Mana whenua panel will advocate for important traditional sites on stewardship land

Tuesday, 30 November 2021

Ngāi Tahu leaders and kaumātua have met with government ministers to discuss how they can work together for the first time since its treaty settlement was signed in the mid-1990s. (First published June 15, 2021)

A Ngāi Tahu mana whenua panel will work with the Department of Conservation (DOC), two national panels, and the conservation minister to review stewardship land within its takiwā (tribal area).

DOC is reclassifying stewardship land throughout Aotearoa to better protect conservation areas home to threatened species and high priority ecosystems.

Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu kaiwhakahaere (chair) Lisa Tumahai said the reclassification process was of upmost significance to Ngāi Tahu because a large proportion of its takiwā was made up of stewardship and public conservation land.

Stewardship land is land that was allocated to DOC when it was formed in 1987 and includes former state forest and Crown land considered to have conservation value.

**READ MORE:

The Mohikihinui River catchment was previously stewardship land but is now part of a National Park

* Nelson Marlborough land included in conservation review

* Ngāi Tahu now has scope for aquaculture farming in Murihiku

Ngāi Tahu kaiwhakahaere Lisa Tumahai is pleased tāngata whenua are now involved in the process

* Pioneer was a strong advocate for her people

Map of stewardship land on the West Coast to be reviewed by the Minister of Conservation.

Stewardship land will be reclassified to either add greater protection to the area or could be sold off if it does not hold significant natural value.

About 84 per cent of West Coast land is under the Department of Conservation, and 33 per cent of that is stewardship land.

Ngāti Waewae unveiled the first pou whenua (boundary post) in the Kahurangi National Park in the middle of 2019. It recognised the largest ever addition of land to a national park as well as iwi mana whenua and guardianship status in the area.

The most recent reclassification of stewardship land was the 64,400 hectares of Mokihinui River catchment land north of Westport, which was added to Kahurangi National Park.

The announcement of the mana whenua panel comes after Ngāi Tahu filed urgent legal proceedings in May to pause the reclassification process, which the Government had started without the involvement of Ngāi Tahu as its Treaty partner. After reaching an agreement with DOC, Ngāi Tahu withdrew legal proceedings.

Tumahai said she was pleased an agreement was reached that properly recognised Ngāi Tahu as tāngata whenua and holding rangatiratanga over its statutorily recognised takiwā.

The mana whenua panel would share traditional mātauranga (Māori knowledge) with two national panels, DOC, and Conservation Minister Conservation Minister Kiritapu Allan. Ngāi Tahu would provide information about mahinga kai places, as well as the future aspirations of the iwi, and be involved right through the process to finalise recommendations to the minister.

Tumahai said the mana whenua panel would ensure the national panel members understood the cultural significance of the land that was being reclassified, including hundreds of years of Ngāi Tahu history.

There were many traditional sites on the whenua interwoven with the history of Ngāi Tahu people, she said.

Members of the mana whenua panel include Te Rūnanga o Makaawhio chair Paul Madgwick, Te Rūnanga o Kaikōura cultural pou chair Maurice Manawatu, Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Waewae chair Francois Tumahai, and Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu representative Gail Thompson.

Lisa Tumahai said while it was important Ngāi Tahu environmental values were protected and enhanced, the reclassification process would also determine whether some land could be made available for other purposes.

“We want to protect native species, significant ecosystems, and traditional places for future generations [but] it’s also important that as part of this process mana whenua and the public have an opportunity to provide their views on whether economic activity should be undertaken in some places, if it is appropriate to do so.”

The national panels would start in the northern and western South Island to do technical assessments of the conservation and cultural values of stewardship land areas, including assessing land where mining activities are proposed.

The panels would take about eight months to provide recommendations, with the minister of conservation likely to make a final decision on the future of the land next year.