Restoring land into native forest - The Tīmata Method
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- čas přidán 1. 05. 2023
- Restoring erodible land in New Zealand into native forests has been a challenging and costly process, limiting private landowners' participation in large-scale projects. However, a report funded by Our Land and Water reveals a promising solution - the Tīmata Method.
This method has been proven to be more effective and significantly cheaper than conventional methods, reducing the cost of establishing native trees to almost a third of traditional 'high-density' planting projects. The Tīmata Method involves a colonising forest approach, where kānuka and mānuka are planted at lower densities, acting as a canopy layer for establishing larger trees in the future. Invasive plant and animal control, crucial for the project's success, are integrated into the process, making follow-up weed control on the dramatically cheaper in the long run.
While the Tīmata Method has shown to be successful, there is a need for greater extension and education to spread its benefits and to ensure the availability of resources and pest control management for successful reforestation in Aotearoa New Zealand.
Here is a link to the paper:
ourlandandwater.nz/outputs/re...
Thank you for watching.
Please share your thoughts in the comments.
I had half an acre of kikuyu at the beach.
No interest in mowing so have reverted most of it back into bush
Brought 500 mixed native seedling first.
That did not work the rabbits just clipped most of them before they got established.
Plan b was spray out the kikuya and spread seed heavy manuka branches around.
Result was impressive the branches protected the newly sprouting seedlings and soon tee tree was a dense cover.
Now its Simple to cut a hole in the cover and get the bigger trees established.
The change is amazing I have native birds and lizards every where..
Once you have cover the birds will bring in seeds of new species .
I also have a couple of hectares of grazed Taraire and Kahikatea bush
Fenced it off and trapped possum.
Its taken five years but now the undergrowth is really coming out .
Great pleasure when i find a new species of tree the birds have brought in.
Thank you for sharing Martin,
Fantastic inspiring work.
Which part of the country are you based?
In most places, eventually, weeds become our biggest threat.
Hi Martin. Thanks. What spray did you use?
This should be how companies offset their carbon! Not by planting pines that create a stand of uninhabitable, soil drenching trees. Awesome video and so well produced, froth those forest drone shots 🌳🌳
Thanks Rowan. Agree, companies that offset pollution are just green washing. Especially with pines. Planting trees is a scam too. Unless there is a commitment to long-term and meaningful weed control implementation.
I had the same thought. They could actually do smth by supporting causes like yours… unlike all that greenwashing happening today
Unfortunately, the carbon credits earned by planting Radiata are much higher than planting native species.
Capitalism is what is killing the planet. Capitalism can't fix the problems it creates.
Carbon credits should be given to native bush!
I bow down to all the people who dedicated their lives to reforest and heal our planet. You are true heroes!
As a Scottish guy managing my own young deciduous woods on formerly arable land I found this fascinating and have taken more than a few lessons from this. I'm definitely going to attempt fungal enrichment using commercially available mycorrhizal planting agents when trying to establish higher value/slower establishing trees among my pre-existing nurse crops.
I hope you guys maintain your bio-hygiene at your borders, it is a crying shame to have lived through Dutch elm disease and now ash die back and being forced to watch our woods and copses being decimated in front of our eyes.
Best of luck with your most worthy projects.
All the best w/ your forest regeneration endeavours mate!
(Guessing you’ve seen Mossy Earth’s projects in Scotland? They look exciting.)
As an Australian, I am so heartened to watch knowledgeable and experienced people regenerating farmland. My wife and I have a rural suburban block on the south coast of NSW which used to be rainforest, and over the past 30 years have encouraged the (assisted) re-growth of the original rainforest - I am pleased to see that allowing the land to heal naturally with sensitive and appropriate help, is a well established process - as evidenced by this video....well done!
Gotta thank the algorithms in landing me to this/your film, Geoff. Amazing mahi by everyone involved. Thankful for you bringing this collaboration to life and spreading the goodness to folks globally. This is inspiration I needed this week and moving forward. About to have a kōrero tomorrow with folks in the Motueka region interested in planning for a syntropic ag food forest. All the best to the team in your corner of Aotearoa.
Thank goodness alright.
May I suggest an expert living close by down there you may wish to engage for some key tips and pointers to make sure your outcome is as successful as possible?
Dm
hello@geoffreidnz.com
So refreshing to see land restoration with native species given the same thought and determination as go into planting exotic forests. This is a straightforward and affordable pathway to the wholesale reafforestation that Australia also needs, after 250 years of European desecration of our ecosystems
So refreshing to see people that care about our planet
Cheers
You’ve done a bloody amazing job here Geoff and team. Ngā mihi nui.
❤ thank you Geoff for your excellent video ❤ I've learnt a lot from it and been inspired 😊💚🌳💚
I planted pittosporum, corokia and coprosma with some kowhai, totara (the totara are slow growing) and olearia, as my nursery crop, in the Southern region of Tewai Pounamu (South Island, Aotearoa). I sourced many of my trees from local Forest and Bird people. At around 14 years they have canopied. No native trees have grown here for so long that it's only the trees that I've planted that are reproducing. Only recently have the mushrooms of different types started growing. I'm currently finding locally sourced ferns for under planting. My Ngahere is only a small area, but something is better than nothing! I've noticed more kereru, pipiwakawaka, and korimako here recently. The birds were here first before humans 💚🌳💚
Thank you for expressing the importance of both natural regeneration through Kanuka, and locally sourcing trees (to protect the gene pool). There's no need to "plant forests", simply allow natural regeneration to do its job. But, for heavily degraded/eroded sites, what about more extensive on-hand restoration? For example: Mahoe being a heavy biomass producer, it could be constantly pruned to drop biomass to the ground and create topsoil. Kowhai can be planted alongside for nitrogen fixation, and finally Kanuka for natural regeneration.
🙌 yes. Thank you for this. I hope other readers can take note 😉
Pioneer species: The choice of plants depends on your locality and there will be a few species of plants that really get the job done (creating good cover). Best to focus on those 'work horse' species. Just select the most likely looking candidates that naturally grow in your area.
Enrichment species: If you are miles away from local forest seed sources then it's a good idea to also plant clusters of other species to help start improved biodiversity.
Accent species:
There will be special accent species that should be planted sparingly and in carefully chosen places, usually in low numbers. These are species that give a forest its special local character e.g. kowhai, but in most places are not normally abundant. Usually they are found in specific habitats e.g. Pukatea in gullies, swamps or springs, Beech on ridges, King Fern in deep gullies, Kowhai on spurs, old shell banks or ox bow silt, whatever nature's special pattern is in your area. Special attention to numbers and their favoured sites. You can copy this from original forest in your area.
Humus builders: There are some species that are especially good humus builders and these are especially good to establish in degraded soil areas e.g. kanuka, tree ferns, flax. rushes. In some situations the fastest way of producing humus biomass is to plant a sacrificial crop of pines. Even a one off production crop will really help but there's always the cost of controlling pine seedlings for a few years after harvest. We have areas with 95 % native cover and loads of humus just 5 years after pine harvest.
Fantastically produced and perfectly pitched. Well done Geoff!
Kind words. Thank you Kevin.
A team effort for sure ;)
Having done a few small-scale soil remediation projects, I can appreciate your effort. Keep up the great job!
I’ve been hoping and praying for the same for the lands of west marin national seashore in California which was converted to cattle pastures by prior generations.
The native trees and foliage of that area Date to the Jurassic.
Also the restoration of the plains bison which once numbered 60 million and generated 15 feet of topsoil.
The genocide of the bison resulted in the environmental catastrophe known as the dust bowl .
I thought it was the destruction of the Prairie by plowing which created the dustbowl.
God, so good to see common sense at last! I was promoting these very ideas back in the lat seventies and eighties, but instead direct seeding manuka and kanuka. It really worked, but didn't catch on because in the culture of the time, manuka and kanuka were seen as dreadful pasture weeds.
Cyclone Bola proved the worth of intact kanuka and manuka in effective erosion control. Only now, however, have we managed to budge slightly from a pastoral farming obsession, no matter how much the land tells us how inappropriate this can be. How come 40 years after Cyclone Bola are we only just beginning to pay attention to native forest regeneration on the grand scale.
To reiterate, we went down the direct seeding route and, if we did plant, using root trainers (Hilsun mainly, but also Ferdinands). The establishment rate was rapid as was canopy closure (hence the arresting of erosion at an early stage.
I have one concern, however... If we go down the manuka honey route, we are simply repeating the commercial model of land management with all the monoculture associated with it. What is seldom appreciated is that kanuka also a great producer of fine honey and may be a better route to go down as the trees are much taller.
Can I ask how the direct seeding was carried out? I wondered as I was watching whether it was necessary to mass plant the mānuka as I've observed it self-seeding readily.
@@naysneedle5707 We cut the slash from standing trees, or (in the case of Manuka) shrubs. The slash contained unopened seed capsules. It was then bundled & transported to the revegetation site by truck or, most usually for the sites we dealt with, by helicopter. Wind can be an issue. Slash needs to be pegged securely or covered with enviro-mesh (if still available).
Kanuka can be problematic as seed capsules open quickly to release their seed so it needs to be transported and laid quickly. Manuka from western parts of the North Island have dehiscent seed capsules so release their seed quickly. Treat this source like kanuka in laying it urgently.
The germinating seed of both Manuka and kanuka are light-demanding & this must be borne in mind when preparing the site.
Laying sites need to have been well prepared. For Manuka, this means thorough weed control to bare soil areas as weeds quickly suppress germinating Manuka seedlings. On erosion-prone sites, the laying of manuka slash is carried out with a density of 40-60%, enough to protect the soil surface yet allowing sufficient light for seed germination. After 18 months growth, Manuka laid using slash is usually self-sustaining.
For kanuka, a different kind of site preparation is carried out. Some pasture (or more precisely turf) grasses are an ideal cover, enough to protect the soil surface & with enough light to foster germination & seedling development. Kanuka slash is usually scattered into an open grassland environment. Grasses that are conducive to the establishment of kanuka from seed are brown top, creeping bent, Kentucky bluegrass & buffalo grass. Undesirable species are prairie grass (Bromus spp.), cocksfoot, tall fescue, rye grass, Yorkshire fog, Lotus pedunculatus & most clover species. Obviously, some or all of these undesirable species will always be present in a pastoral environment, but direct seeding of (say) creeping bent as a pasture supplement will offer a good environment for kanuka seed to establish - some shade, but not too dense; low-stature so as to foster quick establishment of kanuka seedlings.
With Manuka this won't work as any competition with other plants is usually fatal. With kanuka, this regime described sounds very complicated, but it isn't really. Most unmanaged pasture (ie, sheep & beef pasture) has quite extensive areas of the right grasses so focusing on these sites for scattering & pegging slash is a matter of routine.
Kanuka is quicker to establish from seed than Manuka &, after three years of growth from seed (on warm, well-drained, north-facing sites) plants can be over 2 metres tall & almost self-sustaining & we'll on the way to providing a perfect nurse crop for indigenous podocarp-hardwood rainforest to establish either by itself, or with supplementary planting with appropriate, eco-sourced species.
This is a long explanation, but I hope it gives you some insight into what's possible with a new approach to revegetation.
@@martinnicholls9056 Thanks so much for your detailed reply, terrific information!
Loved this and makes me inspired to find and fund similar projects here in Norway
This is soo good and just what is needed. Well done
Cheers!
Thanks Geoff. This is great info for the Bird Rd project. Your work is precious to this world.
Thanks Lease! OMGoodness Bird Rd project is a thing 😍 great work. Kea families will move in oneday.
@@GeoffReidNZ We have seen up to 8 of them at once - Kea. And the sound of Te Ruru....makes my heart swell! Enjoy!
This is really incredible, its nice to see people who really care about the land.
When you let gorse be (in New Zealand certainly) seedlings of trees will come up from underneath and replace the gorse with native plants ... benefits are that you do not have to plant, you do not have to spray and you do not have the erosion
n gorse keeps out most pests, thus protecting seedlings while they establish. fools spray it, thinking they've beaten it but gorse seed can emerge again unscathed 50 yrs later UNLESS it's in shade, which is the only effective thing that kills it.
I like this approach. I'd love to be able to own some land here in Tasmania to apply some of these principles.
June 8, 2026
@@ilovebreathingoxygen Tasmania would be ideal given it climate and environment!
I have fought blackberries my entire life, 70 years old now. I had no idea it had invaded your country too. And the gorse? A most horrible plant here on the Oregon coast. I enjoyed this, great plan you have.
Gorse is actually being used as a nursery plant in a place called Hinewai on the Banks Peninsula in NZ. There's a CZcams video. The gorse will die in the shade. Difficult to see how it wasn't referred to in this video.
ironic, here in the UK its one of our most important pioneer species for wildlife!
@@OsirusHandle unfortunately, that's a reason why it was brought to NZ.
@@OsirusHandleNew Zealand is lucky foxes weren't introduced as it was in Australia.
In New Zealand there are 22 species of introduced Blackberry some of which grow over 2 metres high and very dense. But if there is native forest nearby, if you leave it alone after 20 years it will be overtopped and completely shaded out by native seedlings sown by birds. Free forest by doing nothing. We hate this weed but if you have it, it can deliver free native forest. If you don't have native forest seed sources nearby, try firing shade tolerant native seeds or clay balls with native seed into it. I tried using native seeds in shotgun cartridges but the seeds were too light to travel very far.
Another method we have used is to drive randomly through the blackberry with a solid 4WD or tractor , spray patches and plant clusters of trees. It's a bit random, but makes the job a lot of fun for the lads.
It's a real pity the colonials didn't have thornless blackberries !
Actually we have a native blackberry vine called Bush Lawyer, which climbs up trees to the height of 25 metres and trunks 10cm thick. The bunches of fruit are 30 to 50cm long but fruit its yellow -orange is often a bit tart.
It's called Bush Lawyer because the prickles on the leaves grab you and don't let you go until every last cent is shaken out of your pocket. Any form of protest or struggle just tightens the grip. So aptly named !!
Such a well done doco, really insightful. Thanks for the work you both do in this space. Hope this inspires people into the native land care realms.
Thank you Fleur. Sharing what others have found that works is an important way forward. The more serious we take weeds as our biggest threat the better.
Keep up the good work you're doing with that beautiful old growth!
A wonderful and informative video that should be part of Educational Resources so that future Generations are able to follow/ back up Resource Document. Thank You Jeff Reid always enjoy this information.
Thank you
Good work getting this useful information out there Geoff. Great video footage, but I was disappointed we didn't see you in front of the camera.
Wonderful documentary, thanks Geoff. We've experimented with a variety of nursery crops on some retired pasture in Awhitu. We've found that manuka and kanuka can't handle the high winds. Ake ake, caprosma, pitosporums and haereke have been the best so far. Even the totara cark it. Lots of fun trying though.
Cheers Vincent Sounds like an interesting site to come visit! Keep up the solid work.
@@GeoffReidNZ It would be cool to have you come out some time. Not much to see at my place yet - just a very healthy crop of Kikuyu. Perhaps combine it with a visit to Awhitu Landcare. There's lots happening on the peninsula. Thanks for all your mahi.
Thanks for an awesome video, as a kiwi its kinda sad at times the destruction that is allowed on our hills/land for profit with no real thought of regeneration or what the consequences of stripping everything (the hills out by our place have been logged leaving them bare, an all i think is how long before mudslides or the hills collapse as there was basically no undergrowth so its barren with dirt, but 20 years from now there will be pines they say..if it lasts that long an doesn't cause damage)
Good stuff Geoff. Very well produced and important message. Timely too.
Thanks Andy. Hope it can be helpful to the dedicated individual and groups doing the good work.
Im doing my own studies on N.Z native forest, shrub and wildlife until the conservation course is available next year, this is so inspiring and i cant wait to get right into it!! Ngā Mihi kia koutou
Please to hear it. 🙌 Best wishes with your studies
Warm and fuzzy, with great detail in the process presented. This gives hope for a better future.
1:02 that shot was pure brilliance
Hats off to the camera crew.
Absolutely beautiful!
Thank you. A favourite of mine. Old growth podocarp forest middle of winter morning light. Bliss
We see a lot of revenge work where many species are planted and left to fend fro themselves (especially in urban areas). The Kanuka/Manuka establishment as nurse crops, combined with stock exclusions, the proliferation of diversity inherent in the soil seedbeds is astounding. Many of our large natives require a low-light environment to establish and canopy closure through manuka/kanuka at about 3-4mH provides this environment. Establishing 'islands' of bird attractors, using more dominant species creates a seed source that is spread through the emergent species. All without doing much after 3-years, quicker and better than mono-cultural pine forests. Good preparation and maintenance is essential to success.
Silvo-Pasture should be done. Here in the US we have regions that were clear cut for logging 50-100 years ago. Those lands haven't been touched since. We are left with little old growth trees and an abundance of middle aged trees. This is a huge problem as you have probably seen our wild fire issues in the news. You can't have a healthy forest dominated by tightly packed middle aged trees. We are now having to clear meadows/pasture within the forest in order to protect them from pests, disease, and fire. It doesn't need to be an either or discussion. It shouldn't be. Each piece of land is different. If the land is properly stewarded animal grazing can not only be non-detrimental but beneficial to restoring forest.
@@Jj-gi2uv They are headed down a similar path just 50 years behind. It isn't good. The clear cutting should have never been allowed but ruminant are a natural part of the landscape. Nature isn't Disneyland. Not only are there supposed to be ruminants but also apex predators. It has more value and needs than your hiking boots and selfie sticks can provide. Silvopasture is a restoration strategy that has been shown to work. Cows is not enough but neither are trees. You rebuild an ecosystem by building a system. If it isn't complex it won't work. Nature is complex. This is elementary
New zealand has no native grazing animals, and as a result, if forests in NZ are grazed, they do not survive, as this is not how they have evolved.
Silvopasture is still effective for erosion control, of course. However, in these instances in the video, they want to completely revert unproductive farmland back into natural NZ forest, which, as i said, does not include grazing animals.
Although they are planting a monoculture of manuka or kanuka, they are proven effective and affordable nursery species that allow many native forest species to naturally self sow and begin growing up beneath, which will eventually shade out the nursery species and kill them off, as they are shade intolerant. You are left with a healthy native forest.
NZ is very different to the U.S, and this is nothing like a plantation forest. The people in this video wanted to restore land to forest, and they chose a good method.
@@angushay4549 You are wrong
"New Zealand did have native grassland herbivores as well, but they were represented by very different taxonomic groups, namely the Phasianidae, Rallidae, and Anatidae."
Nature does not leave grass uneaten
@@angushay4549 More
"Unfortunately, it was likely the moa birds that did a lot of the legwork in that regard. Without any large, terrestrial browsers, encroachment by trees and shrubs will eventually make grasslands into forests, except in coastal, wetland, and alpine situations where the climatic factors prevent it. The presence of the aforementioned grazing herbivores, along with other species adapted to open landscapes, in lowland and inland habitats suggest that there was greater heterogeneity in the past."
This is my niche. Stay in your lane
This is Really Great with the People learning how to Restore their Native Forest Habitats!!
Cheers for the comment. Things are slowly moving in the right direction
Great Video, A very special subject and the real answer for most of the difficult country in New Zealand, It is obvious now the pinus radiata monoculture, simply to sell logs to china, Thanks Guys (and girls) you have done a wonderful job here!
Thank you Tony.
The benefits are immeasurable.Great to see this video being picked up and share. Neve would of thought it woud get such reach and engagement.
Hoping to do a similar one on weeds very soon
Massive step forward, amazing mahi
Great work Geoff! Very professional.
Thanks Paul. Trust you're well mate 🙌
Mauri ora let keep goin in this way, environmental not profit"every bit counts" 🌱💧🌳Kaitiakitang
Amazing video! This kind of innovation gives me hope.
This is incredible! Hopefully with continued care these forests will become fully mature
Great stuff Geoff. Can't wait to watch the whole thing
This one may be of more interest to you brother ;)
czcams.com/video/Dv_Zf7gn43k/video.html
Wow, really exciting video.
Curious to know how the establishing ngāhere coped with Cyclone Gabrielle.
HI Jason, it’s estimated about 10% of the manuka was lost from Tūtira, lates pics and graphics basemaps.linz.govt.nz/?i=north-island-2023-0.5m#@-39.2238832,176.9081259,z14.4352
As a regenerative farmer and in my spare time (yes I have some from time to time) here in the south of Portugal. The big elephant in the room is the aerosol spraying that constantly robs of us our rain and has been since at least 2014. The only way to reforest here is using seed and even so its almost entirely the tougher pioneer species. We really could make the world a greener more abundant planet for everyone and everything to coexist in if it wasn't for the few rich men north of Richmond that like t control us on all levels.
The manuka and kanuka will die off eventually and will need to be replaced by other species. Those species will be native if there are refugia and native species still present in the local area for the birds to transport. If there are not around it is likely that invasives will get established and spread. Sure caprosma and other succesional or edge species will probably arise. In those situations one might need to plant some of the longer lasting native species among the manuka and kanuka. I liked what you said about weed and pest control! You have to always think about that and address it early. Great work!
Amazing documentary!
Great video! More like this please 😍
Thank you! More to come. Hoping to knock out an informative video about managing and eradication weeds. Something we are far behind on
Brilliant presentation, thanks for sharing.
Amazing watch. It's a shame this video doesn't have nearly as many views as it deserves.
Simply Gods work! Thank you.
Awesome!
New Zealand forests are so beautiful. I love going to the Bush and just relax
Yeah, I always say that when God made the Northern hemisphere forests he was just practicing. He didn't make our forests on a Monday or a Friday. He was feeling very creative.
Actually every forest in the world has its own special smell. The smell of NZ forest comes mostly from its mosses, fungi and ferns.
The colours and textures of the forest are very restful for the eyes. Half a day in a forest after a week on the computer does wonders.
Going into a primeval forest is entering God's garden, so prepared to be inspired, rested and recreated (that's why we talk of recreation in a forest). It's a place where scientists, musicians, inventors, engineers, architects, artists, poets, theologians and simple lovers of nature can all be inspired, because this is the work of the Master.
Amazing! So informative
Awesome doco Geoff. Super helpful for my restoration project. Keep up the great work and come visit sometime!
Truly inspiring stuff, Mīharo mahi!
Kapai. Thank you
Thanks, great video
Great work 👏
This is so much better than the dumb idea of planting Pines as a permanent carbon forest.
Fabulous, came looking for information on restablishing bush on farm land, would love to know where to get those cheap forestry grade seedlings...
Classy very classy
Awesume Post.Our birds are vital too once pests possums ,rats cats are go onto ..
Cheers Rob. You're dead right. More emphasis needed on that.
Wonderful. Thanks for the great work ♥
Glad you like it!
Great work. Keep it up. I really enjoyed your vid. thanks
Thank you for this feedback. Cheers
Nice vid, thanks for sharing. How’d this area go following Gabrielle ?
Kia ora "Pa!!💚🌱🌳✨
In Brazil we are planting water. This means, people who reforests they get natural water resources back.
Incredible. I would love to come document that!
So good to see
Fantastic video. Gives me insights into ways to help my small (4 ha) dryland forest along in Eastern Te Waipounamu. I have a small mānuka block naturally occurring on the property but it grows at a snails pace compared to the trees in this video. It's beautiful though, really unique and possibly not even the same species. I'll be started an in situ nursery soon and sourcing local tawhairauriki, kapuka and others to plant out. Undecided on the density I should be planting mānuka seedlings at a site like mine
Thanks Tom,
Great work! I suggest getting in touch with a Canterbury ecologist who can give good pointers. Otherwise you could send location, photos of your place, photos of natural vegetation on similar land for comment.
Make a list for the following:
1. the species and composition of any mature natural vegetation on similar land.
2. Pioneer and early successional species on similar land.
3. Canopy or mature forest species that are likely to be able to establish on bare land if planted.
4. choose a practical list of species to plant that will get the job of covering the land done.
5. Check out nasty invasive weeds that are in his vicinity so can visualise the threat and deal to the actual seed source or be able to deal to them when they come. Work out a plan of attack to beat them.
Keep up the good stuff!!
hello@geoffreidnz.com
My main issue with reforestation attempts is that by using nursery plants, especially with cuttings, you can end up with large areas of low genetic diversity which can make the trees terribly vulnerable to disease: however your method uses naturally pioneering secondary plants which should counteract this somewhat. This problem could be counteracted initially by selecting seed from a few hundred geographically variant trees of the species you want, which isnt too difficult, but takes longer than cuttings.
They directly address the importance of using local populations of native plants to maintain unique biodiversity.
@@mr2981 Local isnt necessarily better. Unless you are taking wide samples of seeds your final product will still be a forest of clones.
Ok, better than nothing.
I love hearing the names of the trees!
🙌
Which one is your favourite?
Good works going on there!
Thanks!
You have prooven that it can be done! And humans have the ability and will to restore nature for the benefit of all of us on this earth.. it is the only one.
Oh the irony... During my childhood, in the 1950s and 60s, manuka trees were still a pest species which farmers slashed, crushed and burned to produce "grazable" pasture. Plentiful on Maori land, white farmers were scathing that it was allowed to even grow. To the apiarist it produced an unwanted honey crop. The honey was the least preferred because of its strong flavour and yet the bees produced heaps of it. There was so much manuka honey left unsaleable they had to devise other ways to market it. One of which was as a "cure" for children who wet their beds. I was one of those children, and so when mum bought a gallon tin of "Dri-Bed" (pure otherwise unwanted manuka honey) I was fed a tablespoon every night before bed in the fond hope that this "cured" me. (It didn't. I stopped wetting the bed when my body decided it was time to...) But now look at how we treat this previously maligned crop. The tree produces a product with a magical healing property and also nurses young forests into life on previously abused and over-farmed land. Oh the irony. Ooooh the irony.
Ironic indeed. Thanks for watching. Interesting info on marketing the honey... and glad you stopped wetting the bed. 😉
One of the best videos I ever saw, about restoring dead farmland. It gives hope that mankind will survive on earth. At least it does for me. Thanks very much Geoff. Rgds. Wim
This is a fascinating video. What exactly is meant by "forestry grade" Manuka seedlings?
Roughly the same size that are use on production pine plantations. 🙌
What's your position on Bio control of weed species Geoff? I can see both sides of the argument but given the financial resources needed to tackle out of control weeds in some regions, particularly species like old man's beard, and no regulatory framework forcing landowners to remove these species from private land, manual control of weeds at a landscape scale becomes an over whelming task for small councils, particularly. There's no coordination between private land, DOC and regional councils which makes it extra difficult. Love the doco, we need this message spread a lot more and projects like the one showcased here, and Hinewai need to be discussed far and wide to give the general public a better idea of the possibilities. Keep up the great work as always, and good luck for the upcoming mud farming season.
Have just found your video and couldn't agree more with what you are doing and if all countries followed your example the world might be a better place. I would give all to be in N. Zealand doing exactly the same as what you are doing. I have had 4 small farms in my life and have planter good quality trees on all 4 even the one am on now where I have had to grow my own trees from seed as only rubbish pines are available. I see that your government pays only for planting fast growing Radiater pine which is about as much use as a paper bag with a hole in it. Rather like the pines here paper and firewood. I love nature and am always striving to give her a helping hand, but would love to live in N. Zealand where you have much more empty land that I could endevour to re-generate and bring back too it's former glory and natural surrounding.
Thank you Robert. Where are you based? And where did you own farms?
Cheers
@@GeoffReidNZ Hi Geoff. England 7 acres, N. Z. 50 acres, Scotland 16 and am now in Portugal with 5 ares all bought and all restored by myself as my previous wives were not interested. The first I had forestry grant, but not in N. Z. as was no help then, Scotland again a grant and the same here, but to keep the bush down here and very hard to find tree seedlings so growing my own. Would love a very big block of land on south island to restore and re forest with decent trees and not all these Pinus Radiarter crap. Paper and firewood is all they are good for, not much different here, but have cleared must and have started replanting with holy oak from seed. I do like Sequoya though magnificent when they tower above all others, bit like the kauri.
Hello Great video, I am sold but I was watching it to see what to actually do. Might be a good idea to follow up with a more detailed how to video.
Noted!
22:18 as a note on planting high density to reduce weed control, and this may come from a difference in experience. In my experience canopy closure does not remove weed control entirely but it does significantly reduce the burden, weed runs are less often and can target different species. The greatest weed control period for establishment planting is in the first few years of growth, before canopy closure. Now my instance is compliance management with property developments where developers are not retiring land, but are required to conduct planting for effects management. These companies want to move on ASAP and aren't interested in the long term health of the environment. They aren't going to do a weed management run at 8 years because they will be long gone. So the higher density planting is to ensure that before they do leave there is at least canopy closure to provide some weed management and reduce the burden on property owners/councils.
Now clearly the land retiring aspect here is very different you aren't dealing with earth-worked slopes (you have topsoil) or engineered fill, you have a degraded but present soil. I think this method looks very promising for retiring rural land and i certainly appreciate the acknowledgment that weed management will always be needed, as it often is the case that people will sing high praises about what they can do in 3-8 years, only for a re-incursion of, for instance, blackberry, at year 10, destroying all of the progress made in the preceeding years.
I'm restoring a tropical land, those are important considerations .. it is curious why the same species will do well on one lot another not. Fungal propagation does makes since.
Here if I don't control the leaf cutter ants I do nothing.. list goes on very interesting.
One expierament : we have undesirable trees which I found better to kill standing as this increases woodpecker populaions which are very useful.
That was an awesome drawing together of examples showing how , if we get out of nature's way, ( and police the plants that are not helpful, or part of the natural succession) , that the magic starts to happen. I must admit I find it almost a painful experience driving through landscapes that are just grass, it feels naked and sterile compared to that with some shrubs and trees dotted about, and native Bush feels like the box of jewels.
Such a good job I live in a big river valley that is used for pasture the grass used is African braquiária. We need clean and put about 8,kg bullsheet. 600 g NPK. 500 g Ca rocks powder. Wait more the m 20 years
Hi, I'm doing a lot of planting on my farm, who do I contact about this method and perhaps getting them to do some of it on my land?
They are talking or retirement of the farm behind Porirua. They should watch this video. I belonged to a well-meaning group who planted and lost around 80% each year on these ridges. We should have just planted Manuka.
Please feel free to share this with them if you think it will be of use. No point every group trying to reinvent the wheel. I have seen other methods too. Such as direct seeding which is cheaper again. Effective in flatter areas. If you want more information let me know
So will this work on coastal pastoral land in southland, heavily exposed to south westerly salt wind
how is the grass managed?
Are there no problems with parasites/tree illnesses in monocultures with manuka/kanuka ?
Is the Tīmata method able to be claimed as ETS credits?
Cheers Geoff this is awesome mahi. Can individuals sponsor a few hectares work of this sort? Are there good, reliable non-profits doing this we can donate to?
Hi Roger, most certainly. If you would like to get in contact via hello@geoffreidnz.com we can talk further.
IMHO two aerial dessications with Glyphosate is far more effective than one for suppression of cocksfoot and other English grasses that inevitably supress slower growing natives. Aerial spraying is not exoensive in the overall budget. Need to add cheap-as-chips Metsulferon or more expensive Tordon if gorse or broom are present.
Separately, manuka establishment is really difficulty in Canterbury and other places where a mite self introduced from Aust in late 1930s then spread by farmers as a biological control agent to clear manuka - Eriococcus orariensis
can you please make a version without the dramatic music? the dialect is already hard enough to understand without further noise levels :)
Yup sure what's your email for a copy?
I don't understand how the text relates to the images. It seems this is a documentary for people who already are specialists in the topic.
So where are you growing food?
Auckland
You collect sacks of teetree seed ,fly o cross the land and spread the seed ,
It would much easier just open the gate and get those cattle of the Hills......and by the way instead of going to the football....move your stock about 2 weeks before........staving off all the vegetation.
Animal agriculture has a lot to answer for. Vegan syntropic farming is the best food production future we have.
Restoring land into native forest - The Tīmata Method
Why not drop in some Totara, Kauri, and Beech in amongst the Manuka. It might not be an ideal environment for them to start, but a slow start would be better than having the seed come in through natural mechanisms.
The Previous NZ government (Labour/ Green) wanted farmers to use exotic rather than native plant species in land restoration projects. Why? Because exotics are more efficient absorbers of greenhouse gases. This is a shame, because to save and restore Aotearoa’s endangered birds, and other fauna, more native forests, will be required.
If the climate has fundamentally changed, then so-called “native species” are no longer native to the environment that we have to work with. That is the rationale for keeping an open mind bringing in whatever mix of species works to stabilize the environment. Taking Australia as an example, it is those broad swaths of native species that keep vanishing into a carbon smoke catastrophe every couple years when the next all time record heat waves hit. Sometimes the “pest” or “invasive” species would not have been such a wasted effort.
@@user-sc7fk5ys6x Had no inkling about the existence of such a stratagem. Sort of makes sense.
9:12 native seedlings coming in *cuts to queen of the night* (Cestrum nocturnum a really nasty weed)
Thanks Danny. yeah cant stand the stuff also have seen orange cestrum(small tree) and red cestrum really starting to establish in the Western BoP.
I do think this was a mahoe.. long leaves from dappled light.
Which part of NZ are you?
It’s such a travesty the effects of colonialism have on indigenous landmasses. The normalised monoculture of foreign grass used to feed foreign animals with no consideration for the land and the people who call it home. I am glad that colonised nations are (however limited in scope) finally coming to the realisation that indigenous peoples have survived and thrived on these lands for thousands and thousands of years all while maintaining a homeostatic relationship with the animals and plants around them. I only hope this continues
Perhaps in some countries yes... But please know before Europeans came here Polynesians had had a few hundred years of 'learning from mistakes' with the technology they had. Most of the drought prone lowland forests were burnt either by accident or to flush out birds or grown monocultures of bracken fern to eat. Many birds went extinct. Yes European arrival saw the chainsaw and ship rat and things accelerated. But things weren't as rosey as you seem to imagine.
I also hope we can find balance in union. Cheers G
I was more speaking from my understanding of Australian history rather than that of New Zealand for the record.
Then how do U explain the huge slips that happened years before that you see when it was in native just the same shit happing now as what happened before
Nah.. the deforested area always slip more.