By Carmina Blewett
More than 100 hands were on deck on the outskirts of Auckland to launch a multi-year clean up in one of the city's dirtiest waterways.
Volunteers at Papakura Stream. Photo: Conservation Volunteers NZ
The volunteers, worried about the effects developments and industry are having on the environment and water quality, have started to combat the environmental threats with the Papakura Stream Restoration Project.
Siobhan O'Grady from Conservation Volunteers New Zealand said stepping in as soon as they can is vital for restoring the natural habitat of endangered wildlife.
"There's no time like the present... so something really has to happen as quickly as possible while we still have time to protect those taonga species that live in this area, such as the kākā, the longfin eel and there's even long-tailed bats in the area which is really amazing."
The 63-kilometer-long South Auckland awa runs from Brookby to Manukau Harbour via the Pāhurehure inlet.
It is in the project's sights to have five kilometers of it restored in three years' time, having already fallen victim to E. coli (Escherichia col) in its upper reaches, and had previously contained traces of livestock and human bacteria in its tributaries.
On day one, an estimated 1,000 trees went into the ground, set to be followed by around 11,000 by the end of winter.
Several stakeholders are backing project, including Franklin, Papakura and Manurewa local boards, private landowners and corporates.
Behind one of the shovels was Jennifer Evans from the food manufacturer Mondelez New Zealand.
She said it was a prime opportunity for Mondelez to collaborate with Conservation Volunteers again, this time to introduce a sustainable innovation.
"We wanted a project where we could introduce the Future Post fence post ... made out of soft plastics, so we wanted to use this as an opportunity to have another conservation project but also illustrate that soft plastics - once they're collected - are in fact turned into other things such as fence posts, garden boxes and benches."
Around one kilometer of waterway is expected to be fenced off before September.
ACT Environment Spokesperson and MP Simon Court was also contributing to the day's elbow grease, and hopes more projects will be launched to restore other waterways.
He said success will hinge on futuristic vision.
"I've been doing some planting, but also learning from the landowner and the conservation supporters here exactly what all these trees do. I'd like to see streams like the Papakura Stream restored as far as possible, to their original condition, and we can only do that if we take a long term approach, planning 15, 20, 30 years out."
Hands-on efforts are due to run over the next three years, but O'Grady said the team aim to upgrade their mahi annually.
"In the long term, we hope to scale that up every year, get more and more trees in the ground... Everybody can help by volunteering, getting involved in their community, keeping an eye on their water."
