Nau mai, haere mai!
Once more we’re wrapping up another great year for Coastcare, and we thought what better way to celebrate than to share some of our success stories with you. Despite a challenging year, including budget limitations for plants on the west coast and the discovery of lizards putting larger projects on hold in the Coromandel Peninsula, we have seen notable success from our restoration efforts at many of our beaches, and none of these would have been possible without the help of our wonderful volunteers. We really appreciate all your mahi and the Coastcare team sends a huge thank you to everyone who’s helped out.
In total, Coastcare community groups have been working hard at 70 sites on the east and west coasts of the Waikato region this year. That includes 922 volunteers spending 2962 volunteer hours planting 59,000 plants in dunes and removing more than 19 tons of weeds.
If you want to see what’s been happening in your area, check out your local group on our Coastcare Waikato story map.
With the 2024 planting season wrapped up, work is now underway planning plantings and weed control for 2025. If you’d like to get involved next year, check us out on Facebook and Instagram to get the latest info on events in your area.
But for now, have a good Christmas and New Year, put your feet up, have a well-deserved break, and check out below some great stories that have come out of Coastcare this year.
2024 at a glance
Coastcare champions
There are about 24 Coastcare groups protecting coastlines across the Waikato, with many committed and passionate members. To celebrate their efforts in 2024, we put the spotlight on three Coastcare champions who go above and beyond.
Coming together to care for our coasts
What happens if you want to remove pest plants, but it turns out that some rather special native lizards have made themselves at home in this otherwise undesirable habitat?
Plants the best dressing to reduce coastal wounds
Coastal Restoration Trust Conference
Join us at Ūawa Tolaga Bay, 12-14 March, for the 2025 Coastal Restoration Trust Conference: Taihuanui - A Bountiful Coast. Registrations are now open!"
Coastcare Waikato story map
We have Coastcare community groups working at over 30 different beaches in the Waikato region. To showcase these groups and the work they do, we've created a Coastcare Waikato story map. Please get in touch if your group's information needs updating or to include your vision, values and objectives for your coastal environment.
Weed control factsheet
Many of our coastal regions are overrun with invasive plants. These weed species actively invade our dunes and are less effective in repairing storm-damaged dunes than our native sand binding plants. Weed control is essential to give our native species a chance and restore our natural coastal habitats. Check out our printable factsheet on Weed control on our coasts.
Questions or feedback? Please contact Andrew Anderson at Waikato Regional Council: andrew.anderson@waikatoregion.govt.nz
waikatoregion.govt.nz/coastcare
facebook.com/coastcarewaikato
