Plan for park finally gets off the ground

Darryn Ratana is over the moon that after more than seven years' hard graft the Whanganui National Park Management Plan is finally approved and operational.

It took all that time for all parties to be happy with it, the Taranaki/Whanganui Conservation Board chairman said. The crux of the matter was the relationship of Whanganui Maori with the Conservation Department and the Crown.

The draft plan was handed over to the New Zealand Conservation Authority at Pipiriki's Paraweka Marae in February. It was approved by that body,with a few minor and technical changes, on Thursday.

On Friday, the authority's chairwoman Dr Kay Booth presented it to Mr Ratana and conservator Damian Coutts at a ceremony in Wanganui.

Conservation Minister Kate Wilkinson was there for the occasion, as well as Whanganui MP Chester Borrows, Wanganui Mayor Annette Main, Whanganui River Trust Board chairman Dr Te Tiwha Puketapu and others.

The plan sets out the cultural, biodiversity and recreation aims for the park for the next 10 years. It emphasises the importance of conservation partnerships between the Conservation Department (DoC), landowners, local and regional councils and iwi. The Whanganui National Park is a living, iconic and cultural landscape, the plan says, and tangata whenua values must be reflected in its management and presentation.

Dr Puketapu said local Maori looked toward a future where they and DoC took an increasingly shared approach to caring for the park. He noted that "caring for the whenua (land) is critical to the health and wellbeing of Te Awa Tupua (the Whanganui River)".

Mr Ratana said the plan was just the beginning of an ongoing process, which the board would monitor.

He asked Ms Wilkinson to lobby for more funding for conservation. It wasn't just a "nice to have" but was integral to community, social and economic wellbeing.

Better funding would also ensure the plan was able to be implemented, he said.