Kaipara Moana
looking back...thinking forward

15 - 16 November, 2014
Te Hana Te Ao Marama, Te Hana, NZ

Me huri whakamuri ka titiro whakamua Kaipara Moana Looking Back... Thinking Forward

The IKHMG is a collaborative process led by the Ngāti Whatua hapū Te Uri o Hau and Ngā Maunga Whakahii. This kaupapa was born from the hapū aspiration to restore the mauri of Kaipara Moana coupled with the community's desire to improve the health and well-being of the Kaipara Harbour.

The Integrated Kaipara Harbour Management Group (IKHMG) is hosting an inaugural event to showcase and celebrate our special and unique taonga, the Kaipara Harbour. The event provides an opportunity to celebrate a 10 year partnership, to network, to share knowledge, and to support action under the theme of 'Kaipara Moana: looking back, thinking forward'.

Targeting the communitites of the Kaipara Harbour catchment, the event will offer something of interest to all - from farmers to environmental managers, industry to hapū, government and non-government organisations.

The event will be held over two days at Te Hana Te Ao Marama - Māori Cultural Centre. Presenting your work or workshop at this inaugural event is an excellent opportunity.


Key Facts

The Kaipara Harbour is New Zealand's largest estuarine ecosystem at 94,700 ha. The harbour receives run-off from a river network of over 9,000 km and a 6,400 km2 catchment, of which 53% supports highly productive pasture.

Most of the natural world of the Kaipara was exhausted by the 1920s. There has been a long history of deforestation and subsequent land management issues throughout the catchment that has led to soil erosion, silted-up streams, rivers and estuaries, poor water quality, loss of biodiversity (~60-80% loss), eutrophication and the loss of productive land.

Today the Kaipara contains five broad ecosystems: forest, freshwater, scrublands, dunelands and estuaries. It also contains some of the rarest ecosystems in New Zealand, namely sand dune, seagrass and freshwater and estuarine wetland systems. The harbour itself is well known as a fish and shark nursery and research suggests that it also provides most of the adult coastal snapper populations on the West Coast of the North Island.

The Kaipara suffers from the ongoing, cumulative stress of sedimentation and eutrophication. It has one of the highest sediment accumulation rates in New Zealand, standing at 7mm/year and since pre-European times has seen a vast elevation in the levels of contaminants entering catchment waterways such as phosphorous, nitrogen and E. coli. The Wairoa River delivers the greatest sediment and nutrient loads to the harbour, which are transported througout the northern Kaipara, Arapaoa River, into the south Kaipara and entrance.

Programme

Day One begins with a welcoming powhiri, a call to action, a penary speaker and three discussion sessions. The day ends with a pre-dinner networking opportunity with canapés and drinks. An evening programme is provided with a guest speaker, opportunity to tour the Te Ao Marama Māori Cultural Centre and enjoy a local kapa haka performance, and a hangi dinner.

Day Two has a plenary speaker and four concurrent sessions, ending with a panel discussion and wrap-up capturing key outcomes and opportunities looking forward to achieving our common vision of a healthy and productive harbour.

Themes

The event will cover themes with a range of topics that are relevant and engaging to kaitiaki, local community, local government and environmental resource practitioners. We are looking for a range of presentation styles: powerpoint, korero, workshop and discussion, stories, posters, art (dance, paint, song, poetry).

Themes for Day One:

  • Ecosystems - the Kaipara is a mosaic of ecosystems that deliver a range of services such as fisheries, clean air and water. Topics may relate to spatial-temporal process, climate change, biodiversity, fisheries, monitoring, ecosystem function and services
  • Connecting with mātauranga Māori - how do you connect with indigenous knowledge systems and processes. Topics relate to frameworks, principles, co-management of land and sea, protecting, maintaining and sharing knowledge
  • Integrated management - topics may relate to theory and practice of connecting knowledge systems and values with science and management, integration across scales and ecosystems
  • Communities and relationships - how are we working together to strengthen our voices and lead decision-making. Topics relate to governance, relations, capacity and network development.

Themes for Day Two:

  • Connecting with mātauranga Māori - topics may relate to activities such as research, monitoring, policy development/implementation, co-management of species, river and/or place
  • Plant 2 million trees: strategies and tools - topics focus on methods used to plant, mitigate, restore, protect biodiversity, ecosystem services, how ecosystem science has been used as a strategy to protect and restore waterways
  • Implementing integrated management and achieving action - topics may focus on policy implementation that promotes and achieves integrated management for Kaipara Harbour
  • Communities and relationships - understanding and building your social licences as a business, industry, farm, community group, individual; use of relationships to progress the common vision.

E-Newsletter

IKHMG Coordinator: Leane Makey  •  Event Coordinator: Anna Fomison  •  Email: [email protected]  •  Phone: 0204 045 0781