Oriana Rojas has come away from the 2025 Coastal Restoration Trust Conference inspired to continue working with community groups to support dune restoration efforts in Gisborne/Tairāwhiti.

The three-day conference, hosted in Tolaga Bay, showcased local mātauranga-ā-iwi of Te Aitanga a Hauiti and Ngāti Porou from Dr Wayne Ngata, Victor Walker and Graeme Atkins who spoke about the taiao, restoration of Uawanui River and unique coastal indigenous biodiversity.

The annual gathering sponsored by Trust Tairāwhiti and supported by Council, attracted around 150 conservationists, environmentalists, iwi and coastal experts from all over Aotearoa/New Zealand.

A number of locals were involved in organising the conference with presentations from keynote speaker, Council’s principal scientist Dr Murry Cave and environment science manager Dr Amber Dunn, as well as Dame Anne Salmond and others.

They shared their insights into the coastal impacts of storm events, the importance of natural sand movement and weed species control that has been done locally as part of dune restoration work.

The experiences and messages from local leaders undertaking river/dune restoration or dealing with the downstream coastal effects of woody debris and windborne diseases such as myrtle rust, had “inspired the audience”.

All stories shared had a common message – local place-based action and solutions, and local decision-making have the best outcomes.

“The conference had the right mix of science, real-world restoration action, field trips to some of Tairāwhiti’s special coastal ecosystems and dune ecosystems and a range of hands-on workshops for coastal restoration,” says Ms Rojas.

Part of the organising committee, Ms Rojas is Council’s open spaces and amenity team leader and is both passionate and proud of the work done by community groups across the region.

“We’ve still got a lot more to do,” she says. “The conference gave us all plenty to think about and was wonderfully engaging. The aim is to bring together all that knowledge, experience and the latest in research of coastal restoration.”

Ms Rojas said the next steps would be to continue working with volunteers to support coastal restoration project across Tairāwhiti.

Anyone interested in being part of this important kaupapa can find more on Council’s website.

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