Tauranga is a city that values our natural environment and outdoor lifestyle, and actively works to protect and enhance it Toitū te marae a Tāne, toitū te marae a Tangaroa, toitū te tangata. If the land and sea are sustained so too will the people.
This outcome is a reflection of active exercising of kaitiakitanga, or stewardship of our natural environment. Taurikura means to be prosperous, or can describe a thriving environment - he whenua taurikura. The use of the name also acknowledges our tupuna kaitiaki – Taurikura. In her story, we see the carving out of our local landscape, highlighting the intrinsic relationship we have with the environment and reflects also the seniority of the natural environment in our genealogy or whakapapa. This reiterates our responsibility of care for the taiao, as our senior, who in turn care’s for the people and our future generations.
Success looks like
- Thriving nature and biodiversity at the heart of our communities.
- We are a low emissions and climate resilient city.
- We are a water sensitive city.
- Our city’s built environment supports the wellbeing of our natural environment.
- Our communities value resources in a circular economy.
Council will contribute by
- Increasing the range/diversity of indigenous flora and fauna across the city and protecting their natural habitats; greening our city by increasing tree canopy cover and urban forest across the city; and finding the right ‘fit’ for nature and biodiversity in our urban context.
- Driving ongoing reductions in greenhouse gas emissions (particularly in transport); identifying and addressing key climate risks to the city; and implementing climate resilient development that integrates emissions reduction and resilience.
- Embracing the principles of Te Mana o Te Wai to protect and restore the health and wellbeing of our streams, rivers, wetlands and harbour, be efficient in our use of freshwater, and take an integrated approach to water management.
- Showing environmental leadership by considering the tensions between the goals for the built and natural environment in our decision-making processes to achieve positive outcomes for our natural environment in the design, development, and management of our built environment.
- Valuing our resources as taonga, promoting and supporting sustainable waste management, and driving actions to transition Tauranga to a circular economy.
Council’s key moves now to 2031
- Managing reduction of greenhouse gas emissions through implementing a Climate action and investment plan.
- Developing and implementing an action and investment plans for Nature and Biodiversity.
- Delivering on our 30-year water supply strategy and 10-year water supply plan to investigate future supply opportunities and mitigate expected water shortages.
- Implementing the 2022-2028 Waste Management and Minimisation Plan.
- Encouraging a more consistent approach to waste education and behaviour change programmes based around a circular economy.
- Improving walking and cycling facilities through the Accessible Streets programme, and improving public transport facilities and upgrades to core transport corridors across the City, $2b.
- Strengthening our ability to cope with natural hazards like tsunamis, floods, landslides, erosion and sea level rise,$296m.
- Supporting development of iwi and hapū management plans.
- Continuing to implement the 315 projects identified to improve our city’s resilience to natural hazards via the Infrastructure Resilience Project, $550-650m.
How our approaches support an inclusive city