He Oranga Mo Nga Uri Tuku Iho Trust
Background and objective
In 2015 our tribal authority, Te Runanganui o Ngati Porou became joint consent authorities over our land and waterways with local government – Gisborne District Council. The Joint Management Agreement (JMA) was a historic achievement and required the people of Ngati Porou to work together in developing hapu environmental plans, against which resource consent applications would be assessed. It was agreed that consent hearings would be presided by 2 tribally nominated commissioners. In this regard, significant work is required to support the development of freshwater plans, in addition to other work such as the development of culturally relevant water allocation models, and tribal input to the local government’s unitary plan.
The goal of the project is to set up an environmental hub that will coordinate activities around co-management of tribal estate resources with local government. Indigenous peoples have relied on water for centuries and this is where their ability to govern their resources will require commissioner and collaborative governance training, since governance of the lands and waters will be devolving down to the sub-tribe level.
Te Poho o Huturangi Taiao Hub established. RMA consent workshops held Cultural Wellbeing of the Waiapu workshops held.
Local partner information
The He Oranga mo Nga Uri Tuku Iho Trust is a charitable trust initially set up to coordinate and administer projects in the Ruatoria area but now encompasses the wider Gisborne and East Coast region. They are a collective of Ngati Porou tribal members who are committed to sustainable hapu (subtribe) development for Maori on the East Coast, the preservation and use of matauranga Maori (traditional and contemporary Maori knowledge), and advancing rangatahi (youth) education and participation.
