A weeding and planting working bee was held at Taipā on 17 and 18 July, with Parapara Marae volunteers and Kaitiaki o Tokerau rangers.

The working bee planted spinifex and pīngao at the Taipā Point end of the beach and weeded the dunes to remove invasive plants like kikuyu and buffalo grass.

Spinifex and pīngao are native sand-binding plants that build up sand dunes by reducing wind erosion and loss of sand. They help speed recovery of dunes after storms. Native sand-binders struggle to compete with introduced weeds and grasses, leading to loss of protective function and biodiversity values in the dunes.

The working bee was open to everyone, including tamariki, kōhanga and marae. The community has been working on restoring and protecting the dunes at Taipā for two decades, with some of the tamariki originally involved now grown-up and with children of their own. Good progress was made with planting and weeding at the July working bee and community spirit was evident in abundance as everybody dug deep for their whenua.

Watch the mahi in action on Te Hiku TV, with Laura Shaft, NRC Coastcare and Tinalee Yates, Ngāti Tara, explaining the purpose of dune restoration and the progress made at Taipā over the years.

Watch | NRC Taipa Dune Education video at: tehiku.nz

Tinalee Yates talks to Te Hiku TV in more detail about the mahi and issues a call to action to other hapū to come and support the Taipā Sand Dunes Restoration Project. Watch it here:

Watch | Ngāti Tara Protecting Taipa Sand Dunes video at: tehikunz

Hikitia Hika, organiser of the event, gave an interview to Te Hiku Radio about planting the dunes to slow down coastal erosion and the ongoing mahi at Taipā and Tokerau Beach. She also talks about the involvement of Taipā Area School and the support of Betsy Young, “the Queen of the Pīngao”, over the years. Listen to her interview with Te Hiku Radio:

Listen | Taipā sand dune planting interview with Hikitia Hika at tehiku.nz

Learn more about protecting the dunes and how you can help at: www.nrc.govt.nz/sanddunes