Passionate Tauranga environmentalist and iwi champion Carlton Bidois made member of the New Zealand Order of Merit

Carlton Bidois (Ngāti Ranginui, Ngāi Te Rangi) has been made a member of the New Zealand Order of Merit. Photo / NZME

Carlton Bidois

Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to the environment and Māori-Crown relations

Passionate Tauranga Moana environmentalist Carlton Bidois, who has dedicated more than 25 years to improving the local environment and Māori-Crown relations, has been appointed a member of the New Zealand Order of Merit

Bidois (Ngāti Ranginui, and Ngāi Te Rangi) has been recognised for being the key driver in engaging with iwi on environmental matters in Tauranga and acknowledging their role as kaitiaki.

He has worked with numerous organisations and government agencies to ensure engagement with iwi happens across private and public sector interests.

This includes local councils, the Department of Conversation, Maritime New Zealand, and the Ministry of Primary Industries.

Bidois is the environmental representative for several local iwi, including Ngāti Ranginui iwi and Pirirākau hapū.

During the Rena disaster in 2011, Bidois ensured iwi were involved in the marine pollution emergency response.

He established and led the Māori environmental research group Manaaki Te Awanui, which continues to support Tauranga Moana marine environments in partnership with Mātauranga Māori research.

He is also a member of the Oil Pollution Advisory Committee which gives advice to the Minister of Transport in relation to the marine oil spill response strategy.

Since its inception in 2018, Bidois has been co-chair of Tauranga Moana Biosecurity Capital, a multi-industry initiative promoting biosecurity best practices in New Zealand and working hard to keep the risk of invasive unwanted pests and biosecurity threats such as kauri dieback at bay.

“Tauranga Moana area is the last bastion for our natural kauri stands and the loss of our iconic kauri trees would be devastating for our eco-system. Protecting our region from this disease needs to be everyone’s responsibility as we all have a lot to lose,” he said.

Bidois was also the co-chair of the Manaaki Kaimai Mamaku Forum from its inception in 2010 until 2020, and his efforts were key to helping secure $20 million in Jobs for Nature programme funding to continue improving and preserving the Kaimai Mamaku forests and its catchments.

He also played a major part in the establishment of the Manaaki Kaimai Mamaku Trust.

Bidois said making a difference in his community and ensuring policy changes supported Māori rights and interests, including elevating the health and well-being of Tauranga Harbour and achieving true Treaty partnership co-decision-making at all levels, were important drivers behind the mahi he does.

“I feel hugely humbled and really appreciative to receive this honour and straight away I thought of my mother, Adrienne Bidois, who still lives in Wellington, where I grew up. And I hope she and my late father, Haare, are proud of me.

“I‘ve always been an environmentalist at heart since I was a young kid and I used to run away from home every weekend and camp in the bush.

“I truly believe without our environment we have nothing as far as I’m concerned. We all have a responsibility to protect and care for the environment and fight against our biosecurity threats. We have so much to lose if we don’t make it our business.

“We all have something to gain when we work together, and together we can do more. And I have learned over many years that through cooperation and co-decision-making we all achieve better outcomes.”