Like many sustainability projects, much of our mahi this month has taken place in the back room working on designing and implementing new projects that enable further decarbonisation, the sequestration of more carbon and the development of biodiversity and social equity.
With support from Auckland Council, and Kaipatiki Project, North Harbour Hockey (NHHA) have been developing a Travelling Lightly programme where our local community can freely use recycled bikes from the waste stream to explore our local natural spaces including Te Hõnonga a Iwi, the new community garden and the bike trails up Unsworth Heights and through Rosedale Park. Connecting local people to opportunities to get used to biking in nature is phase one of encouraging the use of sustainable transport. The NHHA Hikoi for Health campaign is taking shape with the inclusion of free access re-engineered bikes and helmets and a presentation to the Upper Harbour Board to request consideration for wayfinding signage to enable us to connect our people with a well-lit, safe 1.5 km walking loop path on the concrete perimeter of the National Hockey Centre. During longer hours of light, the walking path easily extends out to all our beautiful local parks including Burnside, Fernhill, Unsworth and Rosedale.
Working in partnership with Bupa, NZ Landcare Trust, Untangled Landscapes and UWEN, we have been finalising our readiness for the influx of chickens to the restoration and learning as much as we can about vertical urban horticulture ahead of constructing the new community mara kai on November 21. Kaumatua Richard Nahi will be leading the welcome to the construction day.
All the new initiatives enable Te Hōnonga a Iwi to increase capacity to promote the physical, social, and mental health of people in both the local business sector and community.
NHHA's final sustainable development piece has been to begin our Waste Zero 2027 campaign. Centralising our waste and diverting all our organic biomass including paper, cardboard, green waste and food scraps to nine bioreactors enables us to reduce waste management costs, develop a new income stream and use the skills we have learned at Te Hōnonga a Iwi to increase soil health, with excess compost being invested in the new community garden. Developing local food security by recognising the value of waste from our waste stream is a natural extension to our mahi. The diversion of organic biomass from landfill to make high quality compost to increase soil health is proudly supported by iwi and our Harbour Hockey volunteers, staff and the hockey community. It is especially fitting that the Dingle Foundation, their corporate sponsors and Westminster School are representing the wider community at the community garden construction day.
As we work towards net zero carbon emissions by 2040, it is important to reflect on the importance of our work for nature and the planet as well as humankind. At the time of writing this report, the UN is holding its first Convention on Biological Diversity Convention on Biological Diversity following the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework adopted in Montreal in 2022. New Zealand signed the agreement in 2022 and is expected to show the alignment of NZ's National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs) with the 2023 targets within the UN Biodiversity Framework. With a million species on the brink of extinction, regeneration work across the globe has never been more important. Generating blue, green, soil and atmospheric corridors for wildlife to safely cross urban environments is at the forefront of our minds at Te Hōnonga a Iwi.
With preservation and promotion of biodiversity front of mind, we wanted to share this free Introduction to New Zealand Conservation course from Nelson Marlborough Institute of Technology. The short online course informs students about key diversity principles, ecological processes, and management processes. If you are interested in developing coordination skills and knowledge to support local regeneration of Te Taiao, we are privileged to have our own free local UWEN course that enables participants to access ecological experts and a wide variety of outstanding restoration projects across our rohe. Please email Rachael on uwen.manager@gmail.com to express your interest.
The following actions and outcomes have been achieved by the Te Hōnonga a Iwi team across October:
- We have been invited to attend the opening of the new whare kai at Ngāti Whātua o Kaipara on Sat Nov 2 at 04:30 am. Please email Nicky on hello@restoringrosedalepark.org.nz if you would like to join the Te Hõnonga a Iwi or UWEN delegation
- We have secured eight espaliered fruit trees for garden fence line
- A fleet of re-engineered bikes have been collected from Wairau Waste Centre, courtesy of Kaipatiki's work to support NHHA to develop its Travel Lightly programme
- We visited Settlers Lifestyle Village team to talk about the upcoming projects, receiving offers of support to grow native grass seeds for planting in 2025
- The education campaign and communication collateral for diverting 55 per cent waste from fill to reactors for composting has been researched, designed and implemented
- Te Hōnonga a Iwi attended the participation culture hui funded by Auckland Council to develop skills and knowledge in promoting community cohesion
- We also attended the Albany Community resilience hui, developing understanding of who we are as a community as we enter into strengthening alliance in preparation for climate adaptation and climate emergency responses
- Te Hōnonga a Iwi coordinator attended Auckland Councils risk assessment training session for the second time in three years to ensure we are current with our risk assessments and H&S planning and implementation.
- Te Hōnonga a Iwi coordinator met with UWEN ahead of developing a new coordinator’s role to ensure succession planning is in place and the work Te Hōnonga a Iwi is undertaking is able to be scaled at pace
- Svea, our chicken expert from Untangled Landscapes, has been generous with her time and resources to teach us how to care for the chooks using regenerative methods.
- Two chicken education sessions have been completed and the team is ready to go to receive the new arrivals
- Matt, Untangled Landscapes, has fitted an autonomic closing door to shield the chickens from unwanted predation from wild cats. The chickens will not have their wings clipped to enable them opportunity to move quickly if they are required to
- Our Robotics team have begun their education around managing a pest line on the western side of Alexander Stream to increase pest animal management as the native bush develops and given chicken food will be on site. We thank Louis from UWEN for his ongoing scaling of pest management across the Albany Basin.
- Phillip has caught two wild cats this month using fresh chicken as bait. We thank Philip and Albany Vets for their work to assess the welfare of the cats and for determining if they are domestic or feral cats.
- Te Hōnonga a Iwi has run 12 working bees this month with volunteers from Wilson School, Rangitoto College, Westlake Boys, Harbour Hockey, Robotics. We thank all our volunteers for the work they achieve for nature and mitigating climate change. In particular, clearing the invasion of pest plants form the chicken enclosure, ensuring water supply for the reactors and chickens, releasing kikuyu from natives, and transplanting 1000 natives into bioorganic compost in readiness for Matariki planting next year has been crucial to complete
- We welcome and celebrate new youth leaders Aubrey, Chris, Navroop, Jocey, Zelie, and Fareh. Thanks especially to you all for you leadership in the project.
- Waste Zero education documents and a session has been delivered
- Youth leader, Liam, attended the second Nationwide Bittern monitor on our behalf
- Six young people are volunteering to teach the Harbour Hockey community how to sort their waste into the 11 new bin categories
- Nicole, teacher at Pinehurst School, was welcomed and orientated to Te Hōnonga a Iwi. We look forward to developing a partnership with Pinehurst.
- The chickens have been picked up from the farm in Waipu and safely transported to their Te Hōnonga a Iwi home! Huge thanks to James from MKM Pasture Farms for gifting us 30 layer chickens who are quickly orientating to their new home and are delightful
- Te Hōnonga a Iwi has received five external volunteer enquiries in October through the website. This is a pleasing result! We welcome volunteers to join us with the restoration work.
- A number of local businesses, Lions and Rotary have been approached to request their support of the development of the new community food garden. If you can help with wood supply, wooden posts, a large water tank, irrigation, permeable pavers, a shed or glasshouse, please contact Nicky on hello@restoringrosedalepark.or.nz.
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