If Weedbusting is your thing - then Motutapu is your island!

 ......and find out more about Weedbusting by clicking on this link http://weedbusters.co.nz/

Weeds never sleep! Join the Winter Weed busting team
We are now into the winter planting season but because weeds never sleep, a small committed group will be hammering away at the dreadful moth plant in the Home Bay Forest. If you prefer wacking out weeds to planting trees, come out on a volunteer planting day and join the core weed team in reducing the weed problem in our mature plantings. Just email Belinda at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or phone 09 522 0919 or Bridget 09 524 5072 and register for the day.

Are you one of our experienced weedbusters? if so you will surely want to know about our Free Ferry Ticket Promo

 Team of Volunteers about to head into the Paddock 14 planted areas

The Weediest City in the World? 

Landcare Research scientists call Auckland the 'weediest city in the world'.  There are nearly 20,000 exotic plant species in Auckland and more than 200 of them are noxious weeds.

The weather in Auckland is ideal for exotic weeds, especially the most noxious, and landowners are urged to make an effort to get rid of them. As in the City, so too on the adjacent islands of the Hauraki Gulf.

Motutapu is also blessed with rich volcanic soils courtesy of Rangitoto and this allows weeds to readily establish and threaten our volunteer planted forest.

 Weed control continues unabated on the island. The constant battle against weeds by volunteers gets ever more extensive as our planted areas increase. We always need more volunteers to come along and join this committed team. Our Weedbusters operate all year round, summer and winter, rain or shine.Contractors have been brought in to deal with weeds such as moth plant in Central Gully and around the Sandy Bay area. These locations are outside of the core planting areas in the Home Bay Forest where the weeds our controlled by our volunteers.

DOC also continues to deal with rhamnus (evergreen buckthorn) another of the real problem weeds on the island, particularly around Islington Bay in the south western corner of the island adjacent to Rangitoto.  The current technique is to kill the plant but leave it standing - this allows just sufficient light to filter through for both our planted natives and any natural regeneration that may be underway on the ground.

 Senior volunteer Julia with a couple of keen Apple of Sodom seed pod gatherers

Apple of Sodom is a native of North Africa and is believed to have arrived on Motutapu during the period US navy forces were stationed on the island during WWII. They brought vehicles over from North Africa and it is thought the Apple of Sodom seeds may have been embedded in the tyres of these vehicles.

Our volunteers collect the berries before they roll through the native forest, split open and spill the seed.  For more information on this weed, see below.

 Onion bags of collected Moth Plant pods and Apple of Sodom berries bound for incineration

War continues to be waged on Motutapu weeds

Apple of Sodom

Apple of Sodom (solanum linnaeanum) is an unpleasant woody perennial that can grow 1 metre or more tall. The shrub has the ability to spread prolifically through pasture and scrub margins if not controlled. Their large bright yellow berries, which can be poisonous to stock, contain a large number of seeds which are often spread by stock or birds.

Motutapu Restoration Trust volunteers view this weed as one of their priority public enemies. Our weedbusters throughout last summer cut and root sprayed large numbers of the weed and collected in onion bags, huge numbers of the yellow berries later to be destined for incineration. It's important that the berries are collected as they will continue to mature and ripen despite the shrub being cut down.

Our weedbusters also spend time spraying around the electric fence lines surrounding the planted areas to ensure weeds and grasses don't grow back over the fence and inhibit the fence operation.

The first species to grow back along these sprayed fence lines are, you guessed it, Apple of Sodom! The tenacious seeds are everywhere in our soil but as the native revegetation gains ascendency these nasty invaders will thankfully be shaded out and confined to areas of the Island well away from our planting sites.

Motutapu Island is blessed with rich volcanic soils courtesy of upstart next door neighbour Rangitoto which emerged from the sea 600 years ago. Our native plantings love it but unfortunately, so do the weeds. The battle continues.

Moth Plant

The weed that causes most issues on Motutapu is Moth Plant (Araujia sericifera) however we are reducing its numbers year on year despite its very strong will to live!

Moth plant competes with, smothers and replaces native plant species in disturbed or low forest, scrub, forest margins and in open sites such as coastal areas or offshore islands. It is also a problem in urban reserves and gardens where it rapidly becomes the dominant species, you may well have seen in your neighbourhood. It produces a white milky sap that is a skin and eye irritant, and the seed pods can have harmful effects on humans and animals if eaten.

This native of Argentina and Brazil was brought to New Zealand as an ornamental species during the 1880s. Its early popularity may have been enhanced by its scented flowers, as well as its supposed ability to trap codling moths by their tongues in the flowers. This is where the name 'moth plant' originated. Moth plant is now common throughout urban parts of the Auckland region and is also found in Northland, Bay of Plenty, Waikato, Hawkes Bay and Nelson.

Spread occurs by the mainly wind-borne seeds which are freed from the pods as they dry out and split during autumn and winter. Seeds are windborne on parachutes of fine silky tufts. Also spread on animals, and peoples' clothing. Seeds can germinate freely at least 5 years from the time of being shed. Moth plant prefers loose, fertile soils in warmer, moderate to high rainfall areas

 GPS and ArcView Geographic Information systems helping us with the war on weeds 

GPS and GIS technologies (generously sponsored by ESRI and Eagle Technology) are helping us gain the upper hand in our efforts to eradicate weed infestations. The weed team operates all year round. They 'enjoy' relating horror stories from several years back when horrendous infestations of moth plant threatened sections of our replanted forest. Literally thousands of volunteer hours later these sights are now rarely encountered but the weeds are still there and still need to be dealt to prior to the regenerating forest shading them out. 

Problem areas encountered on weekends when insufficient resources on the day prohibit removal have their locations recorded on GPS. The following map shows where the readings in the Home Bay forest area have been taken during the winter of 2009. In the coming spring and summer, volunteer teams can head straight to these location points and begin their work. The nature of the terrain in the planted areas previously made line of sight and compass navigation a challenge. Using these technologies saves valuable time and ensures our weedbusting efforts are considerably more effective as compared to previous 'hit and miss' approaches