Protecting our beaches together
Coastcare groups are partnerships between the local community, iwi, district councils and Waikato Regional Council, working together to protect and restore our precious coasts.
We have many Coastcare groups, caring for approximately 24 beaches on the east and west coasts of the Waikato region.
Why we need Coastcare groups
Many of us love spending time at the beach. During summer many of our region's coastal towns and beaches become crowded with visitors and holiday-makers. Unfortunately, as our beaches become more popular and coastal development increases, the natural character of many of our region's beaches degrades.
Coastcare groups are made up of people who care about a particular area of coastline. They work together to help protect and care for it.
Across the region volunteers spend up to 1500 hours planting over winter months, but also carry out a range of other work aimed at protecting coastlines, including:
- building access ways, fences and boarded pathways so people can get to and from beaches more easily and without trampling dunes
- controlling pest plants and animals
- installing signs
- speaking to other community groups and running educational seminars
- monitoring beaches for changes or problems that may need their attention.
- Making a deposit in Raglan sand bank
- Ocean and community dynamics at play in dune restoration
- Unconventional approach taken to tackle ‘difficult’ dune
- Cyclone adds to ‘problem of not enough spinifex’
- Science of dune restoration pays off after summer cyclones
- Climate change research project taps experiences of Coastcare volunteers
- Kaitiaki approach helps rare sand daphne
- Seed collectors await plants' return in battle to protect coast