Entry received from: Tasman District Council
Category: The Minister of Local Government’s Award for Excellence in Council-Community Relations
The internationally significant Waimea Inlet is the largest enclosed estuary in the South Island and home to many endangered and threatened species. Over the past 13 years, Tasman District Council (TDC) and Nelson City Council (NCC) have collaborated with iwi, agencies and groups to protect and restore this taonga.
These key partners are:
- the eight Te Tauihu iwi;
- Department of Conservation;
- Fish and Game;
- Tasman Environmental Trust; and
- Waimea Inlet Forum.
This collaboration enabled the Group to secure $3.2m of government funding to enhance the Inlet. Multiple actions are now implemented every year by a growing number of organisations and volunteers.
Annual monitoring has demonstrated a dramatic increase in the health of the Inlet.
In 2010, a 'Waimea Inlet Management Strategy' was published. This non-statutory document outlined a shared vision for the Inlet. Over the next five years, Waimea Inlet Forum members initiated many discrete restoration projects at various locations around the Inlet.
In 2015, the signatories to the Strategy agreed to form a Waimea Inlet Coordination Group, to better coordinate resources and projects. An Action Plan was developed in 2018 to implement the Strategy, which included many aspirational, unfunded actions.
Thank you to our category sponsor