Te Kohuroa Rewilding Initiative (TKRI)
About our Project
Te Kohuroa Rewilding is a community-led initiative working with iwi, organisations and community to build a ground up approach to healing Te Kohuroa / Matheson Bay’s marine ecosystem, from the top of the freshwater catchment to the outer rocky reefs of the bay.
The project’s mission is to build a holistic ecological management approach to active restoration pathways and elevate the voice of Te Kohuroa, so that the community can understand and support the needs of the environment, and work collaboratively to restore Te Kohuroa’s oranga / wellbeing.
Active Restoration
From September 2024 – June 2025 TKRI is running a pilot program to investigate community-led restoration activities, with the spirit of kaitiakitanga / guardianship at the forefront of the approach, by facilitating four main outcomes:
- Create a collaborative and inclusive approach to the restoration process by including expertise and facilitating leadership from a wide range of knowledge bases.
- Building baseline knowledge and understanding of the past and present biodiversity at Te Kohuroa, through environmental assessments, historical research and oral histories.
- Facilitating ‘hands on’ volunteering opportunities that support kelp forest regrowth and improve freshwater quality management.
- Telling stories of the volunteers, residents and specialists who have connections with Te Kohuroa to deepen the understanding within the wider community about the beauty of the ecosystem and inspire future environmental kaitiaki / guardians.
About Te Kohuroa / Matheson Bay
Te Kohuroa coastal inlet is situated within the rohe pōtae / tribal homelands of Ngāti Manuhiri, in northern Tāmaki Makaurau / Auckland. The bay is part of an extensive and interconnected aquatic ecosystem that originates in the hills above the Big Omaha coastline (where the awa / river begins weaving down through the kauri forest to the wetlands) and ends in the shallow coastal reefs and rocky shoreline of the moana / ocean below.
Te Kohuroa is a place of importance. It holds the whakapapa of local tangata whenua and the stories of the settlers who have lived and worked in and around its waters. Historically, it has been a thriving habitat for the intricate ecosystems and the species that reside there, and a source of kaimoana for the local community.
Te Kohuroa is positioned between two significant marine reserves within Te Moananui-ā-Toi / The Hauraki Gulf; Te Hāwere-a-Maki / Goat Island Marine Reserve to the north (established in 1975 as Aotearoa’s first marine reserve) and Tāwharanui Marine Reserve to the south, (established in 2011). While these protected areas are designed to create an overflow of biodiversity and species (to support the oranga / wellbeing of the surrounding coastlines), western science has documented a steady decline of certain species within the reserves (such as kōura / lobster) and they are no longer able to compete with increasing pressure from recreational and commercial fishing practices within the Hauraki Gulf Marine Park.
Today, Te Kohuroa is under immense ecological pressure. It continues to be used as a popular recreation space for residents and visitors all year round, and increasing stress from overfishing, pollution, sediment runoff and water pollution (from surrounding land use) alongside water temperature increases from climate change, have combined to push the health of the marine ecosystem to a dangerous ‘tipping point’.
Future Plans
Te Kohuroa Rewilding is currently exploring future pathways for ongoing active restoration, through community volunteering activities, that will strengthen the protection and kaitiakitanga / guardianship of Te Kohuroa’s ecosystem.
Find out more and connect via their website: www.tekohuroarewilding.org
Photo credits: Frances Dickinson. https://www.benthics.com/
