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Planting starts this month on New Zealand's largest harbour restoration programme.
More than 20 million trees and other natives will be planted around the Kaipara catchment, covering 6000 square kilometres of land and more than 8000km of waterways.
Kaipara Moana Remediation chair Tame Te Rangi says community groups from the Wairua and Hōteo rivers have applied to be involved in riparian planting and other efforts, and he's looking forward to all landowners in the catchment – including farming and forestry – working towards improving harbour health.
The region's 30 marae are also lining up to develop plant nurseries and provide planting gangs.
He says going by a similar project in the smaller Whāingaroa-Raglan Harbour which started in 1995, riparian planting can greatly reduce sediment and nitrogen levels, bosting fish and shellfish stocks and swimability.
The Government committed $100m into the project last year and the local community expected to match that.
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