Council grant to fund pest-proof fence in the Coromandel

Environment Waikato has granted $20,000 from its Environmental
Initiatives Fund to sponsor the construction of a pest-proof fence
around the Driving Creek Wildlife Sanctuary.

Less than a decade ago the 1.6 ha sanctuary, located next to major
tourist attraction the Driving Creek Railway and Potteries near
Coromandel town, was a grazed paddock. Today it is QEII covenanted and
boasts a recreated wetland, more than 7000 native trees and shrubs and a
walking track system.

It is also home to a breeding pair of endangered pateke (brown teal),
New Zealand's rarest mainland waterfowl species.

The Driving Creek Wildlife Sanctuary Trust owns the land, donated by
potter, conservationist and trust chairman Barry Brickell and a local
school is already using the area for conservation education.

The trust plans to develop an education centre to teach visitors to the
Coromandel about the area's native species and the ecological damage
caused by introduced pests. A pest-proof fence around the sanctuary
will keep predators out and provide a haven for plants and animals.

"Although the protected area will be small, there is some potential for
conservation education of the more than 40,000 visitors per year who
visit the adjacent Driving Creek Railway," said Coromandel Councillor
Simon Friar.

"School groups will be able to visit the sanctuary without charge."

The sanctuary could also be important for species that don't need a
large habitat area, such as the rare Coromandel striped gecko.

The Department of Conservation would eventually like to use the
sanctuary as a recovery area for injured birds before they are returned
to the wild.