Project 3 - Kaitiakitanga on Te Whio Farm (Whangaripo Valley)

Kaipara Moana Remediation and The Forest Bridge Trust have teamed up once again to make a positive difference to the environment and help restore the mauri of the Kaipara Moana.

Te Whio farm is in the Whangaripo Valley (near Matakana) and has been in the Petrie family since 1919. It is now run as a Family Trust and managed day-to-day by Farm Manager Clive Gravatt with support from Farm Advisor Andrew Drysdale, who oversees 1000 breeding ewes (over 1300 sheep in total) and around 320 cattle.

The 433-hectare farm is a mix of steep hill country complete with bluffs and iconic waterfalls cascading down to fertile flat land on the valley floor which is interwoven with stunning wetlands and waterways draining from the hills down into the Kotekote Stream. Of this, it has 325 effective hectares.

Marie Petrie took on the job of working with Clive after her husband Donald passed away in 2016.

Donald had worked tirelessly on the farm from the day he left school in 1956, carrying on the legacy of his father Lennox, who had purchased the land in 1919.

Marie says Te Whio has been on the journey of restoring its waterways for some years now.

Walking over the land or driving past on the main road, their efforts to fence and plant up wetlands and main waterways is inspiring for anyone to see.

It was back in 2022, when Te Whio first teamed up with TFBT and KMR to fence off the remaining waterways and wetlands on the flats, while also outlining plans to plant them with natives to reduce streambank erosion, reduce water flow and increase biodiversity.

In total, 6.6km of fencing has now been done to protect 4km of waterways and wetlands, in which 8610 natives will be planted between winter 2023 and 2024.

Once this is achieved, they aspire to retire the steepest of the hill country and return it to forest cover as a way of mitigating the future risk of land slipping and loss and ensure a healthy, resilient farm for another ‘century’ to come.

Marie says the family first came across KMR when her daughter Susan attended a Beef and Lamb NZ workshop on creating Farm Environment Plans and heard of the work KMR were doing to restore the health of the waterways to the Kaipara Moana.

“Initially a wetland was fenced and planted in riparian plants and trees and some drains fenced only. KMR have just accepted an application from Te Whio to help finance more work on fencing waterways and planting a wetland,” says Marie.

Marie says it is satisfying working with KMR as they identify the work that needs to be done in consultation with the Trustees, make a quote for fencing and trees and put in an application for financial help on our behalf. In essence, KMR makes the process very easy for the landowner.

“As long as the work is done to their requirement, they reimburse us for half of the expenses. What contacts and dealing we have had with KMR has been very professional in the way they approach the Trustees. In consultation, they have supplied good sound helpful advice on what other ways we could utilise them to protect the land,” she says.

Marie encourages farmers with waterways/wetlands within the Kaipara Moana catchment that need to be fenced and that they are wanting to protect, along with steep hill country prone to erosion.

The Kaipara Moana has unique – and nationally important – values

The Kaipara is the largest natural harbour in the Southern Hemisphere, and a place of global significance.

As the ‘nursery’ for several fish species, the Kaipara also has unique, national economic value. For example, snapper is New Zealand’s top commercial inshore fishery, creating export revenue of around $35m a year and contributing $69m to the economy and 579 jobs each year. However, sediments from the land are putting both the Kaipara Moana and the fishery at risk.

KMR aims to protect and restore the mauri of the Kaipara Moana. Our long-term aspiration is to halve sediment flows into the harbour.

KMR delivers benefits for people, place and nature

On 9 October 2020, the Ministry for the Environment, Ngā Maunga Whakahii o Kaipara, Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Whātua, Te Uri o Hau, Northland Regional Council and Auckland Council signed a Memorandum of Understanding to jointly establish KMR, a decade-long programme.

KMR aims to protect and restore the mauri of the Kaipara Moana. Our long-term aspiration is to halve sediment flows into the harbour.

The projects KMR invests in – to restore wetlands, fence off rivers and streams, plant trees and regenerate forest on erosion-prone land – bring wider benefits including thriving rural communities and enhanced connection to local waterways, greater protection for valued species, and resilience to extreme weather.

Since KMR’s establishment, over 1000 landowners and groups have submitted an Expression of Interest to KMR and through working closely with these people, the KMR team has supported the development of over 600 sediment reduction plans or projects, which is a great achievement.

In total, more than 1.7 million plants (largely native grasses and trees) have been planted or are contracted to go in the ground this winter.

In fact, more than 730km of fencing has been completed or contracted, which is nearly the distance from Cape Rēinga to Taupō.

Over 440 hectares of riparian margins, wetlands or hill country have been planted, or are under contract to be planted, and in total, more than 127,000 hectares of land is now managed under KMR plans.

For more information visit www.kmr.org, email hono@kmr.org.nz

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