A multi-agency project in Kaikohe is improving the health of the Tāheke River and empowering jobseekers with valuable work skills.

The project, Punakitere Tumaha, is led by local hapū through the Te Korowai Arahi Charitable Trust, the social development arm of local forestry service provider Johnson Contractors Limited, and is funded by Northland Regional Council and Ministry for Social Development.

Punakitere Tumaha offered ten local jobseekers the opportunity to enter a six-month river restoration contract to clear pest plants from the banks around the confluence of the Otaua River, Punakitere River and Tāheke River.

A key part of the project is giving participants skills for a career in the forestry industry, such as thinning, chainsaw operation, health and safety, and first aid, delivered with a combination of theory and practical training.

Ministry of Social Development Regional Commissioner Graham MacPherson said collaborations such as Punakitere Tumaha are an essential way to connect employers, jobseekers and communities.

“Developing individual skills and capability that will remain in communities where those skills are most needed is how we build resilience.”

Northland Regional Council Biosecurity Manager – Partnerships, Dai Morgan said it was exciting to be part of a project that was building capacity within the Kaikohe community.

“The kaimahi are learning how to do restoration work … this project is a platform for them to learn these skills and keep delivering on future restoration projects.”

For participant Joe Reihana, working to help restore the awa of his whakapapa is deeply rewarding.

“I get up every morning, keen to come to work, and I can see the progress every day. It brings joy to me. I know my tipuna are looking down on me, smiling,” he says. “I’ve fished this river, been tuna-ing in there, whitebaiting, and it’s good to see it all clean. I feel really proud to be part of this roopu.”

Before the project started, the waterways were so badly clogged with privet, crack willows, tobacco weed, gorse, ginger, arum lilies, and other pest plants that the water was barely visible. Now, three months in, the water is flowing freely – and locals are noticing benefits, such as less severe flooding during heavy rains.

Northland Regional Council Pou Tiaki Pūtaiao GM Biosecurity, Don McKenzie, said it was a privilege to work with local kaitaiki to help restore this ecologically and culturally significant area.

“It’s a place of great significance because it’s where the tide from the Hokianga meets the freshwater coming down from Hikurangi and the maunga up there. At the confluence you get big schools of inanga and other whitebait. Culturally it’s very significant for the local hapū too, as the ancestral home of Rāhiri, founding tupuna of Ngāpuhi.”

The project is the first stage of a bigger river restoration vision by the local hapū to replant the area with native riparian vegetation, restore habitat for whitebait, and control animal pests.