Looking out over a quiet sea lapping the shore on a sunny day, it is almost inconceivable to think that it is inexorably rising.  The globe is locked into a future of sea level rise of anywhere between 30 cm and 1 metre by 2100, and possibly much higher by that date, if ice sheets in Antarctica and Greenland melt rapidly.  New Zealand, with the ninth or tenth longest shoreline of any nation (by most measures), and a small population that loves living near the coast, cannot afford to ignore this looming problem. 

The Hauraki Gulf, known to Māori (New Zealand’s indigenous people) as Tīkapa Moana \ Te Moananui a Toi, has endured decades of pressure from land-use management, extractive industries and the country’s largest metropolitan centre. These have severely diminished the ecological health of Tīkapa Moana \ Te Moananui a Toi. To help mitigate the decline in ecological health a comprehensive spatial planning exercise has been carried out.

A huge amount has recently been said, written and at times shouted about the long mooted reclamation and expansion project proposed by Ports of Auckland (POA). Actually much has been said, written and shouted about it for many, many years but the sheer multitude and urgency of voices joining the protest now speaks volumes of what we stand to lose should this latest proposal be allowed to go ahead.