A group leading efforts to clean up Kaipara Harbour is elated farmers are beginning to support the campaign.
The iwi-led initiative aims to plant three million trees around the Northland harbour, clean up streams flowing into it and help farmers prevent run-off and pollution.
Kaipara Harbour Group co-ordinator Leanne Makey says Ben Smith's dairy farm in Hikurangi stands out as one that lightens the load on rivers and the harbour.
Ms Makey says what happens in the upper catchment through silting and pollution directly impacts on the harbour and the efforts of a number of farmers to protect rivers is a win for everyone.
A large part of Northland drains into the Kaipara harbour and it will take a concerted effort to save the snapper and other fisheries that originate there, she says.
