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Story: Whanganui region

Planting marram grass

Video file

Introduced marram grass was planted extensively in the early 20th century to stabilise sand dunes. In this 1946 film clip, men lay sandbags to plug a breach in the sandbar at the mouth of the Whanganui River, then plant marram grass on the adjacent dunes to stop erosion.

Using this item

Archives New Zealand - Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga

Reference: Weekly Review 264. National Film Unit, 1946

Permission of Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga must be obtained before any re-use of this material.

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How to cite this page

Diana Beaglehole, Whanganui region – Vegetation and human impact, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/video/19011/planting-marram-grass (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Diana Beaglehole, published 2 March 2009, updated 1 June 2015.