Pānui: Kotahitanga mō Te Taiao Alliance

Te Kāhui Tangaroa

One of KMTT’s key aspirations is to “Get the system right,” enabling a collective of iwi leadership to build a strong framework for Hā Whakaora ō Tangaroa –restoring the life force of our coastal waters. This work has taken a step forward with the establishment of Te Kāhui Tangaroa –an iwi leadership forum and working group that will guide marine restoration programmes being led by iwi, while also leading out on the KMTT SIPP marine workstream to reduce sedimentation, support a restorative blue economy and restore shellfish and coastal habitats.

Te Kāhui Tangaroa will sit under the KMTT Governance committee, co-chaired by Justin Carter (Te Ātiawa) and Eugene Whakahoehoe (Ngāti Kuia) and with a project manager to be appointed.

Its priorities are focused through a ‘ki uta ki tai’ (mountains to sea) approach, supporting iwi collective leadership, identifying iwi restoration priorities, building iwi capacity and capability, and ensuring strategic co-ordination of wider restoration efforts, enabling engagement not only with KMTT partners but across wider Government agencies, community groups, stakeholders, research institutes and other interests sharing common goals.

The Kāhui will leverage existing projects and use stakeholder mapping to identify work taking place in marine restoration across Te Tauihu and Kawatiri, to enhance that work and reduce duplication.  Te Kāhui Tangaroa will sit alongside terrestrial workstreams, such as ungulate control and restoring lowlands, acknowledging that what we do on the land has a downstream effect on coastal waters.

We are in the early stages of establishment and are working on wider communications out to whānau, hapū, and iwi through the Poutohutohu Ao Māori. In essence, Te Kāhui Tangaroa is a transformational attempt to create effective and strategic solutions to tackle the challenging issues that have led to the degradation of our marine environment, to whakamana the mauri of the moana.

Hīkoi brings science and mātauranga Māori together

A recent hīkoi to Manaaki Whenua - Landcare Research, now a group within the Bioeconomy Science Institute, at Lincoln, just outside Otautahi Christchurch, gave manawhenua involved in KMTT’s wasp biocontrol project an opportunity to see firsthand the science and breeding facilities used in this programme, and to build connections between mātauranga Māori and science.  

Whānau of Manawhenua ki Mohua and Ngāti Kuia, as well as Tasman District Council, Marlborough District Council and The Nature Conservancy Aotearoa New Zealand staff, spent the day at the biocontrol agent breeding facility, and also visited the herbarium and pā harakeke to see the collection of plant resources for Māori weaving.

About Kotahitanga mō te Taiao Alliance

Kotahitanga mō te Taiao Alliance is a collective of nine iwi and five councils from Te Tauihu and northern Te Tai Poutini, as well as the Department of Conservation, Ministry for the Environment, Fisheries NZ in partnership with our global supporter, The Nature Conservancy.

Kotahitanga mō te Taiao Alliance is dedicated to environmental restoration across our rohe. As the vision grows, so will our whānau of partners, supporters and collaborators. We look forward to working collectively to achieve the best possible environmental outcomes for people and nature.

‘Kia kotahi te hoe’ – further together.