Moehau ki te Moana is a 5 year (2021 - 2026) project to revitalise the waters around Moehau with fencing and riparian planting. It is supported by funding from the Freshwater Improvement Fund, Ministry for the Environment.
Fresh water restoration
This exciting project, which is funded by the Ministry for Environment, focusses on the protection and revitalisation of the precious waterways of the Moehau and Colville regions. Moehau ki te Moana will work in partnership with landowners, and in close collaboration with iwi partners, to integrate mātauranga Māori in delivering approximately 37km of fencing, 75,000+ native plants, 120ha of pest control, a robust environmental monitoring plan and an engaging programme of community seminars. Fencing, planting and water reticulation activities have already begun on a number of farms in our area.
We will be announcing a programme of exciting seminars focussed on the benefits of freshwater improvement soon, so stay tuned!
If you would like to contact us, please don’t hesitate to get in touch: beth@colvillejunction.co.nz or phone us at CJ on 07 8666 920.
Beth
March 2025:
As we enter the final year of the Ministry for the Environment Funded Moehau ki te Moana project, I thought it would be a good time to give you an update on what we have achieved. In the next issue, I’ll fill you in on what we have planned for the coming year.
Since the project began in 2021 we have:
» helped build over 18km of fencing to protect wetlands and rivers on ten properties in the northern Coromandel peninsula
» planted 39,668 eco-sourced native plants grown in the Colville Harbour Care Nursery
» completed monthly clearing and resetting of 320 snap traps. Since the beginning of the pest control programme (November 2017) till the end of February 2025 a total of 1003 rats and 4918 mice have been captured
» we also service 101 possum traps.
In 2024, through funding from Waikato Regional Council, we increased our trap network to include a further 45 traps.
We are really proud of the work we do, and to make sure we are making a positive impact on our environment, we have multiple environmental and pest management monitoring activities to measure our success, (and sometimes our failures) so we can improve our way of working and get better results. These include:
» annual stream health assessments within the planting areas and control sites
» twice a year shellfish monitoring at five sites
» twice a year 5 minute bird count surveys and shorebird census
» twice a year small mammal indexing (tracking tunnels) and possum chew card indexing
» and twice a year, tree survival monitoring in all planting sites
We are also acutely aware of the importance of connecting people to the natural world and creating time and space for people to participate in protecting our environment and learn more about our local area and how to care for it. To this end we have offered:
» seven free community seminars on a range of topics from bird first aid, to the brilliant Andrew Crowe presenting his book “Pathway of the Birds”
» eleven community working bees many of which were hosted as potting parties at the Colville Harbour Care Nursery, where locals come to join in the fun of potting up native trees for the following years planting
» yearly sessions with the students at Colville School to collect data for the shellfish moni toring.
We have also been very honoured to work with Pare Hauraki to develop a list of tōhu, indicator species, for the Moehau region. This is a brilliant resource to refer to when making an assessment of, and to track, ecosystem health in this region. We were also invited to attend a series of wānanga to learn more about the history of the region, what is mātauranga, how we can honour te ao Māori in our work and how we can all work together to protect and care for this beautiful place we are so lucky to call home.
This project has been a big undertaking for our small team at Colville Junction and we are so grateful for all the support we have received over the last few years, including additional funding from Waikato Regional Council, World Wildlife Foundation and Trees That Count.
. We have one more year and we’re going to work really hard to make the most of it! Keep an eye out for our upcoming seminars and working bees in 2025, we would love to see you there.
Beth
As we enter the final year of the Ministry for the Environment Funded Moehau ki te Moana project, I thought it would be a good time to give you an update on what we have achieved. In the next issue, I’ll fill you in on what we have planned for the coming year.
Since the project began in 2021 we have:
» helped build over 18km of fencing to protect wetlands and rivers on ten properties in the northern Coromandel peninsula
» planted 39,668 eco-sourced native plants grown in the Colville Harbour Care Nursery
» completed monthly clearing and resetting of 320 snap traps. Since the beginning of the pest control programme (November 2017) till the end of February 2025 a total of 1003 rats and 4918 mice have been captured
» we also service 101 possum traps.
In 2024, through funding from Waikato Regional Council, we increased our trap network to include a further 45 traps.
We are really proud of the work we do, and to make sure we are making a positive impact on our environment, we have multiple environmental and pest management monitoring activities to measure our success, (and sometimes our failures) so we can improve our way of working and get better results. These include:
» annual stream health assessments within the planting areas and control sites
» twice a year shellfish monitoring at five sites
» twice a year 5 minute bird count surveys and shorebird census
» twice a year small mammal indexing (tracking tunnels) and possum chew card indexing
» and twice a year, tree survival monitoring in all planting sites
We are also acutely aware of the importance of connecting people to the natural world and creating time and space for people to participate in protecting our environment and learn more about our local area and how to care for it. To this end we have offered:
» seven free community seminars on a range of topics from bird first aid, to the brilliant Andrew Crowe presenting his book “Pathway of the Birds”
» eleven community working bees many of which were hosted as potting parties at the Colville Harbour Care Nursery, where locals come to join in the fun of potting up native trees for the following years planting
» yearly sessions with the students at Colville School to collect data for the shellfish moni toring.
We have also been very honoured to work with Pare Hauraki to develop a list of tōhu, indicator species, for the Moehau region. This is a brilliant resource to refer to when making an assessment of, and to track, ecosystem health in this region. We were also invited to attend a series of wānanga to learn more about the history of the region, what is mātauranga, how we can honour te ao Māori in our work and how we can all work together to protect and care for this beautiful place we are so lucky to call home.
This project has been a big undertaking for our small team at Colville Junction and we are so grateful for all the support we have received over the last few years, including additional funding from Waikato Regional Council, World Wildlife Foundation and Trees That Count.
. We have one more year and we’re going to work really hard to make the most of it! Keep an eye out for our upcoming seminars and working bees in 2025, we would love to see you there.
Beth
