Image: David Schmale ©

Lake restoration framework 

Aim

We are developing a framework to evaluate which restoration methods best suit individual lakes and ensure efficient use of limited resources. 

Socio-economic influences

We’re undertaking a review of Aotearoa New Zealand’s lake restoration history. We’ll explore how decisions by communities, iwi, resource managers, and policy interventions at central and local government levels impact the success of lake restoration projects.

Measuring restoration outcomes

The outcomes of recent lake restoration projects are being evaluated using our holistic lake health approach.

This provides an in-depth understanding of how different restorative actions impact whole lake ecosystems, cultural health recovery and restoration success.

Lake restoration framework

We are developing a consistent and flexible framework for screening and selecting lake restoration methods. This approach is helping us determine suitable restoration methods for any given lake and ensure the effective use of available resources.

Food web restoration 

We're using eDNA from sediment cores to determine which species have been lost from a lake and in what order. We will use this information to guide decisions about which species should be introduced back to a lake and in what order.

Freshwater kōura/crayfish are an important mahinga kai species for Māori.

Image: Dave Allan

Lake Waikare

Waverley

Lake Tahaaroa (Waikato)

Tahaaroa

Lake Rotongaro

Ohaki

Lake Taharoa (Northland)

Dargaville

Lake Roe

Fiordland National Park

Voss Lagoon

Tiakitahuna

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