Hamiora Whanau Trust Wetland Restoration

The Hamiora Whanau Trust wetland is located on Tangi Murray’s farm and has an area of approximately 2 hectares. It is the outlet point of one of the major wetlands on the Island. This wetland is a unique freshwater-estuarine environment and contains a diverse range of avi-fauna, vertebrates, invertebrates including nationally threatened species. The biodiversity values of this wetland have been threatened by stock intrusion, soil erosion, nutrient run-off and by the suffocation of pest weeds, mainly willow and gorse.

In late 2006 the Trust worked with Matakana Island Environment Group to put the wetland under a Nga Whenua Rahui Nga Whenua Rahui is a Maori organisation whose role is to offer Maori landowners a way of conserving their lands while still retaining ownership and control of their whenua. They give advice and offer funding options for the conservation and restoration of privately owned Maori land. kawenata. The Hamiora whanau had for a long time, envisaged restoring their wetland back to its natural state, to ensure that the generations to come will have this precious taonga.

The Hamiora Whanau Trust Wetland has also had a boardwalk installed to allow for easy access to the little ‘island’ in the middle of the wetland for use as an educational tool for our school to monitor the wetland and also to allow easy access for our kuia and koroua.