Ki uta ki tai – from the mountains to the sea - the health of our waterways impacts all life.
With less than 50 Māui dolphins remaining, Pōpoto, Māui Dolphins sadly hold the #1 place on our Top 50 Endangered Species List.
These precious marine mammals, some of the world's smallest and most endangered dolphins, face immense threats from harmful fishing practices to toxins that flow to the sea from our streams and rivers.
Empowering Communities to Take Action
To raise awareness and empower people to restore waterways and protect ocean habitats, we're adding Māui and Hector's Dolphins to our new Awhi Awa | Embrace a Stream kete. With your help we can create resources to educate and inspire coastal communities to make a difference for these taonga species which only live here in Aotearoa NZ.
Our Awhi Awa project highlights how we can restore our waterways to improve habitats for some of our most endangered species. As part of this, we are developing a new Māui and Hector's Dolphin resources, including signs crafted from recycled stainless steel, fact sheets and posters with practical steps on what we can all do to bring about much needed, urgent change.
We need help to create these resources and are asking for donation which will enable us to:
Create educational materials for Māui and Hector's Dolphins
Produce Māui and Hectors metal signs made of scrap stainless steel
Deliver workshops across the country
Empower schools, communities and businesses to take action
Campaign and advocate for stronger freshwater and ocean protections
Highlight the key issues Māui and Hector's dolphins face and the solutions.
Support the latest research and share the best ways of making an immediate impact.
Stronger Protections Urgently Needed
It's heart breaking to know that these precious dolphins, are being caught as bycatch due to trawling being permitted within two nautical miles off-shore - exactly where they live. Since 1 October 2022, 77 Māui and Hector's dolphins have been reported dead. In the last year, on at least four occasions, fishing boats have killed at least one Hector's dolphin, then gone back out and killed them again.
With your support we will engage with communities and key organisations to increase awareness and empower action, so together we can create a future for Māui and Hector's dolphins where they can survive and thrive.