“I have to be a bit careful here, but he unofficially took some out,” says Tony Ogilvie, who has been a member of the Mudlarks since 2012 and acts as the secretary. A lot of other locals had the same problem and they were also “unofficially taking them out”.

They got a telling off from the council at the time, but meetings followed about the mangrove issue and an agreement was struck that would allow them to do the clearing officially. The intention was to open the estuary back up for recreation, bring back the birds and create new play and picnic spaces beside the water.

Waiuku is built around three fingers of waterway and many of the houses are close to the water. The mangroves were three or four metres high in some places so a few keen locals put on their waterproof overalls, got into the mud and started chopping.

“When you stood at the pub and looked up the estuary, you couldn’t see any water,” says Mudlarks member Brian Cox. “There was a small channel that you could probably row a small boat up, but you couldn’t use it recreationally.”

And the tourist boat that now pulls up to the wharf wouldn’t have been able to turn around, he says.

Originally they were dragging the big 250- 300kg bundles of wood ashore by hand, but one of the Mudlarks was a boat builder so they “designed and built a monstrous barge” called Manawai that was made up of three large pontoons.

The Mudlarks didn’t limit themselves to the water. Using council materials and providing the free labour, they built a bridge in 2013 and helped create a network of walking tracks.

“There are some very clever people in the Mudlarks,” says Cox.

While some environmentalists question the removal of mangroves, Cox says they’re so abundant because “man is his wisdom has cleared the land, which has created lots of silt that runs into the estuary and mud is where mangroves grow. If you took humans away, we wouldn’t have anywhere near as many mangroves”.

The council agreed and, in 2015, the Mudlarks were given a 30 year consent and $10,000 a year as a maintenance fee to clear more mangroves in the three inlets and further afield.

One of the conditions was that the group replace the mangroves with native trees and undertake pest control. Last year, the group planted 620 trees on the shoreline.

Cox hasn’t been in the mud for some years as it’s too hard on his body, but like a good ecosystem, every role is important and his focus is on pest control – both around his own property and on other properties – that helps protect the nesting sites.

“It’s something I’m passionate about. I have to keep justifying the use of [council- provided] bait and show the results you get … There are Mudlarks down in the mud who are 10 years older than me. They are machines. I take my hat off to them.”

The 15 or so members are mostly retired, with the odd shift worker helping out during the half day sessions, but there are many more on the periphery, like the tractor driver who helps out when they’re bringing in the barge, or the residents who often put on morning tea when they’re working nearby.

“Everyone chips in and does what they can. And everyone donates their time for nothing,” says Ogilvie.

Cox happily pays his $10 Mudlarks membership fee every year. And “we keep getting the odd new member so that helps it survive … Waiuku is blessed with huge volunteer help. We’re still small and there’s good community involvement.”

The Mudlarks generally work three days a week and, since its inception, the members have clocked up 58,000 volunteer hours. Ogilvie believes that’s probably an understatement because he never really clocks off. He’s sharpening saws and taking calls and the day we spoke he was getting ready to be filmed by Seven Sharp because the Mudlarks had been chosen to feature on its Good Sorts segment.

Cox says all the mud, sweat and tears has paid off. There have been sightings of the banded rail and royal spoonbill numbers have ballooned; he and his wife and many other locals are able to kayak all around the estuary now; and the paths, bridge and public areas that have been opened up are very well-used – and appreciated – by the community.

“99% of them probably think the Mudlarks are heroes.”