Streamside Planting Programme 2021 - 2041

A transformational programme to improve the water quality and biodiversity of our streams and harbour - restoring the mauri of Te Awarua-o-Porirua Harbour

Our vision for Te Awarua-o-Porirua - Ngāti Toa

Our vision is that the mauri (life force) of Te Awarua-o-Porirua is restored and its waters are healthy, so that all those who live in the region, including Ngāti Toa and our manuhiri (visitors), can enjoy, live and play in our environment and future generations are sustained, physically and culturally

The Streamside Planting Programme is bringing the Council and community together to achieve better results for the harbour.

The community faced winter conditions in July 2022 for a community planting day in Waitangirua. The day out within Belmont Regional Park was the first public planting since the programme's launch.
The Takapū Valley restoration project was another great example of community partnership. Check out the video by Transpower NZ here.

Next community planting events

  • Saturday, 24 June 2023 at Battle Hill, Pāuatahanui.

More community planting events are coming up, so watch this space!

To register for this event please email streamside.planting@poriruacity.govt.nz with your name and the number of people attending.

Join us on Saturday 24 June at Swampy Gully at Battle Hill to plant 1200 native trees to help make our waterways healthy and restore the mauri of Te Awarua-o-Porirua.

This open event is an opportunity to meet and greet other community members while we do mahi towards restoring our streams.

To register for this event please email streamside.planting@poriruacity.govt.nz with your name and the number of people attending.

Porirua City Council and Ngāti Toa Rangatira are partners on this massive planting project. We are fortunate to have support from Greater Wellington for this event in June.

When: Saturday 24 June, 1–4pm planting, followed by a barbecue

Where: Swampy Gully, Battle Hill

You will need to bring:

  • Gumboots or sturdy closed-toe shoes that you don’t mind getting muddy
  • Warm and waterproof clothing
  • Sun hat and sunscreen
  • Reusable water bottle

We will provide:

  • Plants
  • Kai
  • Planting Tools and Equipment
  • First Aid Trained Staff
  • Introduction to planting
  • Health and Safety Documentation and Briefing
  • Hand Sanitiser
  • Sunscreen

About the Riparian Programme

The aim of this programme is to plant the banks of our streams – plants are critical for the health of our waterways and harbour as they can maintain and improve water quality and enhance native biodiversity.

Benefits of streamside planting and fencing:

  • Filters and traps nutrients, pathogens, and sediment from surrounding land
  • Slows water down and can reduce the force of high flows
  • Reduces stock damage to streambanks and streams
  • Stabilises banks, reducing erosion
  • Shades streams which lowers water temperatures, improving habitat for native fish and invertebrates
  • Reduces the growth of nuisance weeds and algae
  • Provides habitat where fish can spawn, including whitebait species
  • Provides food and habitat for invertebrates, fish, lizards, and birds, and corridors through the landscape

Latest news:

Why now?

The equivalent of 7000 10-tonne trucks of sediment have entered our harbour each year for the last five years. Pollutants are still going into waterways. Ecological health and diversity are continuing to trend downwards.

Our window to act, to avoid excessive nutrient inputs and arrest long-term decline, is closing.


What is the programme?

Porirua City Council, in partnership with Ngāti Toa, is implementing a stream management and planting programme throughout the Porirua district. Our vision is to improve the mauri of Te Awarua-o-Porirua / Porirua Harbour and its waterways, and their biological and ecological health.

The programme aims to plant the banks of all the streams that run into our harbour, from the top of the Paekākāriki Hill in the north, to Churton Park and Newlands in the south.


What is streamside management?

Streamside management involves the strips of land beside drains, streams, and rivers.

They can be on farms, lifestyle blocks, in suburban areas, and alongside roads and railways. The plants growing along streams are critical for the health of our waterways and harbour as they can maintain and improve water quality and enhance native biodiversity.

Benefits of streamside planting and fencing:

  • Filters and traps nutrients, pathogens, and sediment from surrounding land
  • Slows water down and can reduce the force of high flows
  • Reduces stock damage to streambanks and streams
  • Stabilises banks, reducing erosion
  • Shades streams which lowers water temperatures, improving habitat for native fish and invertebrates
  • Reduces the growth of nuisance weeds and algae
  • Provides habitat where fish can spawn, including whitebait species
  • Provides food and habitat for invertebrates, fish, lizards, and birds, and corridors through the landscape

Improving the health of our streams will have a direct impact on the health of Te Awarua-o-Porirua / Porirua Harbour, by reducing pathogens, excessive nutrients, and sediment. For the first time in the history of our harbour, we can make a real change, and reverse the decline.

We need you to be a part of the change.


How can we help you?

Whether you are a farmer, small land-holder, or live in the suburbs, if you have a stream that would benefit from streamside management, we may be able to help you!

Starting in 2022, we have funds for over 600,000 streamside plants, including planting and ongoing maintenance, and can assist with costs of new fencing.

Please get in touch with us!