On the Conservation front, the Wanganui Tramping Club is very proud in having been in the vanguard of those helping prevent Mt Ruapehu becoming ‘just another plantation of Pinus Contorta’ since 1964.

This pest tree was threatening to overwhelm the mountain’s slopes: In 1962, the pines were established on the Western and Eastern slopes of Mt Ruapehu as well as the Southern slopes above Karioi and it was estimated that by the year 2000 there would be a band of Contorta around Mt Ruapehu between 3,000 and 6,000 feet.

The Wanganui Tramping Club first paid a weekend visit to start tackling this problem in 1964 and has - and still is - contributing two week-ends per year to help with the eradication of this ‘weed.’ The results of the years of efforts by many clubs, along side of the staff of the Department of Conservation, are evident to all who venture to the Central Plateau.

The next Pine Removal week-end camp will be held over the weekend of the 13th - 14th of November 2010  
 
Whitiau Scientific Reserve

Another Conservation effort that the Wanganui Tramping Club is involved with is that of ridding the Whitiau Scientific Reserve of the so-called pink ragwort (Senecio glastifolius) by the Department of Conservation. The Whitiau Scenic Reserve starts adjacent to the Whangaehu River and is the narrow strip heading back along the dunes/low cliffs to the Kaitoke Stream. This pest plant is now wide-spread, readily visible on the banks of road-cuttings, in farm paddocks and forest plantings and fast-spreading in sand country.

Mana Island Scientific Reserve
From time to time members of the Wanganui Tramping Club, in conjunction with the Department of Conservation and the ‘Friends of Mana Island,’ take part in planting trees on Mana Island: This exercise to assist with the reforestation of Island. Some of these sojourns involved staying on Mana Island for several nights. The restoration of Mana Island is guided by a comprehensive ecological restoration plan that identified plant communities to reconstruct, suggested wetland restoration, and identified plant and animal species to introduce or re-introduce.

The major goal is to restore self-sustaining ecosystems similar to those likely to have existed on the island before human contact, while ensuring that the threatened species and communities that survived on the island continue to thrive. Mana is an island of 217 hectares and is just 2.5 km from the mainland at its closest point. The Island’s name is an abbreviation of Te Mana o Kupe ki Aotearoa which acknowledges the achievements of Kupe, the legendary 12th Century Polynesian navigator, who discovered our country.