Part One Introduction

Ngati Tuwharetoa and the Lake Taupo-nui-a-Tia community have, for a long time, been aware of the need for the area to develop sustainably to protect the health of Lake Taupo-nui-a-Tia and its surrounding area. Over the past decade, the management of natural resources and the activities of public agencies in the Lake Taupo-nui-a-Tia catchment have been ad hoc. The Lake is managed by many agencies with separate but complementary roles. Each agency fulfils its own functions and carries out its activities in accordance with its own capabilities and timetables. For some members of the public, this has resulted in confusion over agency roles and responsibilities, especially when consultation occurs.

2020 Taupo-nui-a-Tia was a three-year project initiated by the Lakes and Waterways Action Group, Ngati Tuwharetoa and the wider Taupo community. In July 2001, Tuwharetoa Maori Trust Board and Environment Waikato signed a contract with the Ministry for the Environment to develop an integrated sustainable development strategy to protect Lake Taupo-nui-a-Tia and the catchment, taking into account the community and iwi values that had been identified as priorities. The strategy will be implemented through the activities of the statutory management agencies, iwi, businesses and the community.

The project is unique, as it is the first time a sustainable development strategy has been developed jointly by tangata whenua, the community and local and central Government agencies. It has also heralded the new directions of the Local Government Act and Long-Term Council Community Plans, as the process followed required strong integration and liaison between different agencies.