Mahurangi East Land Restoration Project
MERRA has been working with the Mahurangi East Land Restoration (MELR) project to coordinate access to funding for native plants for Scotts Landing landowners wanting to restore smaller areas of land on their property. To date, the programme has funded around 6,000 native plants on 23 properties at Scotts Landing.
MELR is a $5 million, 5-year long programme aimed at reducing sediment entering the Mahurangi River and its harbour. Auckland Council and Ngāti Manuhiri Settlement Trust have partnered to design and deliver the programme, which is funded by the Ministry for the Environment’s ‘Jobs for Nature’ fund. Click here for details.
Funding and support is available for community groups and landowners for fencing of waterways, riparian plantings and wetland conservation and development.
In 2022, MERRA applied as a community group and received funding for 3500 plants which were distributed to 10 landowners. In 2023, a further 2500 plants have been funded, for 13 landowners. Held collectively, these smaller restoration projects can have a big impact on erosion control and biodiversity.
To be eligible land must have erodible areas or waterways in the Mahurangi Catchment. Property owners are responsible for their own planting and maintenance with the support and advice of the MELR team.
For more detail on the MELR and MERRA’s involvement, click here.
If you would like to discuss the project or apply for some plants for next year, please click here to email the MERRA local network coordinator.