JOINT MEDIA RELEASE
FRIDAY, JUNE 6, 2014
High-level Hui explores models for shared protection of natural environments
Māori and Aboriginal leaders will be among the speakers at an international Hui exploring the best models for protecting
natural environments in Australia and New Zealand.
The Co-governance and Co-management of Parks and Environments Hui will take place at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa
Tongarewa in Wellington on June 17 and 18. It will provide an opportunity for Indigenous groups and representatives,
parks agencies, land managers, recreation consultants, business leaders and policy makers to discuss co-governance and
co-management of land and marine environments.
The event has been jointly organised by Parks Forum and the New Zealand Recreation Association (NZRA). It will be opened
by Conservation Minister Hon Dr Nick Smith, with keynote presentations from paramount chief Sir Tumu te Heuheu Tūkino of
Ngāti Tūwharetoa and Sir Mark Solomon of Ngāi Tahu.
Keynote addresses will be complemented by workshops hosted by New Zealand and Australian parks organisations and
Indigenous leaders, including Dr Matthew Ward, Regional Manager for Natural Resources Alinytjara Wiluara, a branch of
the South Australia Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources, and former Māori All Blacks coach Matt Te
Pou, of Tuhoe.
NZRA Chief Executive Andrew Leslie says recent Treaty of Waitangi land settlements in New Zealand and the granting of
access and land-use rights to Indigenous groups in Australia has highlighted the need for Indigenous leaders and people
at all levels of parks management to share knowledge and experiences of how best to co-govern and co-manage land.
“The time is right to for an international Hui to pool knowledge, share experiences, and talk through common challenges
and models that are working well,” he says.
Parks Forum’s Chief Executive Margaret Morton says “Though the Australian experience is different from New Zealand,
which has the Treaty as a guiding document, we’re interested in sharing our knowledge of taking a joint approach to
protecting our natural environment.”
Australia’s 1993 Native Title Act recognises the rights of some Indigenous people to their land that come from their
traditional laws and customs, including rights to live on the area, access and use the land historically occupied by
Indigenous peoples.
Speakers and workshops will examine a range of outcomes including the experience of the Crown and Waikato-Tainui’s
co-management of conservation resources five years on, Ngati Whatua Orakei Reserves Board’s co-governance experience 23
years on, and the current arrangements for Auckland’s new agency for co-governing and co-managing the city’s Maunga or
volcanic cones.
The work undertaken to establish Wellington’s Oruaiti Reserve, formerly Point Dorset Reserve, will be the topic for
another workshop. It looks at what Treaty settlement has meant for Taranaki Whānui and council partnerships in
Wellington. Oruaiti Reserve is the first of several joint management arrangements for reserves in Wellington.
The Australian perspective on joint management of parks and protected areas will be presented by traditional owners and
park managers from the Northern Territory, Parks Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia. The workshops and
masterclasses will explore what models have worked well and identify how we can all work together more effectively to
manage our natural and cultural values.
The Hui will be preceded by an optional field trip to Wellington conservation programmes Matiu (Somes) Island and
Zealandia, on Monday June 16.