In this issue:

• SWG Independent Chairman’s update
• Hauraki 100+ events
• SWG update
• Mana whenua update
• Around the Gulf

Tēnā koutou

During the last couple of months the Stakeholder Working Group as been meeting in small groups to consider  options and potential solutions that have come out of the scientific and community consultations of the last two and half years. Their recommendations are presented to the whole SWG at our monthly meetings for further discussion and, once agreed on, will be included in the marine spatial plan. Many of these recommendations have the potential to be well-grounded game changers for the Hauraki Gulf.  We are continuing to work through topics such as mātauranga Māori, biodiversity, aquaculture and water quality.

Planning is underway to hold Hauraki 100+ events in Auckland (May 3, Auckland Museum auditorium) and Thames (May 5, Thames racecourse). These will provide an update on how people’s input from Listening Posts, Roundtables and hui-a-iwi has influenced the development of the plan and the direction of the discussions to date.

Space is limited so please register here if you’d like to attend.

The Stakeholder Working Group met in Whitianga this month to further their work on water quality, fish stocks, aquaculture and biodiversity. The Informer was there to photograph the group, running a story on the three Mercury Bay locals in the group on its front page.

The Mātauranga Māori Representative Group (MMRG) has been very busy this month having hosted a hui-ā-iwi to check in and seek guidance from mana whenua o Tīkapa Moana/Te Moana Nui-ā-Toi to further their work on spatial mapping, customary fishing and kaitiakitanga. There was great discussion of the strength of the marine spatial plan when completed and how it can proactively support iwi/hapū aspirations. 

MMRG also convened their monthly meeting on Monday 3 April to discuss reporting strategy for the April SWG meeting in Whitianga.

Since late 2013, a partnership led by Mana Whenua and central and local government has been working on Sea Change – Tai Timu Tai Pari, a marine spatial planning initiative designed to produce a Marine Spatial Plan that will secure a healthy, productive and sustainable future for the Hauraki Gulf/Tikapa Moana. The Sea Change – Tai Timu Tai Pari Hauraki Gulf/Tikapa Moana Marine Spatial Plan aims to: 

• improve the understanding of the pressures on the Hauraki Gulf/Tikapa Moana
• identify long-term solutions
• provide increased certainty for the economic, cultural and social goals of our community
• ensure the ecosystem functions that make those goals possible are sustained.

Early in the project, the Stakeholder Working Group tasked with developing the plan agreed on a vision for their work. The SWG aims to develop a Marine Spatial Plan that will achieve a Hauraki Gulf/Tikapa Moana that:

• is vibrant with life and healthy mauri
• is increasingly productive
• supports healthy and prosperous communities.

Email us: contact@seachange.org.nz

Join us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SeaChangeNZ

Visit our website: www.seachange.org.nz