Baring Head, Wellington
In June 2010 the Nature Heritage Fund in partnership with the Greater Wellington Regional Council, Hutt City Council, the Department of Conservation and a private donor purchased 284.6 hectares of land that forms a prominent headland on the eastern side of the entrance to Wellington Harbour as an addition to the East Harbour Regional Park. The East Harbour Regional Park is recognised as one of the most valuable public land assets within the region.
Baring Head
This purchase has secured a strategic coastal headland and associated areas that contains significant biodiversity, landscape, geological and historic values. The area will provide public access to the East Harbour Region Park from the Wainuiomata Coast Road and access to 4km of Wainuiomata River for recreational use. It will also secure a critical portion of the coastal route that is used by thousands of recreational users.
The property is a prominent landscape clearly visible from the southerly approach to Wellington International Airport and is seen by thousands of overseas tourists who fly into Wellington each day. It contains 63 hectares of dune land ecosystems and 30 hectares of wetlands.
It is a complex area reflecting a number of past and present uses and environmental influences and is a very popular route for mountain bikers, trampers and rock climbers. The property has five landscape sectors, each with its own values:
- Coastal dune belt - important for birdlife, invertebrates and plant species and its geophysical dune formations. It includes a range of migratory seabirds including the nationally endangered banded dotterel, rosette plants, raulia dominated cushion fields and a large range of invertebrates.
- Coastal scarp - vegetation from the toe of the scarp rising to the marine terraces has a range of species of plants including pingoa, plus the chronically threatened spotted skink.
- Marine terrace - includes a range of plant species including: karaka tauhinu, etc, and Muehlenbeckia astonii.
- Terrace drop over/scarp containing scrubland forest and grassland that contain threatened plant and animal species including the rare Muehlenbeckia astonii shrug and matagouri. Grey scrub as this plant community is known is a rare plant community needing protection.
- Wainuiomata River valley - includes wetland areas between the terrace drop over and the Wainuiomata River which are important spawning areas for inanga. The Wainuiomata River is a listed Water of National Importance containing a number of indigenous fish species and also is an important brown trout fishery. Also contains acutely threatened white heron and New Zealand falcon.
The coastal dune land includes coastal turf rosette plant species, cushion fields on compacted gravels and ice plants on marshy areas that are originally rare ecosystem types. In addition the coastal fringe habitat contains chronically threatened spotted skink, and the acutely threatened white heron and New Zealand falcon are found in the Wainuiomata River valley area of the property. Muehlenbeckia astonii found on the marine terrace is nationally threatened and the matagouri found in the Wainuiomata River valley is regionally rare.
It is highly likely that a grazing regime will be maintained over some of the more developed and less sensitive areas. Benefits will accrue through tourism and recreational use by opening up access to the East Harbour Regional Park via the Wainuiomata Coast Road.
The land will be protected a scenic reserve under the Reserves Act 1977 and administered by the Greater Wellington Regional Council as part of the East Harbour Regional Park.