The Whangawehi community is celebrating this Award received in Sydney in October 2018. A big thank you to the whole team and the wider community. This award celebrates the commitment of a dedicated community that has delivered some key milestones over the past 4 years. Well done to you all. Pai the Mahi.
Representatives of the Whangawehi who attended the Asia Pacific International River Prize awards dinner last Tuesday evening in Sydney were ecstatic to win the Pacific category. The group was grateful just to have been chosen as a finalist but was blown out of the water when they were announced as winners. The judges were very impressed with just how well the group collaborated with tangata whenua, the community and it’s sponsors along with it’s on the ground work which is diligently monitored.
This Awards has allowed the group to be part of the Alumni network, a network of river practitioners who operate all around the world. This will certainly help the group raise its profile and extend its ability to operate at a higher level.
As the winner of the Awards, the WCMG has also been encouraged by the International River Foundation to develop a relationship with a sister project in a foreign country. Passing on the knowledge was a consistent theme during the evening ceremony and several twin projects were presented during the symposium. This support offers an opportunity for the WCMG to influence one of it’s pacific neighbours.
A big thank you to all involved.
Media release :
AsiaPacificRiverAwardsWairoaStarOctober2018
A big thank you to all who have been involved, it is a wonderful achievement.
Our water monitoring programme has been upset this winter by a combination of heavy rain falls and a lot of Wind. Up to 190 km of Wind was recorded on Homestead and unfortunately a lot of windthrow occurred blocking site access. Graham Douglas did a fantastic work and reopened all the tracks for our pest control and water monitoring work, thank you for that.
This water monitoring site is incomplete as all the sites were not monitored at the same time due to access issues. This shouldn’t happen again as all tracks are cleared now.
Please find attached the longest article ever written on the project, enjoy the reading : GisborneHeraldSeptember2017
Newsletter 7 is now available, follow the link and enjoy the reading :
Arthur Bowen carried out his first water monitoring run for 2016. Water quality is quite good at the moment due to the lack of regular rain. Algaes are present in the lower reaches but are not as developed as last year. The vegetation is overgrowing in the fenced off areas with the first flaxes and toe toes already shading the stream. White Bait are present in the stream but in smaller numbers. The next water monitoring run will be carried out in April.
The first ever Whangawehi mountain bike ride held in conjuction with Adventure Wairoa in Mahia last Saturday was deemed a real success with 67 people participating. Participants were a mixture of locals with others coming from Hawkes Bay and Gisborne to support the event.Mark Lewis who has biked numerous off road rides throughout New Zealand commented that “the ride was enjoyable, challenging in sections but accessible to all ages”.
The event was part of a series of summer community engagement activities organised by the Whangawehi Catchment Management Group to share their restoration story with the wider community. Activities included guided walks, displays at both the Mahia Market and Wairoa A & P show and the mountain bike ride to finish of their summer activities.
This free event was an opportunity to promote and invite all bikers to the groups community planting days planned for the 9th and 16th of July 2016.
Nic Caviale-Delzescaux, Project Coordinator for the WCMG said “when you live in remote areas, it is critical to be able to offer a wide range of activities to attract and engage with the wider community and sustain support over time. It was also great to involve local clubs and organisations this time round to leverage more support.”
Graham Douglas, Forest Manager for Grandy Lake Forest is extremely supportive of this event and said that “Grandy Lake Forest is proud to be able to demonstrate the additional benefits of having forestry within the Wairoa District and being able to share it with the public. It also helps lift the profile of the District with potentially some long term economic outcomes if the walk/cycleway goes ahead”.
The WCMG acknowledges the support received from all landowners, the Whangawehi community, volunteers, DOC, Adventure, GO BUS, QRS and the Wairoa District Council.
Friday was the last of a series of 4 very successful guided walks for the Whangawehi group. Nearly 50 participants attended this last event for a walk starting at the Waste Water Treatment Plant and finishing at the Whangawehi bridge. The public was given en explanation of the scheme as well as the restoration programme undertaken downstream by the community. The large numbers of participants reinforced the group’s conviction that there is a demand for a walk way/cycle way in order to show case the work done and share some of the stories associated with local Maori history with the wider community.
All participants were impressed by the work done and some will come back to support the community planting weekends. Thank you to the landowners for opening their gates for these special events and thank you to Arthur and Malcolm for sharing their knowledge of the area.
On the 22d of December, Len Syme, farmer in the Whangawehi Catchment officially joined the restoration programme by signing the group’s Memorandum of Understanding. Len farms a significant area of land in the catchment and leases Homestead farm (owned by Grandy Lake Forest). Back in 2012, Len Syme accepted to sell some of his land to the Hawkes Bay Regional Council to build what is now know as the Waste Water treatment plant. We welcome Len on board and are looking forward to working with him in the future. The group now has 12 signatories out of 15 landowners .
The Whangawehi Catchment Group gathered for their second AGM on Thursday 29th October 2015 at Kaiuku Marae.
Jamie Cox announced he is stepping down from the Chairman position and gave a speech acknowledging the progression and recognition that has been made by the community group in such a short period of time. He encouraged the group to widen it’s engagement with local community group to strengthen it’s support over time. The Whangawehi Catchment Management Group would like to thank Jamie for his strong leadership and support shown over the past three years.
Leon Symes also announced his intentions to resign from his treasurer position due to other commitments. Leon has been instrumental in the creation and set up of the Incorporated Society and will be dearly missed by all. The group would like to acknowledge all the voluntary effort he put into the group when already committed to a number of other projects. The Group would like to wish him all the best with future endeavours.
Whangawehi Catchment Management Group 