Bringing whānau together on the Pīpīwai whenua

Sonny Henare is loving his time back on the whānau whenua at Pīpīwai.

And he is mighty enthusiastic when he speaks of his desire to protect and nurture the land and do his forebears proud with the help of Kaipara Moana Remediation’s Whenua Whānui Fund.

Sonny is working closely with his whānau from Aotearoa and Australia to fence chunks of the 28-hectare property to protect existing natives and waterways – the Kaikou awa and Mangataeore Awa. Part of that mahi is removing fences in floodplains and putting them higher up on the land to be clear of flood damage. Additional native plantings will be worked in amongst the existing (and in some cases well-established) native stands.

So far almost 1.5km of five-wire fencing has been completed with Sonny’s Uncle Robert Henare and another Uncle, Atawhai Henare, joining with other whānau at various times over the summer months of 2024/2025 to help with the fencing. In fact, Robert flew back from Australia for a few weeks to get the project moving and ultimately help protect the Kaikou awa from cattle grazing in it.

Once the fencing is complete – and more will be done in years to come – troughs will be put back and areas that were once paddocks farmed by his Grandparents Hoone and Mate Henare, will be cleaned up so cattle can be grazed again.

“I heard about KMR funding and I thought it might be an opportunity for us. With mahi I do working in the waterway as around here I realised collectively as a valley we should all be doing this,” says Sonny.

“As a whānau we are doing what we can as we can afford it and we are also gradually, as individuals, moving back to the land.”

Sonny made that move two years ago with his partner Honey and has traded a successful career as a Psychiatric Nurse in Auckland for a life nurturing the environment in which he grew up.

He wants to get to the stage where his whānau can use their whenua – alongside the work his neighbour Hohiperi Williams is doing on her 220ha farm – as showcases of what is possible and so people can see how they can turn these farms around by working to protect waterways.

“This is about bringing whānau on board because it is an opportunity we really don’t want to miss out on. We will begin planting natives in 2026, once all the fencing is completed,” says Sonny.

KMR’s Whenua Whānui Fund supports landowners and groups to create sediment reduction projects in the Kaipara Moana catchment. The Fund is aimed at collectives including hapū, marae, kaitiaki groups, landcare groups, catchment groups and trusts administering land with multiple ownership including ahuwhenua trusts.

Through the Whenua Whānui Fund, KMR is now working to support 91 collectively led projects to co-design a project, develop a plan to unlock KMR funding, lead delivery of a project or where projects have been completed.

For more information about how the Whenua Whānui Fund can support your aspirations for the whenua, get in touch with KMR via hono@kmr.org.nz or apply via https://kmr.org.nz/application/.