275 Times April 2017

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CARING FOR OUR MOANA It was no accident that the first migrants to Aotearoa made their home around the Manukau Harbour. Teeming with bird and sea life, fed by freshwater springs and surrounded by land with rich volcanic soils, the harbour was an ideal place for whānau, hapū and iwi to sustain themselves. 4 By Justine Skilling Talking Rubbish ME Family Services Māngere Mountain Education Centre’s Waimarie McFarland describes the area around the harbour as a “thriving food bowl for those who made it home.” She tells the story of a possible origin of the harbour’s name, when the Tainui waka was carried from the Tāmaki River via Ōtāhuhu. The captain asked one of his men, Taikehu, to see whether there were any people on the harbour, as they could hear loud chattering. “E hara i te tangata he manu kau,” came his reply (“There aren’t any people, only birds”). Kaimoana for all As recently as Waimarie’s grandfather’s time, kina, mussels, flounder, mullet, scallop and oysters could be harvested near Puketutu Island. Tuna (eels) and īnanga (whitebait) could be gathered from the Oruarangi River and from a freshwater well in his backyard at Ihumātao. This was all to come to an abrupt and devastating end in the mid 1900s, with the relocation of Auckland’s sewage treatment plant from Ōrākei to Māngere. In the early days, raw sewage was dumped directly into the harbour, putting an end to the ability of local iwi and other residents to collect kaimoana from the harbour. Development & degradation The growth of industry, agriculture and residential development around the harbour over the past couple of Above: Students from Māngere East Primary help clean up the Māngere Bridge foreshore. Right: Some of the 14,000 litres of rubbish collected around the Manukau Harbour during the Sustainable Coastlines Love Your Coast Clean up in March. hundred years have also taken their toll on the health of our moana. Although there have been vast improvements in sewage treatment processes, and restrictions on dumping industry waste into the harbour, the picture is still far from rosy for New Zealand’s second largest harbour. “THE MANUKAU IS AN AMAZINGLY BEAUTIFUL HARBOUR WITH INCREDIBLE BIRDLIFE.” Auckland Council deems the harbour safe for swimming in but Waimarie still wouldn’t recommend gathering shellfish from the Māngere area. Auckland Regional Public Health Service advises against eating shellfish gathered in any urban areas because of the risk from “illegallydumped contaminants, animal waste, road runoff, industrial discharges, leachate from buried materials and sewage overflows.” Litter and illegal dumping has also become a big issue around the harbour. Helpers get hands-on This year, the international environmental organisation Sustainable Coastlines has selected the Manukau Harbour as the focus of its Love Your Coast campaign for a second year running. “The Waitematā Harbour gets lots of attention, but the Manukau is an amazingly beautiful harbour with incredible birdlife,” says Sustainable Coastline’s Programme Manager, Fletcher Sunde. “It’s become really degraded compared to the other harbour. People have turned their backs on it.” Sustainable Coastlines has been giving educational presentations to schools on the effects of marine litter on wildlife throughout the past month, and has worked with Māngere East Primary, Auckland Seventh Day Adventist College, De La Salle College, Te Kura Māori o Ngā Tapuwae and Viscount School
to do beach clean-ups at Māngere Bridge, Favona and Ihumātao. During the Māngere East Primary School clean-up on the Māngere Bridge foreshore, teacher Malo said “We’re teaching good habits here. This is everyday learning for the kids. Hopefully it’s transferred to home as well.” The children were excited to be outside, hoping to find treasure. “You shouldn’t litter because it might get into the sea and kill the sea creatures,” said one student. “Then, there’d be no more kaimoana to eat. The sea is important to life.” Making an impact The clean-ups ran throughout March, but the tally of rubbish collected at the time of writing was already an astounding 14,000 litres! Sustainable Coastlines will audit and analyse the rubbish and report back to participating schools to let them know what was picked up. During the 2016 clean-up, over 78,000 pieces of rubbish (from takeaway food and drink, households, construction and fishing) were picked up by nearly 1,500 volunteers. Waimarie’s grandfather’s vision was to one day see his descendants able to sustain themselves through food sourced from the harbour again. That vision is what drives Waimarie and others of her generation, who are fighting to hold on to what’s left. “We need to all be mindful that we are just as dependent on the harbour as it is on us. We (humans) are only one part of the picture – and the rest of nature also has a role to play. We need to value our moana for the life it gives us.” HOW CAN YOU HELP CARE FOR OUR MOANA? ÍÍAlways put your rubbish in the bin and pick up any litter you see around the streets. (Street litter goes down our storm water drains and out into the harbour.) ÍÍJoin future clean ups at http:// sustainablecoastlines.org/ ÍÍVisit the Māngere Mountain Education Centre to find out more about the Manukau Harbour and its history. ÍÍJoin the SOUL campaign to protect Ihumātao http:// www.soulstopsha.org/ DE LA SALLE COLLEGE CLEANS UP In March, all two hundred Year 7 & 8 students from De La Salle College took part in a Love Your Coast Beach Clean-up. Following a presentation from marine biologist Fletcher Sunde, the boys took a bus to Māngere Bridge for the practical part: a treasure hunt for rubbish. Armed with bags and gloves, the enthusiastic students found an amazing collection of dumped waste, including a laptop computer, a flat screen TV, a muffler, and a vacuum cleaner, as well as religious icons, tyres and car seats. Providing service to the community is a compulsory part of education at De La Salle. The Beach Cleanup gave the boys an opportunity to contribute their time and energy to the community while also learning a great deal. Above: Students from De La Salle College collect rubbish under Māngere Bridge. MARAMATAKA: April 2017 by Ayla Hoeta Kia ora tātou, we’re now in Matiti Rauangina – the last phase of summer. The identifying star for this period is Whānui (Vega). We notice the temperature cooling and ‘te angina’ – the rhythmic dance of the leaves as they swing and fall from the trees. Berries and fruit start to fill the ngahere (forest) and we prepare our jars for preserving jams, pickles, relishes and sauces. For all their hard work the 200 students were awarded three service-hours each – a total of 600 service hours in the local community. The most important lesson was developing an understanding of how to look after our harbour and how precious it is. When we leave litter lying around, it travels out to sea through drains, streams, estuaries and rivers. Once in our oceans, rubbish harms and kills sea creatures, who get caught in it or mistake it for food. Toxins from plastics poison our seafood, and rubbish on land makes a perfect home for mosquitos to breed and spread disease. The students and teachers of De La Salle College would like to thank Fletcher Sunde, the volunteers from Sustainable Coastlines and the Ōtara-Papatoetoe Local Board, who assisted the school in this valuable community service programme. Key days and activities include: Te Rākaunui – the highest energy day (10 April); Te ra Oike – a day for weeding the garden (13 April); and Tangaroa a mua, Tangaroa a rotoa and Tangaroa kiokio – the best fishing and planting days for the west coast (17 – 19 April). Now I want introduce you to another day from the maramataka: Te ra Whiro (24 April). The best activity for Whiro is rest and reflection. It’s a day for getting rid of the old and preparing to bring in the new energy promised by the strengthening moon phases. It’s pitch black at night so take care and carry a light if you have to be out in the dark. If you’d like a maramataka dial, please message 275 Times on Facebook or email me: ayla.hoeta@ aucklandcouncil. govt.nz 5
Page 1 and 2: EDITION #29 APRIL 2017 275 Māngere
Page 3: Naomi Lange (left) with other membe
Page 7 and 8: FONUA: TURNING THE TIDE ON CLIMATE

275 Times April 2017

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