A further three community-led climate change adaption projects are set to receive funding from Toi Moana Bay of Plenty Regional Council, taking the total number of projects supported by the fund to five.

Te Manatōpū Hau Kāinga o Ōhinemutu, a village residents’ collective, has been funded to scope and develop an Ōhinemutu Climate Change Resilience Building Plan to support the iwi to mitigate and adapt to any potential impacts of climate breakdown.

Te Manatōpū Hau Kāinga o Ōhinemutu representative Donna Morrison explains that the collective plans to build capacity amongst rangatahi from the pā to lead their climate change adaptation activities.

“Key areas we want to explore include identifying all potential risks to our cultural infrastructure and many sites of significance; developing risk management, mitigation and adaptation plans; and aligning our activities with the priority areas requiring investment and action outlined within Te Ara ki Kōpū: Te Arawa Climate Change Strategy.”

The second iwi collective to be funded is Te Urunga o Kea: Te Arawa Climate Change Working Group who will map the current state of Te Arawa food production, accessibility and resilience to assess where the iwi is placed in terms of food security and food sovereignty.

Te Urunga o Kea representative Lani Kereopa says the information will be used to engage whānau and hapū in food systems change thinking and identify initiatives to support upscaling of maara kai efforts currently being undertaken.

The final project is from Te Upokorehe Iwi Resource Management Team and the village of Kutarere on Ōhiwa Harbour. They will use public climate information and local knowledge to explore climate risks and early adaptation options for the village.

Under a changing climate, more frequent intense rainfall, and coastal inundation events along with projected sea-level rise, will likely increase the exposure of the Kutarere village and community to climate-related risks.

Toi Moana Bay of Plenty Regional Council General Manager of Integrated Catchments, Chris Ingle, said it’s important that our communities are proactive in understanding the impacts of climate change, at a community level.

“Being able to understand, plan and adapt early puts groups in a much more resilient position moving forward,” he said. “Threats to food supply, culturally significant sites and inundation risks are just some of the challenges our community are facing.”

The funds for community-led grassroots climate change planning were available through the Regional Council’s Long Term Plan.

The next round of funding will open for applications on Friday 1 July and close on the 31 October. Projects can receive up to $15,000 to start planning for a changing climate at a community level.

More information is available at www.boprc.govt.nz/environment/climate-change/funds-available-for-community-adaptation-planning

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