Background

The Kelp Gardeners project was initiated by a passionate Waiheke local, Mark Russell, who was concerned about kina barrens.

Kina barrens occur when ecosystems are out of balance. They result from the decline of predators that feed on kina, such as tāmure/snapper and kōura/crayfish. Without their traditional predators, kina are able to over-graze kelp forests. When the kelp forests disappear, other reef species are also threatened. The kina from a barren are also small and less succulent.

The Kelp Gardeners project set out to pilot an approach to reverse the occurrence of kina barrens in the Hauraki Gulf Marine Park. The project was designed to test whether a unique approach involving community members to control kina populations can led to the regeneration of seaweed habitat. The project was seen as having the potential to make a positive contribution to the health of shallow sub-tidal rocky reef marine ecosystems within the Hauraki Gulf and to the region’s carbon footprint.

A rigorous research process which measured the presence of kina as well as the regrowth of seaweed and kelp was implemented alongside the Kelp Gardeners project (led by Tim Haggitt).

What happened

The Kelp Gardeners concept was enthusiastically supported by the Waiheke community. It offered an accessible way for local people to engage and participate in active marine regeneration. The project was set up at Enclosure Bay in May 2019, and (almost) monthly dive and snorkel trips were run, removing kina each time, until March 2020 (the COVID-19 lockdown). From October 2020 the project was back in action, running multiple dive and snorkel trips per month. Roughly 100 people participated in these events, and many more benefited from the harvest of kina after each trip.

In 2021, three sailing and surveying trips with SeaStewardship.com were organised which gave 45 people a chance to snorkel and dive in areas they hadn’t previously visited along the island’s northern coastline. They were also introduced to Glenn Edney’s system for community monitoring of the marine environment, Hauora Moana.

Since the Kelp Gardeners Project was developed, the Waiheke Marine Project had come into being and provided a broader and more collaborative and Te Tiriti guided context for marine regeneration work. This created an opportunity for Kelp Gardeners to complement the other projects and activities happening in a whole-of-island marine space. After discussions it was agreed that the Kelp Gardeners Project would benefit from integration with the Waiheke Marine Project. Integration would also help enhance relationships and connection with mana whenua of Waiheke Island, Ngāti Paoa.

The Waiheke Marine Project is a partnership between Ngāti Paoa and the Waiheke community focused on protecting and regenerating the Waiheke Marine environment. The project goals are to:

• To continue awareness raising and have inclusive and consensus driven conversations about the health of the Waiheke Island marine space that encourages critical thinking and whole systems solutions

• To support leadership by Ngāti Paoa and mana whenua priorities for Waiheke Island, actively partnering as Tangata Tiriti and Tangata whenua in the WMP

• To seek, collate and openly share all knowledge streams about Waiheke’s marine environment to empower local decision making for marine protection and regeneration

• To support the build of youth capacity for sustainable environmental care 

• To catalyse, activate, and support actions for local marine environment protection and regeneration

• To develop open-source action and evaluation tools to support self-managed and ongoing marine protection and regeneration actions at Waiheke Island

• To share lessons with others pursuing marine protection and regeneration

• To attract sufficient resources (funding and in-kind support) that can be leveraged to efficiently operate a backbone structure to deliver these goals.

From late 2021, the Kelp Gardeners have run seven dive events (with one specifically for 40 members of Ngāti Paoa) and 2800 kina have been harvested and shared with divers, beach go-ers and Waiheke whānau (#Kina4dinner).

Success

The Kelp Gardeners project has achieved success across a range of areas. It is an example of successful progress towards Ahu Moana.

The principle of developing an Ahu Moana strategy simply requires a system of habitats, ecologies and communities to harmonise and to become self-regulating in order to return to a balanced state. This is what we unequivocally support and set our sights on (Mana Whenua, Waiheke Marine Project).

A key element for the Kelp Gardeners Project has been to ensure that all knowledge is valued. This includes scientific research, local observation, citizen science and Mātauranga Māori. Furthermore, the project now operates from a holistically indigenous perspective to achieve greater empathy for the human relationship to taonga (for example, kina) in the marine environment.

Kina are a taonga species for Māori with their own mauri, mana, and tapū. The Kelp Gardeners agree with Ngāti Pāoa ki Waiheke that they will:

• Incorporate the Maramataka, the Māori lunar calendar, in planning for dive sessions

• Wānanga with them on ways that they can fatten kina if needed or trial shepherding techniques bringing them more into alignment with ahu moana principles

• Take a maximum of up to 50 kina per diver and share every single kina with people who will eat it, either directly or prepare for eating at a later time.

• Any shells will also be disposed of in the hot compost facility at the Piritahi Marae maara where they will be mixed into the composting mix to create soil for growing hua whenua, or vegetables.

• At each dive event, teach divers how to harvest kina safely and to take kina of 6cm or larger (Kina of such size are able to spawn as opposed to being pēpi).

Since its inception the project has regularly featured in local Waiheke media which has increased the awareness of the project and the issues around marine threats, kelp and kina.

The research findings were also positive with declines in the number of kina and increased growth of brown algae in the removal areas compared to the controls (Haggitt, 2022). 

Next steps

Future work may include expanding the removal efforts in keeping with the momentum already established and setting up video stations to document changes over space and time. All future monitoring will be done in tandem with establishing iwi-led tohu (indicators) of change.

Over the summer of 2021-2022, the project has confirmed that the activity of Kelp Gardening (respectful removal of kina to enable seaweed regeneration) is an incredibly powerful pathway for people to learn about and contribute to marine care.

Next steps are to wānanga over ways and means to Kelp Gardeners moving forward. This could include:

• Getting a baseline of the abundance and distribution of kina (barrens and healthy) around Waiheke Island

• Identifying models to pursue for spring 2022 into summer of 2023

• Exploring additional technologies to extend Kelp Gardeners

• Integrating Kelp Gardener activity with other Waiheke Marine Project and Ngāti Paoa ki Waiheke action

For more information:

Link to Phase one of the Waiheke Marine Project Case Study https://www.giftofthegulf.org.nz/waiheke-marine-project

Link to Waiheke Marine Project website https://www.waihekemarineproject.org/new-page

Introduction to Kelp Gardeners project https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ta4abPwM7v8         

References

Haggitt, T. 2022. Enclosure Bay Urchin/Kina Removals - Benthic Sampling Summary: A report prepared for the Waiheke Marine Project. eCoast.