Whangamatā Estuary transformed

The area has been rejuvenated thanks to a joint-council and volunteer effort.

An area of wasteland adjoining the Moana Anu Anu estuary in the Whangamatā Harbour transformed over the last 12 months, thanks to a joint initiative between Whangamatā Harbour Care, Thames Coromandel District Council and the regional council.

Previously infested with weed plants and trees, invaded by rats and used as an illegal dumping ground over the years, the area has been cleared and contoured by district council contractors, and then planted out in natives by dedicated Harbour Care volunteers, who have followed up with ongoing weeding, mulching and spot spraying.

The area in March 2022 before the project.

This week several hundred further plants supplied by the district council were planted by volunteers to replace those that failed to thrive due largely to the storms earlier this year.

Whangamatā Harbour Care is dedicated to improving the environment in and around Whangamatā, and in addition to harbour edge restoration projects like this, maintains an extensive network of traps for rats, stoats and possums in parks, farms and bush areas, distributes backyard traps for concerned residents in the town, works to stop the expansion of mangroves from reducing wading bird habitat, and champions residents’ ongoing efforts to improve the environment.

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