Land and harbour are connected

This video shows the effect of soil and silt washing into streams and harbours. To care for our harbours (and the vital job they do in helping raise more fish) we need to care for the land.

Maui Dolphin

Maui’s dolphin is the world’s smallest dolphin and is found nowhere else in the world. With fewer than 150 left it is New Zealand’s rarest dolphin. There are so few left that it’s really hard to get footage of them. Here they are playing outside Raglan / Whaingaroa harbour.

WWF – Not just trees in the ground

WWF has produced a report about the Social and Economic Benefits of Community-led Conservation Projects…

“Whaingaroa Harbour Care (WHC) is a contributor to the Whaingaroa Catchment Management Project, described as the first formal attempt in New Zealand to establish community-based, integrated environmental management on a catchment scale. It was established to restore the Whaingaroa harbour, located to the west of Hamilton, to a healthy state for fishing and recreation.”

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Plant a seed and…

The Kaipara Lifestyler has an article about Fred paying a visit to the area, including this excerpt:

“Our harbours are wonderful assets and we need to do all we can to protect them so the council took the opportunity to bring Fred back to give the council an idea of how we can organise and do things better.

When you hear about what they have achieved in Raglan and realise a similar outcome maybe possible here, although on a much bigger scale, well that’s an idea that’s worth fostering.”

PDF copy of
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Winning Margins: Waterways on Farms

The New Zealand Farm Environment Award Trust has an info sheet called “Winning Margins: Waterways on Farms” which mentions Whaingaroa Harbour Care…

“Mike Moss and Sarah Tunnicliffe used to end up with around a dozen cows in the river over the course of a year. “If you’re a cow down at milking, you never really know if you’ve miscounted or she’s stuck in the river.
Each cow lost to a river or swamp is worth$1500 and that’s not including her production. We didn’t put up with it for verylong before we fenced the river off!”

We began to notice that even in flood flows,the water coming out of there was clean,and in summer dry periods the wetland would continue to flow. We realised the wetland is just a huge sponge.”
Since the Waitetuna River flows out to the Whaingaroa (Raglan) harbour, the Whaingaroa Harbour Care Society has donated native plants for riparian protection and given Mike and Sarah a hand at planting time. They use two wire fences by the river, to keep expenses down and minimise flood damage.”

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Marine Habitat Protection is a Land Use Planning Issue

The Ministry of Fisheries and Ministry for the Environment have produced a document which explains more about how land use impacts on the marine environment.

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