Date:  21 December 2017

Te Aitanga ā Hauiti Centre of Excellence received $25,000 from the fourth round of the DOC Community Fund.

DOC's East Coast Operations Manager, John Lucas, says this funding will help the community enhance and protect the nationally important Opoutama Cooks Cove including Titirangi Station, Pourewa Island and Kaitawa Estuary.

"These areas have extremely high natural, recreation, historic and cultural values so it's critical they be preserved for the benefit of future generations," says Mr Lucas.

Chairman of the Hauiti Incorporation, Grant Amaru, says the funding will build on the work the incorporation and Ūawanui Project have done planning long-term environmental management across Titirangi Station and restoration planting.

"We'll use this money for a community weed control framework so we can plan and begin work on ecological weed control around important areas of Opoutama Cooks Cove and Titirangi Station. It will benefit the knowledge and skills across the community."

The project areas contain important coastal forest and scrubland vegetation remnants. The estuary is also habitat for the New Zealand dotterel, bittern and a range of other wading species.

The track to Opoutama Cooks Cove from Tolaga Bay wharf also has a high cultural importance to Te Aitanga a Hauiti, as it contains Titirangi te maunga, and Opoutama Cooks Cove.

The latest DOC Community Fund funding round has granted a total of $4.2 million to support 112 community conservation projects around the country.

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