Climate Change theme for Lagoon Field day 2009

The effects of land use on the health of our surrounding lagoons are familiar to the scientists and environmentalists among us but is it as well known to the community?
All is not doom and gloom and there is a light at the end of the tunnel in the form of the Takitumu Lagoon Project Committee which is made up of representatives from CIMRIS of MMR, NES, Agriculture and Public Health who are working with Takitumu environmentalists to restore and protect our lagoons.
Members of the steering committee met on Monday 20 April at the Parekura Conference Centre to update everyone on progress so far.
Original Takitumu community representatives were Alistair Macquarie, Steve Lyons and myself as chairman of AMMAG under the leadership of the former Mayor, Teariki Matenga. This year the group was enlarged to include Muri residents Mii Kauvai, Mann Short, Ata Herman, Teroro Totini to name a few.
This year Lagoon Day will be held on Friday 5 June and Saturday morning 7 June 2009 at Nukupure Park in Muri (Ngatangiia rugby football club).
Activities will include exhibits demonstrating best practices and ways to deal with land based activities and look at solutions to keep the lagoon in good health.
The actions of some in the community are an ongoing concern. These include the indiscriminate use of poisons like anti-herbicides to kill off weeds, allowing pigs to run around the backyard – perfect for the umukai or ceremonial function – or siting pig pens right next to a stream. We pride ourselves that the untreated repo will be washed away not realizing the waste will have the effect of a raw sewage and foul our lagoons.
The poisons that kill our weeds are also toxic to the plants and fish in our lagoon and the piggery waste or untreated human wastewater is full of phosphate and nitrogen which become a type of ‘fertilizer’ to the detriment of the lagoon.
Too much of it and we may reignite the ‘irritant syndrome’ experienced in 2004 in the Titikaveka area to the detriment of our fish and plants further down stream.
Cutting away sloping ground to build our dream homes will cause erosion of the soil that will wash away into our waterways and end up as muddy silt and smother the growth in our lagoons.
We need to work with nature and erecting pole homes where the homes ‘float’ above the ground and have minimal effects on the natural slope of the land are an option to consider. Such ideas are not “pie in the sky”, this writer having lived in a pole design home on the Gold Coast of Queensland in 1985. The technology is available.
If all our collective detrimental actions are not curbed they may destroy the very natural beauty of our lagoons which we take for granted. Gathering fish is no longer recommended unless you want to risk ciguatera. Swimming is not recommended for those with sensitive skins.
Last year, around 800 people including 700 school pupils attended Lagoon Day. This year the committee is expecting even more.
The slogan for the committee this year is “We are the problem – We are the solution”.

Herald Issue 455 15 April
- Powering the Future
- Fiji clamp down a worry for government
- Aitutaki Community Pays Tribute to Retiring Leaders!
- Cook’s to Lose Diverse Personality to United Nations!