Landowners wish to restore the Waipatukakahu waterflow on Mauao. Photo / File
Landowners wish to restore the Waipatukakahu waterflow on Mauao. Photo / File
A number of exotic trees, including four large oaks, will be removed from Mauao as part of a cultural restoration of the historical site.
Ngā Poutiriao ō Mauao - the Mauao Joint Administration Board - said in a statement today work was to begin to restore Waipatukakahu puna (stream) on Mauao and re-establish the site for its traditional cultural purpose.
As part of the restoration project, representatives of the board will remove a number of exotic trees next week from along Te Ara Tūtanga or Base Track.
This includes four large oak large trees growing on an old puna site on the southern flank.
Landowners wish the site to return to its original cultural purpose as being a place for weaving. Photo / Supplied
In line with the 2018 Mauao Historic Reserve Management Plan, exotic trees are to be progressively removed from Mauao given its status as a special ecological area.
As the oak trees are deciduous, the leaf fall and seedling growth stops the flow of the puna, which would naturally pool at the base.
Due to the importance of this historic site, landowners wish to restore the Waipatukakahu waterflow and have the site returned to its original cultural purpose as being a place for weaving.
Ngā Poutiriao ō Mauao chairman, Dean Flavell, said as representatives of the traditional owners and guardians of Mauao, they cared deeply for the maunga and did not wish to further degrade the Waipatukakahu, which translated to mean 'the stream where flax garments are made'.
"Currently this puna is blocked every year for many months.
"Removing these trees and the resulting leaf debris will produce an uninterrupted flow of water. By enabling the water to flow we are helping to restore the mauri (life force) of Waipatukakahu and of Mauao."
Flavell said the area will then be replanted with three mass pa harakeke plantings made up of different types of harakeke unique to this area for weaving.
Design for the cultural heritage site. Photo / Supplied
"Rather than being a place to look at, this area is to again become a place where people can come to weave and create the muka (prepared flax fibre).
"Our aspiration is for people to come to practice their weaving artform and allow tangata whenua to reconnect with this cultural site. It is to become a place of living history and we look forward to bringing old traditional uses and practices back to Mauao.
"As the oaks have grown for a long time on this important site, they will be taken off site to be carved and returned to the maunga as taonga," Flavell said.
The other four exotic trees to be removed are pine, elm, grevillia and brachychiton. All of the trees are currently growing on archaeological features and will be removed by specialists.
During works, the Te Ara Tūtanga/Base Track will be partially closed from June 15 to 18 and June 21 to 25, and a full circuit of the Te Ara Tūtanga/Base Track will not be possible.
Access to the track will be from the ocean side only. Wardens will be in place to advise visitors of the closure.
Cultural compass to become new touchstone at Mauao summit
The trig at the summit of Mauao has been removed, prior to Matariki, and will be replaced in future with a cultural compass to recognise and celebrate the mana of te tihi o Mauao (the summit of Mauao).
The compass will feature touchstones at the centre, which carry mauri (lifeforce), to maintain the mauri of Mauao. Radiating from the touchstones, the compass design will identify significant sites on the maunga, outlying landmarks and islands, and select star and sun positions.
Representatives of Ngā Poutiriao ō Mauao (Mauao Joint Administration Board), worked together with Toitū Te Whenua Land Information New Zealand to remove the trig or beacon and associated surveying mark known as '1317 - A Maunganui' with a view to reinstating the survey mark elsewhere on the summit.
Ngā Poutiriao ō Mauao chairman, Dean Flavell said it was important that the most sacred part of the tupuna maunga be adorned with a tohu fitting of his mana. "Ko Mauao te Maunga ko Tauranga te Moana."
Mauao Historic Reserve is private land owned by the Mauao Trust, that is available and enjoyed by all as a public space.
Ngā Poutiriao o Mauao is the joint management board for Mauao made up of representatives of the Mauao Trust and Tauranga City Council.
The joint management of Mauao is guided by the 2018 Mauao Historic Reserve Management Plan, which was created though public consultation and through the aspirations of the Mauao Trust.
