Restoring coastal landscape to create an eco sanctuary
The Halo Project brings communities together to restore wetlands, protect coastal habitats, and support native biodiversity in Ōtepoti Dunedin.
Restoring nature from source to sea
Alice and Rhys from the Halo Project talk about their work in Ōtepoti Dunedin.
Duration: 04:58
[The title of the video: Restoring coastal landscape to create an eco sanctuary, and logos for the Ministry of Primary Industries and Te Uru Rākau – New Zealand Forest Service appear in front of an image of lots of trees, a wetland and hills in the background.]
[Text on screen: Ōtepoti Dunedin.]
[Alice is sitting in a large shed and talks to the camera.]
[Text on screen: Alice Macklow, Source to Sea Project Manager, The Halo Project.]
Alice: Kia ora. My name is Alice Macklow. I am the Source to Sea project manager for the Halo Project, which is a conservation organisation in Ōtepoti Dunedin.
[Alice is talking and working on site with other people, they’re laughing and putting cardboard plant guards around trees.]
[Footage shows the area of land, it is hilly with patches of grass and is covered in mostly trees.]
Amanda: The Halo Project started in 2009 as a way to protect the species that live inside Orokonui Eco Sanctuary.
[Text on screen: Rhys Millar, Project Lead, The Halo Project.]
[Rhys sits on a bench on a large deck that overlooks native trees and talks to camera.]
Rhys: I'm Rhys Millar. I'm the project lead for the Halo Project.
[An overhead shot of the site shows a body of water surrounded by grassy fields and a mix of trees.]
Rhys: The Halo Project's really made up of two parts, the predator free component and then the ecological restoration component. And those two parts of the project overlap.
[Young trees with plant guards are planted amongst old grass.]
Rhys: So the restoration component is largely about native plant biodiversity enhancement on both public and private lands.
[People prepare plant guards to put around young trees planted at the site.]
Rhys: We've taken quite a strong focus on riparian and wetland areas, but also we are starting to focus on the likes of headlands, particularly where they may provide habitat for some of our coastal bird species.
[A drone shot shows birds flying and sitting on areas of water.]
[Rhys talks to camera.]
Rhys: Some of the really positive things that have come out of this project is the willingness of different community members to come together to help the Halo Project advance.
[Alice is sitting in a large shed and talks to the camera.]
Alice: We're sitting in our nursery shed today, which is a pig shed that is shared to us for free by a local farmer.
[Rhys is sitting on a bench and talks to camera.]
bench on a large deck that overlooks native trees and talks to camera.]
Rhys: A number of tradesmen came together to help set up the irrigation system.
[A group of people stand outside next to lots of plants, a sign says: Freshly Potted.]
[A person wheels a cart with plants in it and then walks among all the plants at the nursery.]
Rhys: A couple of working bees and a few scoops of fish and chips, and now the Halo Project has set up a really well functioning but number eight wire nursery system that is able to lower the cost of plant production.
[A person carries a tray of plants, puts them into a cart and wheels them away.]
Rhys: We often will purchase some small grade eco sourced plants from professional nurseries. We will bring them back to our number eight wire nursery and we'll pot them up, sit on those and let them grow in the nursery. And the outcome of that is we have a stronger, more resilient plant that is able to cope with the conditions here.
[Tree seedlings in pots are blowing in the wind.]
[Alice is sitting in a large shed and talks to the camera.]
Alice: Where we are planting in the Department of Conservation Reserve at Wharewerawera (Long Beach) is part of a larger ephemeral wetland, and we know that healthy wetlands help protect their neighbouring communities from flooding. Flooding is a threat in Wharewerawera, and we want to support the community in that way.
[A shot of the coastline shows the sea and the beach, with trees and a grassy area at the back of the sand.]
[Alice is sitting in a large shed and talks to the camera.]
Alice: So one of the things that everyone in New Zealand has to consider when planting coastally is archaeological remnants.
[A view of the landscape shows hills, trees, grassy fields and the sea.]
[Alice talks to the camera.]
Alice: Māori lived around the coast of New Zealand, so we have to take that into consideration when we plant. We've worked with Heritage New Zealand to create a resource called the Accidental Discovery Protocol, and we use that to train volunteers and our field team and landowners on how they can keep an eye out for archaeological remnants underground.
[Alice talks with volunteers.]
Alice: One of the ways at Long Beach that we mitigate for the risk of harming archaeological remnants is not using an auger. So we use shovels and our volunteers know what to look out for in case they see anything.
[People are walking on a hilly part of the site, behind them are lots of native plantings, some established and some younger.]
[Rhys is sitting on a bench and talks to camera.]
Rhys: We've implemented a number of different approaches for restoration. I guess there's a few key ingredients that we believe in.
[A ute drives along a road surrounded by wetlands. The wetlands are surrounded by young native trees and more established trees in the background.]
[A close up shows plants and grasses blowing in the wind.]
Rhys: One is to work around what already exists. So if you have fragments or you have natural regeneration that might be kicking off, you're immediately starting with a quite a beautiful microclimate. It provides the planted species with protection, which is really important, particularly in these sort of quite windy coastal environments. So we always work around existing native vegetation and build from that. The success is much stronger than working into it in a greenfields environment.
[Plants in the nursery are shown blowing in the wind.]
[Alice is sitting in a large shed and talks to the camera.]
Alice: We discovered that clearing all of the pest plants from the site removed a valuable protection when it comes to wind and exposure.
[Footage shows the dunes at the back of the beach, with cars driving along a track.]
Alice: So this year we are planting into the back dunes and, and we're keeping some of those pest plants around. We'll remove them later just to give the seedlings their best chance of survival from the get go.
[A man is shown clearing an area of land.]
[Alice is sitting in a large shed and talks to the camera.]
Alice: One of the main threats to our seedlings is rabbits and hares, and we use cardboard guards to protect our seedlings from rabbits and hares.
[A volunteer puts cardboard guards around seedlings.]
Alice: We also use the coconut coir mats, which you'll see behind me, to protect the seedlings from weeds and give them their best chance.
[Coconut coir mats are stacked up in the nursery shed.]
[Volunteers are on the deck, talking and looking at the surrounding trees and water in the distance.]
[Rhys is sitting on a bench and talks to camera.]
Rhys: Some of the impact that we'd really love to see would be, for example, full confidence that we can go down to the bay and get a feed of cockles without having any concern that there may be a pollution associated with that.
[Alice looks out at the site and raises her hand to protect her eyes from the sun, she talks with people nearby.]
Rhys: So that ability to resource oneself and the enjoyment that goes with that gathering. We'll see more bird abundance.
[A kererū is sitting in the branches of a tree.]
[Rhys is sitting on a bench and talks to camera.]
Rhys: I get bombed walking down my driveway every morning by kererū, which is fun, and I love it, and I love the fact that those guys bomb me every morning. It would be fantastic if everyone in this area, in the city, up and down the country had that same experience. So we're living in amongst nature in a more normalised way.
[A drone shot shows the variety of different areas on the site, including wetlands, forest, fields and the sea in the background.]
Rhys: We are really lucky here that we have the eco sanctuary. And for people to exist and live within that would be the ultimate outcome.
[A green background appears, text on it says: Visit the Canopy website to learn more about planting trees. Canopy.govt.nz.]
[Logos for the Ministry of Primary Industries and Te Uru Rākau – New Zealand Forest Service appear in front of a green background. Text on the screen says: Te Uru Rākau – New Zealand Forest Service is part of the Ministry for Primary Industries.]
Protecting biodiversity from source to sea
The Halo Project started in 2009. It works to protect native species in and around the Orokonui Ecosanctuary near Dunedin. Today, the project supports predator control and ecological restoration, from inland headlands to the coast.
Staff and volunteers work across public and private land. They plant native species and restore habitats.
Project lead Rhys Miller says, “We’ve taken quite a strong focus on riparian and wetland areas, but also we’re starting to focus on the likes of headlands, particularly where they might provide habitat for some of our coastal bird species.”
A community-led approach
The project is built on strong community support. For example:
- the Halo team uses a repurposed pig shed, donated by a farmer, as a nursery
- local tradespeople set up irrigation
- volunteers came together for planting days – fuelled by fish and chips.
Rhys says, “The Halo Project has set up a really well functioning – but number-eight-wire – nursery system that is able to lower the cost of plant production.”
This low-cost nursery model helps the team grow stronger, more resilient plants by raising them on-site before planting. These plants are better adapted to local conditions, making them more likely to survive and thrive.
Restoring wetlands to reduce flood risk
At Wharewerawera (Long Beach), Halo is restoring an ephemeral wetland that helps protect nearby communities from flooding. An ephemeral wetland is one that’s only wet during certain seasons. When healthy, wetlands slow water during storms, reducing the risk of flood damage.
Planting at this site considers both environmental and cultural values. The team works with Heritage New Zealand to avoid disturbing archaeological remnants left by early Māori.
Volunteers, landowners, and staff use an Accidental Discovery Protocol. If anything is uncovered during planting, it can be protected.
Alice Macklow, Source to Sea Project Manager for the Halo Project, says, “One of the ways at Long Beach that we mitigate for the risk of harming archaeological remnants is not using an auger. So, we use shovels, and our volunteers know what to look out for in case they see anything.”
Planting smarter: Working with nature
The team uses smart planting techniques to improve success rates. They work with what already exists. They add to patches of native vegetation instead of planting whole areas.
This creates natural shelter from wind and weather, especially important on exposed coastal sites.
In earlier years, clearing pest plants exposed seedlings to wind damage. Now, the team leaves some pest plants in place to act as shelter. These are removed later once the new plants are well established.
Long-term goals for people and nature
The team hopes to restore ecosystems where native species and people thrive together. One goal is to improve water quality, so people can safely gather kai like cockles from local bays.
More birds are returning to the area. Rhys often sees or hears kererū. He’s even swooped by them on his driveway.
The project’s ultimate goal is to make living alongside thriving native species a part of everyday life.
“I get bombed walking down my driveway every morning by kererū, which is fun, and I love it,” Rhys says. “It would be fantastic if everyone in this area, in the city, up and down the country had that same experience. So, we’re living in amongst nature in a more normalised way.”
Learnings from the Halo Project
- Use existing native vegetation to provide shelter and improve planting success.
- Leave some pest plants in place during early planting to protect seedlings.
- Build local support by involving community members and using local resources.
- Train volunteers to recognise and protect cultural heritage.
- Protect seedlings from pests and weeds using simple, low-cost methods.
More information
For more information about the Halo Project, visit the project's website.