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There's plenty to see and do at the estuary.
The estuary walkway provides beautiful views, and there are signs along the way providing information about some of the birds you might see.
There is a lot of interesting wildlife at the estuary. As well as birds, the estuary is also home to some interesting plants and is an important habitat for native fish.
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The Manawatū Estuary Trust enjoys giving people the opportunity to learn more about this amazing environ
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A two-year project to up-date the 2015-25 Manawatu Estuary Management Plan is nearing completion and will be uploaded here when finished but please click this link to see the final draft.
Bi-monthly meetings were held with representatives from local iwi, District, Regional and Government Agencies, plus numerous local organisations and interested individuals resulting in a comprehensive plan going forward. A major part of this was the formation of sub-groups to plan and implement actions to improve and increase knowledge on this special place. The full plan is comprehensive, but the abridged version of actions resulting from this new plan is available here.
This whole process involved much dedicated work by all concerned and a brief summary resulted in an application to the Local Government New Zealand (LGNZ) SuperCollab award. Although unsuccessful, it in no way distracts from the considerable effort that is being put in to making this special place even more special. The 90 second presentation that accompanied this application is given via this video link.
The launch of the Plan attracted much local media attention in both the Horowhenua Chronicle and the Horowhenua Star. As time progresses, it is anticipated that there will be more coverage of the Estuary and the activities which are undertaken to improve this important area. It is hoped that there will be enough coverage to warrant a separate page but, in the meantime, below is a list of links to those that have already been published.​
Guardians of the Estuary Horowhenua Chronicle 21/2/2025
Foxton Beach's Stormwater is Slowly Poisoning the Estuary Horowhenua Chronicle 28/2/2025
Foxton's Dune Garden Rare Sighting Environment Network Manawatū Newsletter March 2025
Farewell to the Godwits Horowhenua Chronicle 21/3/2025
Safeguarding Manawatū Estuary for future generations The Post 25/3/2025
Launch of the Papangaio Te Wharanagi Management Plan Horowhenua Chronicle 28/3/2025
Estuary Passion led to Ramsar Status Horowhenua Star 4/4/2025
A Minister Calls at the Farm Gate Horowhenua Chronicle 17/4/2025
Discovery Amongst the Shifting Sands Horowhenua Chronicle 1/5/2025
Troubled Waters at Whitebait Creek Horowhenua Chronicle 1/5/2025
Big Plans for Pest Trapping Manawatū Standard 3/5/2025
Great News for Wildlife Foxton is Bad News for Rats Horowhenua Chronicle 8/5/2025
Growing Ideas for Foxton Beach School Horowhenua Chronicle 29/5/2025