Embracing a community approach to conservation

Sunday, 9 January 2022

Te Hoiere/the Pelorus Catchment Enhancement Project catchment care co-ordinator Aubrey Tai. Pest control has given hunting a new purpose for Tai, photographed on a recent trip to the Clarence Valley, South Marlborough.

Aubrey Tai is excited to join the grassroots-driven Te Hoiere Project.

The newly appointed catchment care co-ordinator looks forward to working with Te Hoiere/Pelorus locals towards a common goal of running sustainable businesses while improving the health of land and water.

“This Project is not about spanking with a stick,” says Tai. “It’s a collaborative approach, supporting communities and landowners towards wise use of natural resources.”

Born and raised in Murupara in the Bay of Plenty, Tai spent every spare moment fishing, eeling and hunting in the surrounding Te Urewera. Ngāti Manawa on his father’s side and Ngāti Whare on his mother’s, he was raised by his grandparents to appreciate and value the natural world.

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Tai will be working with Te Hoiere locals towards a common goal of running sustainable businesses while improving the health of land and water.

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“Living off the land taught me to respect the environment, to take only what you need. I was immersed in nature, seeing its vulnerability to multiple pressures and threats.”

The years between leaving Te Aute College in Napier and moving to Marlborough in 2011 began with seven years of service with the New Zealand Navy then 10 years as a policeman. In Upper Hutt, Tai befriended a Council ranger who talked him into voluntary goat control.

“Hunting had always been about putting meat on the table. That started me thinking about conservation, giving me a new purpose.”

After postings in Stratford, Upper Hutt and Westport, in 1999 Tai left the police for Western Australia with his young family.

“There were plenty of jobs all paying well. If you got sick of one, the next week you could start another. I worked in manufacturing, ran a chain of pubs, did sales, started my own landscaping business and played rugby league.”

After 12 years of hard work, Tai was worn out, homesick and tormented by hunting stories from a mate in the Sounds.

“My boys had grown up, were independent and suggested, ‘why don’t you go home’ so I did, in 2011.”

Stints in the freezing works, on mussel farms and in forestry followed then a temporary position controlling weeds in the Marlborough Sounds for the Department of Conservation (DOC).

“I loved it, going out six to seven days on the hills, working in wonderful places in a good physical job with a cool team and lots to learn.”

A major restructure in 2013 opened the door to a permanent position and eventual appointment as DOC Sounds biodiversity team supervisor. Work in compliance, cultural liaison and project management drew on earlier experiences and skills.

Tai’s happy to be joining Te Hoiere Project as it builds momentum.

Based at DoC’s Havelock field centre, Tai can be reached at Aubrey.Tai@marlborough.govt.nz

This is one in a series of articles about Te Hoiere/the Pelorus Catchment Enhancement Project which is bringing people together to protect rivers and streams from the mountains to the sea/ki uta ki tai.

Te Hoiere/the Pelorus Catchment Enhancement Project is bringing people together to protect rivers and streams from the mountains to the sea/ki uta ki tai. This is an updated version of an article first printed in a Te Hoiere newsletter.