THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO CAME ALONG FOR OUR OPEN DAY!
We hosted our first Open Day at our newly opened visitor centre on the 11th October - the aim of the day was to showcase the work of our Trust and to also celebrate the fantastic environmental activities and groups in the region who are also working towards fantastic outcomes for our District
We had a number of displays from community groups and want to thank all the volunteers from those different groups who came along to share their knowledge and time - Glenda and Mark from Waimate Trackways Committee were on hand with maps to talk through existing local Walking and Biking tracks plus planned additional tracks linking the Studholme Bush Reserve to town. Waimate2gether had displayed maps featuring future plans for a Long Loop Walking Track ( 2-3 day walking trail) in the Mount Studholme and Shrives back country area plus a display of the planned Whitehorse Monument upgrade which is a community led development project.
“Looking at Leaves” display by Eco Project volunteer, Ni was much admired showcasing the many distinctive shapes and sizes of leaves and the many named parts attributed to leaves.
Wallabies are now known to be impacting the much wider Waimate District area through to the borders with McKenzie and Otago. Alongside removing predator species such as possum, stoats and rats this is one of the reasons for the Ecosanctuary to build our pest and predator proof fence - to keep out the exploding population of wallaby in this area. By constructing the fence this will allow natural regeneration of native bush, we can begin planting native species and by removing the wallaby from the area in turn allows a thriving growing habitat for more native birdlife.
The Open Day provided visitors with a chance to browse on lots of information on not only wallaby but the many other introduced predators along with displays of a variety of traps and information handed out by Time Exton (DOC Officer) and Jason Hawker (E-CAN Biodiversity Officer).
The weather held fine and visitors took the opportunity to sit outside and enjoy the iconic views and proximity of the Bush while others took the opportunity to walk and bike the tracks and trails
Thank You to all who took part and those who came along on the day - we hope to see you at one or more of these future sessions!
