The Conservation Department is looking for volunteers to help get 220ha of Waitotara coastal dunes closer to a natural state, ranger Sara Treadgold says.
Conservation Department (DOC) staff and volunteers were there last week to walk the foredunes and weed out the daisy-like pink ragwort.
The Tapuarau Lagoon Conservation Area is on the west side of the Waitotara River mouth. Its mix of shifting dunes and wetland could provide a perfect environment for rare native plants such as Sebaea and Pimelea.
Instead some dunes have been planted with introduced marram grass to keep them in place, and pink ragwort, a South African weed, is trying to take over.
"We want the foredunes to be put back into a more natural system where the sand can move," Miss Treadgold said. "A lot of our threatened species grow in those areas."
South Taranaki iwi Nga Rauru wants to help restore the area.
"We've had a site visit with them and they're keen to do some work. It's a special place for them."
In the wetlands behind the dunes, introduced gorse, boxthorn and grasses crowd out smaller native plants that can only live on sand that is alternately wet and dry. In the wetlands, DOC targets weeds with spray and may look at controlling hares as well.
More ragwort weeding is needed, at Tapuarau and at Wanganui's other coastal conservation area, Whitiau Scientific Reserve, near the Whangaehu River mouth.
Anyone can volunteer by ringing DOC partnerships ranger Adele Meyer on 349 2148.