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Research papers, University of Canterbury Library

Following the Canterbury earthquake sequence of 2010-11, a large and contiguous tract of vacated ‘red zoned’ land lies alongside the lower Ōtākaro / Avon River and is known as the Avon-Ōtākaro Red Zone (AORZ). This is the second report in the Ecological Regeneration Options (ERO) project that addresses future land uses in the AORZ. The purpose of this report is to present results from an assessment of restoration opportunities conducted in April 2017. The objectives of the assessment were to identify potential benefits of ecological restoration activities across both land and water systems in the AORZ and characterise the key options for their implementation. The focus of this report is not to provide specific advice on the methods for achieving specific restoration endpoints per se. This will vary at different sites and scales with a large number of combinations possible. Rather, the emphasis is on providing an overview of the many restoration and regeneration options in their totality across the AORZ. An additional objective is to support their adequate assessment in the identification of optimum land uses and adaptive management practices for the AORZ. Participatory processes may play a useful role in assessment and stakeholder engagement by providing opportunities for social learning and the co-creation of new knowledge. We used a facilitated local knowledge based approach that generated a large quantity of reliable and site specific data in a short period of time. By inviting participation from a wide knowledge-holder network inclusivity is improved in comparison to small-group expert panel approaches. Similar approaches could be applied to other information gathering and assessment needs in the regeneration planning process. Findings from this study represent the most comprehensive set of concepts available to date to address the potential benefits of ecological regeneration in the AORZ. This is a core topic for planning to avoid missed opportunities and opportunity costs. The results identify a wide range of activities that may be applied to generate benefits for Christchurch and beyond, all involving aspects of a potential new ecology in the AORZ. These may be combined at a range of scales to create scenarios, quantify benefits, and explore the potential for synergies between different land use options. A particular challenge is acquiring the information needed within relatively short time frames. Early attention to gathering baseline data, addressing technical knowledge gaps, and developing conceptual frameworks to account for the many spatio-temporal aspects are all key activities that will assist in delivering the best outcomes. Methodologies by which these many facets can be pulled together in quantitative and comparative assessments are the focus of the final report in the ERO series.

Images, UC QuakeStudies

A photograph of the Locke family's partially-deconstructed house at 392 Oxford Terrace. Wire fencing has been placed around the outside of the property. The photographer comments, "The house was deconstructed over three weeks. The materials were then stored in the shipping container until the house was reconstructed at a new site".

Images, UC QuakeStudies

A photograph of the Locke family's partially-deconstructed house at 392 Oxford Terrace. Wire fencing has been placed around the outside of the property. The photographer comments, "The house was deconstructed over three weeks. The materials were then stored in the shipping container until the house was reconstructed at a new site".

Images, UC QuakeStudies

A photograph of the Locke family's partially-deconstructed house at 392 Oxford Terrace. Wire fencing has been placed around the outside of the property. The photographer comments, "The house was deconstructed over three weeks. The materials were then stored in the shipping container until the house was reconstructed at a new site".

Images, UC QuakeStudies

A photograph of the house number spray-painted on the footpath in front of 390 Oxford Terrace. The photographer comments, "The numbers were spray-painted in front of all the properties in the Avon Loop in order to keep track of the property number after the mailboxes were lost or removed".

Images, UC QuakeStudies

A photograph of the house number spray-painted on the footpath in front of 372 Oxford Terrace. The photographer comments, "The numbers were spray-painted in front of all the properties in the Avon Loop in order to keep track of the property number after the mailboxes were lost or removed".

Images, UC QuakeStudies

A photograph of the house number spray-painted on the footpath in front of 396 Oxford Terrace. The photographer comments, "The numbers were spray-painted in front of all the properties in the Avon Loop in order to keep track of the property number after the mailboxes were lost or removed".

Images, UC QuakeStudies

A photograph of the house number spray-painted on the footpath in front of 398 Oxford Terrace. The photographer comments, "The numbers were spray-painted in front of all the properties in the Avon Loop in order to keep track of the property number after the mailboxes were lost or removed".

Images, UC QuakeStudies

A photograph of the house number spray-painted on the footpath in front of 422 Oxford Terrace. The photographer comments, "The numbers were spray-painted in front of all the properties in the Avon Loop in order to keep track of the property number after the mailboxes were lost or removed".

Images, UC QuakeStudies

A photograph of a house on Glenarm Terrace in Dallington. The chimney fell off the roof during the September earthquake and the bricks are still lying on the ground. A tarpaulin has been placed over the top of the hole to prevent water damage inside the house. Ironically, it has been weighed down with bricks. Spring flowers can be seen in the garden.

Images, UC QuakeStudies

A photograph of the Locke family's partially-deconstructed house at 392 Oxford Terrace. Wire fencing has been placed around the outside of the property. The photographer comments, "The house was deconstructed over three weeks. The materials were then stored in the shipping container until the house was reconstructed at a new site".

Images, UC QuakeStudies

A photograph of the house number spray-painted on the footpath in front of 424 Oxford Terrace. The photographer comments, "The numbers were spray-painted in front of all the properties in the Avon Loop in order to keep track of the property number after the mailboxes were lost or removed".

Images, UC QuakeStudies

A photograph of the house number spray-painted on the footpath in front of 388 Oxford Terrace. The photographer comments, "The numbers were spray-painted in front of all the properties in the Avon Loop in order to keep track of the property number after the mailboxes were lost or removed".

Images, UC QuakeStudies

A photograph of workers loading a trailer with items salvaged from people's homes during the Residential Access Project. The project gave residents temporary access within the red-zone cordon in order to retrieve items from their homes.

Videos, UC QuakeStudies

A video of a tour through the Christchurch central city Red Zone. The video includes footage of Cathedral Square, Hereford Street, the Hotel Grand Chancellor, High Street mall, Gloucester Street, Worcester Street, Latimer Square, and AMI House.

Images, UC QuakeStudies

A photograph of Robin Duff's house at 386 Oxford Terrace. The grass has been mowed, but the dead grass has not been removed. One of the windows has been boarded up with plywood. A yellow sticker on the door indicates that the access to the house is restricted. The number 386 has been spray-painted on the footpath in front of the house. The photographer comments, "The lawn was mowed as part of the maintenance project on red-zoned properties. The numbers were spray-painted in front of all the properties in the Avon Loop in order to keep track of the property number after the mailboxes were lost or removed".

Images, UC QuakeStudies

A photograph of the earthquake damage to St Paul's School in Dallington. Large cracks can be seen in the surface of the asphalt. Silt from liquefaction is visible in front of the school buildings. Tape has been placed on the building to keep people away.

Images, UC QuakeStudies

A powhiri performed by Ngai Tahu elders to welcome workers of the Stronger Christchurch Infrastructure Rebuild Team (SCIRT). Phil Goff is standing in the centre of the group that is being welcomed. The ceremony was held in Burwood Park.

Images, UC QuakeStudies

Shovels and wheelbarrows sitting in Burwood Park near students from the University of Canterbury who are enjoying a barbeque. The students have volunteered to dig up liquefaction as part of the Student Volunteer Army.

Images, UC QuakeStudies

A large crack where the foundation of a building has moved away from the adjoining carpark. The photographer comments, "The gap between Robbies restaurant and bar in New Brighton and the car park after the Christchurch Earthquake".

Research Papers, Lincoln University

Global biodiversity is threatened by human actions, including in urban areas. Urbanisation has removed and fragmented indigenous habitats. As one of the 25 biodiversity ’hot spots’, New Zealand is facing the problems of habitat loss and indigenous species extinction. In New Zealand cities, as a result of the land clearance and imported urban planning precepts, many urban areas have little or no original native forest remaining. Urbanisation has also been associated with the introduction of multitudes of species from around the world. Two large earthquakes shook Christchurch in 2010 and 2011 and caused a lot of damage. Parts of the city suffered from soil liquefaction after the earthquakes. In the most damaged parts of Christchurch, particularly in the east, whole neighbourhoods were abandoned and later demolished except for larger trees. Christchurch offers an excellent opportunity to study the biodiversity responses to an urban area with less intensive management, and to learn more about the conditions in urban environments that are most conducive to indigenous plant biodiversity. This study focuses on natural woody plant regeneration of forested sites in Christchurch city, many of which were also surveyed prior to the earthquakes. By repeating the pre-earthquake surveys, I am able to describe the natural regeneration occurring in Christchurch forested areas. By combining this with the regeneration that has occurred in the Residential Red Zone, successional trajectories can be described under a range of management scenarios. Using a comprehensive tree map of the Residential Red Zone, I was also able to document minimum dispersal distances of a range of indigenous trees in Christchurch. This is important for planning reserve connectivity. Moreover, I expand and improve on a previous analysis of the habitat connectivity of Christchurch (made before the earthquakes) to incorporate the Residential Red Zone, to assess the importance for habitat connectivity of restoring the indigenous forest in this area. In combination, these data sets are used to provide patch scenarios and some management options for biodiversity restoration in the Ōtākaro-Avon Red Zone post-earthquake.