Mangawhai Harbour Restoration Society

06/10/2026

WHAT’S IN A NAME? WE WANT YOUR IDEAS

After more than 30 years of caring for Mangawhai Harbour, we think it’s time for MHRS to find a new name that better reflects who we are and what we do today.

So we’re asking our Mangawhai community to help us find it.

What does Mangawhai Harbour mean to you?

What words, ideas or qualities do you associate with the harbour and the people who care for it?

And is there a name that captures that connection?

This isn’t a naming competition. We want to start a conversation and hear your ideas, whether that’s a possible name, a word, a phrase or simply an idea about what MHRS should stand for.

Email your ideas to [email protected]

Read The Lifestyler’s story about our new name process: https://issuu.com/nsmm/docs/kaipara_lifestyler_october_6th_2026?fr=sZGE2OTg2MDM1OTk

06/10/2026

The people behind MHRS

At the heart of MHRS is a team of local volunteers who give their time, skills and energy to caring for Mangawhai Harbour.

Following our AGM, we’re pleased to introduce your 2026/27 MHRS Committee.

Together, our committee and wider volunteer team have another busy year ahead, from sandspit stabilisation with planting and fencing to channel and mangrove management, along with the many other jobs that help protect the health and resilience of our harbour.



Seated, left to right: Colin Leach | John Pearson | Rosemarie Dunning | Peter Wethey, Chair | Judy Just, Secretary

Standing, left to right: Karen Thompson | Craig Lawson | Stephen Owles | Doug Lloyd | Mike Toepfler

25/09/2026

MANGROVE MANAGEMENT: PROTECTING A HEALTHY HARBOUR

Another season of targeted mangrove management in Mangawhai Harbour is now complete. And the results are worth looking at.

Drive across the Insley Street Causeway and look both ways. The difference is striking.

On the eastern side, towards the sea, there are broad areas of open harbour and free flowing tidal channels.

On the western side, mangroves are now widespread and well established. This Whites Aviation photograph from 1955 shows how much of this area was once open harbour. Today, large areas are densely occupied by mangroves, channels have narrowed and tidal movement has been restricted. The loss of open water and tidal flow has come at a cost: less habitat for fish and shellfish, and ultimately less food and feeding habitat for the birds and wildlife that depend on them.

This is why targeted mangrove management matters.

Mangroves have an important role around the edges of the harbour, where they can help filter sediment and nutrients from land runoff and sequester carbon. The issue is when they spread beyond these margins into open harbour areas.

This season, between April and the end of August, our contractors worked across approximately 39 hectares in MHRS management areas, removing juvenile mangroves.

We have been undertaking targeted management in the eastern parts of the harbour since our resource consent was issued in 2015. Our aim is not to remove all mangroves, but to manage their spread where doing so can help protect open harbour, tidal channels, saltmarsh, kaimoana and healthy tidal function.

And there are already signs of what targeted management can achieve.

At Lincoln Street, where mangroves have been managed, we have seen saltmarsh regenerate. Saltmarsh provides food, shelter and nursery areas for fish, birds and other wildlife, while supporting a rich range of marine life.

We don’t have consent to undertake mangrove management on the western side of the Insley Street and Molesworth Drive Causeways. Our focus is the harbour east of the two causeways, where we can continue targeted mangrove management, protect open harbour and tidal flow, and build the evidence of what works to support a healthy, functioning harbour.

Want to learn more about mangroves in Mangawhai Harbour?
Watch Mangawhai and the Mangroves https://www.kaipara.govt.nz/news/post/780-Mangawhai-and-the-Mangroves?utm_source=chatgpt.com

22/08/2026

Celebrating two very special MHRS members

A huge congratulations to Doug Lloyd and Sue Clayton, who were both recognised at the 2026 Kaipara Citizens Awards for their Extraordinary Long Term Service to the community.

Doug is a long-standing member and committee member of Mangawhai Harbour Restoration Society, and has played a huge part in driving forward the work MHRS does to protect, restore and improve our harbour.

Sue is also an invaluable part of MHRS, managing our website and page, helping keep our community informed and connected.

Both Doug and Sue contribute their time and energy in many ways across the wider Mangawhai community, and it’s wonderful to see that commitment recognised through these awards.

We’re incredibly lucky to have them both as part of the MHRS team.

Congratulations Doug and Sue - thoroughly deserved!

Kaipara Citizens Awards

Yesterday I had the privilege of presenting the 2026 Kaipara Citizens Awards at the Dargaville Lighthouse Function Centre.

We're lucky to have so many local people dedicating their time and energy to enrich our communities, and yesterday was an opportunity to recognise the achievements and contributions of 11 of them across three award categories.

The 2026 award recipients were:

Extraordinary Service by a Newcomer -

Clive Hebben
Colin Jackson
Jemma O’Donnell
Lee Greer

Long Term Extraordinary Service Award -

Doug Lloyd
John Phillips
Stella Clyde
Wayne Price
Sue Clayton

Mayoral award -

Ross Newlove
Mark Farnsworth

Thank you to those who took the time to put forward nominations this year, and a big thank you and congratulations to all the recipients.

18/08/2026

DREDGING SEASON WRAPPED – Keeping Mangawhai Harbour Flowing
The 2026 Mangawhai Harbour dredging season is complete, delivering three important outcomes for Mangawhai Harbour and the sandspit:
 The upper harbour channel remains navigable for local boaties and Coastguard
 Tidal flow is being maintained, helping water and sediment move through the harbour
 Two low-lying areas vulnerable to breach on the sandspit have been stabilised with dredged sand

The 2026 dredging season ran from 1 March to 31 July, outside the Tara Iti (fairy tern) breeding and nesting season. Around 50,000–60,000 cubic metres of sand was dredged from the upper harbour channel and returned to the sandspit. But dredging is about more than keeping the navigation channel open. Mangawhai Harbour
needs to keep flowing.

As mangroves expand, less water moves in and out with each tide, allowing more sediment to settle. Sediment can also enter the harbour from earthworks and development. If this continues unabated, the harbour gradually fills in, reducing the open water and tidal flow that make it a harbour. That’s why MHRS’s mangrove management and dredging programmes are connected. Within consented areas, juvenile mangroves can be removed to help maintain tidal flow, while dredging removes accumulated sand and sediment and keeps the navigation channel open.

This year, dredged sand was placed in two low-lying areas at the north-western end of the sandspit, identified as vulnerable to breach in an Auckland University LiDAR survey. The newly replenished areas have been planted with native spinifex to trap and stabilise the sand. A similar area filled with channel dredgings and planted last year is now well established, with the spinifex helping hold the replenished sand in place.

It’s a practical cycle: keeping the channel open, maintaining tidal flow and putting the sand back where it’s needed most.

11/08/2026

WHERE HAS SPIRIT II GONE?

If you’ve noticed that a very familiar sight has disappeared from Mangawhai Harbour, don’t worry - Spirit of Mangawhai II hasn’t gone far!

A few days ago, our harbour dredger was towed out of the harbour to Marsden Cove, with a helping hand from Mangawhai Coastguard and Kaipara Tow Boats. She’s there for some well-earned TLC - including anti-fouling, painting and the replacement of its old 500hp motor with a newer, gruntier 750hp engine.

Once the work is complete, she’ll be back where she belongs, ready for next season’s channel dredging programme - keeping our channel navigable and putting the sand removed to good use by placing it at vulnerable low points on the adjacent Mangawhai sandspit.

So, if you’re wondering where she’s gone… she’s just having a makeover!

05/08/2026

One of the strongest El Niño weather patterns on record is forecast to affect New Zealand in the coming months, bringing a different set of challenges for Mangawhai’s coastline and reinforcing the importance of ongoing work to protect the spit.

Mangawhai Harbour Restoration Society chair Peter Wethey and volunteers restored 275 metres of fencing along the low-lying harbour-side of the spit recently. Read more: https://www.localmatters.co.nz/environment/spit-protection-in-focus-as-el-nino-looms/

17/07/2026

⚓️ A GREAT NIGHT OF HARBOUR CONVERSATION ⚓️
A big thank you to the Rotary Club for inviting Mangawhai Harbour Restoration Society (MHRS) to speak at The Mangawhai Club earlier this week.

It was a great opportunity to share the story of our harbour and the many ways MHRS and community volunteers are working to care for it. This includes ongoing sandspit stabilisation through dune planting, sand fencing, and returning dredged sand from the channel to low points on the spit, as well as channel and mangrove management. Together, these initiatives support the long-term health, resilience and stewardship of our harbour and sandspit.

The evening sparked plenty of thoughtful questions and discussion, highlighting just how much interest there is in understanding our harbour and the work being done to care for it.

Want to see the full picture? Visit https://www.mangawhaiharbourrestorationsociety.com/ to
explore our Harbour Guardians Infographic and learn more about the work being done to care for our harbour.

If your club, community group or organisation would like to host a Harbour Guardians kōrero and learn more about Mangawhai Harbour and the work being done to care for it, we'd love to hear from you.

📅 More Meet Our Harbour Guardians sessions are being planned – stay tuned!

15/07/2026

🌱MISSION ACCOMPLISHED ON THE DUNES 🌱
Following the success of our recent sand fencing working bee, local volunteers returned to the sandspit for the next stage of the dune stabilisation programme – the annual planting of native spinifex and pīngao around the newly installed fencing.
Working together, the fencing and native dune plants trap windblown sand, helpingto build and stabilise the protective dune ridges that defend our iconic sandspit against major north-easterly storms.
The Results:
✓ 2 morning planting sessions
✓ 22 local volunteers
✓ 3,000 native dune plants planted
Our sandspit continues to lose non-replenishing sand during major north-easterly storms and cyclones. Planting native dune species is a vital part of our long-term strategy to build stronger dunes, trap windblown sand and help protect this natural barrier.
A big thank you to everyone who came along over the two mornings. We couldn't do this work without the support of local volunteers.

15/07/2026

The mighty sandspit: Protecting Mangawhai since ages ago!

Thanks to Mangawhai Harbour Restoration Society for all the hard work they do on behalf of the community, keeping Mangawhai magical.