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

Latest news - project gets multi-million dollar boost

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.

Porirua City Council, in partnership with Ngāti Toa and Sustainable Coastlines, is implementing a stream management 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 Paekakariki Hill in the north, to Churton Park and Newlands in the south.

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

They can be on farms, 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.

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!