Rotorua hosted the first-ever Oceania Ranger Forum which drew 180 attendees.
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See below for English translation
He ao matemate, he takerehāia
Me kaha rā e tātau te hāpori me ngā tini rangatira katoa ki te kuhu ki te whawhai nui e rangatira anō ai te taiao e mā anō ai ngā tūkinotanga o Papatūānuku.
Ko te whakapaunga korero tēnei a ngā rangatira i whakarauika katoa ki runga ki te rohe o Te Arawa i te marama kua pahemo i te hui nui o Oceania Ranger Forum. He kotahi rau, e waru tekau katoa ngā rangatira tae ā tinana ki tēnei karanga. Nō ngā wāhanga katoa o te ao ngā mātanga.
Hawaiki Tahutahu nei ētehi, Ahitereiria me ngā moutere o te moana nui a Kiwa hoki ētehi. Nā tēnei rūnanga whakaharahara ka puta tētehi pahi mana nui ko te whakaaro iho taihoa e tūhono atu ai a Rangers of Aotearoa NZ ki tēnei pahi.
Ko Andy Davies te pou whakahaere o tēnei huinga. Ko ia hoki te rangatira ā rohe mō South Gippsland he wāhanga nui o Parks Victoria. Hai tāna, ko tētehi o ngā rautaki o tēnei huinga ko te akiaki ngā pahi o Aotearoa nei ki a whakakao katoa mai rātau ki raro i te tāhūhū kotahi. Koia tēnei tana hui nui rawa atu o ngā hui katoa kua whakatūria e ia. He waimarie hoki nō Aotearoa i tū i kōnei. He ahakoa he rahi noa atu ngā hui itiiiti kua whakatūngia e te Council of Oceania Ranger Associateion (ORCA) ki Ahitereiria i ngā marama kua pahemo.
Hai tā Andy ka whakahuingia te pahi International Ranger Federation (IRF) ia toru tau ki te hui nui o te ao. Nō te tau e rua mano, kotahi tekau mā iwa tū ai te hui nui whakaharahara ā ao nei i Chitwan Nepal. Ko CORA te wāhanga ā rohe nei mō Oceania mō te IRF. Ā, ko tā rātau hui nui tuatahi tēnei. Tirohia te paetukutuku. (https://www.internationalrangers.org/).
'Ka nui te hiahia ki a hui anō mātau ia toru tau'. Kai te mura o te ahi katoa ngā pou tiaki taiao e whakapau kaha ana ki te whakahuri ngā hē me ngā taumahatanga o te māuiuitanga o te taiao, ka rua, nā tēnei āhuatanga hoki kai te huri anō ā rātau tūnga mahi.
'Ko ētehi o ngā rautaki me āta tirohia e tātau ko te rautaki mō te tiaki ahi teretere, te piki me te heke o te moana me te pāmahanatanga, ko ngā taumahatanga ka pā ki te ngāhere me ngā kararehe hoki, me te horonga o ngā pari kai takutai moana'.
Nā reira me tūhono tahi ai ngā pou tiaki taiao ki ngā iwi me te hāpori whānui tonu, whaihoki te kāwanatanga ki a areare ai ngā taringa ki ēnei take. Kai ngā kamunga ringaringa te mana o te hāpori. E hoa tirohia ki ngā kōrero kai te tiwi me ngā nūpepa, kai te wera te nehenehe i Aotearoa nei, Ahitereiria, Uropī me Amerika ki te Raki, kua hē ngā rā.
E hoa mā tirohia ki whenua kē atu ki Awherika me te whenua o Āhia he whenua waipuke, nā ki kōnei ki Hāwaiki Tahutahu hoki. He ahakoa titiro ngā kanohi ki whea, he aitua, he aitua, he aitua, nā te kikino o tēnei āhuatanga kai te kitea hoki ēnei āuētanga e te hunga matakerepō.
Kua mate noa te kōrero e kī nei, taihoa te huringa kino o te ao, e weta mā. Kai te korokoro o te hamuti kē tātau. He takerehāia. Nā reira kai te whakapiki te kaha me te wairua toa o ēnei pou tiaki whenua ki a ū noa rātau ki te wera o te aituā. Ko tā rātau inaianei he whakapāoho he whakaohiti ngā tini hapū me ngā iwi kia huri mai ki te reo whakatūpato.
No reira, ko tētehi o ngā rautaki ko te whakamātara te iwi tangata ki tēnei āhuatanga, ara, ae, e huri ana te ao, kai te huri hoki te wairua o te taiao, nā reira me pēnā hoki tātau, e rua, e rua.
'Kua waia kē tātau ki ngā kōrero, ki a āta takahia te whenua, tuaruangia ngā kame, rapua he momo pūngao kē atu'. Ehara tēnei taumahatanga i a Aotearoa anake. Hai tēnei mātanga, ' Kai te rangona tēnei wehi i ngā whenua katoa. Te korenga o te kai, ngā kīrehe, ngā ngarara otīā ngā kino katoa, me te rere o te auahi".
The meeting had a number of guest speakers.
'He kakamā nō ētehi o ngā kāwanatanga i ētehi atu, wheoi anō ko taku whakapae he mōhio nō tātau katoa me kotahi mai ngā whenua nui, whenua iti kia tika anō ai te tauihu o tō tātau waka tangata'.
Engari rā ko te punga e āhua whakatataku nei tēnei waka o tātau ko te taha ki te moni. Nā reira e pakari ai ngā kame me ngā pou mahi e tika ai ā rātau mahi. Kua whakatakotongia e te IUCN ( International Union for Conservation of Nature) tētehi whāinga pae tata ki a rāhuingia, kia toru tekau paiheneti whenua mai, moana mai huri noa te ao i mua o te tau e rua mano, e toru tekau te tau, hai whakaheke i ngā tūkinotanga. Engari rā me aro katoa tātau me whakapono hoki tātau katoa ki tēnei whakaaro nui.
Ko te tautoko ā pūtea nei i ēnei waka kai te puku o te kāwanatanga o ia whenua ake. ' E āta tupu haere nei te aroha nui o te tangata ki tēnei whakaaro ko te tuku moni hai kauawhiawhi i ngā kaupapa whai mana, ara pēnei me te whakarauora taiao. Kia whakatauirangia e ahau. Ko tāku ake kamupene kai Wikitoria i Ahitereiria, kua whai hononga ki ētehi hoa tautoko e whakapono nei ki taku aronga.
'Ae – nō te wā o te māuiui urutā i hinga noa tēnei mahi ko te tiaki taiao. Ko tētehi hinganga nui ko te aukati ngā wāhi tūruhi pēnei me ngā pāka. Ko te oranga o ētehi o ngā pāka taiao kai te moni a te turuhi. Nā reira i raru nui rātau. Ka hua iho ētehi painga iti nei, nā i whai wā ai mātau ki te whakatikatika ngā pāka me te whakakaha ngā wātaka. Kāore e tino tāea ana e pūkumahi ana ngā pāka.' Wheoi anō, he ngākau whakapono tō Andy mō te pae tawhiti.
'Tirohia ngā kura katoa puta noa i tēnei motu, huri noa te ao, huri noa te ao, kai ngā momo kura katoa e kitea ana ngā kura e kawe ananngā kaupapa whakamana whenua, whakarauora taiao. Ko te oranga tonutanga o te taiao kai ngā whakatupuranga hou otīā kai te hunga rangatahi.
Nā wai rā, ka āta ratarata ai te hāpori me ngā tangata ki tēnei take ka pai haere te māramatanga, ka piki te manawanui me te manawarahi, ā, ka whakaae tātau ki te mana o ngā pou tiaki taiao, ka whakaae hoki rā tātau he mana tō te whenua, he mana tō te rangi me ngā hua katoa o runga o raro o roto o waho.
Engari me whakaae te ngākau o te hāpori me whakapono mai rātau e puta ai tātau ki te hau o matahauariki'. Ka nui hoki te whakamīharo o tona ngākau kua huri ngā tangata o Ahitereiria ki ngā akoranga o te iwi taketake o Ahitereiria. ' Kai te huri atu tātau ki te mana o te iwi taketake.
Rotorua hosted the first-ever Oceania Ranger Forum which drew 180 attendees. Photo /Supplied
E tika ana rātau ki ngā tūnga rangatira tiaki whenua, tiaki taiao, hai tāna, he kaupapa mahi tahi nē. Ko ētehi o ō mātau whenua he pāka ā motu, engari tūturu he whenua taketake, ko te hunga whakahaere i ēnei whenua he kaumātua otīā ko te hunga nō rātau te whenua.
Wheoi anō rā, kua piki ake te tūhonohonotanga o te iwi taketake ki a tātau ngā iwi kē atu o tēnei whenua o tātau katoa, he pukenga nui, he mātauranga hohonu ko te whenua me te taiao te take'.
Ka oti ana, hai tāna, ka nui te whakapono ko te oranga o te taiao, kai te mātauranga o ngā iwi taketake katoa o te ao hurihuri nei. — Na Raimona Inia i whakamaori
Community input and active participation are essential in the fight against the effects of climate change and to reduce the human footprint on Papatuanuku.
That is one of the conclusions reached by the first-ever Oceania Ranger Forum which drew 180 delegates from New Zealand, Australia, Samoa, the Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea to a conference in Rotorua this month.
The ground-breaking event led to the formation of an official New Zealand body.
Rangers of Aotearoa NZ will one day become a member of the International Ranger Federation.
Andy Davies, the forum organiser, who is District Manager South Gippsland with Parks Victoria, said one of the primary outcomes was to encourage rangers from New Zealand's multiple government agencies to come together and form a national ranger association.
While the Rotorua forum was the first in New Zealand and the organisation's biggest, the Council of Oceania Ranger Associations (CORA) has held smaller regional meetings in Australia previously.
Andy said the International Ranger Federation (IRF) holds a World Ranger Congress every three years. The last one was in 2019 in Chitwan Nepal. CORA is the Oceania regional body for the IRF, so this is our first event. (https://www.internationalrangers.org/)
"We aim to have a similar sized meeting every three years."
Rangers and environmental managers are having to deal with the impacts of climate change on the environment now, and that is changing their roles.
"Environmental changes include changes to fire management, sea level rises and temperature changes, impacts on flora and fauna, and processes like coastal erosion."
Because all of these changes impact people and communities, rangers need to work with the community and government to address them.
The public and wider community can help in a variety of ways.
Television and news reports of wildfires at home in Aotearoa as well as in Australia, Europe and North America bear witness to catastrophic weather events.
The meeting had a number of guest speakers.
Then there are the devastating floods in Africa and Asia and in New Zealand.
The list goes on and I think by now that even the most determinedly blind person can see that climate change is not just coming, she has arrived.
Which means that rangers and environmental managers are adjusting their work patterns to meet demand.
And they need to get the message out to the community.
This includes making people understand that as climate changes, we need to change the way we live, spend our recreation time in the natural environment and appreciate what we have.
"We can help by reducing our foot prints, recycling and using renewable energy systems where possible."
Aotearoa-New Zealand was not the only country feeling the effects of climate change and the invasion of pest flora and fauna, he said.
"All nations are seeing and feeling the same impacts, from removal or loss of native vegetation, pest species, changes to fire frequency etc.
"Some governments are acting quicker than others, but I believe everyone accepts that this is a global and local issue all at the same time."
Mounting a successful fight takes money which means extra funds and resources to support rangers and conservation works.
"The IUCN [International Union for Conservation of Nature] has a global target of 30 per cent of the earth's land and 30 per cent of the earth's oceans needing to be protected by 2030 to reduce the impacts and halt biodiversity loss. To achieve this we need resources and public support."
Sponsorship or funding for special projects varies between countries and government agencies.
"Philanthropy and sponsorship is certainly a growing market to support biodiversity and conservations works. For example, my organisation in Victoria Australia has a number of partnerships."
The Covid pandemic and closing of borders impacted conservation work in a number of ways.
"The most obvious was tourism or park visitors not being able to get into parks. Some park services rely on income from visitors, so that had an obvious impact.
"There were some benefits at times, in my area, with no visitors in our parks, we were able to undertake maintenance and programmes that are difficult to do when the park is full of visitors."
"Across the globe there are programmes in primary, secondary and tertiary schools for conservation. Encouraging our youth into conservation will help determine our future.
"As our communities become more interested in climate change, biodiversity loss and conservation, we will see a growth in understanding, tolerance and acceptance, that Rangers and the land, water and sky we manage are essential to life on the planet. We need the community to be part of the solution to all of our issues and opportunities."
And Andy is proud the learnings and beliefs of the iwi taketake of Australia are being adopted.
"Here in Australia we are moving rapidly towards models that support indigenous people to take control and manage their lands and water, we call it Joint Management or Co-Operative Management. We have national parks that are Aboriginal Land, managed with Traditional Owners and Government together.
"Additionally, there is greater recognition of indigenous knowledge and skills in land management."
He believes that the ways of indigenous people in managing natural events will gain more significance globally.
