SCANZ2013:Sustaining Waitara Waterways

Sustaining Waitara Waterways

Authors: Margaret Smith, Fiona Clark

Abstract
In February 2012 the Friends of Waitara River/Ngaa Hoa Piri o te Muriwai o Waitara set up camp by the Waitara river mouth to raise awareness of pollution affecting the river and the northern Taranaki coastline, with particular focus on the Waitara Marine Outfall and how sewage and industrial waste in our water breaches the Treaty of Waitangi. Rather than spend too much time and money in the Environment Court advocating for the needs of our environment we decided to camp and enjoy our environment, to raise awareness with the locals who care about our place. We included history displays and tour, information stalls, speakers, DVDs, music, art, waka ama and knitting slippers. For the report by Taranaki Daily News go to: http://www.stuff.co.nz/taranaki-daily-news/news/6373470/Protesters-we-come-in-peace

For February 2013 we plan to camp again at the Waitara river mouth to raise awareness for the same reasons in similar ways. However from our debrief meeting we have decided to include more sustainable practices and more information sharing, such as cooking without power or gas and involvement from a wider range of environmental groups. We plan to demonstrate how we can reduce our reliance on power companies and build communities who take responsibility for managing environmental resources for generations to come. The philosophies we hold are part of world-wide movements to develop communities with more sustainable practices. The Transition Network across the globe has similar purposes as it supports community-led responses to climate change and shrinking supplies of cheap energy, building resilience and happiness. See http://www.transitionnetwork.org/ for more information on the transition movement.

We would like to be involved in SCANZ to present our solutions to modern day problems of balancing economic and environmental sustainability.