Working with Nature in Aotearoa New Zealand: An Ethnography of Coastal Protection (Culture and Social Practice)

Working with nature - and not against it - is a global trend in coastal management. This ethnography of coastal protection follows the increasingly popular approach of "soft" protection to the Aotearoa New Zealand coast. Friederike Gesing analyses a political controversy over hard and soft protection measures, and introduces a growing community of practice involved in projects of working with nature. Dune restoration volunteers, coastal management experts, surfer-scientists, and Maori conservationists are engaged in projects ranging from do-it-yourself erosion control, to the reconstruction of native nature, and soft engineering "in concert with natural processes". With soft protection, Gesing argues, we can witness a new sociotechnical imaginary in the making. Table of Contents Acknowledgements Introduction and Outline PART I: INTRODUCING ETHNOGRAPHY TO COASTAL NATURECULTURES 1. Working with Nature, Working with Water: A Globalized Imaginary 2. Natureculture Imaginaries 2.1 Making Multiple Natures 2.2 “Working with Nature”: A Sociotechnical Imaginary 3. The Context of the Coast 3.1 Coastal Change and the Bi-Cultural Nation 3.2 Designing the Field 3.3 Para-Ethnographic Encounters and Para-Sites PART II: BEYOND HARD PROTECTION? THE WAIHI BEACH CASE 4. Historical Transect of a Coastal Protection Conflict 4.1 “Have You Seen Waihi Beach?” 4.2 Coastal Protection History on a Changing Coastline 4.3 Who Owns the Beach? Defending the Local Coast 4.4 Narrowing Down the Case: The Environment Court in Search of “The Scientific Viewpoint” on the Conflict 5. Possible Futures 5.1 Soft Options: “A Sob to the Greenies” 5.2 Civil Disobedience Continued: The Council Change Petition 5.3 “Things are Changing”: Tangata Whenua and the Cultural Pillar of Sustainability 5.4 Dystopia Waihi Beach: Enrolling the Seawall’s Materiality into Future Coastal Policymaking PART III: MATERIAL PRACTICES OF WORKING WITH NATURE, OR: MAKING COASTAL NATURECULTURES 6. Restoring and Maintaining Nature: An Introduction to Coast Care 7. Working with Nature, Working with Communities 7.1 Keeping Busy: Senior Volunteers Doing Their Part 7.2 Volunteering as a Means of Working Towards Paid Work 7.3 Reclaiming the Public Space of the Beach: The Anti-Encroachment Project 7.3.1 “I am Concerned About the Plants, not the Politics”: Tensions Between Coast Care and Council Objectives 7.3.2 “Giving Something Back to the Community”: More Unpaid Labour on the Beach 7.3.3 “I Hope Prince Harry is Gonna Shake my Hand”: The Voluntourists 7.4 “It Makes You a Better Person”: Suzanne, a “Great Kiwi Example” 8. “It’s a Frontline of Defence” – Dune Restoration as Soft Protection 8.1 Erosion is a Natural Process 8.2 Do-It-Yourself Erosion Control: A “Kick Cowboy” Approach to Coast Care 8.3 Beyond Coast Care: Dune-Reshaping as an Alternative to Hard Protection? 8.4 Changing Paradigms: Coast Care as a “Soft Approach to Hard Issues” 8.5 Hibernating Through the Financial Crisis: The Mokau Spit Camping Ground Investment 8.6 Managing Coastal Naturecultures 8.7 Coast Care as Climate Change Adaptation? 8.8 “A Moving Target a Little Bit”: Coastal Restoration from Foredune to Backdune 9. Reconstructing Native Nature 9.1 Why Restore (Native) Nature? 9.2 Anthropological Perspectives on Native and Invasive Species 9.3 Postcolonial Natures: A History of Aotearoa New Zealand’s Coastal Dunes 9.4 Invasive Native Plants: Mangroves 9.5 Naturally Native: A Sustainable Business 9.6 Native Naturecultures 9.7 Universal Nature and Local Crisis: Maketu Spit 9.8 “Soft Is What We Can Do Ourselves”: Natureculture Restoration as Employment Project for Maori Youth 9.9 Working with Native Natures 10. Understanding Nature, Making Waves: Multipurpose Reefs 10.1 The Dream of Artificial Surfing Breaks 10.2 Towards Multifunctionality – A Soft Option? 10.3 Working Economically: Artificial Reefs as Coastal Development Projects 10.4 The Future: Managed Advance? Conclusion: Working with Nature, Making Coastal Naturecultures Bibliography List of Interviews Table of Figures Working with nature - and not against it - is a global trend in coastal management. This ethnography of coastal protection follows the increasingly popular approach of "soft" protection to the Aotearoa New Zealand coast. Friederike Gesing analyses a political controversy over hard and soft protection measures, and introduces a growing community of practice involved in projects of working with nature. Dune restoration volunteers, coastal management experts, surfer-scientists, and Maori conservationists are engaged in projects ranging from do-it-yourself erosion control, to the reconstruction of native nature, and soft engineering "in concert with natural processes". With soft protection, Gesing argues, we can witness a new sociotechnical imaginary in the making. Coast,Ethnography,Practice,Nature,New Zealand,Sociotechnical Imaginaries,Environment,Dune Restoration,Materiality,Collaboration,Coastal Protection,Oceania,Culture,Ethnology,Cultural Geography,Human Ecology,Environmental Sociology "Working with nature - and not against it - is a global trend in coastal management. This ethnography of coastal protection follows this increasingly popular approach of 'soft' protection to the Aotearoa New Zealand coast. Friederike Gesing analyses a political controversy over hard and soft protective measures, and introduces a growing community of practice involved in projects of working with nature. Dune restoration volunteers, coastal management reports, surfer-scientists, and Maori conservationists are engaged in projects ranging from do-it-yourself erosion control, to the reconstruction of native nature, and soft engineering "in concert with natural processes". With soft protection, Gesing argues, we can witness a new sociotechnical imaginary in the making."--Back cover This rich ethnography analyses coastal protection as a sociomaterial practice. Coastal protection, Friederike Gesing argues, coproduces natural and cultural orders. In the context of the Aotearoa New Zealand coast, it follows the emergence of a new sociotechnical imaginary: coastal management working "with nature"--And not against it. The analysis of a seawall controversy and of different coastal protection projects shows how "soft" protection slowly takes hold. Dune restoration volunteers, coastal management experts, surfer-scientists, and Maori conservationists engage in different practices of making coastal naturecultures: dune restoration as do-it-yourself erosion control, reconstructing native nature, or soft engineering "in concert with natural processes." This rich ethnography analyzes coastal protection as a sociomaterial practice. Coastal protection, Friederike Gesing argues, co-produces natural and cultural orders. In the context of the Aotearoa New Zealand coast, the book follows the emergence of a new sociotechnical imaginary: coastal management working with nature - and not against it. Analysis of a seawall controversy and different coastal protection projects shows how soft protection slowly takes hold. Dune restoration volunteers, coastal management experts, surfer-scientists, and Maori conservationists engage in different practices of making coastal nature-cultures: dune restoration as do-it-yourself erosion control, reconstructing native nature, or soft engineering in concert with natural processes