KMR Welcomed By Te Uru Rākau To Share Learnings

Kaipara Moana Remediation is welcoming yet more collaboration with like-minded environmental and sustainability efforts following a Te Uru Rākau organised hui near Whangārei.

The workshop is one of 11 that Te Uru Rākau – New Zealand Forest Service, Ministry for Primary Industries, is hosting at locations around Aotearoa in the first half of 2025.

KMR Land Management Specialist Duncan Kervell gave a keynote presentation alongside KMR Planting Specialist David McDermott, outlining their learnings during the three years since KMR’s establishment.

Kervell says that, by its very design, KMR aims to share its knowledge and support local people and rural professionals to work together to achieve positive outcomes.

As New Zealand’s largest harbour restoration programme, KMR’s goal is to halve sediment flows into the Kaipara – the Southern Hemisphere’s largest natural harbour – and economically important as the nursery for much of the country’s snapper.

“That’s a massive job and ultimately relies on landowners and groups, communities and experts pooling their knowledge, expertise and experience to get trees in the right place,” says Kervell.

“KMR has been operational for just over three years, and KMR is NZ’s second largest catchment group. We are already working with 755 landowners and groups supported by plans covering 130,000ha.

KMR is adaptable and responsive to the needs of the many diverse farmers, landowners and groups who are working with us. We move like mānuka and kānuka seeds and take root wherever we see areas of high priority to reduce the siltation and improve the mauri of the Moana.

“It is a privilege to present alongside others in Te Uru Rākau’s workshop and we look forward to contributing further to MPI’s goals on farm in future,” says McDermott.

“KMR’s Field Advisors draw on scientific information and use smart digital tools to look at the landscape risks and opportunities and then walk the land with the landowner or group to discuss restoration priorities.”

Te Uru Rākau Senior Advisor, Forest Service Advice – He Poutohutohu Tuakana – Susan Moore-Lavo, says the intent of the workshops is to provide information to landowners who wish to plant native species for a range of purposes, and to assist them in doing so with greater success and less cost.

“Different regions have different challenges but also different opportunities, so having regionally-based advice and knowledge is really important to help people make decisions that will work on their land – with their particular climate, species, and unique character,” Moore-Lavo.

Te Uru Rākau, the New Zealand Forest Service, works with landowners to establish trees and forests of all kinds.

“Our regional forestry advisors can provide free, impartial, one on one advice to anyone wanting to successfully grow tree species to help their land be more resilient in the face of severe weather events. They can also advise on how to retain soil on eroding land, or to identify where opportunities might exist to diversify income through native timber production, or reversion and the ETS.

“If landowners would like to contact our regional advisory service, we can be contacted on forestserviceadvice@mpi.govt.nz,” says Moore-Lavo.

KMR’s larger individual planting projects in 2024 involved over 25,000 trees, with almost 20% of KMR projects planting between 10,000 and 20,000 natives. However, KMR KMR Pou Tātaki Justine Daw says her team still welcomes smaller projects, particularly where they can make a real difference to on-farm biodiversity once stock are excluded.

“Our investment continues in projects restoring wetlands by fencing off those wetlands, rivers and streams, planting trees and regenerating forest on erosion-prone land. It is about helping valued species to thrive,” says Daw.

The significance of KMR’s positive impact on the environment – in partnership with farmers, professionals, experts and communities – is clearly making a visible and positive difference in the Kaipara Moana catchment.

Daw is humbled by KMR’s results to date, achieved by everyone pulling together.

To date, KMR has invested over $21M in projects to plant 2.04M trees and plants, and fenced 900km – the same distance as from Kerikeri to Wellington. This fencing and planting has protected 1,129km of waterways, 169ha of wetlands and 30kms of coastline, helping achieve New Zealand’s climate change and biodiversity goals, while supporting farmers to meet future market-led targets such as Fonterra’s new emissions targets.

“I really encourage anyone in the Kaipara Moana catchment who is thinking about a possible planting project this winter to get in touch with us and just have a chat about how we might be able to assist.”

Image Caption: Kaipara Moana Remediation’s Land Management Specialist Duncan Kervell, left, and KMR Planting Specialist David McDermott, far right, with the Te Uru Rākau – NZ Forest Service team (from left to right) of Mark Hollis, Specialist Advisor Indigenous Forestry; Dean Satchell, Senior Advisor; Mark Forsyth, Advisor, and Susan Moore-Lavo, Senior Advisor.