The Fight Against The Lupins

7th Dec 2021

To kick off the first day of summer Te Hā o Mātauranga's Kare Toa group volunteered to help with the removal of Lupin from the beach at South Bay as a collaboration with Sport Tasman and Environment Canterbury. 

Lupins are an invasive pest plant that cover the beach reducing the clear area for threatened birds such as the dotterel to breed and providing cover to predators such as the feral cats who use them as a hiding place. 

The lupin spread very easily forming self-replacing strands and dropping seeds that can remain viable in the ground for up to 20 years. They can continue to grow and sprout for years after they have been controlled, which makes eradicating the plant very challenging. 

Thank you to Heath, Alana and Abby from ECan, Wenbo from Sport Tasman and Ailsa from the banded dotterel group for joining in with us and making a small difference in the fight against the Lupins.