Local Focus: Three decades of hard mahi make a difference

Fifteen volunteers from the Te Ara Kaha programme put their school holiday to good use by learning how to protect sand dunes at Marine Parade Reserve in Mount Maunganui.

The programme is an outdoor adventure-based programme run by the Bay of Plenty Youth Development Trust.

Coast Care restoration co-ordinator Ashley Robertson said students loved getting their hands dirty with weeding and removing grasses and daisies, as well as replacing pest plants with natives like spinifex.

Spinifex roots can grow to two metres and play a vital role in keeping the dunes stable so they become a buffer between the ocean and the land.

Robertson said winter is a good time to plant spinifex: “It’s cool enough that they’re going to get well-established before we get our hot, dry summers.”

Te Ara Kaha facilitator April Whitaker said, “Just knowing that these little, cute plants here are actually helping that happen is quite amazing. It only takes a couple of hours to make a huge difference.”

While the goal of protecting the environment is a serious one, there was plenty of fun to be had along the way.

“We’re taking out the weeds and planting dunes to help the environment,” Pāpāmoa College student Maxx Wynyard said.

Kaia Matenga, a Tauranga Intermediate student, said the work is really important for the environment and community.

“I made some really cool new friends. Her name is Summer. She just started today, just like me.”

Coast Care’s regional co-ordinator Rusty Knutson said there’s a good community of volunteers in the Bay of Plenty.

“Growing our understanding of the importance of the dune system and resilience to climate change is critical,” he said. “We operate along the sandy coastline of 156 kilometres of the region, from Waihī Beach to the east coast.”

The Coast Care restoration programme began in 1994. Each year, volunteers help to plant about 60,000 plants,

If you’d like to join the cause, check out Coast Care’s Facebook page.