Weaving our stories together - Wahanga raranga korero
Weaving our stories together
There is a clause - Section Four of the Conservation Act 1987 - which obliges the Department of Conservation to ‘give effect to the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi’, to respect, engage, cooperate and consult with tangata whenua in all aspects of DOC operations. But, says Director-General Al Morrison, ‘We don’t do things because of Section Four; we do things with Māori because we couldn’t do conservation without them’.
‘They have a significant interest in conservation’, says Al. ‘It’s part of the way they think and live, and they’re a strong presence in conservation areas; the local communities that we live in and work with.’
The Department’s relationship with Māori, he says, has changed in recent years to better reflect the equality that was always intended ‘as of right’. In part, that change has been driven by the Treaty Settlement process, but mostly, he says, because it will be good for conservation, and for everybody.
‘One of our major concerns is to ensure that iwi, over time, develop the capability to take on a stronger management role at both operational and training levels.’
Training programmes for Māori
To help that happen, DOC launched a pilot Māori conservation cadetship programme - Tauira Kaitiaki Taiao. Developed in partnership with Te Puni Kökiri and Ngā Whenua Rāhui, the course offers young Māori the training and skills they will need to take conservation forward in the spirit of co-management.
As Conservation Minister Tim Groser has said, the programme ‘will combine the best of both worlds. It will recognise tikanga Māori - especially the Māori view of the natural world and how it should be managed - and combine it with the proven and practical Pākehā methods for conservation management’.
Blending theory and practice, the course will produce 15 graduates who will hold a Level 3 National Certificate in Conservation Management. That will ensure Māori have the capacity to manage their own conservation lands - both existing and those transferred through Treaty settlements in the future.
What’s more, says Al, the cadetship programme represents ‘a wonderful opportunity for Māori development, because it will help create jobs, and allow people to stay in their local area, if that’s where they want to be’.
The first intake of Maori cadets from
the Department’s pilot Tauira Kaitiaki
Taiao programme learning chainsaw
maintenance.
Training programmes for DOC staff
Meanwhile, Māori perspectives on nature and conservation are being woven into mainstream Department practice, thanks to another initiative called Te Pukenga Atawhai.
A training programme, it introduces DOC staff, from rangers to managers, to principles of tikanga they can then integrate into their own work.
‘It offers a better understanding of the Māori view of the natural world’, says Joe Harawira, ‘the beliefs and the values they hold about water, forests, wildlife’.
A DOC Pou Hapai, or cultural advisor, Joe says Pukenga Atawhai captures the best of both worlds: ‘This is about bringing Māori and western ways of thinking together; not replacing either one, but bringing them together for the betterment of conservation, for the betterment of New Zealand’.
The programme is a flagship in the public service, and Joe says many other agencies have come to DOC wanting to send their own staff along.
A better understanding of tikanga helps DOC staff better engage in partnerships and consultation, he says, and means that communication is underscored with respect. ‘We’ve seen a big improvement in the relationship between Māori and Pākehā.’
A partnership that works
That better understanding has been good for conservation, too. The spirit of partnership has seen collaborative projects launched under Ngā Whenua Rāhui, a voluntary, collaborative programme set up in 1991 to fund the protection of native ecosystems on Māori land.
A case in point: in 2005, Te Whānau a Apanui iwi in the Bay of Plenty brought kökako home to Ngapukeariki, a Ngā Whenua Rāhui forest covenant 60 kilometres east of Opotiki. Long since lost to the forest and the people, kökako had been driven out by introduced pests: stoats, rats, possums and cats.
The iwi negotiated for 18 birds to be translocated from the Matahi Valley, Waimana. But before they could be offered safe haven, the pests had to be controlled. Intensive monitoring and trapping, carried out by the iwi’s Mangaroa/Ohotu Trust and Ngā Whenua Rāhui staff, prepared the way, and the rest is pioneering conservation history; now in their fourth year at Ngapukeariki, the kökako are well-established.
Thanks to ongoing pest control by the Trust, 2009 was the birds’ best breeding season yet, with eight chicks fledging, bringing the number of new arrivals in Ngapukeariki to 19 since the release - a taonga returned.
A boost to tourism
Wildlife isn’t the only winner when people pool their strengths. One of the biggest tourism operators in the country, Ngāi Tahu, specialises in what Dean Lawrie calls ‘the activity segment’. That means operations such as Shotover Jet, Hollyford Guided Walks and Abel Tasman kayaking. The tribe’s General Manager of Business Development and Strategy, Dean points out that Ngāi Tahu tourism is focussed heavily on public conservation land, along with its own landholdings.
‘The vast bulk of our operations have some degree of interaction with the Department of Conservation; whether that be concessions or leases, or marine mammal or wildlife permits.’
Tourism ventures are a platform for the broader social and cultural aspirations of Ngāi Tahu, says Dean. ‘Our primary role is to earn money from our investments, so those earnings can be utilised for the other agendas that Ngāi Tahu has - education, cultural development, superannuation and guardianship activities. So our tourism operations are very important.’
Every time the tribe - or any other concessionaire - shows visitors around the New Zealand wilds, the Department wins too, says Paul Thornton, concessions manager for the Nelson/Marlborough Conservancy.
‘From our point of view, the idea of a concession is that they can offer an enhanced experience of a particular place, and a big part of those places are their Māori values.’
‘Take somewhere like the Abel Tasman’, he says, ‘the Māori story of the Abel Tasman really deserves telling, and if we can encourage concessionaires, through working with local iwi, to tell it, and build a business around it, that’s good for everybody’.
‘Ngāi Tahu believes very strongly in kaitiakitanga, which is guardianship of all things natural’, says Dean, ‘and that’s also a pretty neat synopsis of what DOC is there to do as well. We’re an inter-generational investor—this is about heritage and our relationship with the whenua [place]. And that again puts us in a position which is very well aligned with that of the Department of Conservation’.
‘I think they’ve done a sterling job of understanding the areas of engagement over guardianship’, he says. ‘The more difficult area for them now is to try and evolve an understanding of how that actually fits in a commercial sense.’
Looking ahead
Al Morrison agrees with Paul: ‘There’s a meeting of the ways there; it won’t necessarily be seamless, or without tension, but it has the potential to attract investment, to increase profitability, and to be good for conservation.
‘I think both the Department and iwi are developing a greater sense of the importance of the benefits that can be derived from conservation - and by that, I mean the prosperity of New Zealand.
‘As iwi move to put themselves on a better economic footing, that’s in line with the direction the Department is going too; that conservation is an investment, and it does make a return.
‘There’s no reason why conservation can’t be a major contributor to communities where there is high unemployment and depressed economic activity - and often, where Māori are disproportionately at the wrong end of it.’
‘Ours is a complex relationship’, says Dean Lawrie. ‘It’s been an evolving understanding of what the Department’s responsibilities are under the Conservation Act.
‘I’m looking quite positively towards how that understanding will unfold in the next few years.’
David Clayton-Greene and Aniwa Tawa
discuss where to put the plants at Nga
Mokai Papakainga.
Marae DIY
DOC has teamed up with Māori Television, sponsors and local communities to help revamp marae around the country.
‘Marae DIY’ is a television series that follows the format of ‘Mucking In’, aiming to enhance a community asset whilst bringing people together.
Through the use of skilled labour and sponsorship for equipment and materials, the ‘Marae DIY’ programme has helped more than 40 marae around the country, during its 6 years of existence.
The partnership between ‘Marae DIY’ and DOC was a natural one, presenting an opportunity to promote the benefits of natural and cultural values. Amongst other things, DOC have supplied technical expertise, native plants ... and manpower!
This Qantas award-winning series will be screened on Māori Television in October 2009.
back to top