Titiroa Catchment Group
The group was formed from the Lower Mataura Catchment Group (2021) to cover the east side of the lower Mataura River. The catchment stretches from the Bridge over the Mataura River at Seawards Downs, right along the Mataura River to Fortrose, and covers the watershed of the Habukinini, Titiroa, Titiwaewae, Waimahaka, Strathellen and Toi toi streams. The catchment includes the areas of Mataura Island, Titiroa, Pine Bush, Waimahaka, Te Peka, Fortification, and Fortrose.
The catchment is very diverse, it includes the townships of Waimahaka and Fortrose, but is mainly made up of farmland covering sheep, beef and deer and dairy and dairy support farms. Large forestry blocks, conservation land, catchment board land are also included in the catchment.
Unique features include, Beggs Bush, O’Neills Bush, large number of whitebait stands, QEII blocks, and Fortrose Estuary.
Group Chair
John Somerville
Carmen Andrews
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Group coordinator
Tessa Miller
021 400 431
tessa@thrivingsouthland.co.nz
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Date the CG started
Titiroa Catchment Group formed in 2021.
Projects completed
Biodiversity Workshop
Conservationist Professor David Norton shared his biodiversity knowledge with 30 farmers and rural professionals during a workshop about the regeneration of native plants. He provided key tips for caring and maintaining plants through their life cycle.
Events
So far as a catchment group we have we have had a few events our first one was a tour of our catchment back in December 2021, a Biodiversity workshop in April 2022 a Community meal at Tokanui in July 2024 and just recently a Wetlands tour in May this year.
Titiroa Catchment Bus Trip
Titiroa Catchment Group organised a tour of the catchment, visiting Environment Southland water quality measuring station at the bridge crossing the Mataura with three stops at local farms for stream health assessments and an environmental study. The trip got underway at Seaward Downs and ended with a debrief over coffee at Fortrose Café, giving members of this new Group an opportunity to get to know each other.