On the 7th of April 2021, Jennifer Scothern, our local Enviro school Coordinator, came for a walk along the Whangawehi walkway to prepare a site visit with Te Mahia school.

During a short 30 minutes walk, we talked about archaeological artefacts accessible along the walkway as well as white bait and eels visible at the spawning site. Jenni also enjoyed trying out the new E DNA water test kit made available by the Environmental Protection Authority.

We thank Jenni for being so enthusiastic about connecting people with Nature. We hope the walkway will help her better connect our young tamariki with the beautiful environment they live in.

On the first of April 2021, Dean Aitcheson from Mahia Forest, Malcolm Smith (WCMG Deputy Chair) and Nic Caviale Delzescaux met at the Kinikini car park to discuss possible options for the entrance of the walkway. It has been agreed to ask QRS to give a quote for the work involved. The group progressed into the forest to assess the tracks and discuss about further possibilities. A big thank you to Dean and Malcolm for making the time to help with the Whangawehi walkway.

On Monday the 29th of March 2021, Jeff Carter from Southern Star Trails met with Pat O’Brien (Chair of the WCMG) and Nic Caviale (Project Coordinator) to inspect the walkway.

The track is nearly formed up to the hut and the gravelling work will start next week. The digger will carry out a few repairs on its way back to the Whangawehi car park to tidy up the area. The gravelling operation will be long and challenging due to the weather but the team is experienced and uses specialized equipment that should make the work safer and faster.

A big thank you to Southern Star Trail for their work.

On the 26th of March 2021, Vaughan Goldsmith, Civil Engineer at WDC came to have a look at options for the small car park to be developed in front of the Waharoa.

A big thank you to Vaughan for making the time to come to Mahia and provide some advice.

Kia ora koutou,

Please find our latest water monitoring data sheet.

On Wednesday the 10 th of March 2021, the Mahia RMPP group gathered at Pat and Sue O’Brien’s to learn more about Carbon. This workshop is part of a series of events funded by Beef and Lamb NZ with the idea of supporting local community groups in their endeavor to achieve a community (farm related) vision.

Bryan McKinley and Scott Saunders from Eastern Forestry came along with Duncan Harrison from MPI Gisborne to share their knowledge around the vast and ever changing topic of Carbon.

The group learned a lot about the risks and opportunities associated with Carbon trading and also better understood the wider legal context around the mitigation of green gaz emissions.

We thank our guest speakers for their time and hope they can be more involved at a later stage.