Caleb Royal and Dr Aroha Spinks are making sure our priorities are heard in the Whaitua Kāpiti working group. Established as a Tiriti Whare Model approach to ensure an iwi lens is applied across discussions around the health of our water ways.

Takutai Kāpiti is the Kāpiti Coast District Council’s community-led coastal adaptation project. Moira Poutama and Mark Taratoa as representatives help to guide council on our response, to the predictions of climate change impacts on our environment and our people.

Caleb Royal and Dr Aroha Spinks worked alongside GWRC kaimahi to conduct a fish survey that targeted the threatened species of Piharau. The success of the project, led by a diverse team, underscores the importance of partnership and indigenous knowledge in conservation efforts.

The Greater Wellington region is awesome, but te taiao is in trouble. Many precious native species, and the places they live in, are still under threat and suffer from decades of being degraded and insufficiently valued. This is despite many restoration efforts by iwi, community groups, landowners, businesses and government agencies. We need to turn the current course around.

Caleb Royal helped to coordinate the mahinga kai habitat restoration project with Greater Wellington Regional Council along the Waitohu Stream. From the planning, selecting plant species to reconstruction of the bank and planting Ngā Hapū o Ōtaki were involved in this project and hope to extend it in 2024.