On Saturday 13 March all the Auckland branches of Forest and Bird gathered in Takapuna to focus what we should collectively do in regard to the extremely devastating situation with the state of the Hauraki Gulf.
We had Andrew Jeffs from Auckland University give a great presentation on the sad state of the gulf showing issues with overfishing, siltation, rubbish being dropped and ending up in the gulf, and the results of detergent from car washing and other activities washed into the harbour through the storm water system. Andrew challenged Forest and Bird on the lack of action that we have taken in regard to the Gulf, which we took on board.
He was followed by Te Atarangi (TA) Sayers talking about the work his Iwi were involved in following the Rena disaster and the remedies that they are implementing to enhance the protection of some areas of the Bay of Plenty around some of the Islands, which will in turn increase the number of fish and species in that area.
Geoff Reid has long been involved along with his family in trying to protect the Okura Marine Reserve from the affects of development and the siltation that comes about from development. Geoff had a video presentation taken from his drone which showed how home owners, generally on lifestyle blocks, are bringing in excavators who are pushing spoil into streams which are then entering the sea at the coast, smothering delicate coastal areas and killing the organisms that feed our fish.
After lunch Raewyn Peart, who works for the Environment Defence Society, talked about Sea Change – the Hauraki Gulf Spatial Plan – and covered some of the issues that had previously been spoken about and some of the gains that have been made to date.
Following these talks the Branches put together some ideas on what the Branches and Forest and Bird National Office could do, under four headings, Siltation, Fishing (recreational and commercial), and Marine Reserves. More work is to be done and more information will be forthcoming.
Claire Stevens, Chair, North Shore Forest & Bird
Forest & Bird North Shore Branch 