Kaitiakitanga
Kaitiakitanga Program and Network
Te Whaiti Nui-a-Toi children
guard and share Whirinaki,
their culture, language and values
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Kaitiakitanga |
Kaitiakitanga Program and Network |
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Caring for All in Our Place - the Whirinaki CatchmentKaitiakitanga in Action: - An example of Integrated Catchment and Community Leadership Visit us by Video "Whirinaki, The World's Best Kept Secret" - explore with Botanist David Bellamy (1984) Ngati Whare Working Towards a Joint Governance Partnership with DOC
Pictured is the opening of the Mangamate Waterfall public camping and recreation area that the public and all citizens of the world can enjoy. Details of the upgraded facilities here More information on our Runanga Treaty Settlement here Watch the You Tube video of the Crown apology to Ngati Whare 5/5/2013
Ngati Whare the Kura, Community, DOC and visitors welcome long lost species back into the Whirinaki Whanau on Murumurunga Marae. Local kaitiaki from families with long traditional relationships with the forest are employed by DOC on to add richness to local species preservation programmes The Whirinaki Ecological Management Zone (WEMZ) is a predator protected area of forest where bio diversity can flourish. Many of these and other local species also need safe corridors for protection in the wetland areas in the Whirinaki catchments.
Ngati Whare Ngahere Regeneration Project - Restoring Native Forest
The negotiated settlement provides for a joint Ngati Whare-Crown project to regenerate up to 640 hectares of licensed Whirinaki Crown Forestry land adjacent to the Whirinaki Conservation Park back to indigenous forest for all New Zealanders to enjoy. More details here World renowned botanist David Bellamy is thrilled to be patron of the Whirinaki - Te Pua a Tane; a dinosaur forest that is one of his favourite places in this world. Details on his "Moas Ark Revisted" trip here to celebrate Whirinaki 25.
Nurturing Cultural Ecotourism and Rich Learning Opportunities for Visitors (incl web)
The Whirinaki Rainforest web portal links visitors to all local services. The multitudes from all around the world who will never physically get to Whirinaki, need not miss out: they can take a videoclip tour here Providing Visitor Facilities
We also built the cooking facilities shelter at the Mangamate waterfall public campsite These were joint DOC - Ngati Whare runanga projects
Environmental Education and Lifelong Learning - opportunities for Schools / Groups
Groups are formally welcomed on the Marae which is the gateway to a rich stay in Whirinaki Local guides and facilitators are available to support groups in their learning while in here The Recreation Camp provides a rich venue for outdoor education. Many schools use it. Marae Restoration and Cultural Revitalisation
We run community learning wananga on our marae and support our kura and Kohunga Reo in partnership, so our children today are again relearning their language and nurturing the richness of our culture in a school where their grandparents were strapped for speaking it. They are the future of our Iwi.
These are our emerging leaders for tomorrow.
Merging our Schools to grow Te Kura Toitu o Te Whaiti Nui-a-Toi
After a awe-inspiring traditional powhiri on Waikotikoti marae, each site was re-opened by the the Minister of Maori Affairs and the Minister of Education respectively on 31 Jan 2004. This was celebrated by a large contingent of official visitors.
Our Kura - Pioneering Research on the Ecosystem Services Value of Rainforests
Students at our Kura are carrying out some groundbreaking research to help show the world the value of the ecosystem services that rainforests provide to support life on earth. More details and our broad research links are shared here
We are collecting data to work out the Whirinaki catchment's hour by hour water balance using our weatherstation rainfall figures, a river flow gauge we have designed for our bridges and forest sensor stations that we are building to allow us to compare the water diversion and evaporation / transpiration for different land uses, including native canopy, native ground level , exotic forest and farming. In 2013 we secured BOPRC Hawea Vercoe memorial funding and equipment to start a Whirinaki catchment wide water quality monitoring and enhancement project
The Kaitiakitanga Program and Network - rooted in Whirinaki and Linking the Globe.
This has seeded The Kaitiakitanga Program and Network which also embraces other Rural NZ communities sharing the Maori worldview and importantly kaitiakitanga values and responsibilities for positive action. It has grown to be a mutually supportive international network embracing business, educational, sustainability, indigenous sectors and networks. We encourage nature inspired design practices. View a TED Talk by Prof Ille Gebeshuber who facilitated a biomimicry retreat here in April 2013. Our connections with Whaingaroa (Raglan) and Hokianga Harbourcare gives us access to their watercare / nursery / riparian planting expertise. Pictured here is Randal Stensness on a mycorestoration workshop in US with fungi guru Paul Stamet gathering the Mycorestoration Technology that makes farm waste management, riparian planting and detoxification / purification of streams much more effective. Read what Joe Harawira and our SWAT partners in Whakatane are pioneering: biorestoration of dioxins and more in toxic sawmill dump sites. Broadband Rollout - Opening the world to Te Urewera Schools and Communities
Our Kuru as part of The Tuhoe Education Authority network (TEA) has pioneered the delivery of rural broadband to all Te Urewera schools and their communities. That opens up opportunities for our children and communities to counter our isolation , becoming world citizens that share our place via the web . Thanks to our local farmer Andrew Macdonald (a past chairman of the School Board) for hosting a repeater site on his farm (one of many across Te Urewera required to get the signals over rugged hills into our communities) . We exploit this inter-connectivity for our future with our Whirinaki Interactive project of which this website is a part. The Kokiri Centre - Growing a Healthy People and Community Te Runanga o Ngati Whare Trust initiated this project in partnership with health Authorities. A Minginui Village house donated by the Te Whaiti Nui-a-Toi Trust was converted using local volunteer labour to provide a community Heath and wellness centre. Every second Tuesday the Doctor from Murupara runs a clinic here This is a venue for other health promotion and community development seminars
Minginui Community Concept Plan - facilitated by a UNITEC Architecture Team
The Village Council and other groups welcomed a group of Unitec Students to carry out a community concept planning exercise with them. They involved the community in an assessment of the village assets, including concept plans for the village central community area, upgrading of the hall, and use of the old forestry compound as an enterprise development centre including a nursery, visitor information and museum. That also included an outline plan for the future provision of accommodation and services to support ecotourism with a strong cultural learning focus in a way that maintained the privacy and safety of residents in the village.
Healthy Housing Program
To help upgrade housing in Minginui, an emergency house maintenance programme of work carried out with Housing Corporation and others. Our Runagate working with The Ingenuity Village Council, the Hanna Support Group and other partners have established a volunteer team to do maintenance and painting in the Village. Te Puni Kokiri provided us with a trailer containing the basic materials and tools to allow whanau members to maintain and paint the homes of their kaumatua.
The Minginui Community - taking responsible for processing waste in the catchment
Our Minginui Village Council, the Te Whaiti Nui-a-Toi Trustees,and our Runanga initiated a project to close the old rubbish tip. Thanks to Environment BOP and The Whakatane District Council for their help in converting buildings in the old forestry compound to create our Recycling Centre. This recycling centre is now managed and run by the local community for all residents and activities in the valley, as well as for visitors.
Minginui Infrastructure and Health - Water Supply Upgrade
The Minginui Village Council and The Te Whaiti Nui-a-Toi Village Trust earned support thanks from The Drinking-Water Assistance Programme (DWAP) to completely replace our 1948 vintage leaky steel pipe system, tanks, pumps and bores. Local village labour was used to help install it very efficiently and well under budget. Tests on the bore water from the aquifers under the village showed it to be of exceptionally high quality. We have access Environment Waikato procedures on Protecting Community Groundwater Sources to ensure that nothing in the valley compromises this including farm seepage, pests, or toxins will compromise this.
Minginui Mara - Our Community Gardening Project
There was a lot of interest in the courses on Bio-intensive gardening run by Nathan Foote. Small raised vegetable gardens have been established in the back yards of community kaumatua to ensure they have healthy food.
The Matekuare Papakainga Project - Helping Restore our Wetlands to Health.
The Matekuare Whanau Trust have a Papakainga Development program underway which also involves restoring a traditional wetland area as a habitat for protecting native fish, eel and other species. It will include small lot agriculture, trade and other enterprise training as well as supporting tourism and whanau housing, bringing people and livelihoods back around our Murumurunga Marae and our Kura.
A Native Plant nursery has been built, where in partnership with the adjacent kura local people can concentrate on wetland and other restoration in our valley. Take a visual tour to see some of the restoration work waiting to be done in the catchment
Matekuare Whanau Learning Wananga (like that held at our kura on 5-6 Nov 2011) and hikoi over the site are open to all members of the community. Thanks to Rapata Wiri who has generously returned the content of his 2001 PhD thesis back as a koha to our community. THE PROPHECIES OF THE GREAT CANYON OF TOI (A HISTORY OF TE WHAITI.NIJI-A-TOI IN THE WESTERN TE UREWERA MOUNTAINS OF NEW ZEALAND) The next stage is to complete setting up the small Maori Land Block Farm School, supported by the Waiariki Institute of Technology; a practical educational model that can be replicated elsewhere. This involves getting facilities in place prior to the return of the their leased Papakainga block in 2014.
Remediating the Legacy of Past Non Sustainable Activities in our Valley.
We also draw attention to the "Precautionary Principle" that helps reduce the chance of future actions that may damage the environment, waterways, human or other species. That applies to poisons used for pest control as well as agricultural and forestry chemicals in our catchment , a place where many of us get our food. We encourage use of the Mauri Model when making decisions that effect the future namely: "Will our proposed action enhance or diminish the Mauri (Life force) of us, and that of all the things around us, including our grandchildren 's grandchildren's future"
Whirinaki as a Role Model for Catchment Research - Treating Papatuanuku with Respect
We thank the Rewi Whanau for their foresight; protecting in perpetuity a fragile wetland area on their land containing endangered species, via the QEII Trust. We look to win-win ways to help all operating in our valley achieve the highest possible standards of long term catchment environmental protection in the most effective manner, so that our streams and rivers remain clean to support natural wetland life and make them safe for us and all our visitors to swim in or drink. In 2013 our kura will commence a catchment wide water guality research project, supported by BOP Regional Council. This will be suppurted by the Matekuare native nursery that will introduce new riparian planting practices all as part of the Nga Hua a Tane research program. As the Whirinaki flows into the Rangitaiki, this proactive research project will support the contribution Ngati Whare makes to the development of the greater Rangitaiki River Forum document along with other organisations. Read Adapting to Climate change in eastern New Zealand and Wetlands Monitoring and Assessment Kit and Community-owned Rural Catchment Management Guide and Nature Space, Ecological Restoration in Aotearoa We commend the many agencies that help us enhance the Mauri of our place Whirinaki and all that dwell within it : Ministry for the Environment, Environment BOP, Whakatane District Council, Department of Conservation, Landcare Research, Land and Water Forum report , Forest Owners Association Environmental Code of Practice, Ecotourism Best Practices, Federated Farmers, Fonterra Clean Streams accord, Forest and Bird, NZ Fish and Game,
Progress, Achievement and Issues Log
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NOTICES AND ACHIEVEMENTS: Our gift to you - download Free Whirinaki Matariki Wall Calendar What Andree a sustainability writer discovered about Kaitiakitanga Papakainga Development - Matekuare Whanau Project underway |
WHIRINAKI WEATHER /WEBCAM ONLINE |
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| Please note that this site is under development. It is a prototype to help design its structure, content and navigation. An * in a menu is used to show a future function that is currently not yet available. We are working to establish a multimedia organisation in our community to carry out ongoing development. (Our students at Te Kura Toitu o Te Whaiti Nui-a-Toi were awarded third place in the 2003 NZ school web challenge). feedback please to temporary webmaster: |
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Our Iwi and community refused to take responsibility for the long term damage and potential ill health aspects arising from state managed forestry and other activities in the catchment. We insisted that government (who ran all the state forest milling here) apply the "
