Project De-Vine - Golden Bay
Region: Nelson-Tasman
Award Category: Nelson-Tasman
Year: 2014
Back around 2006 Forest and Bird Golden Bay Branch set up Golden Bay Weedbusters to provide, amongst other reasons, an umbrella group for local community groups to set up their own community weedbuster group to tackle together the weeds they shared in their own location. Chris Rowse meantime was being overwhelmed by noxious weeds repeatedly infesting his QE2 convenanted property at Rockland Road and he set up the Rockland Rd Weedbusters group from amongst his neighbours to clear mainly vine weeds from their locality. Chris had big vision. He couldn’t just stop at his neighbours and has since proved to be a passionate and amazing organiser of people to tackle vine weeds well beyond his own locality. Rockland Road Weedbusters became Project De-Vine. He applied for biodiversity funding under Forest and Bird and managed by us then proceeded to an engage expert young weed team from what was DoC’s weed team before DoC lost funding for weed control.This team work very well together. The operate on karst land with incredible and perpendicular cliffs and also sink holes or tomas, shrouded in vines. We carry ACC and public liability insurance yet we have never had a claim for an accident. I truly don’t know for sure whether we are nominating the whole team or Chris, their gifted leader. Just recently Chris has separately hawked the community for funding to support community weedbuster groups. So far we have been involved with three new groups. Fortunately the local DoC person who had lost his job in the restructuring when DoC dropped weed control as a key responsibility agreed to run these groups. He is a brilliant catch, very knowledgeable about weeds, their control and has personal knowledge of weed sites around Golden Bay. As a result project De-Vine is going from strength to strength and it is my suspicion that Chris lies in bed at night plotting further strategies to rid Golden Bay and the neighbourhood over the Takaka Hill which is shrouded in very visible vines amongst the mainly native bush. I will be emailing further information and photographs.