Nelson City Council’s Planning and Regulatory Committee has recommended that Council adopts the Waimea Inlet Action Plan and agrees to lead or support the implementation of some of its targets.

The Waimea Inlet, which lies within both Nelson and Tasman Regions, is the largest semi-enclosed coastal inlet in the South Island and has international and national importance as a site for migratory birds.

The Waimea Inlet Management Strategy (WIMS) was developed in 2010 to coordinate a cross-regional approach for the care of the Inlet. The four signatories to the strategy are Nelson City Council, Tasman District Council, the Department of Conservation and Fish & Game.

The wider Waimea Inlet Coordination Group, which includes the four signatory agencies plus the Waimea Inlet Forum (WIF), Tasman
Environmental Trust (TET), Ngāti Tama, Ngāti Rārua and Te Ātiawa, has developed the action plan. Each of the signatories to the strategy will take responsibility for leading or supporting actions.

Nelson City Council has agreed to lead or support a range of actions, including:

• Restoring freshwater ecosystems
• Managing biodiversity threats
• Managing the threat of climate change and sea level rise on natural ecosystems through adaptation
• Promoting ecologically sustainable uses of the Inlet and its environs
• Ensuring the ecological health of the estuary is sustained through a five-yearly cycle of broad-scale habitat monitoring and estuary vulnerability assessment.
• Increasing the area of saltmarsh, naturally-vegetated dune-land and estuary margin in the Waimea Inlet

Nelson Mayor Rachel Reese says that by supporting these actions Council is demonstrating its commitment as a collaborative partner of the Waimea Inlet Action Plan.

“Council recognises the need for a collaborative approach to ensure that we can achieve the best environmental outcomes for the Waimea Inlet.”

“The inlet is of international significance as an estuarine environment. It’s an important habitat for rare and threatened native plants and animals and for migratory wading birds and coastal wetland birds.

We all need to do our best to restore the health of the inlet.”

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