Join our talk Matuku Link "Making Room for Rivers" with expert Tom Kay from Forest & Bird, up only for this week from Wellington!
We’ll start with a very short walk to the Waitakere River to see the effects of the Auckland floods, before Tom Kay will be talking about how the way we have managed our environment has exacerbated flooding and disaster risk, the impact of flood protection engineering on our rivers and communities, and the approach we should be taking instead.
Tom has presented to communities across Aotearoa throughout 2023 and news of the Making Room for Rivers kaupapa and ‘tour’ recently featured on RNZ Saturday Morning. Tom Kay grew up in Hawke’s Bay but now lives in Wellington, where he works as Forest & Bird’s Freshwater Advocate. Tom developed a keen passion for rivers whitewater kayaking on the Mohaka River throughout his childhood and continues to kayak around Aotearoa.
Tom has a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Science and a Master of Science in Ecology from Massey University in Palmerston North – where his MSc research focused on measuring changes in river habitat over time.
He has worked at Forest & Bird for the better part of six years and has also worked briefly as a Policy Advisor at an environmental consultancy, as a field team member in a predator control R&D organisation, and as a raft guide. His current interest is figuring out how to get decision-makers and policy-writers to protect the natural character and habitat of rivers, and make ‘room for rivers’, rather than just focus on water quality, quantity, and flood protection engineering.