My Account
Every year, hundreds of unsung heroes pass through the predator-proof gates at Tāwharanui Regional Park and quietly get on with a wealth of tasks and projects throughout its 588 hectares.
Meetings are held, work identified and rostered, plants propagated and planted, birds and animals monitored, trails cleared and maintained, pests and weeds dispatched – all without fuss or fanfare, and purely for the love of the place.
These are the members and supporters of the Tāwharanui Open Sanctuary Society Incorporated, or TOSSI as it is known, a community organisation that works in partnership with park owner Auckland Council on volunteer programmes, fundraising, education and advocacy.
The group was founded 20 years ago when it was decided to create an open sanctuary at Tāwharanui – a pest-free refuge for native birds and wildlife where people could experience how the land and coastline had been originally. Council could not commit to all the funding or work required, so an incorporated society was needed, and TOSSI was born.
There for the first committee meeting and still on board today is current chairperson Alison Stanes, who has devoted countless hours to the formation and development of the sanctuary and witnessed its transformation from a pest-prone farm park to the environmental gem and refuge for rare species it is today.
“The biggest difference is the birdsong,” she says. “When we first came, there was nothing, the bush was silent. But it’s outstanding now.”
During TOSSI’s early days, the focus was on planning, building membership and raising funds for the 2.5km predator-proof fence necessary to keep rats, stoats, possums and other pests out and thereby tempt species back – no mean feat at a cost of well over $620,000.
Members and volunteers were also instrumental in pest eradication, restoring wetland and forest areas, developing walking tracks and organising monthly working bees, Sunday in the Park, which still take place today and include a popular free barbecue lunch.
TOSSI also came up with an ambitious plan to develop its own nursery to grow and supply plants for the park, not only to cut costs, but to reduce the risk of bringing in disease and pests from outside. The nursery opened in 2007 and produces at least 20,000 plants a year from seed collected locally by volunteers, and hundreds of thousands of plants and trees have been planted over the years, many during monthly winter planting days.
All the hard mahi has been rewarded by the successful return or introduction of no less than 14 native bird species, three types of gecko and one fish, starting with bellbirds that returned of their own accord in 2005.
Alison Stanes says none of this would have been possible without two things – all the volunteers who have supported TOSSI over the years and the ongoing successful partnership with Council.
“The most important aspect is the people who volunteer. We’re very lucky that we have such an enthusiastic team of volunteers and we always welcome new ones,” she says. “And we have a very good working relationship with Council. The rangers are always very helpful, supportive and pleasant. We help them and they have been informed to look after us.”
As for the future, TOSSI is focusing on encouraging more people to experience Tāwharanui as an educational resource, as well as developing another wetland and designing a new building for meetings, events and education.
The distinctive TOSSI logo of a tui head against a green background was designed by the late artist Barry Lett, a keen environmentalist who lived on the Tawharanui Peninsula and was a founding member of the society.
