Waihaua Marae

Image caption – Karakanui pā site – looking out over Arapaoa River.

Whānau connected to Ngāti Whātua Waihaua Marae, which overlooks the Arapāoa River as it feeds into the Kaipara harbour, are clearly passionate about their aspirations for the whenua.

They want the land, and the Kaipara Moana respected and restored to what it once was with an abundance of healthy and available kai moana for whānau, vast tracts of replanted natives and an end to erosion.

They are keen to play their part and over the past couple years have taken leadership in beginning the process of planting natives around pockets of the Kaipara Moana catchment.

Just over 10,000 native stems – including wīwī, pūkio and tī kōuka – have been planted around riparian and wetland areas, in partnership with Kaipara Moana Remediation and there is a desire by whānau to continue with more planting as the years roll on.

Ideally, whānau want to partner more with KMR, along with others where practical, to continue their mahi to make the whenua and moana healthier, cleaner and more productive. All this with the aim of ensuring the whenua is passed on to future generations of tamariki and rangatahi so they too can care for the land.

The whānau agree there needs to be a common understanding of what is driving their desire to enhance the land, as well as work towards an intergenerational plan, as more whānau embrace the opportunity to restore the health and the mauri of the Kaipara Moana and the surrounding whenua.

Put simply, there is a clear and collective desire to bring the whenua back to what it once was – to enhance and protect it – by working together.

Those on the marae believe this is possible through more fencing and ongoing planting of natives, both of which act as buffer to protect the waterways feeding into the Kaipara Moana, while also enhancing and restoring the shoreline by limiting erosion.

Marina Ford, KMR’s Mana Whenua Relations Lead says “The work the whānau around Waihaua have completed shows KMR’s Whenua Whānui Fund in action. It’s about collective action and joining together on achievable projects so you can see your progress. We’re always keen to sit down to talk about how the Whenua Whānui Fund can help groups deliver on long-term aspirations. I am really proud of our whānau and wider community taking small steps to protect our whenua and moana”.

Waihaua B1A whānau landowners pictured with adjoining landowners looking over the first of many Whenua Whanui Fund projects that will be initiated by the collective whānau and community.

Farming once a common economic contribution to the Waihaua, Arapaoa community pictured here – was once the location of the Hemana-Hetaraka homestead, Great Grandparents Wiki Te Koni and Ngawiki Hetaraka. Their descendants continue to live on this whenua protecting whenua and moana for generations to come.