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The spotlight will be on coastlines in Rodney and the Hibiscus Coast when the Coastal Restoration Trust holds its annual conference in Warkworth next month.
The theme Living with Dynamic Coastlines will bring a raft of coastal scientists, local experts and practitioners, iwi representatives, coast care volunteers, students and interested members of the community together.
Trust chair Greg Bennett says the conference normally attracts up to 100 people who represent the myriad of community organisations working on coastal projects throughout NZ.
“It’s an opportunity for people to network and share knowledge and information,” he says. “Working in sometimes remote parts of NZ can feel quite isolating and dealing with government and local council bureaucracies can be bewildering. Sharing experiences is useful.”
Council and government professionals are also welcome to attend.
The conference will include field trips to a number of locations, including Muriwai, Orewa, Wenderholm and Te Arai.
“The discussion will be about our coastal processes and how we manage the changes that climate change and sea level rises will bring,” Greg says.
“Increasingly, hard options such as the Orewa seawall project are seen as the ‘option of last resort’.
What we want is soft shorelines, so that the land and sea can shift and migrate. This means maintaining sand dunes and looking after our estuary margins. Buffer zones allow the sea to come and go with the natural cycles. A good example of this is Papamoa Beach, which was done in the 1990s.”
Auckland Council open sanctuaries senior ranger Matt Maitland has been providing local support for the conference.
He says Warkworth is an ideal location because attendees will be able to visit both the Pacific and Tasman coasts, which represent different coastal dynamics.
“We hear a lot of talk about climate change, sea levels and storm events, and our coasts will bear the brunt of that. Rodney’s coastlines will also be under pressure as the population of Auckland increases and moves north, so the conference will provide a forum for anyone with concerns about future threats.”
Matt says the field trips, in particular, will provide an opportunity for locals to talk about their own projects and hear fresh ideas.
“Coastlines can have similar aspects, but responses can be quite different depending on things like population, expectations, and natural and cultural values.”
The conference will be based at the Warkworth Town Hall from March 27 to 29.
There will also be a Coastal Restoration 101 workshop in Orewa the day before, on Tuesday March 26.
The day is sponsored by the Department of Conservation and attendance is free, although registrations for catering purposes are appreciated.
