General patterns of bird use of Whangarei Harbour Technical Report
- Author
- Pierce, R.J.
- Year
- 2005
- Journal / Source
- Report by Wildland Consultants for Northland Regional Council
- Summary
- Northland Regional Council (NRC) is currently reviewing the management of Whangarei Harbour and are proposing to reclassify a substantial part of the harbour as a “Marine 1 Management (MM1) Area”. This category affords a highest level of protection currently available in relevant plans and resource consents are more difficult to obtain within this ‘zone’. Nine criteria are used for the delineation of MM1 areas N. Pyselman, NRC, pers. comm.), three of which expressly relate to bird species and their habitats. The harbour is a wildlife refuge and is recognised as a wetland of international importance for a number of reasons, including being a “good representative example of a mangrove-dominated estuarine system” and its role in regularly supporting threatened species (Cromarty 1996). Existing information is significantly dated and is of limited use for NRC staff to verify the draft boundaries of MM1 areas already delineated by NRC. Up-to-date information is required to validate these boundaries and to ensure that no other important areas with a suite of values have been left out of the picture. Wildland Consultants Ltd were commissioned to carry out a rapid survey of the distribution(s) of bird species and their habitats in Whangarei Harbour. This report summarises the findings of that survey.
Not available electronically