This story was first published by The Hui
A whānau from the small settlement of Te Rangi in North Hokianga is sounding the alarm over what they warn could see kōiwi falling into the harbour.
Following a series of significant weather events in the district, they say it is only a matter of time before the unthinkable happens.
Hinemoa Cameron, principal of the local Mātihetihe kura and kaikaranga for her marae, says the whānau have explored options to protect the urupā, but choices are limited, an issue she says will affect many.
“I don’t want my mum to end up in the harbour.” Hokianga settlement, desperate to stop kōiwi falling into the harbour," she said.
The whānau have considered several options over time, including relocating the urupā across the road.
“We always say moe mai koe i tō moengaroa. But it won’t be a moengaroa if we’re moving them. And what keeps playing on my mind is, how do we let them rest if we’re going to move them?”
They say they have exhausted most options, from building a retaining wall which may not be a long-term solution to planting native bush along the shoreline in an effort to slow erosion.
Coastal erosion is increasingly affecting communities in Hokianga and across the country.
Far North District Council Mayor Moko Tepania, who has whakapapa ties to the area, says the risks are immediate.
“This is really tough. We are trying to plan with our communities for what this is going to mean in 100 years time, and we’ve got communities in the Far North who are experiencing this first hand, right now, with the risk of having our kōiwi put out into the harbour because of the effects of climate change and severe weather events.
“So this is a really hard conversation to have, but I think we have to be brave in our conversations about what it means and the decisions that we are going to have to make.”
The Far North District Council has adopted a climate resilience programme to accelerate protection work.
The plan is structured around three pou: community adaptation planning, which develops collaborative, place-based responses to major risks like coastal erosion and flooding; tangata whenua-led adaptation planning, supporting Māori-led approaches grounded in mātauranga Māori; and community adaptation toolkits, providing practical resources to help communities across the Far North begin and guide their own climate adaptation planning.
For more, watch the interview above.
