About Project Forever Waiheke

Project Forever Waiheke is led by a working group of people representing a broad range of interest areas, including conservationists and environmentalists, community development workers, tangata whenua, local business, university academics, and the Waiheke Local Board. Each of our projects, most of which focus on research and monitoring of tourism and its impacts on Waiheke, are undertaken in collaboration with tourism sector organisations, including Waiheke Tourism Inc and Auckland Unlimited (ATEED), and other relevant community organisations on Waiheke. 

Our key goals are to identify the impacts of tourism on the island, both beneficial and potentially harmful, to develop strategy to help address and manage problems associated with tourism, and to promote tourism sympathetic to Waiheke’s environments. We aim to monitor tourism impacts and community wellbeing from 2017 to 2025. Important areas for monitoring include: 

• Impacts on essential transport infrastructure, such as traffic, ferry and bus services

• Impacts on essential services including health and emergency services

• Road safety risk for cyclists and pedestrians

• Adequacy of water supply, water quality and waste management

• Health of beaches and seawater

• Health and wellbeing of the island’s flora and fauna

• Noise, air and light pollution

• Effects of tourism development on residents’ quality of life and community cohesiveness

The information gathered will enable the Waiheke Local Board, Auckland Council, central governmental decision-makers, the tourism sector, and the Waiheke community and businesses to manage tourism impacts for the continuing wellbeing of Waiheke environments, resources and residents. The information will also help local businesses, tourism operators, community groups and island residents to sustainably manage island tourism and related development.