Newmarket stream restoration project

Community working together since 2018

Our goal is to unite our community in working to clean our stream and ultimately our harbour, combat pest plants and pest animals, plant many trees, and create an oasis of bird and plant life in the city.

During the Anniversary weekend floods in Auckland, 2023, a significant number of plants were swept away. Since that time we have taken advice from Te Ngahere with respect to planting resilience, i.e. hardy species and size. This is particularly important as we are in the midst of an extreme El Nino and may have very dry weather in the East. Hence our planting is less glamorous and is focused on survival!

What We Do

Pest control

We conduct pest control in the restoration area using Good Nature traps, as well as traditional traps and bait stations maintained by Te Ngahere.

Newsletters

We publish newsletters and communicate with landowners, Te Ngahere, Council, Orakei and Waitemata local boards, Watercare, Conservation Volunteers and other groups to coodinate the project.

Weed control and trash removal

Te Ngahere leads our weed control work according to a 5-year plan to restore the environment. Subtantial amount of deweeding has been done to make room for natives.

We’ve removed a lot of large and small household trash from the site. Rubbish is also removed by volunteers during planting events.

Planting

We have organised 4 planting events so far, in 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021 and planted 4750+ trees, flaxes and grasses in the valley. Of late, Te Ngahere has been deweeding, cutting privets and planting native in difficult to access areas of the valley.

We organise social gatherings around our planting events, as well as educational events for the community.

Our Project in Numbers (updated Oct 2026)

4

rat pulses every year

4750+

trees, flaxes, grasses planted

Restoration Plan

Te Ngahere is working in the restoration area in 5 management units. Here is a map that shows where the units are located and what invasive species are dominant in those.

Read about our project on the Te Ngahere website