Tribes plan ecological sanctuary

Four whio being released on the Makotote river. File photo.

Three Ruapehu tribes have shared plans on Friday for a major ecological and cultural restoration and tourism project with the Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations, Crown officials and local dignitaries.

Uenuku, Tamakana and Tamahaki are developing ideas for Te Manganui-o-te-Ao Sanctuary, an 'inland island” ecological and cultural centre.

Uenuku Charitable Trust, which is mandated to negotiate settlement of Treaty claims for the three tribes, is working on a proposal for a sanctuary to be developed on ancestral lands.

Uenuku chair Aiden Gilbert says the development of Te Manganui-o-te-Ao Sanctuary would be independent of Treaty settlement.

On Friday at the Erua Conservation Area the three tribes launched Te Mano o te Whenua Tupua environmental trust, the second of three new entities that will lay the groundwork for post-settlement development.

Te Ara Tupua social and cultural trust was launched in November, and a third entity will focus on economic and commercial development.

'These trusts will develop and implement strategies to realise the immediate and long-term visions of our whānau, who have told us they want to stand strong on their ancestral whenua,” says Aiden.

'Te Mano o te Whenua Tupua, our new environmental arm, is an enabler for our customary role as kaitiaki.

'Most of our tribal estate was taken by the Crown and is now in National Parks and under DOC management, but we have always been, and will continue to be, the guardians of our ancestral heartland.”

A number of potential sites have been identified. Assisting with development plans is Manaaki Whenua Landcare Research scientist Dr John Innes, advisor to a number of major sanctuary projects in New Zealand.

At Friday's presentation, John discussed the possible establishment of a 200ha pest-free biodiversity sanctuary at Erua Conservation Area.

The area is completely forested and would provide a unique plateau forest habitat. A core-halo concept would be created, with a fenced pest-free core area, surrounded by a halo or buffer zone that is intensively pest managed.

'This area has very high current wildlife values and is directly connected to other large native forest areas,” says John.

'The sanctuary would be a regional source of rare forest birds that will disperse naturally to surrounding forests. Wildlife like tieke (saddlebacks) that are currently absent from the site would need to be translocated in.

'The area could also provide sanctuary for birds like kakariki (parakeets), karearea (falcon), popokatea (whiteheads) and titipounamu (rifleman), which are already present and would thrive in a protected environment.

'Pest control in the unfenced surrounding forest and rivers could be increased to protect birds that move to re-populate the wider forest areas, and to maintain existing protection for whio (blue duck) and kiwi.”

John says the sanctuary would also be a regional focus site for tourists seeking a wildlife and cultural experience.

The plans were shared during the tribes' Rā Wawata (Aspirations Day). The team negotiating Treaty claims settlement for the three tribes talked to the Minister, the Hon. Andrew Little, and officials including MP Adrian Rurawhe and DOC Director-General Lou Sanson, presenting an historical and contemporary overview of the tribal estate, the impacts of Crown breaches, and potential solutions to the resulting social, cultural, economic, and environmental issues.

UCT trustee Moana Ellis said the Negotiations Team believes the Minister now has a better understanding of the scale of land loss, the severity of the breaches, and some of the inter-generational impacts.

'Our ancestral tribal estate was well over 615,000ha or 1.5m acres. We are left with a single-figure percentage of that land. In the massive Waimarino block alone, unusually aggressive Crown purchasing and the biggest Crown partition ever – 415,500 acres to the Crown – resulted in the displacement and separation of numerous hapū from their homes and economic and cultural base.

'Such huge Crown acquisitions and loss of land resulted in rapid change for our tribes over a very short time. The impacts on our identity, culture, society, economy and overall wellbeing have been severe.”

You may also like....

5 comments

Remember

Posted on 18-03-2018 13:54 | By Captain Sensible

Remember the true maori culture version of conservation and the role it played in the survival of the Moa, and the Huia and the Haast Eagle? Oh wait.....


More

Posted on 18-03-2018 17:12 | By Told you

Does this mean more money


Think

Posted on 18-03-2018 17:22 | By Told you

It should be pointed out that the Maori have a asset base of $50 Billion and 40% of this is Forestry so dont blame the Crown for loss of Forests. I


Commendable, but...

Posted on 18-03-2018 23:22 | By Bay Citizen

Commendable aims, but there is a nasty undertone here suggesting an inability to accept the land they sold is not still "theirs". Kaitiaki is an interesting concept, but it needs to align with real property rights, or else it becomes an affront to the rule of law and, moreover, an attempt to entrench the control of vast swathes of land along racial/feudal lines as if it were possible to resile from the last two centuries of surrendered sovereignty and mass immigration.


Also Remember

Posted on 19-03-2018 05:21 | By johnmcd03

The so called partition of the land included the gift of the national park to all the people of New Zealand and the attempt to now rewrite history by saying it was not a gift should be nullified before it gains momentum.


Leave a Comment


You must be logged in to make a comment.