Jobs for Nature – Te Whakaoranga o te Puhinui me te Maanuka Project
Go Go Awa Rangers
Thanks to the support of many Te Pu-a-nga Maara were selected by The Department of Conservation through the Sustainable Business Network as the recipients of the Jobs for Nature project on Te Puhinui. The uniqueness of TPNM im sure was a key factor to our sucess.
The Awa Rangers are the ground team for Te Whakaoranga o te Puhinui me te Maanuka Project. This project has been years in preparation and we are grateful for the strength, and sheer determination of Mana Whenua who have restored the value of Mātauranga Maori me te kōrero tuku iho into Council and Agency spaces we appreciate your years of mahi that makes this opportunity possible for our Te Pu-a-nga Maara whanau to participate in this space
Early 2022 we welcomed our new Awa Ranger team, what an amazing group of Rangatahi and Tuakana they are. The Awa Rangers are responsible for Pest management, Plant maintenance and Riperian planting along the Awa over the next 2 years. Although our team are in place the red tape and systemic barriers need to be overcome to secure an area on the Puhinui the team can get started on. While this is still to be sorted we have relocated our Awa Rangers to the Oruarangi stream in Ihumatao to provide pest and Weed management there, continue to monitor water quality and tirohanga ki te Taiao its just on another stream but feeding the same Moana this works perfectly for us while we wait for the systemic cogs to turn
Our Team
Our tuakana Paul Olsen and his daughter Honey (also an Awa Ranger) are part of our Makaurau Marae whanau. Both Paul and Honey have been integral to the success of the Tuakana Teina project and Para Patrol Rangatahi roopu, walking the talk of the Makaurau Marae Kaitiaakitanga mahi. TPNM are grateful to our Ihumatao whanau for walking this journey with us. Donna Tairua is our third Awa Ranger whose experience from working on motu tapu gives our team a depth of knowledge and Mātauranga that makes for a strong passionate team. Last but not least our youngest Awa Ranger Waiora Wall she met and heard Donna talk about her mahi 6 months ago and said to herself "thats what I want to do" and so she is now doing just that! ka wani kē koutou mā
Our dream is to have more Rangatahi teams operational on the Awa doing what they love doing looking after our Taiao! Ko au te awa ko te awa ko au!
Lets go meet the team