New regional fund aims to restore our natural environment

Five lucky community groups are receiving funding from Greater Wellington Regional Council to restore native plants to areas around the Te Awarua-o-Porirua Harbour catchment. The new GWRC Te Awarua-o-Porirua Harbour Catchment Community Restoration Fund was recently set up to support volunteer groups who want to make a difference in their local area.

Barabara Donaldson, Regional Councillor for the Porirua/Tawa constituency, says "GWRC recognises that there are lots of clever, motivated people out there who share our passion for the restoring the environment. We want to help these people restore their local areas so our native ecosystems can flourish. A healthy environment means healthy people, and native ecosystems keep our waterways and harbour healthy. Native plants help keep soil and pollutants out of waterways, which means we can all enjoy our streams and the harbour safely."

The following community groups are receiving funding to restore their local areas: 

• Aotea Conservation Volunteers to restore the Aotea arm of Bothamley Park
• Duck Creek Community Care Group to restore the Duck Creek Scenic Reserve wetland
• Kahotea Stream Restoration Group to restore the Kahotea Stream where it runs through Onepoto Park
• Keep Porirua Beautiful to restore Thompson's Gully
• Woodridge Planters to grow native plants in their community nursery to plant alongside Belmont Stream and its tributaries, which joins the Porirua Stream to flow into Te Awarua-o-Porirua Harbour. 

Anyone wanting to get involved any of these restoration projects should contact the council on Biodiversity@gw.govt.nz, or call Jo Fagan 04 830 4061.

Fund applications will open again in October to support more interested community groups who can show their activities will make a difference. This is one of the ways GWRC is implementing the Te Awarua-o-Porirua Harbour and Catchment Strategy and Action Plan. The plan outlines how different Councils and agencies in the catchment are working together to improve the health of the Te Awarua-o-Porirua Harbour.