Partners

Ko Ruatea te tangata Ko Kurahaupō te waka Ko Ngāti Apa ki te Rā Tō te Iwi

Ngāti Apa ki te Rā Tō have an unbroken historical, traditional, and spiritual association with the whenua of te taiao o te Waka-a-Māui, stretching back hundreds of years. The trails of our ancestors connected settlements across our vast rohe, from Tōtaranui, Te Tai-o-Aorere, Mohua, Te Taitapu, Te Kawatiri, and inland into Rotoiti and Rotoroa. These trails were central to maintaining the unity, mauri, and integrity of our iwi in early times. The values of Ngāti Apa ki te Rā Tō include kotahitanga, kaitiakitanga, manaakitanga, whanaungatanga, and whenua/manawhenua. These values align with those of the Kotahitanga mō te Taiao Alliance and we support the aim of the Alliance to get the best possible conservation outcomes for people and nature. Our aspirations for conservation and vision for the responsible and sustainable use of natural resources form important parts of our cultural identity as kaitiaki. We see many opportunities for Ngāti Apa ki te Rā Tō in the taiao space and with the support of the Alliance, we are laying the foundations for some significant projects. Being part of the Kotahitanga mō te Taiao Alliance exemplifies the vision and values shared across the partnership around reviving freshwater catchments, native plants, and restoring our connection to what exists in our Te Tauihu landscapes.

Mai te awa a Te Hoiere Ki Kurupongi Ki Ngā Kiore Ki Takapourewa Whiti atu ki te hiku o Te Mātau Koata taonga Koatatanga Koata mana e!

Ki ngā tini mate o ia marae, o ia maunga, haere, haere, whakangaro atu rā. Ko te akaaka o te rangi ki a rātou mā, kei a tātou ngā purapura ora, ko te akaaka o te whenua. E rau rangatira mā, e te tini, e te mano, tēnei te tuku mihi ki a koutou katoa i raro i ngā tini āhuatanga o te wā.

Tihei Mauriora!

PROJECT MAHITAHI | COURTESY OF NELSON CITY COUNCIL

KŌTUKU | BERNARD SPRAGG Ngāti Rārua originate from the western coast of the King Country region and came to Te Tauihu from the 1820s as part of the great southward migration of Kawhia and Taranaki iwi.

Te Ao Tūroa, the natural world, is central to Ngāti Rārua identity and cultural wellbeing. We are impelled by deeply held values –including the fundamental tenets of whanaungatanga, kaitiakitanga and manaakitanga – to love and respect Papatūānuku in recognition of her lifesupporting function and place in our own whakapapa.

TE HOIERE PROJECT WĀNANGA | MELISSA BANKS

Tāku ara ko Matua Hautere Te Hoiere te waka i topetope ai ngā ngaru Ka puea ake Te Kaitiaki a Kaikaiāwaro i Te Moana o Raukawakawa I arahina ia ki ngā kokoru o Te Tauihu o Te Waka ā Māui Ka hoea te awa ka tau ki te wai pāpaku, ko Te Herenga Ka piki i a Maunganui ki te pīnakitanga o Parikārearea I reira ka poua tūāhu ki te one, ka poua tūāhu ki te rangi ka hua ake ko Maungatapu I tapa te awa ko Te Hoiere He wai-Māori mō te tini e whakarauika nei, Ko Ngāti Kuia – He iwi Pakohe – He iwi karakia e Ngāti Kuia are very pleased to be a member of the Kotahitanga mō te Taiao Alliance. We contribute in this important mahi – Ki uta, ki tai (from the mountains to sea). From our chairperson, Waihaere Mason co-chairing Te Hoiere Project with Barbara Faulls, and the Ngāti Kuia Taiao team, Kristie Paki Paki, Lewis Smith, and Shannon Huntley supporting this work, to our General Manager, Dave Johnston as Co-Chair of the Alliance.

The Alliance is creating positive transformational change on the whenua, awa, and moana across Te Tauihu.

E titia nei e Te Ātiawa, i te iti, i te rahi, te katoa | To shine as Te Ātiawa, the few, the many, all of us

Tamarau nō runga i te rangi Heke iho ki raro ki te whakamarimari Tē tatari ai, ki te hurahanga o te tāpora o Rongoueroa Taku kuia e, taku kuia e! Te ara o taku tupuna i tohia ai au Ko Te Ātiawa nō runga i te rangi

Key values from Te Ātiawa o Te Waka-a-Māui align with the Alliance values:

Pono

Acting with honesty and integrity

Manaaki

Enhancing the mana of others

Kaitiaki

Being good guardians

Pūmau

Inspiring unity and commitment

Te Ātiawa o Te Waka-a-Māui continues to be a committed member of the Kotahitanga mō te Taiao Alliance, and Te Ātiawa also continues to support positive and necessary transformative change for Te Tau Ihu, across te taiao and for all people. The overarching vision of the Alliance seeks to deliver this outcome. Like all Te Tau Ihu Iwi, our capacity for widespread hands-on involvement during 2022 has been somewhat constrained, by ongoing Covid implications and weather events. Our main involvement has rested with Project Mahitahi, our participation in the Governance Group and with continuing leadership involvement with the KMTT sub-committee, which is developing the Alliance’s work implementation plan for Te Tau Ihu: “Restoration by Design”. We were supportive of the addition of the Brook Waimārama Sanctuary and Pest Free Onetahua into the Alliance fold this year and delighted to see both these organisations formally aligned with the Alliance. We have a number of projects being considered for implementation across the rohe of Te Tau Ihu for 2023.

Titiro whakamuri, Kōkiri whakamua | Look back and reflect so you can move forward.

Ko Tapuae-o-Uenuku te maunga Ko Wairau te awa Ko Kurahaupō te waka Tini whetū ki te rangi, ko Rangitāne ki te whenua / Like the multitudes of stars in the sky, so great is Rangitāne on the earth Rangitāne have resided in the northern South Island since the migration from the Wairarapa in the sixteenth century under the chiefs Te Huataki, Te Whakamana and Tukanae. We have occupied and used resources within a territory stretching from the Waiau-toa (Clarence) River in the south to the Wairau (Marlborough), including the Nelson Lakes, and north to Kaituna and the Marlborough Sounds and west into the Whakatū (Nelson) area. There are three key values that have driven the participation of Rangitāne in the Kotahitanga mo te Taiao Alliance:

Kotahitanga Kia mahi tahi, kia kauanuanu tētahi ki tētahi

Working together, respectfully, as one.

Kaitiakitanga Tiakina ā tātau taonga kei ngaro

Embracing our responsibility to protect, preserve and enhance our taonga.

Our Strategic Plan has a specific and deliberate focus on our Taiao:

Mana Taiao Toitū te taiao ki tua o ake tonu atu! Ensuring the integrity and sustainability of our environment! The Alliance brings together a collective rōpu of Crown agencies, iwi partners and the wider Te Tauihu community that enables us to work together to deliver better outcomes for our environment. A real focus area for us has been highlighting the need for further restoration work of Te Pokohiwi o Kupe and the Wairau Lagoons. We have been heartened by the positive support, commitment and manaaki that our partners across the Alliance have offered, as we work together to not only sustain our environment, but to be good kaitiaki and regenerate it for our future generations. We have much to look forward to in the years ahead. Mā whero, mā pango ka oti ai te mahi / With red and black the work will be complete.

Ngāti Tama ki Te Waipounamu Trust

Ngāti Tama ki Te Waipounamu Trust trace their roots to the Tokomaru waka from Hawaiki and take their name from Tama Ariki one of the five co-captains aboard the waka. Whakapapa of these rangatira, their journey and eventual establishment in northern Taranaki is preserved in their tribal traditions. From the 1820s, numerous migrations from Taranaki to Te Tauihu led by the Ngāti Tama chief, Te Pūoho ki Te Rangi and other rangatira from Tainui and Taranaki alliances, eventuated in the conquest and settlement of the western Te Tauihu rohe.

Ngāti Tama maintains ahikāroa today. The tribe continues to grow and strengthen relationships with whānau, hapū and other Iwi to support the ongoing maintenance of a strong united presence across Te Tauihu.

Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Waewae is based at Arahura a short distance from Hokitika on the West Coast of Te Waipounamu and is a hapū of Ngāi Tahu.

We are known as Poutini Ngāi Tahu, the Ngāi Tahu people of the West Coast. Like all partners in the Alliance, we too are committed to working in partnership to align and integrate the efforts of Alliance members.

We acknowledge the unique landscape of Aotearoa, and the myriad of work that needs to be done to achieve interconnected between environment and people so that we may look after the environment for the environment to look after us in return.

The last 12 months have brought forward some noticeable growth and success across our projects, underlining the value of the support we receive from the Kotahitanga mō te Taiao Alliance, our work and iwi partners as well as the efforts of our own team within Te Kaunihera o Te Tai Aorere.

The seeds that were sown in 2020/2021 in a landscape of COVID-related challenges have begun to germinate. While we are still in the early stages of our work, our achievements so far have built some momentum that we hope to increase in the year ahead. Adverse weather in the winter months has brought potential issues – however, in general this has failed to stall the enthusiasm or progress of our teams. With support from Jobs for Nature – Mahi mō te Taiao funding, work to eradicate Wilding Conifers in Mount Richmond Forest Park has continued to make inroads as well as bringing worthwhile employment to a number of people. This year has also seen some critical work undertaken in the Waimea Inlet Enhancement project. Planting and earthworks around the Waimea Delta is a particular highlight as well as work on two saltmarsh restoration projects in the Waimea Inlet – Best Island and Borck-Sandeman. The first year of work in our Freshwater Improvement Fund initiatives have yielded some impressive results in rejuvenating key habitats. Through iwi-led education events and mātauranga Māori monitoring, our FIF project also intends to improve local freshwater knowledge for our communities. In signing onto the Alliance in 2017, Tasman District Council shared the strategic outcomes of thriving native species, naturally functioning ecosystems, and enhanced ecological connections and resilience. Five years later, we are seeing these values come to fruition in the progress of our work, while our connections made through iwi, landowner and stakeholder partner relationships has reaffirmed the benefits of our involvement.

We look forward to seeing more positive outcomes emerging in 2023 and beyond.

WEST COAST FLORA | ERIK VAN EYNDHOVEN

NELSON PANORAMA | COURTESY OF NELSON CITY COUNCIL

Te Kaunihera o Whakatū (Nelson City Council) has been an active member of the Kotahitanga mō te Taiao (KMTT) Alliance since 2017 and strongly endorses the kaupapa of the KMTT Alliance. As a member of the KMTT Alliance we have been able to collaborate on a much wider scale towards shared outcomes, providing greater gains for our biodiversity, our community, and for the future wellbeing of Te Tauihu. In this mahi we are guided by the concept of tūpuna pono (being good ancestors) and we have tomorrow in mind when we make decisions today. This year has continued to be challenging with the shared impacts of climate change, COVID-19, and economic conditions affecting both our community and the natural environment. In addition to this, our region has sustained considerable damage as a result of the August 2022 severe weather event. As our regional strategic relationships are strengthened though the KMTT Alliance, so too will our resilience to these challenges, and we look forward to working with our KMTT Alliance partners for the wellbeing of our natural environment and our community over the coming year.

Tēnā koutou katoa

Te Kaunihera ā-Rohe o Wairau (Marlborough District Council) is a committed and proactive member of the Kotahitanga mō te Taiao Alliance, sharing the vision of restoring our natural environments and the communities within them.

The Alliance enables us to strengthen strategic alignment with our partners across Te Tauihu especially Te Tauihu iwi, the Department of Conservation and Councils - to achieve landscapescale outcomes.

The strength of partnership is demonstrated by our collaborative approach to Te Hoiere/Pelorus Catchment Restoration Project. We are deeply committed to enabling the building of capacity in this and other community-driven conservation initiatives across the district, helping guide restoration and protection of native habitats. A highlight has been providing direct management support to Te Hoiere Project. Working closely with our partners, we are enabling delivery of key restoration activities such as fencing, planting and pest control. Te Hoiere Project continues to grow with additional funding provided by the Ministry of the Environment under Mahi mō te Taiao / Jobs for Nature, local industry, and Council on top of the $7.5 million already allocated by the Department of Conservation. Some of our own environmental programmes strategically align to broader outcomes of the Project, for example freshwater and flood management activities. Government and community funding not only helps enhance and protect Te Hoiere/Pelorus River and its tributaries from the mountains to the sea, but also supports job creation. Businesses and people now focus on restoring freshwater across the catchment by eliminating predators and weeds, developing land management tools, and establishing a native plant nursery. We look forward to the future as the Kotahitanga mō te Taiao Strategy continues to evolve, guiding the Marlborough district towards protecting natural taonga for future generations.

In 2020, during its triennial long term planning cycle, the Buller District Council started a conversation with our community about the importance of climate change and environmental sustainability. Action to address both issues was widely supported across the district. As a result, Council prioritised these matters in its Long-Term Plan to show that meaningful actions can be taken at a local level to address the dual crises of climate change and biodiversity loss, and to prepare our community for a very different future. Through this community mandate, the Buller District Council, in partnership with mana whenua, Ngāti Waewae, developed an Environmental Improvement and Sustainability Strategy to realise benefits for the Buller Kawatiri not just regarding its natural environment, but across all four community well-beings: environmental, social, cultural, and economic.

WEST COAST AWA | ERIK VAN EYNDHOVEN The Buller District Council’s membership on the Kotahitanga mō te Taiao Alliance has enabled the rapid evolution of this strategy which has started to deliver real outcomes for place and people. This year, landscape scale weed control across northern Buller Kawatiri has commenced, creating districtbased employment opportunities, and delivering strong conservation outcomes, and a Conservation Training and Employment Hub has been opened in Westport in partnership with Tai Poutini Polytechnic. In August, the Buller District Council and mana whenua, Ngāti Waewae, along with The Nature Conservancy, welcomed all Kotahitanga mō te Taiao Alliance members to a three-day hui that initiated a collaborative restoration planning process for both Buller Kawatiri and the wider Alliance. This hui marked a significant milestone in Buller District Council’s strategic journey to realise significant benefits for both our people and our natural environment. We can’t wait to see the development of workstreams that are emerging from the hui!

The West Coast Regional Council has been a supporting member of the Kotahitanga mō te Taiao (KMTT) Alliance since 2017, recognising that the achievements for the member regions come about from the collaboration of the KMTT Alliance members – tahi ka kaha ake tātou. We are proud to be involved with the initial strategy development working group, building the picture of what outcomes the KMTT Alliance, and member regions, want to achieve. The breadth of projects across the KMTT Alliance regions is testament to the aspirations of its representatives, the mahi of the support staff, and the ownership of the projects on the ground. The future is bright as we continue to work together on behalf of our environment and our communities.

In 2020, as part of the government’s $1.2 billion Jobs for Nature programme, the Department of Conservation (DOC) was allocated $488 million to create job opportunities for around 6,000 people over a four-year period. Now in year three, 12 projects have been established across the Northern South Island, 9 of which were stood up under Kotahitanga mō te Taiao. This mahi has seen 217 people employed by DOC’s Jobs for Nature programme, working over 137,479 hours, and delivering a range of environmental, social, and cultural benefits.

1,559 ha2 ongoing rat/mustelid control 1,380 ha2 ongoing deer and goat control 2,423 ha2 ongoing possum control 1,461 ha2 ongoing other animal control 36 ha2 restored non riparian 1.7 ha2 restored riparian strip 15,309 plants placed in riparian / wetland areas 3,474 ha2 weed control (excluding conifers) 130 ha2 wilding conifer control 93.2 km track maintained 7.6 km new fencing

Animal Pest Control Restoration planting Weed control Track & Fencing

3409+ students engaged in programmes 374 programme delivery days 31+ schools reached 1663+ website activity downloads

Education

These projects directly support the delivery of Te Mana o te Taiao / Aotearoa New Zealand Biodiversity Strategy (ANZBS) Implementation Plan, delivering against its 5 outcomes. The significant project achievements would not have been possible without the collaborative work that the Alliance has undertaken to identify, plan, and deliver on the work required. Core alignments between the Kotahitanga mō te Taiao and Te Mana o te Taiao include:

DOC is keen to continue this work with our Alliance partners, with a strong interest in watching the outcomes grow. We look forward to engaging in further collaborative planning as part of the Restoration by Design process. Through our collective effort we are not only achieving greater things for our environment but connecting and supporting the communities at place to do more.

The Nature Conservancy (TNC) is a key partner to the Kotahitanga mō te Taiao Alliance, bringing to the table its experience, processes, financial tools, science, and global connections in landscape-scale planning and implementation. TNC entirely supports the Alliance leadership model, with iwi partners at the forefront of its environmental restoration work. A highlight this year was the Westport wānanga, which saw TNC, Alliance members, iwi and other key partners working together to map a way forward for restoration work across Kawatiri/Buller and Te Tauihu using the Restoration by Design process. TNC is delighted to be partnering with Rātā Foundation who share our vision of landscape-scale impact and capacity building to enhance the natural environment. Rātā Foundation have provided strategic funding of $754,007 to support the Alliance. TNC is also grateful to Commonland Foundation, Little Kowhai Charitable Trust proudly managed by Perpetual Guardian and the Lotteries Environment and Heritage Fund for their support for the Alliance. Since TNC established its chapter in Aotearoa NZ in 2016 it has worked with government officials, local communities, iwi, businesses, and local conservation groups to restore and preserve the country’s precious land, marine and freshwater resources. Our approach focuses on achieving system level impacts, involves local communities, and supports Māori leadership throughout the process. We facilitate landscape-scale projects that address environmental, cultural, social, and economic well-being. What we do here can create blueprints that can have big impacts elsewhere. TNC is very excited to be able to offer our expertise and support to the Kotahitanga mō te Taiao Alliance as we continue to work together to help people and nature thrive across Te Tauihu.

WEST COAST WETLAND | ERIK VAN EYNDHOVEN

WILDING ERADICATION TEAM MEMBERS GAINED VALUABLE SKILLS IN FORESTRY AND RESTORATION WORK, WHILE NAVIGATING OFTEN CHALLENGING TERRAIN AND MULTI-DAY EXCURSIONS INTO THE HILLS | COURTESY OF TASMAN DISTRICT COUNCIL

WAKAPUAKA WHANGAMOA PROJECT | COURTESY OF NELSON CITY COUNCIL ASSISTING WITH SLIP MATERIAL REMOVAL AROUND RIPARIAN PLANTINGS WAKAPUAKA WHANGAMOA PROJECT | COURTESY OF NELSON CITY COUNCIL PROJECT MAHITAHI TEAM | COURTESY OF NELSON CITY COUNCIL

Caroline Crick, Kotahitanga mō te Taiao Alliance

Challen Wilson, The Sisters Consultancy

Matawai Winiata, The Sisters Consultancy

Rae Stonelake, Jitter Ltd

Melissa Banks, Erik van Eyndhoven, Nomad AV, Morgan Newberry, Lew Metcalfe, Rob Simons, Hudson Dodd, Bob Brown, Jodi Austin, Kat Johnson, Bernard Spragg, Challen Wilson, Marlborough Magazine & Partners and Project team's image libraries.