An annual highlight of the Pest Free Auckland calendar, Pestival 2018 will be held on Saturday 15 September, at the start of Conservation Week, in the Aotea Centre (Auckland CBD).
To register, go here.
This year at Pestival we will:
show case community-led conservation activity
introduce new innovations and best practice methods
introduce council’s proposals for expanded work programme funded by the Natural Environment targeted rate including amplifying community-led conservation initiatives.
Earlier this year, Project Forever Waiheke consulted with the Waiheke community, through a workshop and a community survey, to get your views on tourism and development on the island.
Based on that consultation, we have produced two documents for Waiheke Islanders and other interested people.
Read MoreA marina at Kennedy Point on Waiheke Island has been approved by the Environment Court.
The decision released by Judge Laurie Newhook on May 30 is a devastating blow to SKP (Save Kennedy Point), the community group that has fiercely opposed plans for a 186-berth marina and floating car park for 72 cars.
Read MoreForever Waiheke is launching on February 16 to help protect the island from the down sides of tourism.
The project aims to develop a sustainable tourism strategy for Waiheke Island, which is visited by more than a million people a year.
Forever Waiheke convenor Pam Oliver said the project will be run under the auspices of the United Nations World Tourism Organisation, as part of an international network of sustainable tourism projects.
Read MoreWith more than a million visitors coming to Waiheke Island a year, it's possible to get too much of a good thing.
That's why a group of residents plans to start a project monitoring the impacts of tourism.
Read MoreOriginally published on Radio NZ - 20 May 2017
A group of Waiheke Island residents are fighting plans for a new marina they say will be a "floating carpark" for rich boat owners.
Photo: Photo: 123RF
Independent planning commissioners at Auckland Council this week approved the application by a private developer to build a 186-berth marina, seawalls and floating carpark, at Kennedy Point Bay.
About 80 percent of the 169 submissions made on the application were either fully or partly opposed.
Waiheke Local Board chair Paul Walden said some residents believed the marina would be an eyesore, environmentally dubious and would only benefit wealthy boat owners.
Modifications to the application could be made to make the marina more appealing, he said.
A "floating carpark" did not match the aims of the Hauraki Gulf Marine Park law, which identified the islands and biodiversity of the area as being of national significance, he said.
However, he said the applicant, Tony Mair - a civil engineer and marina specialist - had been "very mindful" of concerns around dredging on the seafloor by creating a marina that would not require that process.
The pontoons would be manufactured overseas and towed to the site, meaning minimal construction activity, Mr Walden said.
Residents opposing the development were likely to take it to the Environment Court as the consent could set a precedent for more marinas to be built around the island, he said.
-RNZ
Around 150 vocal protesters have blocked tourists on Waiheke Island from travelling by bus to the island's main centre.
Read More
A community-led initiative committed to developing sustainable community and tourism strategy for Waiheke Island, and to monitoring tourism impacts.
