News article

From our chair…

I am standing in front of the microphone at the Green Ribbon Awards. My heart is racing, I am very nervous. I am accepting the award on behalf of the Coastal Restoration Trust. I am feeling proud to be there and proud to be representing all the coastal communities who take on restoring their dunelands. This is a big deal and well deserved. I realise I am standing there with the support & aroha from all of you who are passionate about your beach and those pioneers of the Coastal Dune Vegetation Network who took the chance to change the paradigm of dune restoration. I make a speech which I have loosely reproduced here:

Early settlers came to New Zealand with their assortment of browsing mammals. The beaches became the first roads, very quickly the dune vegetation was eaten and large areas of sand mobilised. The response was to plant marram and then lupin with Government funded schemes. Most of this stabilised land is today’s pine plantations. Kikuyu grass became the norm at coastal reserves and within a short generation we collectively lost the memory of what New Zealand dunes should look like. The coastal landscape was so modified that dunelands are New Zealand’s most degraded ecosystems, even more than wetlands which receive a lot of the press and precious funding.

Over the last 20 years the science of restoring dunes has been well researched and this information is in our handbook and available on our website. Many dune projects involve schools and a new generation is seeing pingao and kowhangatara (spinifex) shaping the dunes into their natural coastal landscapes, as they should be.

The Matariki storm that hit Wellington last year has shown us what the effects of a storm can do to our coastline. The warnings have been issued regarding the effects of climate change – more frequent intense storms coupled with rising sea levels. The importance of well managed dunes in comparison to the cost of maintaining coastal infrastructure is being realised around the country. We know that a foredune planted in kowhangatara is best for a quick recovery after a storm. We understand that the coast is a dynamic landscape subject to seasonal and decadal changes.

Winning the Green Ribbon Award provides the Trust with two things: kudos and opportunity. Kudos gives us credibility and mana. Opportunity is there to leverage this and cement the Trust at the forefront of coastal management.

Cheers