Latest news with #LakeŌmāpere
RNZ News
4 days ago
- RNZ News
Reviving Lake Ōmāpere
Next week a group from the Lake Ōmāpere Trust in the Far North will head to Brisbane to present at the World Lake Conference. They were invited based on their plan to return the lake to ecological health. The small rōpū going includes 93 year old kuia Ani Martin, the brains behind the project, travelling overseas for the first time. Lake Omapere Trustee Marise Stuart talks to Susie. Lake Ōmāpere was once known as the food basket of Ngāpuhi. These days it's heavily polluted and mostly devoid of life. Photo: Supplied / Paul Champion, NIWA
RNZ News
23-06-2025
- Health
- RNZ News
Lake Ōmāpere hoped to be restored to former glory
Lake Ōmāpere in March this year, when an algae bloom turned the water a lurid green. Photo: Supplied / NIWA An ambitious plan to restore the health of Northland's largest lake is set to begin within a year, funding permitting. Lake Ōmāpere was once known as the food basket of Ngāpuhi for its abundance of aquatic life, but in recent decades it has become increasingly polluted. It is also afflicted by algal blooms that turn the lake a lurid green and can be fatal to aquatic life. Various attempts have been made over the years to save the 1200-hectare lake, just north of Kaikohe, but the Lake Ōmāpere Trust believes the current plan is different. The Ngā Kaitiaki o Te Roto Ōmāpere Restoration Plan has also caught international attention, with the trust invited to make a presentation to the World Lake Conference in Brisbane next month, even before physical work gets underway. Trustee Marise Stuart said the lake was in a "hyper-eutrophic state", which meant the water was extremely high in nutrients. Those nutrients provided food for microscopic algae which grew rapidly in summer months, causing algal blooms. The blooms turned the water bright green, and - depending on the organisms involved - could be toxic, killing creatures both in the lake and downstream in the Utakura River. Lake Ōmāpere was once known as the food basket of Ngāpuhi. These days it's heavily polluted and mostly devoid of life. Photo: Supplied / Paul Champion, NIWA Stuart said the first bloom occurred in 1984. "Children swimming in the Utakura River became sick. Animals wouldn't drink the water. The shellfish turned bad. It's what you hear about any kind of algal bloom, but it's right here in our backyard, and it's an ongoing issue." Blooms had occurred regularly since then, including in 2018. Tests showed that bloom was not toxic but it still killed a large number of eels, thought to have been caused by a lack of oxygen in the water. Stuart said the lake's decline had taken place within living memory. Trustee Ani Martin, aged 93, recalled the abundance of food the lake used to provide; while her daughter Kay Martin, also a trustee, remembered diving into the lake as a child and seeing tuna (eels) weaving in and out of a thick bed of aquatic plants. Some of the older farmers living around the lake could recall putting their hands into the water and pulling out handfuls of freshwater mussels. Neither the plants nor the mussels survived in the heavily polluted lake today, which had serious knock-on effects. The plants released oxygen while the mussels were efficient filter-feeders that used to keep the water clean. "So that whole biodiversity that was once there is no longer," Stuart said. Utakura Valley landowners Neville and Linda Lewis during an algal bloom in 2018, which turned Lake Ōmāpere's outflow bright green and killed large numbers of eels. Photo: Peter de Graaf The lake's problems began with the removal of the surrounding forest in the 1800s, and had been exacerbated by at least three attempts to lower the lake level, starting with the use of dynamite at the lake's exit in 1905. According to NIWA, the lake was now just 2.6m deep at its deepest point, dropping as low as 1.5m in summer. Previous attempts to clean up Lake Ōmāpere had focused on riparian planting to prevent sediment and pollutants entering the lake. A 2012 plan chalked up some wins, but the farm plans were "not as pragmatic as they could have been" and many were not implemented. The key difference in the latest plan was its focus on sediment already in the lake, deposited there over many decades. Stuart, who has a Master of Science degree from Harvard University, said years of research had shown that unless that layer of nutrient-rich sediment was dealt with, all other interventions would be futile. Therefore the plan would involve "targeted sediment removal" from the lake bed. The dredging would be carried out in combination with building sediment traps, more riparian planting around the lake edge, and wetland restoration. NIWA had also been trialling the use of floating rafts of freshwater mussels, which could help clean up the water. Another difference with previous plans was the "really strong relationships" built up with surrounding farmers, Stuart said. "They want to see the lake improve as well. Some of them were there in the days when the water was clean, so they want it to be restored." There were no plans at this point to raise the lake level, but sediment removal would have the effect of increasing the volume of water it contained, she said. Much fundraising was required but the trust was hopeful of starting work within a year. The project was included in the government's fast-track bill, which could expedite the work - though extensive consultation would still be undertaken. The lake's relatively simple ownership could also streamline the project, Stuart said. Lake Ōmāpere was one of only two lakes in New Zealand where the lake bed and the water were fully owned by iwi. The other was Lake Horowhenua. A dead eel in Lake Ōmāpere's outflow during the 2018 algal bloom. Photo: Peter de Graaf Stuart said being selected for the 21-25 July World Lake Conference was "massive" for "a humble little lake trust". "Experts in lake restoration and water quality from all around the world will be at that conference, so it's a really great opportunity to share our story and have some discussion backwards and forwards. It's an affirmation of the hard work and the robust discussions we've had to get where we are." The Ngā Kaitiaki o Te Roto Ōmāpere Restoration Plan was supported by experts from NIWA and DOC, as well as 2022 Kiwibank New Zealand Senior of the Year Rereata Makiha and internationally acclaimed lake restoration expert Professor David Hamilton. Far North Mayor Moko Tepania said he was excited about the plan's inclusion of green infrastructure, flood resilience and water resilience. Far North Mayor Moko Tepania. Photo: Layla Bailey-McDowell / RNZ Water quality problems were starkly evident in the 2020 drought when attempts by the Far North District Council to use the lake as an emergency water source for Kaikohe failed due to concerns over algal blooms, he said. NIWA chief scientist Dr Erica Williams said the institute was supporting the trust's environmental and water quality goals, and working alongside DOC to bring back species such as the endangered aquatic plant Isoetes kirkii. Hamilton said for too long researchers' philosophy had been "we are the scientists, we know what is best for you". "This approach fails to recognise and engage with community, iwi and policy makers, particularly Indigenous knowledge holders. Hearing about the Lake Ōmāpere restoration plan will provide the global audience with an opportunity to understand a different, Global South perspective." Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
09-05-2025
- Politics
- RNZ News
Hundreds to gather to remember Battle of Te Kahika
Ngati Hine leader Pita Tipene during the 175th anniversary commemorations of the Battle of Ruapekapeka Pā in 2021. Photo: RNZ/Peter de Graaf Hundreds of people are expected to gather at Northland's Lake Ōmāpere on Saturday to remember a battle that event organisers say is as pertinent today as it was 180 years ago. The Battle of Te Kahika, one of the early confrontations of the Northern War, began on 8 May, 1845. Ngāti Hine leader Pita Tipene said British forces were unable to take Hone Heke's pā at Te Kahika but they did inflict heavy losses. The dead included Taura, the son of Kawiti, Hone Heke's most important ally. Saturday's commemorations were due to start at 5am and would include karakia, haka and a re-enactment by more than 100 students from Northland College, Ōkaihau College and Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Kaikohe, with the action illuminated by fires and strobe lights. Spectators would be taken to the pā by shuttle bus from Ōkaihau College starting at 4am, returning to the school afterwards for wānanga and breakfast. Among those sharing their stories would be descendants of those who fought in the battle. Warriors from mass haka group Te Tira Taua advance on a waiting crowd during 175th anniversary commemorations of the Battle of Ruapekapeka Pā in 2021. Photo: RNZ/Peter de Graaf Tipene said the reasons Māori went to war in 1845 were as relevant now as they were 180 years ago. "The motivation for the conflict is what we're putting the focus on. Why were they fighting? And it was all about rangatiratanga and the eroding of Te Tiriti o Waitangi," he said. Tipene said the organisers were deliberately drawing parallels with what many Māori saw as erosion of Te Tiriti today. "As Māori, we've put the muskets and cannons and the other fighting weapons away … but the struggle continues to hold onto our rangatiratanga, our authority, that was promised in Te Tiriti o Waitangi." Māori fought on both sides in the Northern War, so reconciliation was another aim of the commemorations. "There is still some deep-seated bitterness that some Māori in the North were fighting for the British Crown, so talking the truth and being forthright about why that all happened, and what it means in 2025, is also important," Tipene said. Other goals were ensuring New Zealanders knew their own history, and having the Northern War included in the school history curriculum. Tipene wondered if students at Ōkaihau College, for example, were taught about the battle, despite their lessons taking place less than 5km from Te Kahika Pā. "While we rightly commemorate Anzac Day, as we should, other battles, and people who sacrificed their lives, are largely forgotten. So, when we say 'lest we forget', we are already forgetting battles on our own patch." Tipene said there was no obvious sign today of Te Kahika Pā. Hone Heke chose the site on a slight rise for its good "field of fire" across the surrounding terrain. Tipene said the seeds for the Northern War were sown not long after the signing of Te Tiriti. Despite promises they would retain their rangatiratanga, the northern chiefs soon found their authority diminished. For example, chiefs Hone Heke, Kawiti and Pōmare had previously collected anchorage fees from ships in the Bay of Islands, a busy port in those days. However, within months of the Treaty signing, customs officers employed by the Crown started collecting the fees instead, Tipene said. Hone Heke had earlier gifted the timber for the flagstaff atop Maiki Hill in Kororāreka (now Russell) but, as anger mounted, he cut it down three times during the summer of 1844-45. He then travelled to Waiōmio, south of Kawakawa, to seek Kawiti's support for stronger action. He presented Kawiti with a greenstone mere, named Te Mere Whakakopa, but when Kawiti took it out of its kete, he found it was smeared with human excrement. Kawiti understood the symbolism immediately, Tipene said. "The greenstone mere was the authority of the Māori people, and the excrement was the defiling of that rangatiratanga by the British authorities," he said. Members of the New Zealand Wars Re-enactment Society stand to attention during 175th anniversary commemorations of the Battle of Ruapekapeka Pā in 2021. Photo: RNZ/Peter de Graaf On 11 March, 1845, Kawiti, Pumuka and others led an attack on Kororāreka township, while Hone Heke again cut down the flagpole on Maiki Hill. The entire British population fled to the safety of Auckland while the Governor called for reinforcements. Troops sent from Sydney blockaded the Bay of Islands and, on 31 April 1845, attacked Pōmare's pā at Ōtuihu in an attempt to bring the rebels to heel. Ōtuihu is straight across the water from where Ōpua wharf is today. Just over a week later, British forces attacked Te Kahika Pā, which Hone Heke was still building. The battle took place in the open with losses especially high among the defenders. "Kawiti lost his own son, Taura, so it was devastating," Tipene said. "The British also suffered casualties, though not as many, but they were eventually forced to withdraw and returned to the Bay of Islands without taking the pā. It was inconclusive. You could call it a draw," he said. British forces then travelled up the Waikare River to attack Te Kapotai and, in late May, fought a battle at Te Ahu Ahu, just outside present-day Ōhaeawai. The penultimate battle, at Ōhaeawai on 1 July, 1845, was a disaster for the British, who launched a frontal assault against a heavily fortified pā. At that point, Kawiti resolved to take the war back to his own territory, and spent the next six months building Ruapekapeka Pā, south of Kawakawa. The British made the long march inland to Ruapekapeka and eventually took the pā, though not Kawiti or his fighters, on 11 January 1846. Tipene said the theme given to Saturday's commemorations was Te Mere Whakakopa, the name of the greenstone mere Hone Heke gave to Kawiti to symbolise the defiling of Te Tiriti. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
