Tribe's gift to Crown recognises value of high-country block

The handover ceremony was held at the mouth of the Greenstone River on Lake Wakatipu yesterday.

Ngai Tahu has given the Crown a large tract of Central Otago high-country land in memory of the suffering of its people and recognising the conservation value of the site.

Tribal leaders and representatives of the Crown celebrated the gifting of the land at a special ceremony at the mouth of the Greenstone River yesterday.

The land, known as Ka Whenua Roimata, or Land of Tears, was part of three high-country stations Ngai Tahu purchased as part of the 1997 Deed of Settlement.

Under the deed, the Crown agreed to sell the Crown Elfin Bay, Routeburn and Greenstone stations to Ngai Tahu. That included about 33,400ha of land from the northwestern shore of Lake Wakatipu.

The formal transfer was one of the final outstanding issues remaining from the deed. The land will be held by the Conservation Department and managed as conservation areas.

Te Runanga o Ngai Tahu kaiwhakahaere (chairman) Mark Solomon said the tribe transferred the 4200ha as a memorial to the suffering of its people, and in recognition of the high conservation value of the area.

The Minister in Charge of Treaty Negotiations, Mark Burton, called it an important transaction of iconic land that was also a signal of hope for the future.

The tribe also leased a further 25,000ha back to the Crown in perpetuity, which would also be managed by the Conservation Department.

Ngai Tahu would be allowed to graze sheep and cattle in specified parts of these areas until November 2008.

The remaining 4200ha (the station areas) would be retained by the tribe as freehold land.

The transfer of the station areas was subject to various easements and covenants, including the provision of public foot access over the Greenstone/Caples Track.

Ngai Tahu has been farming the station areas since November 1999, although the Crown retained legal title to the properties.

Since then, extensive survey work has been undertaken to allow for the separation of the gift and lease back areas from the station areas.

- OTAGO DAILY TIMES