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We saw an Observation this morning noting an ivy invasion at Horseshoe Lake, Burwood, Christchurch.

We have been wondering if our own neighbourhood is particularly badly affected and our own forest unusually at risk due to its proxikmity to so many and such large ivy invasions around housing.

It would be very interesting to hear of other neighbourhoods and habitats affected by ivy.

And is there any "good side" to an ivy invasion? Are there any vulnerable habitats protected by ivy from trampling by people or animals, fauna loss from predators, perhaps plant loss through erosion ?

Resource consent is being sought by a Council arborist for the control and/or removal of Flame trees (Erythrina sykesii) that have invaded the forest from a dense stand near the top of the bank on Glenfield Rd. Resource consent is likely to take some weeks.

After chemical control of all the Erythrina trees, Council contractors will monitor both live and fallen erythrina wood on site till it is thoroughly rotted. While monitoring the rotting invasive material, they will undertake remediation of the Flame Tree containment zone, controlling plant pests so that native revegetation can begin on the bank and continue in the forest below.

Having observed the large number of immense fruiting palms in the neighbourhood ...Queen, Phoenix, Bangalore, Chusan, Fan....we are keeping a sharp eye out for all kinds of exotic palm seedlings, and studying observations of exotic palm seedlings growing wild, ie from seed fallen or spread by birds.

Our observations of several very large Queen palms in the neighbourhood of Eskdale Forest and Kaipatiki Creek led us to Jon Sullivan's historic observation of the 2002 discovery of 71 Queen palm seedlings under a taraire in Vaughan's Nature Walk, Long Bay Regional Park, during a weed survey by its Council managers.

https://inaturalist.nz/observations/946040

Elsewhere, someone commented that exotic palms are not considered a pest plant because they now occur in any neglected garden, or anywhere lawns are unmown.

Which is a good starting point to understanding what a pest plant, or weed, is, and why ecological restoration in NZ means, primarily, weeding.

If the lawn is mown, or the neglected garden-bed weeded, or the unwanted tree cut down while young, the plant is not a pest.

North Shore forest remnants and margins, streamsides, beach and estuarine plantings, public walkways, schools, roadside berms and residential properties, are mostly now essentially "neglected gardens", reecieving at best an annual once-over with chemical treatment of the largest invasions of the fastest spreading weeds.

The budget doesn't cover removing seedlings and young trees and shrubs, some of which reproduce themselves in a few years, creating thousands more invasions.

Only highly publicly visible amenity plantings and a few residences (those with long-term tenants with the necessary resources and plant knowledge to maintain a garden) receive regular survey and weed control, and even these contain largely exotic plants, many of them invasive and contributing to the problem in natural areas.

The results of weed control at home or in reserves reflect the awareness of the gardener or contractor of the invasion of wild exotics, their plant identification skills, and their understanding of the site as a whole.

Exotic palms, like wattles, pine and tree privet, grow to maturity much more rapidly than the natives they replace. Once exotic trees are mature it is rarely possible to control them, due to the expense of arborism, compounded by the resource consent required for any tree over 4m high.

North Shore Auckland now has thousands of exotic invasive trees in native habitat, and a tiny budget with which the managers of public land must choose which bits of natural heritage to attempt to protect, through the necessary but expensive regular survey and maintenance.

So exotic palms are a pest indeed.

iNatNZ Projects have been made for each Zone, using the Zones established in 1999 to plan and communicate weed and path work, and for filing some of the 6000 digital photos of that restoration.

Observations are being made throughout the stream restoration site, from Easton Park Parade opposite Glenfield College, upto Vale Crest Avenue and Noeleen Place, and downstream to the Kaipatiki Bridge at the Estuary at the Eastern end of Eskdale Forest, including the cliffs below the Witheford and Pemberton Rd neighbourhoods.

To help assess what has progressed, what has stayed the same or gone backwards, , and the weed invasions that occurred both before and since 1997-1999, we welcome historical photos of the wildlife of the stream, forest and estuary.

The most obvious change from the roadside is the general absence of kikuyu, brush wattle and pampas, now replaced by young native trees planted along the entire length of the roadside.

But this native planting has been invaded by tree privet, Moth plant, Madeira vine, Japanese honeysuckle and Kahili ginger.

Hundreds of mature and juvenile tree privet look likely to overtop and replace native trees in the next year.

Weed vines have already killed some trees, and threaten the rest. Several large invasions of Moth plant have been seen, pods removed where seen, and a few of the vines have been uprooted.

Areas yet to be observed include steep slopes, areas hidden by dense undergrowth or fallen trees, and the forest margins adjacent to housing in Witheford Estate. The Reserve's boundary with private housing is at some points a sheer drop below private land or fencing, so surveying the top of these banks will require the assistance of some neighbours in those areas.

Also yet to be fully surveyed are the coastal cliffs and saltmarsh, and the streambank below housing in Pemberton Rd and alongside the beginning of the walkway to Lynn Reserve.

All your observations from Kaipatiki Creek Reserve are helpful to this survey and weed-control planning. Your observations appear automatically in some of the Kaipatiki Creek and Kaipatiki Estuary restoration Projects, but have to be added manually to the Zone Projects which does not have an iNat Place boundary, and relies on a "Field" being created. The Curator/s of the Zones Projects will see any new iNatNZ observations made in the Creek area, and add them to the appropriate Zone Project.