Christine Fletcher and Jim Holdaway: Government must recognise gulf that binds us

A view of the Hauraki Gulf from the top of Rangitoto. Photo / NZ Herald

Opinion

In March Mike Lee, chairman of the Auckland Regional Council, sent a wake-up call to Government asking it confer the long overdue national park status on our Hauraki Gulf Marine Park, now nearly 10 year of age.

As two of the founding trustees of the Motutapu Restoration Trust we strongly support the advocacy Mr Lee brings to the gulf on behalf of all Aucklanders.

The gulf embodies everything that New Zealanders hold dear. It is a superb playground embracing wildlife sanctuaries of international importance, marine scientific reserves, a Ramsar wetland, historic buildings, working farms, world famous fabulous yachting waters and a great cultural heritage for tangata whenua.

The islands of the gulf are also rich in Maori lore, early European history and their role of coastal defender protecting the Auckland Harbour approaches during World War II.

But the gulf is much more than merely an expanse of water enclosing islands. As well as the enveloping waters, it is an entity in itself. It also supports a great many commercial activities that provide jobs for New Zealanders such as Auckland's port facilities, the nation's naval base, busy shipping lanes, anchorages and important fisheries.

Greater Auckland possesses two superb and magnificently contrasting coasts in the Manukau and Waitemata. Above all else it is this singular maritime environment that is the common bond that unites the people of the region. This is what successive governments have failed to understand.

It is short-sighted of the Government to waste time fiddling with the well consulted and wise recommendations of the royal commission for a united Auckland. This, together with the ambitions of would-be Super City leaders, have succeeded in distracting Government from recognising an opportunity to focus Aucklanders on the things that bind us and the importance of regional unity.

The gulf captures our imagination because it touches every dimension in our lives not only from Franklin to Rodney but links us environmentally with the Waikato Region. No small wonder the energetic chairpersons of the Auckland Regional Council and of the Hauraki Gulf Forum feel frustration.

There are remarkable but largely unheralded efforts under way in the gulf offering far greater opportunities for building public confidence, creating jobs and providing inspiration than any government-funded entrepreneurial summit or national cycleway initiative.

We have missed a wonderful opportunity to highlight the significance of a united region to the rest of the nation. The failure to confer national status prior to embarking on the most complex island pest eradication attempted anywhere in the world is a opportunity sadly wasted.

Should this audacious pest eradication project on Rangitoto and Motutapu islands be successful, it will not only protect the world's largest pohutukawa forest but also create a magnificent wildlife sanctuary including the world's first and only pest free farm within city limits. Just imagine what difference that may make for our tourism and recreation potential.

The operation to remove the seven remaining mammalian pests - feral cats, rabbits, stoats, hedgehogs, Norway rats, ship rats and mice has begun. Once pest free, projected within two to three years, the plan allows for a welcome return to the islands of a number of New Zealand's most loved and endangered species including kaka, kiwi and takahe. It's hard to imagine, kiwi and takahe living right on Auckland's front door step, 25 minutes by ferry from the CBD.

We believe that conservation and restoration can go hand-in-hand with recreation. Over recent years, armies of volunteers have brought the ecological restoration of gulf islands alive with the creation of native forests.

On Motutapu, 500,000 trees have been planted to provide potential habitat for wildlife, the wharf at Home Bay has been reopened, public participation and reconnection to conservation and recreation areas has been realised. We are also extremely proud of the recently restored Reid Homestead which will serve as an excellent centre for the marine park.

The MultiSport DUAL2009 Motutapu/Rangitoto Traverse held for the first time this year showcased how one of the New Zealand's most scenic landscapes, of Rangitoto and Motutapu, can be enjoyed. This event was an example of enhancing our environment by creative use of recreation blended with volunteerism to benefit conservation.

The responsibility for governance of the park lies with central government. It is a national park. Let's formally acknowledge it as such.

* Christine Fletcher, a former mayor of Auckland and MP, is chairwoman of the Motutapu Restoration Trust. Jim Holdaway is a former trust chairman, conservationist and long-serving local body politician.