A message from our Kaihautū/Programme Director, Peter Miles:

Welcome to our 2021/22 Impact Report.

In recent research conducted by the Hauraki Gulf Forum 81% of people said the Hauraki Gulf/Tīkapa Moana/Te Moananui-ā-Toi was important to them and 84% of people supported restoration of shellfish beds and reefs.

With all that support our challenge lies elsewhere: in the ‘how’. The sub-tidal, soft-sediment kūtai/mussel reefs which were once a dominant ecosystem for the inner Hauraki Gulf are now functionally extinct. We wish re-establishing them was as simple as planting trees, but alas it’s not. So, as you’ll hear from research lead Dr. Jenny Hilman, our focus is on research and discovery. We are out to weave the fabric of science and mātauranga needed to understand how we can achieve restoration at scale. I’m pleased to say it feels like we’re making progress. I hope after reading this impact report you’ll agree.

Our thanks go to all the funders, supporters and industry partners who have contributed to this work. We can all share a sense of satisfaction on the progress made over the past 12 months.

We marked the first ever Matariki public holiday on the 24th of June with a whakatō kūtai (mussel planting) south of Te Kawau Tūmārō-o-Toi (Kawau Island) with Ngāti Manuhiri. Peter van Kampen will have more to say about the project. It was a day of tangata whenua and tangata tīriti working side-by-side, building a healthier, more vibrant moana for the benefit of all of us who live around and love the Hauraki Gulf.

Mauri ora!