Tupua te Mauri (Taiao)

Tupua te Mauri (Taiao)

Tazmyn Kātene-Ashford joined us in November part-time as she completed her studies at Victoria University. Now full-time with Te Korowai, her core role is processing resource consents which is neither glamorous nor exciting but is critical for protecting our degraded Taiao.

Taranaki Maunga Project (TMP)

Te Korowai has collaborated with TMP to establish a team of five kaimahi, Ngā Hiwi Maunga, under Jobs for Nature funding. It is important to develop these kaimahi as the funding is limited to three years.

Awa Monitoring with Ngāti Hāua

The first monitoring activity with Ngāti Hāua was completed in May with funding from the Parininihi ki Waitōtara Taiao Fund. A second activity in October will be followed by a wānanga on cultural health indicators. Government freshwater funding has been allocated to Jobs for Nature. Extending monitoring to all Hapū will need an alternative approach including utilising the Ngā Hiwi Maunga team.

Hiringa

We took a van load of pahake to the High Court in Wellington in mid-May. Te Korowai appealed the decision to grant a consent through the Covid-19 Fast track consent process for the Kapuni Hydrogen project. This was based on the impact the fast-tracking process has on Hapū consultation and the wind turbines would have on Ngāruahine uri and their relationship to the maunga. A determination from the judge is expected soon.

Ngā Hiwi Maunga

Te Korowai o Ngāruahine, in collaboration with the ‘Taranaki Mounga Project’, have established Ngā Hiwi Maunga (pictured above). We currently have five kaimahi working on our maunga as part of Ngā Hiwi Maunga. Pest and predator control is their priority however their mahi also involves the preservation of native trees and manu like the Whio and Kiwi – Ngā tamariki a Tāne Mahuta, monitoring water and bringing back native wildlife. They also have an opportunity to get involved with other communities, working alongside other iwi and our rangatahi Māori.

The name ‘Ngā Hiwi Maunga’ pays homage to Panitahi (also known as Panatahi, Rehua and Te Iringa) as the Ngāruahine peak. The kaimahi liken their strength and mahi as a ranger team, to that of the shoulder peaks of our tupuna maunga, upholding and acknowledging it’s wairua and mauri. They shared with us what they like most about their mahi and what they want you to know about our maunga.

Meet the team!

Tāne Houston - Ngāti Manuhiakai

What I love about working in this space are the hauora benefits. We can drink from the rivers, breathe in the fresh air, and eat from the ngahere. Te mahi tata ki tō tātou tupuna, tō tātou maunga nei. Kua tae mai te wā ka hoki tātou ki te maunga. Our role ensures safe access to explore our maunga, to engage with our maunga, to connect. We can safely engage right across the maunga now, the rivers that we only see on the farmlands, the springs, the kōkōwai. I’d like our people to get excited about the fact that we can go to these places as whānau, not just hear about them or read about them but to have wānanga, to see, to touch, and be in these spaces.

Jarvis Edwards - Ngāti Hāua

I enjoy everything that I do on the maunga, the trapping, monitoring, looking after the native trees. There are a lot of different things that we do on the maunga, every day is different, and that is what I like more than anything, not being stuck doing the same job. Our maunga is a beautiful place. I’d like to encourage all our whānau to take advantage of our maunga, come up here.

Levi Christie - Ngāti Hāwea (Ngāti Kahungunu)

My hononga to Ngāruahine is my wife and tamariki who are Ngāti Tū. The thing I most like about being on the maunga is the ability to be free while working to bring the maunga back to its full potential. I’d like to see the community understand more, to learn how to be safe on the maunga and to be able to gather even more understanding by traveling further into the maunga. Then they will be able to experience the maunga in its true form.

Whitikau Rio - Ngāruahine, Ngāti Ruanui

This job has given me opportunities to meet some amazing people, people with similar aspirations for this kind of mahi, people who know how to connect to our land, people who are naturally connected to atua Māori and kaupapa Māori. I like being away from town and being one with Papatūānuku and Tāne Mahuta. I’d like our people to take the time to acknowledge, walk on, and be at one with our maunga.

Ngatokoa Tikitau - Ngāti Tū

Working alongside our rangatahi is where it's at for me, the next generation, laying a pathway for them and bringing people back to our maunga. I’d like to inspire at least one of our uri to get into this mahi so that they can fill our shoes when we leave. I’ve loved the opportunities that this mahi has given me, working with other iwi, being involved with the tohorā on the coast and helping communities during the floods. There are a lot of our own people who live here and haven’t been to our maunga. My message to them, make the connection, hoki mai ki tō maunga.