Lyttelton Port Saddle - 2023 Sustainable Business Awards finalist
Lyttelton Port Company (LPC), together with The Banks Peninsula Conservation Trust (BPCT), have been named as a finalist in the Regenerating Nature category of Aotearoa New Zealand's pre-eminent sustainability awards, sponsored by the Ministry for the Environment, for the conservation efforts of restoring the Lyttelton Port Saddle.
The Port Saddle comprises 17 hectares of land owned by the Lyttelton Port Company on the eastern edge of the township, where indigenous flora and fauna are being planted to be enjoyed by future generations.
Lyttelton Port Company bought the section of land in the 1980s from a private landowner to stop it from being developed and open it up to public access for recreation and now for restoration.
Lyttleton Port Saddle Track:. Photo Credit: Lyttleton Port Company
Sophie Hartnell from the Banks Peninsula Conservation Trust says the location is unique, close to the residential community.
“It is essential for the community as they see it when they walk their dogs, creating a real sense of ownership, says Sophie Hartnell. “People can see the difference; it happens quickly on a site like this.”
The land borders the Urumau Council Reserve and DoC’s Buckleys Reserve and is a short walk up the hill from the port township.
Kirsty Brennan, LPC Environmental Partner, says the Port Saddle will contribute to the area's wider biodiversity. “We are bringing back the plants, which is bringing back the invertebrates and the birds, and then all together, that means a healthy ecosystem,” says Kirsty Brennan.
Staff from Lyttelton Port Company and other corporate organisations, including Christchurch International Airport Ltd, recently spent a day on the saddle preparing the ground for a recent public planting day.
In 2017, no trees were visible on the site, and the replanting has empowered residents and walkers.
Since then, 2913 plants have been added to the site with the help of 295 volunteers.
Tree planting:- Photo Credit: Lyttleton Port Company
LPC and the Banks Peninsula Conservation Trust have worked with fourteen groups, corporates, schools, and conservation organisations, achieving a monumental 4500 volunteer hours to ensure the plants survive.
Over two hundred students from Lyttelton Primary School, Diamond Harbour School, Heathcote Primary School, and Governor’s Bay School have restored the site.
In addition, sixty-one local volunteers have supported the biodiversity at Port Saddle.
Charlotte Jones from the LPC Environmental teams said the project is essential in many ways and provides an opportunity for staff at LPC and other corporate groups and volunteers to get out of the office and give back to Lyttelton and the environment.
“Most of Banks Peninsula, particularly around Whakaraupo Lyttelton harbour, was cleared, which has resulted in a lot of sedimentation in the harbour, which affects the cockles and the pipis by replanting and recloaking the area”, said Charlotte Jones. “We prevent sedimentation and provide habitat for birdlife that used to be here like this,” she added. “We also resource the seed so that every plant here was established from a source that has also been found in the ecological district, so they have a better chance of survival, and we are restoring it to how it was.”
“When you do an area of planting, it needs to be maintained for two years from weeds prest species,“ says Kirsty Brennan. “The cages around the plants protect the plants from possums, and we must ensure the grasses aren’t out-compete the plants. This requires regular maintenance of the existing site and removing the gorse and the broom.”
Last month, the Banks Peninsula Conservation Trust had its annual community plant-out day – planting 300 more native trees.
“It feels perfect to be contributing to something that will forever help the health of the ecosystem,” said LPC’s Kirstie Brennan.
LPC, in partnership with the Banks Peninsula Conservation Trust, is committed to restoring and protecting the Port Saddle.