Solution 3

Wider dunes & beaches for increasing property protection and tourism potential.

The use of indigenous plants to restore dune environments commenced as an ecosystem restoration programme - pure and simple. But as beach environments rapidly improved, complimented by early and attendant natural biodiversity gains, another poorly anticipated advantage emerged as these damaged (or relict) coastal margins regained their natural stature and function – increasing protection for coastal property owners.

This situation was further tested by exposure and subsequent increased resilience to storm surges, during active La Niña conditions. These occasionally severe onshore La Niña storm conditions, with wave heights often reaching or exceeding 10metres, formerly created large impacts on these east coast beaches fronting coastal properties. So interest in this aspect of ecological restoration became intense – but now also from concerned property owners who similarly observed the new reality of such major and natural improvements to coastal resilience and erosion protection.

And these people found their earlier preconceptions of the excessively tall steep-sided dunes commonly seen when dominated by introduced plants was simply not occurring with exclusive use of indigenous C4 halophyte species. Rather, exclusive use of these native plants produced a completely different landform – one that is considerably lower in height, and increasingly wider – wide enough to keep the sea at a suitably ‘safe’ distance while ensuring beach pedestrians are also encouraged to maintain some distance. A rapid upsurge of interest by coastal property owners to obtain and plant these indigenous dune species ensued over the next few years. This extraordinarily supportive action by this sector of the Tauranga coastal community culminated in the full restoration of the complete 22km of this entire beach compartment - from Mount Maunganui to Papamoa East - in less than 10 years.

Consequently the local body (Tauranga City council – TCC) was advised of the increasing dune accretion, beach width and resilience of this storm buffer. This positive effect was quantified at a formerly heavily-degraded site – Papamoa Domain beach. Using the sand volume accumulation rate at the Papamoa Domain (22m3/m of beach) and averaging this over the 22km of continually accreting beaches from Mt. Maunganui to Papamoa East, this indicated that nearly 500,000 m3 of fresh sand has been accumulated and stabilised by the indigenous pioneer dune plants since their restoration commenced in 1996. Importantly, restoration of dune ecology is occurring in tandem with this progress. And this reversal occurred while stormy La Niña conditions often favoured the opposite - beach erosion. It should be no surprise then that Tauranga City Council formally increased the width of their 22km length of coastal reserves by 11m way back in July 2009 (and gazetted this new land as a wider Coastal Erosion Risk Zone – CERZ - to prevent privatisation or ‘coastal creep’).

And the residents could not be happier – their ocean views remain uninterrupted due to the naturally low-height of dunes when dominated by indigenous plants, and they now enjoy increased natural security from the effects of coastal erosion.

PAPAMOA EAST DUNE RESTORATION – development impact from the 1958 subdivision, where dunes were bulldozed down and pushed into a back-dune stream, blocking its exit onto the beach.

And now there exists new proof that coastal restoration also aids tourism potential – recent news from TripAdvisor on 18 February 2015 states the following:

Mount Maunganui - best beach in NZ, and … ranked as one of the best beaches in the South Pacific.

TripAdvisor today announced the winners of its Travellers' Choice Awards for top beaches. The awards recognise the best beaches globally.

In New Zealand, Maunganui beach has topped the list for the third year in a row and took out second place in the South Pacific Top 10 Beaches list.

"We loved this beach so much that we came back three times during our short stay in Tauranga. The beach is pristine, and the water inviting. The views are beautiful.''

Consequently there should be absolutely no hesitation where dune restoration is being discussed. Work of this nature has many tangible benefits, with no downsides emerging following 20 years of this experience in New Zealand.