For Our People
Environmental Renewal of Tauranga Harbour
When I leave this world, I want to leave knowing I’ve done all I can for our people. I want to have fought a good fight on the issues I believe in.
I want the generations who will walk after us to know we have worked together to uphold our principles.
An ongoing battle has been protecting the Tauranga Harbour to ensure its marine life thrives and the community can harvest more bounty from the moana.
Despite years of opposition from iwi and hapū and battles in and out of the courts. And despite in my view politicians and environmentalists who have run with the foxes and hunted with the hounds – dredging will likely progress in the near future.
The Port of Tauranga wharf extension is currently in the Government’s fast track basket and part of the project involves dredging about 1.5 million cubic metres from the seabed.
While we don’t concede I believe now a bold restoration plan is needed to not only safeguard marine life in the harbour but to regenerate it.
Unique
I was privileged to see first-hand the innovative work that is underway in the Melbourne Harbour that has a big focus on restoring shellfish reefs. This unique project could be tailored to the needs of our region and a great first step.
It was fascinating to see how they made reefs using recycled shells which then became the foundation for new mussel and oyster populations. Baby shellfish could be planted onto these beds while marine life could also be transplanted after dredging back into the harbour.
The programme is backed by scientific research and has attracted worldwide attention.
The reefs filter and clean the water, reducing pollution and silt. Meanwhile calcium from the shells helps restore the ocean’s natural balance.
By investing in our natural resources, we can lead the way in environmental innovation, stewardship and create employment and economic opportunities.
The Port of Melbourne contributes just under $1 million a year to fund the Melbourne harbour project and a similar model could be adopted here.
The health of Tauranga Harbour is a major concern which is also impacted by sediment and runoff from land use changes in the catchment.
I’m passionate about protecting our taonga and ecosystems so whānau lets work together to preserve them for our uri.
“Guard the Moana – it remembers your name.”