From Degraded to Thriving: A Catchment Story (EP29 with John Burke)

What happens when one of the Bay of Plenty’s most degraded catchments becomes a restoration success story?

In the 90s, the Te Mania Catchment was a major source of sediment flowing into the Tauranga Moana, with a stream health of 2/10. The stream flowed through Pukekauri Farm, managed by Rick Burke and the Seddon family. And they decided to do something about it.

They began their journey of environmental restoration at the same time as redesigning the farm to maximise productivity. Today, after 25+ years of riparian fencing, wetland restoration, pest control and assisted native regeneration, the same waterway scores a remarkable 9/10.

By slowing water with wetland sponges, planting steep erodible hillsides and stream edges back into native forest, and learning from mistakes like “wrong tree, wrong place,” Rick and, more recently ...