The Nelson Halo

The Brook Waimarama Sanctuary is a 691ha pest-free fenced haven for native wildlife. It’s located in the Brook Valley, a few short kilometres from Nelson City Centre, and provides a nucleus for wildlife restoration in Nelson.

The goal for the Halo is to increase numbers of native birds and other wildlife in the Nelson region by creating a food abundant and pest-reduced wildlife corridor between the Sanctuary and the city and into the hinterland. As numbers of birds and other species increase within the Sanctuary, they will ‘spill over’ into the surrounding area, and a Halo provides areas for these, and wildlife already living in these areas, to safely forage and breed.

The core of the Nelson Halo extends from the city backdrop towards Richmond, encompassing the Council’s reserves from the Marsden Valley in the South to Sir Stanley Whitehead Park in the North, and the Parks, rivers and streams, gardens and private land in between.

The wider Halo extends through Atawhai to Nelson North, to the Maitai and Roding water catchment areas and to the sea.

You can see the Halo Map here.

To be successful, the Halo project needs support from everyone - community trapping and restoration groups, Iwi, the Department of Conservation, private landowners and residents, researchers, as well as Nelson City Council.

What Council is doing

Nelson Nature is working to support the Halo by coordinating an overall plan for predator control and habitat enhancement in the Nelson region. See the Nelson Nature Halo Operational Plan

The Nelson Halo Predator Trapping Guideprovides guidance for community groups and landowners on how to plan an effective predator trapping project within the Nelson Halo. The guide covers the six key things to consider when you are planning a predator trapping project so that you can really make a difference for the wildlife you want to protect.

You can use the Nelson Halo Project Plan template to develop a Project Plan specific to your project, using the guidance in the Nelson Halo project guide.

Contact nelson.nature@ncc.govt.nz if you’d like a printed copy of the guide and template.

Other activities include:

• Providing support to community trapping and restoration groups through our Environmental Grants Scheme
• Holding workshops for people to learn about trapping predators and weed control
• Providing support and advice to landowners and residents on how to enhance habitat for wildlife
• Controlling predators and restoring habitat in Council Parks and Reserves
• Encouraging research and incorporating the latest science knowledge into Halo planning
• Providing advice and support to backyard trappers
• Monitoring number and distribution of native birds in our region
• Supporting citizen science, like the Great Kereru Count
• Supporting riparian restoration through the Council’s freshwater improvement programme: Healthy Streams What can you do?
• Trap your backyard for introduced pests (see the Halo guide above)
• Get involved in a pest trapping or weed busting group or start your own. Useful resources: Predator Free NZ, Trap NZ, Volunteer groups in Nelson, Weedbusting groups.
• Keep your dogs on a lead where there are weka and shorebirds
• Keep your cat inside
• Eradicate any pest weeds like old man’s beard or climbing asparagus from your property
• Report native wildlife sightings using Inaturalist
• Participate in the NZ Garden Bird Survey
• Build a weta hotel in your garden
• Provide lizard and skink habitat in your garden by heaping rocks or providing divaricating shrubs such as Muehlenbeckia species to provide safe cover and to attract insects for food.
  
• Join in community planting days.
• Plant native trees to provide bird feeding habitat