5 minute read
Ka tupu te rau, ka hau te rau
Jobs for nature project exceeds milestones
A project to restore the wairua of the whenua and boost Māori capability in the taiao space may have ended, but its kaupapa will continue.
The Tupu Rawa project, which received $1.2 million through the Department of Conservation, ended in August with all its milestones achieved.
Raniera Karena was one of four Te Rau Whakauruora / Kaitiaki Cadets chosen in 2021 for the project. He and two other kaimahi, Luka Kamana Kerehoma and Jessica Matehuirua White, have now graduated to permanent roles with Parininihi ki Waitōtara. The fourth, Jordan Morehu Ryan, used his experience with the PKW kaupapa to gain a new role at Taranaki Regional Council.
“I’ve learnt how to see the whenua as an environmentalist, to know whether an area of wetland needs to be retired, and then put my feet on the ground and do it,” says Raniera.
“It’s very different from the farming work I used to do. As a farmer you look at the whenua and think about how you can get the most feed for your animals.”
Building on work PKW already had underway on its 33 farms, the cadets and their Te Rau Whakaueue / Kaitiaki Supervisor, Josephine Sullivan, fenced and planted 84km of land adjacent to waterways, undertook pest control, monitored streams, and retired land where possible, and developed new climate change adaptation plans.
“I’m really proud of them. They exceeded all the milestones. Taiao work is hard. They’re out in some harsh, cold conditions this time of year and came in looking pretty washed up at times,” says Puna Wano-Bryant, Te Rautitikura / General Manager Shareholder Taiao Engagement.
Tupu Rawa was an opportunity to bring the jobs in-house, to have Taranaki Māori working on Taranaki whenua. And that has meant an increased level of hapū engagement on their farms that wouldn’t have been possible with contractors.
“Wāhi tapu protection is a big part of what we do. It’s where hapū want to be meaningfully engaged and have more access. They’re happy for the team to do the mahi as long as the findings are shared,” Puna says.
In order to record and share the information and narratives they learn, the Taiao team creates ArcGIS StoryMaps. This is a web-based application that allows them to build maps overlaid with digital stories and other content like photos and documents. It is used for the 19 awa and relevant wāhi tapu on PKW whenua.
Engagement is an aspect of the job that Raniera clearly enjoys. Born on the coast at Ōpunakē, he has whakapapa to Taranaki Iwi, Te Atiawa, and Ngāruahine, and can go to his uncle, cultural expert Tonga Karena, with his questions.
“During the summer we invited hapū to carry out water monitoring with us, so they can walk on their whenua and see the results for their awa,” Raniera says.
“I’ve also been part of wānanga with hapū to return names to their farms so they’re not just numbers. It’s really cool to have all the whānau out at a dawn naming ceremony, to have a good kai, to talk to them. It’s how it should be.”
An essential part of the PKW Kaitiakitanga Strategy is mātauranga Māori - enabling scientific data to be complemented and enhanced with and by tikanga o Taranaki. Reconnecting whānau with their whenua and awa is one of the strategy’s five priorities, vital to achieving a holistic result.
The kaitiaki taiao also apply their bespoke Mouri Engagement Framework – Te Ihoiho Whakakite when engaging with and assessing waterways.
“The team use a Taranaki mātauranga Māori lens. It makes working with us different from working somewhere else where you may just do pure ecological restoration,” Puna says.
As a kaupapa Māori land organisation PKW always strives to elevate its commitment to kaitiakitanga. The extra resources from the Tupu Rawa project further enabled kaitiaki to gain intimate cultural and physical knowledge of each site.
“Because of raupatu our whānau have been disconnected from these spaces. The team knows the gentle, courteous, empowering position they have to take. They engage respectfully and always come away with more knowledge,” she says.
Post-project and post-cadetships, the team is consolidating.
Jo Sullivan becomes the Te Rau Whakaihoiho / Kaitiaki Taiao Manager, Luka and Matehuirua are Te Rau Whakauruora / Kaitiaki Taiao, and Raniera is the team’s coordinator Te Rau Whakaueue.
The promotion could not have come at a better time for Raniera. His son will be two next month and he and his partner have another baby due in February. He looks back on the team’s achievements with enormous satisfaction and pride.
“We’ve put in tens of thousands of plants, and we’ve absolutely got better at what we do. In 2022 we weren’t too bad, last year the results were super good. This year our prep was on point. It’s going to be the best yet.”
Is he tempted to return to farming? No, especially as he has developed an allergy to cows.
“I went out to play with the calves recently and immediately got puffy eyes! No, I see myself staying here in the taiao space. It’s a cool job.”
