I fear for the future of Te Urewera
As a voice for nature it is time for conservation groups to speak out on the issues around Te Urewera.
At over 200,000 hectares, it is the most significant area of indigenous forest left in the North Island and home to a wide range of threatened species. It is too important to be allowed to be swamped by a wave of introduced pests.
The 2013 Tūhoe deed of settlement created Te Urewera as an identity and legal person in its own right and required the governance board to act in the interests of Te Urewera. It states they will not act on behalf of either the Crown or Tūhoe but on behalf of Te Urewera.
The deed includes these conditions: Te Urewera is preserved in its natural state.
The indigenous and ecological systems and biodiversity of Te Urewera are preserved, and introduced plants and animals are exterminated.
Public access to Te Urewera is guaranteed.
However, Te Uru Taumatua’s management of Te Urewera pays scant regard to the terms of the settlement. Its annual plan, available to view on the Tūhoe authority’s website, states its intention to ‘‘remove the Western influences and their imprint within Te Urewera’’ and ‘‘establish a decommissioning of DOC structures and infrastructure programme’’.
How is this in line with the deed of settlement? Already a number of huts have been burnt and this will have a chilling effect on public access, make monitoring and research much more difficult and will hamstring any future pest control programmes.
I have some experience in monitoring rat densities in podocarp forests. If there is not intensive pest management, rat tracking indices will be over 80% and even up to 100%. There is no doubt that with the reduction in pest management in Te Urewera pests will be pushing native species to the brink.
The neighbouring Raukumara forest has been brought to the edge of collapse by uncontrolled pests and Te Urewera will follow.
The unfortunate consequence of what is playing out in Te Urewera is the ammunition it gives to those who oppose the concept of co-governance.
Te Urewera is a taonga for Tūhoe and also a taonga for all New Zealanders. It cannot be allowed to be lost.
Peter Fergusson, Whakatane [abridged]