Paekakariki BeachPrior to European settlement, Paekakariki had a violent history mainly due to the presence of the Maori warrior Te Rauparaha whose Pa was located in close proximity to Kapiti Island . In 1886 the Wellington and Manawatu railway line was completed. This railway line ran from Wellington to Longburn. Longburn, also known as Karere, is a rural village on the outskirts of Palmerston North in the Manawatu-wanganui region of New Zealand. When the railway was completed, Paekakariki became a very important stop on the journey between Wellington and Longburn. The southern coast of Paekakariki is subject to long-term erosion and in many areas buildings are protected by sea walls. The Paekakariki sea walls were built in 1978 to prevent excessive erosion, as the Paekakariki is subject to strong winds, large swells and high tides. Significant damage occurred at the northern end of the Paekakariki gorge. The human modification in paekakariki comes in the form of ears. Groynes were constructed on Paekakariki and some other beaches as an artificial construction built into the sea from the land edges to keep sediment on the beach and were designed to stop erosion and were also constructed to protect the pipes from overflowing. Paekakariki is a very narrow beach, so the groynes are not necessarily in the water, which means they will not hold as much sediment, as you can see in the picture below. On Paekakariki beach, the houses were built on sediments, which is why they are relatively high compared to the beach level. Sediments were not only deposited there by high-energy waves, but also by humans. The sediment comes from the mouth of the Otaki River and the river flows into the sea, so the river drains the middle of the paper around it. Due to the aeolian process that is occurring, the mini sand dunes will not be able to grow because there is not enough vegetation and also because of people walking on the mini dunes which also prevent them from growing. Waikanae Beach is very close to Kapiti Island as you can see in the photo below. Conclusion: The objective of our assessment was to investigate whether and how humans have made changes to natural processes along the Kapiti coastline. As we walked the coastline looking at each beach, we were able to identify what human changes had been made, why they had been made, what natural processes had been disrupted by the changes made. Humans have made changes and some of the changes made are positive and actually help the environment and others are negative and disrupt the natural formation of the coast..