The Waimea Inlet has been transformed by wide-ranging environmental restoration work over the last decade, but future progress is expected to slow as external funding comes to an end.
With a 65-kilometre perimeter stretching from Māpua to Tāhunanui, the Waimea Inlet is the largest enclosed estuary in the South Island.
It holds international importance for migratory bird species and is of national significance for other native endangered or threatened species.
The Waimea Inlet Coordinating Group oversees the action plan to restore the estuary’s environment and includes representatives from the Tasman District and Nelson City Councils, ngā iwi o Te Tauihu, and the Department of Conservation.
Thanks to council and community efforts, many of the plan’s targets are being met.
One such goal, set in 2018, aimed to increase the vegetated estuary margin by 10km, at a width of 10 metres, by 2030.
That target was decisively overshot with the restored margin instead reaching almost 18km by 2025.
Group co-chair Sky Davies is “super proud” of the achievement.
“Even though the goal might have felt quite ambitious when it was originally set in 2018… having an investment-ready plan can be really useful when funding opportunities come up.”
Around the inlet over the last decade, just over 300,000 plants have been planted and close to 13,000 pests have been caught – progress supported by over 28,000 volunteer hours.
Wetlands and salt marsh restoration works are also ongoing with new habitats being created around the edge of the inlet. The projects are bearing fruit as evidenced by a “flagship” species for the inlet: the “quite shy” banded rail, which is classed as at-risk/declining.
A 2014 survey of banded rail footprints around the estuary turned up 31 footprints. In 2022, 85 footprints were found.
Sky says that the progress made to date was “heartening” and was underpinned by almost $4 million of external funding.
But she warns that with its One Billion Trees and Jobs for Nature funding both winding down, progress was likely to slow.
“But we do really hope to maintain this strong momentum that’s developed with the community and still be able to continue planting and find support from other sources.”
The group had no major consistent funding stream for the restoration work but was actively looking broadly across the community at other ways to fund and support the work.
“We can still continue to achieve really positive things, even if it’s not quite at the pace that it’s been over the last few years,” Sky says.
“I feel incredibly proud of the achievements, what it means for the natural world, but also the community connections and just collectively what we’ve achieved.”
Tasman’s elected members had nothing but praise for the group’s efforts when presented with the progress last month.
Councillors Jo Ellis and Brent Maru praised the involvement of the community and its success in partnering with the council, while Kit Maling said the progress was “fantastic”.
