Northland iwi creates sanctuary to protect kauri from dieback

Friday, 26 June 2020

A kauri sanctuary, to help protect the iconic species from kauri dieback, is being created by Northland iwi with the help of Government funds.

Ngāti Rēhia is creating the sanctuary on ancestral lands at Takou Bay near Kerikeri.

The project has been given a boost with $6.25 million from the One Billion Trees funding, Forestry Minister Shane Jones announced on Friday.

Tane Mahuta, in the Waipoua forest, is one of Northland's best-known kauri trees but kauri dieback has been found less than 100m away.

The sanctuary will help protect kauri for future generations by creating New Zealand’s first bio-secure kauri sanctuary, free of kauri dieback disease, he said.

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Kauri dieback has affected countless tress across New Zealand, such as these kauri in the Lower Huia Reservoir in the Waitakere Ranges Regional Park on September 4, 2017 in Auckland, New Zealand. The Waitakere Ranges Regional Park.

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Rewa's Village is part of the Kororipo Heritage Park in Kerikeri, which includes the Stone Store and Kemp House, overlooked by Hongi Hika's Kororipo Pā.

'There is no known cure for dieback and without innovations such as this, we may continue to see our kauri forests ravaged by the disease.'

Ngāti Rēhia has been working on the project since 2018, clearing the selected site, building fences, testing the soil and adhering to biosecurity measures to ensure it is free of kauri dieback.

The iwi partnered with Crown Research Institute Scion to test the soil and ensure the sanctuary could be safely established.

The partnership received $288,000 Government funding in 2018 from the One Billion Trees fund.

A further $50,000 was then committed to protect the area, once it was found to be suitable for a kauri sanctuary. This allowed fences to be built, paths to be cleared, and signs to be added to the boundaries.

The Stone Store, in Kerikeri Basin, is New Zealand's longest trading store, opening in 1836.

The $6.256m will allow for pest-proof fencing, biosecurity boardwalks, improvement to quarantine stations, further land clearing and planting, and employment and training of Ngāti Rēhia iwi to become kaitiaki (guardians) of their lands.

KERIKERI'S REWA'S VILLAGE UPGRADED

Meanwhile, $1.25 million from the Provincial Growth Fund will help a well-known Māori tourism attraction in Kerikeri to be redeveloped.

Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Rēhia Charitable Trust will use the funding to upgrade Te Pā Kāinga o Rewa, or Rewa’s Village, in Kerikeri, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones announced on Friday.

The long-established attraction is a small-scale replica of a 19th century Māori fishing village which recaptures the atmosphere of a settlement in pre-European times.

'It’s about 50 years since Rewa’s Village was built and it has fallen into disrepair. This funding will enable the trust to upgrade the facilities and displays, create up to seven new jobs, and attract more tourists,' Jones said.

“Some of the redevelopment work has already started and up to 30 people are expected to be employed on site over term of the upgrade. Work should be completed by the end of the year.'

The village is named after Rewa, a Ngāpuhi chief, who was prominent in the early 1800s. Rewa’s Village was built in the late 1960s as a community effort to faithfully recreate an unfortified village which would have existed when Europeans first arrived in New Zealand.

It is located in the Kororipo Heritage Park and forms parts of the Kerikeri Basin Recreational Reserve, which includes the Kerikeri Stone Store.

'The Kerikeri Basin is a significant heritage site. It was one of the first areas where Māori and Pākehā came together to live and trade. We need to look at preserving it so visitors can better understand its significance,' Jones said.