Help save the Hauraki Gulf

$100 of $25,000 goal

Given by 3 generous donors in one year

The Gulf is a special place for people and nature. But this beloved body of water is suffering. Help us reverse the decline by donating now.

Auckland

Every dollar you donate to help the Hauraki will be matched by Foundation North, dollar for dollar. We're also thrilled to have received a $10,000 donation directly from the Environmental Fund in the Perpetual Guardian Foundation, honouring the legacy of Graeme Hirst Kitney, to kick off our campaign.

Beneath its sparkling blue surface, agricultural runoff, untreated sewage and litter pose a dangerous threat to the ecosystem and the people who live in and visit the Tīkapa Moana / Te Moananui-ā-Toi / Hauraki Gulf.

Luckily there’s a surprisingly easy way to clean up these polluted waters, and you can help: by rescuing and rebuilding the Hauraki Gulf’s mussel beds.

For generations, the Gulf was flush with 1,500 square kilometres of mussel beds and reefs that acted as our own local and natural water purification system. Just one little mussel filters 170 litres of water a day—enough to fill a whole bathtub of water.

But sadly, decades of commercial dredging and overuse have nearly wiped out the Hauraki Gulf’s mussel beds. Now, with increased pollution and almost no mussel beds left, the Gulf is in great danger. And time is running out.

We urgently need your help to bring mussel beds back to the Hauraki Gulf so we can save it!

By restoring the Gulf’s mussel beds, we can start to reverse the damage done. It’s not hard: with each $100 you give or raise you can help rebuild one square metre of mussel bed! In addition to filtering the Gulf’s waters, the mussel bed you help rebuild will provide a healthy habitat for fish, octopus, stingrays, and more.

Pitch in what you can today to help save and rebuild 1,000 square kilometres of mussel beds and reefs in Hauraki Gulf—nearly as many as were there historically.

Your donations go straight to New Zealand’s first-ever conservation Challenge Fund—a partnership between The Nature Conservancy and Foundation North aiming to work towards restoring 1,000 square kilometres of shellfish beds back where they belong. Every dollar you give is matched, dollar for dollar, by Foundation North.

Our taonga (treasure) is dying, and it’s up to us to save it! Please give now.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=95qGahPbuqc&feature=youtu.be

About us

The Nature Conservancy is dedicated to conserving the lands and waters on which all life depends. A global organization guided by science and committed to collaborative and effective conservation, TNC has protected 52 million hectares of lands and waters, and 8,000 kilometers of rivers around the world thanks to one million supporters just like you. TNC established our Aotearoa NZ chapter in 2016 to restore and preserve our country’s precious land, oceans, rivers and native species.

To see our Annual Report, please visit https://www.nature.org/en-us/about-us/who-we-are/accountability/annual-report/

Use of funds

Your donation will help us establish at least three 100-tonne mussel beds, conduct research to increase survival and growth of shellfish beds & support tangata whenua to restore customary shellfish practices and improve environmental conditions.