Programme Manager’s Report

PROGRAMME MANAGER, DEBS MARTIN | COURTESY OF DEBS MARTIN

Tēnā koutou katoa

What a pleasure it has been this year to be Programme Manager for the Kotahitanga mō te Taiao Alliance – with a visionary strategy and a wealth of knowledge, expertise, and diversity around the table.

Combined with the international experience of The Nature Conservancy in working on landscape-scale restoration across the globe, the far-reaching vision of the Kotahitanga mō te Taiao Strategy seems not only doable, but with it brings the opportunity for new ways of working, technologies, funding models and deep relationships that can help us achieve our goals and be a model across Aotearoa New Zealand.

My warmest thanks to Erik van Eyndhoven who held the role previously and, alongside Co-Chairs Dave Johnston and Martin Rodd, provided an excellent mentorship for me into the role. Building on the work of those who have gone before has been made easier with the continuity and stability provided by the Co-Chair leadership. Erik’s new role as Associate Director of Conservation within The Nature Conservancy ensures his ongoing contribution to the work of the Alliance through leadership in work on Blue Carbon, nature-based solutions, and Wasp Bio-control. Jobs for Nature work programmes have continued to provide environmental benefits across the region, and in this Annual Impact Report you will read more about those and the other projects that align with the Kotahitanga mō te Taiao Strategy. We have welcomed new projects on board this year – the Brook Waimārama Sanctuary, Pest Free Onetahua, and Te Kāhui Waipuna. Although the land area we cover is around 2.5 million hectares, we also cover just under 1 million hectares of ocean, and it has been good to turn a spotlight into the moana during 2022. Our collective work across the moana of Te Tauihu and northern Kawatiri looks set to move to a new level, with a driving interest from both governance, particularly many of our iwi partners, and as part of our operational programme. Last year Erik highlighted the Alliance’s agreement to progress with The Nature Conservancy’s “Conservation by Design”. Renamed “Restoration by Design”, the work commenced in earnest this year with the August wānanga/workshop hosted in Westport by Ngāti Waewae and Buller Kawatiri District Council. Our deepest gratitude goes to the hospitality shown by our hosts, and the warmth experienced from the broader community. Over 65 participants attended over the three days.

The in-depth thinking that took place produced a work programme we can move forward with which will ensure we are delivering at scale through our collaborative workstreams, with transformative actions and using targeted levers to help shift the dial on our collective programme of action. Featured in this report, the Restoration by Design process will drive our work programme early next year and provide the next phase of our investment work into restoration of te taiao.

Over the course of the year, The Nature Conservancy has provided us with four generous secondments (called Coda Fellowships) to support our work in developing the Restoration by Design process for use in New Zealand. In August we welcomed Trina Leberer to our shores from Guam. Trina has been helping drive the Restoration by Design work as an experienced practitioner. Her skills were irreplaceable during the Westport wānanga. Karen Leu joins us remotely from New York and has been providing valuable GIS input into the project – producing both a spatial atlas of key issues across the Alliance region and working with Kotahitanga mō te Taiao projects to provide a more visible online “dashboard” of our story. Mark Berry and Colette DeGarady from the eastern seaboard of the United States provided useful input into land use options for ongoing restoration and integration of economic activity. The work each of these Coda Fellows has brought to the Kotahitanga mō te Taiao process is long-standing and passes on skills and knowledge that will be valuable into the future.

Our ongoing commitment to improved and vital communication has continued throughout this year, with ePānui subscriptions increasing and our presence more widely felt in the media. Our Annual Impact Report has proven to be a fountain of information for our project teams, funders, and members alike. Work is being done to update our website (hosted by The Nature Conservancy) and provide greater visibility of the work we are doing together. Telling our compelling story and telling it to the right people is imperative to retain and grow the support we need to make the Kotahitanga mō te Taiao vision, a reality. Importantly this year we have made significant strides to address the inequity that can be created in partnerships where statutory agencies and iwi provide co-governance. The Kotahitanga mō te Taiao Alliance aims to shift this inequity and provide a more level playing field that will enable iwi to stand alongside the other Alliance partners in a governance role with the capacity to bring aspirations, mātauranga Māori, an iwi perspective, and solutions to the table. Thanks to Rātā Foundation and The Nature Conservancy, we have managed to secure significant funding in order to support this important mahi. To further facilitate this process, we are pleased to announce in 2023 that we will engage a Te Ao Māori advisor role for the Restoration by Design process. This role will work closely with our iwi partners to support their participation, as well as providing significant support for the various workstreams addressing such issues as invasive species, climate change adaptation and the marine environment. The year ahead promises to be challenging, busy and exciting. With many projects underway, funding opportunities coming to fruition, and an exciting programme of development ahead – we are more than set to enter phase two of implementing the Kotahitanga mō te Taiao Strategy. Ngā mihi nunui

Debs Martin

Programme Manager Kotahitanga mō te Taiao Alliance

LOOKING UPSTREAM FROM DELAWARE INLET AT CABLE BAY | COURTESY OF NELSON CITY COUNCIL