Koryu Aoshima is not waiting around for city authorities to set up protections from rising sea levels in South Dunedin.
The Japanese artist and South Dunedin resident spent much of Saturday painting a large mural of a dragon in King Edward St, in the hope it will stop the southern part of the city being swamped by flooding from climate change.
"This year is the Chinese Year of the Dragon, and this part of the city has a strong background with Chinese people.
"But what many people don’t know about Chinese dragons is that they are also strongly associated with water and weather in popular religion."
He said dragons were believed to be the rulers of moving bodies of water, such as waterfalls, rivers, seas and rainfall.
"Maybe my dragon can control the sea level rise in the future.
"I’m not sure if it’s true or not. I only read it in a book.
"If not, maybe I will just enjoy this place until it turns into a watery theme park", he joked.
The mural was done as part of the South Dunedin Street Festival on Saturday, using just a couple of cans of black spray paint, and hundreds of people looked on in amazement as it started to take shape.
It was one of many activities which took place during the festival, in King Edward St, between Macandrew Rd and Hillside Rd.
Organisers said there were over 100 stalls this year which highlighted the activities of local organisations and businesses, alongside three stages providing live music, dance and theatrics.
