Community Unites to Lead Environmental Change in the Sounds

After more than two decades of wilding pine eradication in the Marlborough Sounds, the greatest success has been more than environmental. It’s the sense of community, collaboration, and shared purpose that has grown along the way, says Marlborough Sounds Restoration Trust chair, John Hellstrom.

Reflecting on the Trust’s remarkable journey since its formation in 2003, John says more than $5 million has been raised and invested in wilding pine control – a third of it contributed by local landowners, businesses, and community members.

“That’s an incredible achievement, especially for a small town like Picton,” he says. “Over the years we’ve earned trust through solid results and low overheads. The trust is governed by volunteers, with only one very part-time paid role, and that gives people the reassurance that nearly every dollar goes directly into the work.”

The results are clearly visible – especially in Tōtaranui/Queen Charlotte Sound. “It’s one of the few conservation projects in the world you can see from space.”

Trustee Grant Douglas, who lives in the Grove Arm area of the inner Tōtaranui/Queen Charlotte Sound, says the results of the restoration work are nothing short of impressive.

“The scale of the project is visible across the Sounds. Whether you’re driving, boating, kayaking, cycling or walking, you get a real sense of just how much ground has been covered – often through steep, rugged, and almost inaccessible terrain.”

As the owner of Tall Poppy Picton and Marlborough Sounds, Grant’s work as a local realtor takes him into every corner of the region. Before moving into real estate, he worked as a guide in some of New Zealand’s most iconic landscapes and says the birdlife in the Sounds is among the best he’s experienced.

“I honestly can’t think of anywhere in the country with more prolific birdlife than we have right here – especially in Anakiwa and the Grove Arm. In the bush you’ll see bellbirds, tūī, fantails, kererū, weka, kārearea (native falcon) and ruru, and in the estuary there’s black-backed gulls, pūkeko, spoonbills and even the elusive banded rail.”

While central government funding fluctuates, long-term supporters like Marlborough District Council, Department of Conservation, Interislander, Marlborough Roads, Marlborough Lines, the Rātā Foundation – and of course, the local community – continue to back the work, enabling the Trust to protect the gains already made. Looking ahead, the trust has a long term plan to expand to new areas as more funding becomes available.

“Wilding pines may grow fast, but fortunately they don’t produce seeds for a few years, which gives us a critical window to get on top of them,” John says. “And awareness has grown. More and more people are pulling up young wildings when they see them – it’s become part of how locals care for this place.”

What began as a pine control project in Tōtaranui/Queen Charlotte Sound has since evolved into a broader restoration effort across the entire Marlborough Sounds. The team soon recognised the need to control other pest species – including possums, goats, and pigs – which led to the development of wild animal control and predator trapping programmes.

Since 2021, a mix of contractors and local hunters have removed thousands of feral animals from a 13,500 hectare area in Tōtaranui/Queen Charlotte Sound, through both aerial and ground-based hunting. The programme is run in close partnership with recreational hunters, the Marlborough Deerstalkers Association, and iwi, John says.

“The objective is not to eradicate or eliminate deer, pigs or goats from the Sounds, but to reduce populations from very high numbers to more manageable levels that are not causing extensive damage to the Sounds environment.”

Another offshoot of the Trust’s work is the Four Peninsulas Project – a large-scale predator control initiative, which doubled in size this year. In collaboration with property owners and community groups including the Picton Dawn Chorus, Wild Waikawa – Protecting Papatūānuku, and the Ngakuta Bay trapping group, there are now 5,328 traps across the inner Tōtaranui/Queen Charlotte Sound, helping to restore and protect native wildlife across a huge area.

“The really impressive thing about the animal control initiatives is the local community has really stepped up, with landowners providing about 80 percent of the total funding to date, to achieve these results. “It’s a great example of what can be accomplished when people work together.”

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