Trustees

Laura Shaft - Chair (Northland)

Laura Shaft is the Chair of the Coastal Restoration Trust. Laura works for the Northland Regional Council as the Coast Care Coordinator. She has over 30 years of practical experience working with community based coast care group.

Jenny Carter - Treasurer (Auckland)

Jenny is a Chartered Accountant (a member of the Chartered Accountants of Australia and New Zealand) with over 40 years of experience. She recently retired as Financial Director for Soar Printing (now named SCG) where she worked for over 30 years. Since 2009, she also held the role of Sustainability Manager and was responsible for the company becoming a carbon neutral certified organisation and halving its organisational greenhouse gas emissions over a ten year period.

Greg Bennett (Tasman)

Greg attended his first Coastal Dune Vegetation Network conference in 2002 where he met a bunch of like-minded people who were passionate about their coast.

This inspired him to get actively involved in the coastal management of Pegasus Bay, near Christchurch. This extended to the rest of New Zealand when he became a Trustee of the Coastal Restoration Trust in 2008. In 2006 he received a resource management award from Environment Canterbury for services to coast care. Greg now resides in Nelson and is a Stormwater Engineer with the Tasman District Council.

David Bergin (Rotorua)

David is a restoration ecologist covering a range of ecosystems including coastal sand dunes, riparian areas, shrublands and forests focusing on the planting and management of native plants. He is Senior Scientist and Director of Environmental Restoration Ltd and has over 40 years of experience in restoration to meet multiple purposes from enhancing indigenous biodiversity and management of cultural resources, to sustainable production potential of planted native forests. He is founding trustee of both the Coastal Restoration Trust of New Zealand and Tane’s Tree Trust, and is Science and Technical Advisor for Trees That Count of The Project Crimson Trust.

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Graeme La Cock (Wellington)

Technical Advisor Ecology working for the Department of Conservation. South African dunes, research, management, botany, ecosystems, processes, impact assessments, 30 years experience. Extensive experience with coastal flora in South Africa. A senior coastal botanist specialising in rare and endangered plants in New Zealand for two decades; a member of the Threatened Species Unit in DOC.

Jo Bonner (Whakatāne)

Jo has 27 years experience in the Nursery Production and Amenity Horticulture industry and carries a Diploma in Horticulture. She owns Coastlands Plant Nursery, which specialises in coastal plants and currently provides the largest volume of spinifex and pingao in the country. Jo is also involved as a volunteer with Forest and Bird, DOC, local coast care groups and other organisations, in growing and planting rare and endangered coastal species.

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Moniqua Nelson-Tunley (Waikato)

Moniqua works for Waikato Regional Council as their Biodiversity Management Advisor. She is a qualified ecologist with expertise in ecosystem restoration, conservation biology and herpetology (reptiles and amphibians). Her work includes developing a list of the Waikato Regions’ highest priority sites for biodiversity protection and restoration, including a range of coastal ecosystems. She also works with landowners, iwi, community groups and other stakeholders to facilitate restoration projects. Before this role, she managed the Waikato Coastcare Programme for five years.

Tim Park (Wellington)

Manager at Ōtari Native Botanic Garden and Wiltons Bush Reserve. An avid plant ecologist dedicated to the protection and restoration of the ecosystems found throughout New Zealand. Tim assists with the Coastal Restoration Trust Facebook page and web development work and is interested in maximising the use of technology to help us restore our ecosystems.

Lyle Mason (Southland)

NZ’s second most southern coastal sheep and beef farmer. An experienced cropping and land development contractor who understands the critical need to preserve the fragile fringe of coastal sand dunes that are the first (and most effective) buffer against storms and erosion to protect valuable farm and forestry land. A strong advocate of native vegetation restoration and appropriate methods for control of coastal exotics.

Betsy Young (Far North)

Betsy is a trustee for both the Coastal Restoration Trust and Te Roopu Whakaoranga a Te Taha Moana. She is a master weaver and works closely with Northland communities and schools to restore, preserve and sustainably use pingao and toheroa along local beaches.

Alison Waru (Tairāwhiti)

Ko Titirangi te Maunga

Ko Uawanui a Ruamatua te Awa

Ko Te Aitanga a Hauiti te Iwi

Ko Te Amowhiu te Marae

Ko Alison Waru ahau.

Having recently moved back to Anaura Bay from Kaiaua I’ve been given the opportunity to assist the Hinetamatea Marae Committee in the restoration of our dunes along the front of our Marae and urupah which is under threat from rising sea levels. Every Friday tamariki ages 5 - 15 years from Te Kura a Rohe O Uawa come to Anaura to learn about the pressure that our taiao, taku tai moana and ngahere are under due to global warming, pests and the habits of humans.

The Marae committee and Anaura Bay whanau are also wanting to establish a Marae nursery to ‘grow our own’ dune and native plants for our future restoration projects of which we are very excited.

Jason Maguiness (North Auckland)

Jason is Principal Ranger for the Northern Regional Parks of Auckland. His role leads the direction, planning and delivery of outcomes of these parks. Jason works closely with Park Rangers, volunteers and community groups that are helping to restore and protect coastal areas and the flora and fauna associated with these. Jason has experience in developing and delivering coastal restoration projects and supporting threatened species work in coastal locations. He is keen to share this knowledge to support communities and projects around New Zealand.

Graeme Atkins (East Coast)

Graeme is known on the East Coast Coast as the “Māori plant David Attenborough”. He won the Loder Cup in 2020 after a nomination from The East Coast Hawke’s Bay Conservation Board with extensive support from iwi and plant conservation networks.

Graeme contributes to flora conservation with iwi groups, landowners, scientists and schoolchildren, and has made an outstanding contribution to Aotearoa’s native plants, particularly on the East Coast, a region which is relatively under-studied. The Tairāwhiti Ngutukākā (kākābeak) project is one that he has been closely involved with.

He grew up in Ruatorea, on Aotearoa’s East Coast. He was taught rongoā by his iwi tohunga, and grew up always knowing he was going to work with plants. Graeme has dedicated his life to Aotearoa’s most threatened species.

Graeme is involved in a lot of coastal restoration mahi too, working with the communities of the East Coast