Unlocking the future of the Warawara

Kaitiaki to work on plan

Kaitiaki gathered recently in the North Hokianga's Warawara Forest, with supporters and friends who share an interest in future restoration projects designed to enhance its mana.

"For many years the gate to the Warawara has had a lock on it, which in effect has made the place a no-go zone for the many people living around the forest," kaumatua Malcolm Peri said.

"At the same time locals have watched as infestations of foreign predators have invaded the whenua, stripping the ngahere and depleting the flora and fauna within the Warawara. Many species, like the kohekohe, are on the brink of extinction.

"DOC readily admits that it is losing the battle within the Warawara, and welcomes the new kaitiakitanga approach that the Te Rarawa historical treaty settlement has enabled."

Kaitiaki from the 10 marae with mana whenua interests in the Warawara had formed a committee which would now work with supporting organisations to develop plans and management strategies with the shared aspiration of restoring the health and mana of the Warawara, he added.

The committee's objectives included developing a pest management plan, establishing a permanent kaitiaki centre with kaitiaki employed in all conservation activities within the Warawara, protecting wahi tapu and tikanga practices, and developing a cultural materials plan.

About 60 people attended the gathering to see and experience the Warawara from within.

"What is obvious is that the conservation estate is inseparable from the vast tracts of Maori-owned land surrounding the conservation area," Matua Peri said.

"Hence the conservation planning that the kaitiaki intend to embark on will need to encompass the whole, particularly in regards to the pest management approach. In the end it will come down to how well the kaitiaki work together alongside land owners and other supporting organisations that have come along to our hui.

It had been pleasing to see those agencies that had historically been involved in conservation activities, such as NZ Forest and Bird, Kiwis for Kiwi, Reconnecting Northland, Northland Regional Council and the Department of Conservation, come to the realisation that the health of the ngahere was intimately connected to the traditional kaitiaki mana whenua who live in and around a place such as the Warawara.

"They definitely felt the wairua of the place and the special connection tangata whenua have with the Warawara," Te Runanga o Te Rarawa chairman Haami Piripi said.

"As our kuia Dame Whina Cooper once put it in regards to the Warawara, 'Ko te wairua o te iwi o Te Rarawa'," (describing the forest as the living spiritual being of Te Rarawa people).