
Much of the work is centred on the native plant nursery, managed by Dr Bezemer, a botanist.
"The kaupapa of the trust is to restore native vegetation to the sand dunes at Tomahawk-Smaills beach, and help protect the community from erosion," Dr Bezemer said.
"Biodiversity and erosion are our main focus, and we work by engaging the local community."
In recent years, with the growing popularity of the Tomahawk-Smaills area with sea lion mothers looking for a safe place to give birth, the trust’s focus had widened to include providing forest habitat.
"I don’t think of them just sea lions — they are forest lions and river lions and backyard lions," Dr Bezemer said.
"So, the more welcoming areas we can establish for them, the better."
After advice from Department of Conservation coastal ranger Jim Fyfe, the trust had increased its planting of ngaio, which provided canopy shelter and room for sea lion mothers to move around, as well as low-growing shrubs for pups to hide in.
"And it has really paid off — our sea lion mums are making use of it."
"Despite these challenges, the group is going strong, which is a testament to the dedication of our long-serving trustees, and to all the volunteer groups who work with us," she said.
These included community volunteers, young people from the Southern Youth Development Trust, Oranga Tamariki, Whanau Ora, students from Otago Polytechnic and the University of Otago, student-led environmental groups, tamariki from Nature School Dunedin, local high schools and community service workers.
"We often have a great mix of people here at the nursery for our sessions and for our community planting days."
Producing and planting out the native trees and shrubs was a labour-intensive process, as they were grown from locally harvested seeds and could take two to five years to mature enough for planting.
"It’s exciting work, as we aim for a coastal dune land forest."
"It is such a privilege to have wildlife around us, and not only sea lions, but birds as well."
Dr Bezemer paid tribute to the Tomahawk-Smaills Beachcare Trust’s long-serving trustees for their hard work and expertise.
Trust acting chairwoman Sally Dicey, a member of the group for 20 years, said competition for funding was tough among community groups, but the trust remained in good heart.
"We definitely need to play it cautiously at the moment, but we are committed to continuing our work," Ms Dicey said.
"We are very lucky to have people like Nicole, who bring such passion to the job and go above and beyond to ensure the work is done."
Having sea lions moving inland to give birth each summer had boosted interest and a sense of connection and ownership among local residents, she said.
Overall, there was growing interest and enthusiasm for conservation volunteering among the wider community.
"We have people from all over Dunedin coming to work with us, including clubs, university students, schools and workplaces, which is great to see."
Along with working on coastal and sea lion habitat, the trust was also working with Ecotago and others on planting near Tomahawk Lagoon.
• To help support its work, the Tomahawk-Smaills Beachcare Trust has a Givealittle page: givealittle.co.nz/org/tomahawk-smaills-beachcare-trust
