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An event held at the Leigh Hall on May 23 provided Te Kohuroa Rewilding (TKRI) with an opportunity to update the community on its activities over the past year.
TKRI is a community-led project aimed at teaching local volunteers how to care for the ocean and reverse marine ecosystem decline at Te Kohuroa Matheson Bay.
The project was launched in September 2023 and works with iwi organisations and local conservation groups to build an inclusive approach to marine rewilding in the bay.
Project lead Frances Dickinson said that, as a free diver, she was able to observe how the ecosystem in the bay was in decline.
“Matheson Bay needs additional support to recover and become healthy,” Frances said.
“The main goal is to regrow the kelp forest and restore a healthy coastline where all the species living around the area can thrive.”
According to TKRI, some of the main challenges are overfishing, sedimentation and climate change. As a result, many animals that used to inhabit the area have declined, disrupting the marine food chain.
“The absence of predators means that a small sea urchin called kina begins to eat the kelp and damage the ecosystem. Through TKRI, we have projects to remove excess kina from the area so the environment can return to its natural state. But this is not a problem caused by the species itself; it is clearly a human-driven issue,” she said.
Since the start of the project, it is estimated that over 1000 volunteers have contributed their time to remove over-populated kina from the rocky reef, supporting kelp regrowth, and monitoring the marine and freshwater ecosystems to better understand how community action can reduce environmental stressors and restore the environment.
New volunteers are welcome. For more information on events, activities and workshops, go to:
www.tekohuroarewilding.org
