Bay of Plenty Regional Council is working with iwi, landowners, communities and territorial authorities to protect and restore the Rangitaiki River catchment and its environment.

A new programme to protect and enhance the Rangitaiki River and its catchment was approved by the Bay of Plenty Regional Council's Regional Direction and Delivery Committee recently.

The Rangitaiki River Catchment annual work programme is an initiative established to meet the community's expectations for the health of the Rangitaiki River catchment.

It was approved in Council's Long Term Plan 2015-25 and links to the Rangitaiki River Forum and its approved river strategy, Te Ara Whanui o Rangitaiki – Pathways of the Rangitaiki.

'Having the work programme approved is a big step forward for the Rangitaiki catchment,” Regional Council Catchment manager Simon Stokes says.

'Efforts to protect and enhance the river environment are ongoing, and this dedicated programme is testament to how seriously we take this work. It also gives Council and partners a clearer picture of what our goals are – and of how we achieve them.”

The programme co-ordinates and prioritises all Council's work related to the Rangitaiki River catchment.

It will cover all significant activities in the catchment, including work across the policy and planning, science, pollution prevention and maritime teams, and outlines Council's projects, budgets and deliverables for the next financial year.

'Council intends to develop the programme to include our partners from the Rangitaiki River Forum, enabling a collaborative and adaptive management approach to managing the river catchment environment,” Simon says.

The catchment programme details all operational activities such as biosecurity, coast care and sustainable land management.

Key work for 2015 and 2016 includes continuing science efforts to understand the state of the river environment, managing and implementing Coastcare programmes including dune restoration, supporting the Rangitaiki River Forum and working with iwi, landowners, communities and territorial authorities to protect and restore the catchment environment.

'We will seek confirmation and commitment from our partners regarding other actions in Te Ara Whanui o Rangitaiki – Pathways of the Rangitaiki this year.

"Eventually this will mean we can report on a work programme that covers activities by all strategy partners to provide an overall picture of our work in the catchment."