Creating a journey, together.
Our Mission
Te Kohuroa Rewilding is a community-led initiative working to creating positive outcomes for our local coastal marine ecosystem (and freshwater catchment) through collective collaboration with iwi, organisations and community.
We are building a ground up ‘Mountains to Sea’ approach to healing Te Kohuroa’s marine environment by creating opportunities for both residents and visitors to participate in long term conservation action. Or project design is based on an inclusive restoration model that brings kaitiakitanga and guardianship to the forefront of our conservation approach.
We believe that by giving Te Kohuroa a helping hand (through well thought out restoration activities), and a voice (by telling the story of the bay, its people and the ecosystem itself) we can raise the wellbeing of the bay.
About Te Kohuroa Matheson Bay
Te Kohuroa coastal inlet is situated within the rohe pōtae of Ngāti Manuhiri, in northern Tāmaki Makaurau. The bay is part of an extensive and interconnected aquatic ecosystem that originates in the hills above the Big Omaha coastline (where the awa begins weaving down through the kauri forest to the wetlands) and ends in the shallow coastal reefs and rocky shoreline of the moana below.
The bay and surrounding environment is a place of importance. It holds the whakapapa of local tangata whenua and the stories of the settlers who have lived and worked in its waters. Historically, it has been a thriving habitat for the intricate ecosystems and the species that reside there, and a source of kaimoana for the local community.
Te Kohuroa is positioned between two significant marine reserves within Te Moananui-ā-Toi / The Hauraki Gulf; Te Hāwere-a-Maki / Goat Island Marine Reserve to the north (established in 1975 as Aotearoa’s first marine reserve) and Tāwharanui Marine Reserve to the south, (established in 2011).
While these protected areas are designed to create an overflow of biodiversity and species (to support the oranga / wellbeing of the surrounding coastlines), western science has documented a steady decline of certain species within the reserves (such as kōura) and they are no longer able to compete with increasing pressure from recreational and commercial fishing practices within the Hauraki Gulf Marine Park.
Today, Te Kohuroa is under immense ecological pressure. It continues to be used as a popular recreation space for residents and visitors all year round, and increasing stress from overfishing, pollution, sediment runoff and water pollution (from surrounding land use) alongside the water temperature increases from climate change, have combined to push the health of the marine ecosystem to a dangerous ‘tipping point’.
We believe in the power of Kotahitanga (togetherness), and that by working together as a collective and honouring our obligations as Tangata Tiriti, we can make a positive difference in the bay.
Our Origin Story
The idea for a marine conservation project at Te Kohuroa / Matheson Bay was brought forward by Frances Dickinson in late 2022. After spending over 290 days freediving along the Big Omaha coastline that year, Frances (an underwater videographer and science communicator) documented the declining health of the coastline and increasing pressures being faced by the marine ecosystems and began sharing her concerns.
In 2023 Frances approached Ngāti Manuhiri Settlement Trust to enquire about the possiblity of a restoration project within their rōhe moana and was encouraged to create a proposal for consideration.
Frances and a small voluntary steering group worked to gather information and build connections with individuals, organisations and community groups who could support a local project focusing on positive outcomes for the moana.
In 2024 Te Kohuroa Rewilding was formed and a Pilot Program for community action is being delivered with assistance from a wide range of supporting organisations from September 2024 to June 2025.
