Restoring Sealife — Project Dashboard

Urgent sites

Whangaparāoa — act now

Pilot sites

Scoping phase

Contacts mapped

Across 6 categories

Open actions

This week

Whangaparāoa — window open now

Rockpool harvesting ban active March 2026. Ngāti Manuhiri rāhui in effect. Community is mobilised and looking for constructive action. This is the strongest public narrative moment. Position seapods as "building the rockpools of tomorrow."

This week

Coffee with Becky — Mountains to Sea

Goal: confirm interest level + get intro before her contact leaves

Send email to Alex Goad — Reef Design Lab

[email protected] · draft ready in Email Drafts tab

Outreach to Revive Our Gulf — Katina Conomos

Two versions ready · lead with Version B (punchier hook)

Connect with Tom Wilde — WSP coastal team

LinkedIn · Tauranga project lead · engineering pathway

In progress

Identify iwi cultural advisor

Required before any site-specific council conversations

Map council infrastructure calendars

Auckland, Tauranga, Northland long-term plans

Define commercial model and fee structure

Critical — define before doing more free origination work

Strategic framing — use these in conversations

"Restoring the Gulf from the seafloor to the seawall" — Revive Our Gulf below, Restoring Sealife above. The complete Gulf restoration story.

"They protected the rockpools that remain. We're building the rockpools of tomorrow." — Whangaparāoa framing. Use in media and community contexts.

"Swim the Coast, Restore the Coast" — Jono Ridler campaign concept. Each km of swim funds 1m² of living seawall habitat.

Rockpool ban active Ngāti Manuhiri rāhui Media story running

Government-enforced two-year ban on taking marine life from rockpools came into force March 2026, following Ngāti Manuhiri application. Covers exactly the species that colonise habitat panels — kina, pāua, sponges, sea anemones. Community mobilised. A charged and sensitive context requiring careful navigation.

Installation site

Whangaparāoa Marina

Key partner

Ngāti Manuhiri Trust

Status

Outreach needed

RNZ coverage

Live — rockpool ban story

Poor Knights gateway Dive community Strong narrative

Adjacent to Poor Knights Islands Marine Reserve — world-class biodiversity. Active dive and conservation community. Strong sponsorship narrative. Marina infrastructure in place. Visually compelling site for campaign photography and media.

Council

Northland Regional / Whangarei DC

Funding pathway

Foundation North

Status

Scoping

Iwi

To identify

Urban biodiversity Tourism location Adopt a Seapod

Largest public audience. Viaduct Basin and waterfront infrastructure managed by Waterfront Auckland. Year-round public engagement. Strong candidate for "Adopt a Seapod" community sponsorship activation. Auckland Council and Waterfront Auckland as potential site owners and co-funders.

Site owner

Waterfront Auckland

Iwi

Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei

Funder pathway

Auckland Foundation / BNZ

Status

Scoping

100 seapods installed WSP pathway proven Battershill monitoring

Only NZ installation to date. 100 seapods installed 2024 as part of $84m waterfront rejuvenation. Tauranga City Council commissioned, Port of Tauranga co-funded, WSP designed. Panels manufactured locally using moulds shipped from Australia. iNaturalist project live.

Science lead

Prof. Chris Battershill

Engineering

WSP NZ

iNaturalist

Live project · public

Species found

Glass shrimp, cushion stars, bryozoans, triplefins

Consent and timeline reality

Coastal installations require resource consent under the RMA. Lead times of 12–24 months are realistic. Factor this into site prioritisation.

All coastal projects require tangata whenua engagement under Te Tiriti. Non-negotiable. Engage cultural advisor before any site-specific council conversations.

Council funding sits within infrastructure budgets and long-term plans — not charity. Port of Tauranga co-funded the first installation. This is the funding model.

Priority — this week

Coffee with Becky — Mountains to Sea contact

Use conversation framework from concept doc. Goal: determine if she's a genuine partner. Don't try to close anything. Come out knowing her interest level and what a role would look like for her. Her contact is leaving — move fast.

Send email to Alex Goad — Reef Design Lab

[email protected] · Reference Tauranga specifically. Name a conservation partner in conversation. Propose: NZ community engagement, digital fundraising, council-level advocacy. Draft ready in Email Drafts tab.

Outreach to Revive Our Gulf — Katina Conomos

[email protected] · Two versions drafted. Lead with Version B (punchier). Explore joint installation event and combined funder pitch. Note: Ngāti Manuhiri and Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei are both ROG iwi partners — warm intro pathway.

Connect with Tom Wilde — WSP coastal team

LinkedIn · Tauranga project lead. Understand the engineering pathway and upcoming NZ project opportunities. Critical rule: talk to M2S contact first, then Reef Design Lab, then WSP.

In progress / upcoming

Identify iwi cultural advisor for the team

Required before any site-specific conversations with councils or marina operators. Ngāti Manuhiri is priority for Whangaparāoa. Currently completely absent from planning — flagged as non-negotiable.

Map council infrastructure calendars

Auckland, Tauranga, Northland long-term plans. Identify coastal infrastructure projects where seapods could be specified as part of planned works.

Define your role and fee structure

Most operationally dangerous risk: volunteer trap. Define before investing significant time. Options: project development fee, comms retainer, success fee on sponsorship, licensing/referral with Reef Design Lab, direct digital services. Must be resolved in 90 days.

Alex Goad

Reef Design Lab · Founder & Industrial Designer · Melbourne

Core technology partner. Designs and manufactures all habitat modules. His work is in the MoMA permanent collection. No exclusive NZ licensee exists. First contact not yet made.

ColdFirst priority[email protected]

Becky — Mountains to Sea

Mountains to Sea Conservation Trust · Conservation NGO

Known contact. Coffee meeting done — strong alignment confirmed. Her key contact is leaving the organisation. Move fast to secure direct intro to the next person before they go. See Briefs for full meeting prep.

WarmCoffee doneContact leaving — urgent

Katina Conomos

Revive Our Gulf · Key Contact

Most important symbiotic organisation. Subtidal mussel reefs on the seafloor — zero overlap with Restoring Sealife, total synergy. 475 tonnes of mussels deployed. Proven funder relationships: BNZ, Tindall, Auckland Foundation, Foundation North.

ColdDraft email ready[email protected]

Prof. Chris Battershill

University of Waikato · Marine Science

Already monitoring Tauranga seapods with Toi Ohomai student Taylor Rabbitt. Connected to Sydney Institute of Marine Science. Quote: “This is where you get your future marine science recruits.” Natural NZ academic lead.

Warm via TaurangaScience anchor

Tom Wilde

WSP New Zealand · Coastal Engineering

Led the Tauranga Living Seawall project — the only NZ installation. Proved the NZ manufacturing pathway: moulds from Australia, panels cast locally. Not exclusive — engaged by Tauranga City Council.

Warm via TaurangaLinkedIn recommended

Barb Hayden

Earth Sciences NZ (formerly NIWA) · Coasts & Oceans

Leads coasts and oceans research. NIWA merged with GNS Science July 2025 — now Earth Sciences NZ, still trading as NIWA publicly. Crown research institute — key for scientific validation with government funders.

Cold[email protected]

Jono Ridler

Swim4TheOcean · Ultra-marathon open water swimmer

NZ’s leading ultra-marathon open-water swimmer. Current: staged swim down east coast of North Island (~1,600km) — live now. Campaign concept: “Swim the Coast, Restore the Coast.” Works closely with Live Ocean. Timing for outreach is perfect.

ColdTiming is perfect

Live Ocean Foundation

Peter Burling & Blair Tuke · Marine conservation fund

Marine conservation fund co-founded by sailors Peter Burling and Blair Tuke. Strong public profile and corporate reach. Already co-partners with Jono Ridler’s swim. Jez Robinson (Board) is more accessible entry point.

ColdVia Jono Ridler

Foundation North

Largest philanthropic funder of environmental work in northern NZ

Already funds Revive Our Gulf. Natural warm path once ROG partnership is confirmed.

ColdVia Revive Our Gulf

Tindall Foundation

Major NZ environmental funder

Already funds Revive Our Gulf. If ROG partnership is formalised, Tindall becomes a warm path.

ColdVia Revive Our Gulf

DOC — Revitalising the Gulf

Department of Conservation · Hauraki Gulf programme

Active habitat restoration is one of DOC’s eight key actions under the Hauraki Gulf Marine Protection Act (October 2025). Politically clean alignment — works on built infrastructure, no fishing rights exposure. Community Conservation Fund is a potential funding pathway.

Cold[email protected]

To[email protected]

AttnAlex Goad — Founder

Restoring Sealife — bringing Living Seawalls to Aotearoa New Zealand

Hi Alex, I'm reaching out from Auckland, where I'm developing a marine habitat restoration initiative called Restoring Sealife — focused on retrofitting NZ's urban coastal infrastructure with habitat panels. The Tauranga Living Seawall project gave us something important: proof that the concept works here. Professor Chris Battershill at Waikato is already monitoring those 100 seapods, glass shrimp and cushion stars are showing up in the data, and there's no exclusive NZ partner or licensee in place. That's the gap I'm working to fill. The timing feels genuinely right. A rockpool harvesting ban came into force this month across Whangaparāoa, Kawau Bay, and Ōmaha Bay — driven by Ngāti Manuhiri Settlement Trust — covering exactly the species that colonise your panels. The Hauraki Gulf Marine Protection Act created 19 new protection areas last October, with active habitat restoration named as a key action. And Revive Our Gulf's mussel reef work has already proven the funder landscape for this kind of programme. I'm assembling the right NZ team — conservation NGO partners, a science monitoring lead, engineering capability through WSP, and community campaign infrastructure — and I'd like to connect Reef Design Lab with this initiative early. Four pilot sites are on the table: Whangaparāoa (most urgent, given the live public context), Tutukaka Marina (recommended lead site — gateway to the Poor Knights), Auckland Waterfront, and Tauranga (building on the existing installation). Would you be open to a call to introduce the initiative and talk through what a NZ partnership could look like? Craig Barker Full Stack Creative Auckland, New Zealand

To[email protected]

AttnKatina Conomos

Restoring the Gulf from the seafloor to the seawall — a partnership conversation

Hi, I'm reaching out about a marine habitat restoration initiative I'm developing called Restoring Sealife — and a partnership framing that I think positions both our programmes as something more powerful together than either is alone. Revive Our Gulf works in the subtidal zone — mussel reefs on the seafloor. Restoring Sealife works in the intertidal zone — habitat panels on seawalls, marina walls, and harbour infrastructure. The same harbour, different depth zones. No overlap, only synergy. The combined story is this: for the first time, funders can back the complete picture — restoring the Hauraki Gulf from the seafloor to the seawall. The technology behind Restoring Sealife is the Living Seawalls / Reef Design Lab habitat panel system, already proven in NZ through the Tauranga installation (100 seapods, monitored by Professor Chris Battershill at Waikato). The timing is particularly strong right now — the rockpool harvesting ban across Whangaparāoa and Kawau Bay came into force this month, the Hauraki Gulf Marine Protection Act is in place, and there's a mobilised public looking for constructive action. I've been studying how Revive Our Gulf has built its funder and community relationships, and I'd love to have an introductory conversation — to explore whether a formal partnership makes sense, what a joint installation event might look like, and whether there's appetite to develop a combined funder pitch. Would you have 30 minutes for a call in the coming weeks? Craig Barker Full Stack Creative Auckland, New Zealand

To[email protected]

AttnKatina Conomos

Completing the Hauraki Gulf restoration story — a conversation

Hi, You're restoring the Gulf from below. I'm working on restoring it from above. I'm developing Restoring Sealife — a NZ initiative to retrofit urban coastal infrastructure with Living Seawalls habitat panels. Where Revive Our Gulf places mussel reefs on the seafloor, Restoring Sealife installs biodiversity habitat panels on seawalls, marina walls, and harbour edges. Same harbour. Different depth zones. Together: the complete picture. The technology is proven in NZ — 100 seapods already in the water at Tauranga, colonised and being monitored by Professor Chris Battershill at Waikato. The conditions right now are as good as they're likely to get: a live rockpool harvesting ban across Whangaparāoa and Kawau Bay, 19 new Gulf protection areas under the Hauraki Gulf Marine Protection Act, and a 32,000-person petition that mobilised a public looking for something constructive to get behind. I think there's a genuine combined funder proposition here — and a joint installation event (mussels deployed below, habitat panels installed above, in the same harbour on the same day) that would be a compelling media and community moment. I'd love to start a conversation. Would you be open to a call? Craig Barker Full Stack Creative Auckland, New Zealand

Becky — Mountains to Sea Conservation Trust

First meeting · Conservation partner conversation

Warm

A briefing note for whoever conducts this meeting. Read it before you go. The goal is not to pitch — it is to listen, learn, and establish whether Becky is a genuine potential partner.

Click to expand ↓

Purpose

Read this before the meeting. The goal is not to pitch — it is to listen, learn, and establish whether Becky is a genuine potential partner for Restoring Sealife.

Background

Becky works at Mountains to Sea Conservation Trust — a community conservation organisation with established school, community, and government partnerships across freshwater and marine ecosystems.

A previous conversation established a warm connection. However, a key contact at M2S is leaving. This meeting has two jobs: establish whether Becky herself is a genuine potential partner, and secure a direct introduction to whoever steps into the relevant role before they go.

Important

We do not know what Becky’s situation is after this transition. She may have a full-time role lined up with no spare capacity. Establish this early — there is no benefit in a partnership conversation with someone who cannot participate.

What this meeting needs to establish

Her availability

Does she have capacity for a new commitment? Is she employed, contracting, or between things? Ask this first.

Her interest level

Is she genuinely excited, or being politely encouraging? These are very different things.

Her experience

Actual hands-on experience in marine ecology and coastal conservation? School programmes? Community engagement? Science monitoring?

Her assessment

Does she think the concept has ecological validity in NZ waters? Would she stake her professional credibility on it?

A role, if any

What would a genuine role look like for her specifically? Not a title — what would she actually do?

The warm intro

If she cannot participate, can she introduce you to the right person at M2S before she leaves? This is valuable even if she is unavailable.

How to open

“Before I tell you much about the project, I want to check in on where things are at for you. I know there’s a transition happening at M2S and I don’t want to waste your time if your situation means this isn’t the right moment.”

Then stop. Let her answer. Her response tells you everything you need to know about whether to go further.

Questions to ask

Her situation first

— What’s the transition at M2S looking like for you — are you moving into something new?
— How are you thinking about the next phase of your work?
— Do you have capacity to take on something new in the next six months?

Her read on the concept

— Does this feel like something with genuine ecological value in NZ waters?
— What’s your instinct on the community appetite for something like this?
— Where do you see the weak points? What would make you nervous about it?

Her potential role

— If you were involved, what would you actually want to be doing? Not a title — what would you want your hands on?
— Is there a version of this that fits alongside other things you’re doing?

The warm introduction

— As M2S transitions, who’s the right person to have on side — and could you introduce me before you go?

What not to do

DO NOT

Try to close anything. No agreement, no handshake, no ‘are you in?’. The goal is information and relationship — not commitment.

DO NOT

Oversell the project. If she asks hard questions about ecological validity, commercial model, or iwi engagement — be honest. “We’re still working through that” is a fine answer.

DO NOT

Push past a clear signal that she doesn’t have capacity. Take it gracefully, ask for the warm intro, and leave. A good referral from someone who’s too busy beats a lukewarm commitment.

DO NOT

Talk more than you listen. Ask a question. Then stop talking.

What a good outcome looks like

Best case

She has capacity, is genuinely excited, has relevant marine experience, and wants a defined role. You leave with a follow-up meeting scheduled.

Good case

Interested but timing is tight. She gives you a direct introduction to the right person at M2S and says she’ll stay across it informally.

Acceptable

Fully committed elsewhere. She gives you a warm introduction and recommends two or three other people to talk to.

Walk away

Not interested, no connections to offer. Thank her, close it cleanly, move on. NIWA, University of Auckland marine science, and Sustainable Coastlines are all on the list.

After the meeting

— Update the dashboard with her status: warm/cold, available/unavailable, interested/not.
— If she offered an introduction, follow up the same day while it’s fresh.
— If she raised questions you couldn’t answer, note them — they’re useful for refining the concept.
— If it’s a no — log it, move on, and approach the next conservation contact.

Key strategic decisions

Project name: "Restoring Sealife" — simple, evocative, no IP overlap with Living Seawalls brand.

The IP question: "Living Seawalls" does not appear to be a registered trademark — it's a SIMS research programme. Risk is relational not legal. Restoring Sealife is clearly allied without being mistaken for them.

Partner sequencing rule: Talk to M2S contact first. Then email Reef Design Lab with a named partner. Then WSP.

Your role: Origination and coordination — not delivery. Assemble partners, facilitate projects. Project Lead, not project manager.

Commercial model: Still to be defined. Options: development fee, comms retainer, success fee, licensing/referral with Reef Design Lab, direct digital services.

Key risks

Volunteer trap — investing significant time with no contract or fee structure. Define your role and fee before doing more free origination work. Set a 90-day decision point.

Iwi and consent complexity — currently absent from planning. Non-negotiable. Engage cultural advisor before site-specific conversations.

Credibility gap with Reef Design Lab — lock in conservation partner first. Come to Reef Design Lab with a named partner, not a solo pitch.

Single dependency on M2S contact — identify two or three other conservation/science partners in parallel: NIWA, UoA marine science, Sustainable Coastlines.

Timeline underestimation — council to confirmed funding: 18–36 months is realistic. The early stages are unremunerated.

NZ context — what to know

No tropical coral reefs in NZ. Do not reference coral regrowth. Use kina, pāua, kūtai, and intertidal species instead.

Hauraki Gulf Marine Protection Act — October 2025. 19 new MPAs. Active habitat restoration is one of DOC's 8 named key actions. Controversial fishing exemption — 32,000+ petition signatures. Restoring Sealife is politically clean.

Rockpool ban — March 2026 — Two-year ban on taking marine life from Whangaparāoa, Kawau Bay, Ōmaha Bay. Racist threats were made during this dispute — navigate with care.

Council funding model — sits within infrastructure budgets and long-term plans, not charity. Port of Tauranga co-funded first install.

RMA consents — coastal installations require resource consent. 12–24 month lead times realistic.

Campaign concepts

"Swim the Coast, Restore the Coast" — built around Jono Ridler. Each km of swim funds 1m² of seawall habitat. Jono swims between confirmed installation sites. Media hook + community events + school programme.

"Seafloor to the Seawall" — Revive Our Gulf + Restoring Sealife. Joint installation event — mussels below, seapods above, same harbour same day. Combined funder pitch is more compelling than either programme alone.

"Adopt a Seapod" — individual, in memoriam, corporate, school class sponsorship. Marine-grade plaque with QR → iNaturalist live data. "Your seapod is now home to 34 species."

iNaturalist as infrastructure — free, already used by Tauranga project, feeds into SIMS international dataset. No custom app needed.

Pilot investment — indicative

$55k

Minimum pilot — lean site, existing infrastructure

$200k

Full pilot — monitoring, education, community programme

Partner categories: technology · engineering · site owner · NGO · sponsor

March 2026 · Urgent

Whangaparāoa rockpool ban active

Government-enforced two-year ban on taking marine life from rockpools — Whangaparāoa Peninsula, Kawau Bay, Ōmaha Bay — came into force March 2026. Ngāti Manuhiri rāhui placed alongside. Window open to position seapods as restoration response. Community mobilised. Navigate the sensitive racial politics context with care.

March 2026

Coffee with Becky — Mountains to Sea

Strong alignment confirmed. Key contact is leaving the organisation. Need to move fast to secure direct intro to the next person before they go. This is the most important near-term relationship to protect.

March 2026

Dashboard and concept documents complete

Reference document (9 sections), stakeholder map (18+ contacts), email drafts for Reef Design Lab and Revive Our Gulf, one-page concept brief. All compiled from initial research and strategy session.

October 2025

Hauraki Gulf Marine Protection Act passed

19 new marine protection areas created. Active habitat restoration named as one of DOC's 8 key actions. Controversial last-minute fishing exemption — 32,000+ petition signatures against it. Creates a mobilised public audience. Restoring Sealife is politically clean — no fishing rights exposure.

2024

Tauranga Living Seawall installed

100 seapods installed at Tauranga waterfront. Part of $84m waterfront rejuvenation. Commissioned by Tauranga City Council commissioned, co-funded by Port of Tauranga, designed by WSP, panels cast locally. Monitoring by Prof. Chris Battershill (Waikato) and Toi Ohomai since May 2024. Species recorded: glass shrimp, cushion stars, bryozoans, sea squirts, triplefin fish.

March 2026

Coffee with Becky — Mountains to Sea

Strong alignment confirmed. Key contact is leaving the organisation. Need to move fast to secure direct intro to the next person before they go. See Briefs tab for full meeting preparation note.

March 2026

Dashboard and concept documents complete

Reference document, stakeholder map (18+ contacts), email drafts for Reef Design Lab and Revive Our Gulf, one-page concept brief, and Becky meeting brief. All compiled from initial research and strategy session.