About Gorse
Motupōhue shouldn’t be yellow! Gorse was introduced into Aotearoa in the early 1800s as a fencing solution. It’s spread uncontrolled across the country and is now a major plant pest.
When native plants are given a chance, they’ll grown through gorse, taking advantage of the nitrogen that gorse fixes into the soil. Once the natives overtop the gorse, the gorse dies. But, if possums are present, they will selectively feed on the native plants, leaving the gorse to thrive. The gorse on the northern slopes of Motupōhue (the bit we can all see) is a consequence of plantation forestry being felled and then no predator control being present. That’s why we see the dense, tall gorse - the ‘stage one’ gorse seen in the photo below.
BHMET started intensive possum trapping on the northern flanks in 2022, thanks to funding from Jobs for Nature. As a consequence, native plants are finally beginning to win the battle. You can see growing areas where native bush is beginning to grow over the top of gorse - the ‘stage two’ gorse seeen in the photo below.
Finally, once the overtopping is complete, the gorse will die. There are plenty of places on the hill where if you look into the bush, you’ll see the contorted remains of dead gorse: ‘stage three’ in the photo below.
Where the new mountain bike trails were cut in 2024, BHMET has been planting. That’s because gorse really likes cuts in the bush - along roads, tracks and trails. By planting along the trails, we hope to minimise the gorse problem. We’ve also paid to mechanically clear areas of really tall, dense gorse. That work will need to continue. Those native plants will take 3-4 years to overtop the gorse. It’s important to understand that we don’t clear the new growth of gorse and broom in these planting areas. That’s because they provide shelter for the young natives and help keep the soil moist over the summer. BHMET does restoration planting, not beautification planting. All that planting is thanks to funding from Trees That Count.
Problems remain. The gorse that tops the steep uphill banks of Flagstaff Road are really difficult to tackle. It’s a health and safety nightmare! We still have some large areas of stubborn gorse behind Lagan St and above the Marae. What’s alarming about those areas is that wilding pines are proliferating again. That’s a really expensive problem but one that we’re hoping to tackle.
Like everything BHMET does, our work takes tremendous effort and then takes considerable time to see results. We’re grateful for the support we receive from the community, from our funding partners, and from our external stakeholders. Thank you!
Posted: 20 October 2025