Rongowhakaata taiao lead Ms Pohatu said as part of the closing of Matariki (and the festival) the iwi were looking at connecting the whānau to the whenua.
“Matariki is remembering those who have passed away and about whānau coming together and having those conversations. So we thought we would do a planting.
“Each of the 5000 trees to be planted represents every uri (descendant) of Rongowhakaata, and that is part of our future planning, which of course aligns with Matariki.”
Since not all Rongowhakaata people were registered in the iwi, the representation was a way to acknowledge their presence, Ms Pohatu said.
Conservation efforts for the lagoon date back to 1989, the time when the kaitieki first started to work on the preservation of the estuary.
But she does conservation for a different reason, she says.
“It isn't about the outcomes of putting trees in the ground or about numbers of trees, but that the trees are relevant to the land — that's the difference.
“I want the matauranga of the whenua not to be forgotten, because if we do, then we lose the part of our identity.
“So the restoration is about telling the stories, having resources for the future for arts, carving, cleaning up our waterways, and having a habitat for our birds.”
Ms Pohatu said she recalled it was about 30 years ago when Ngāi Tāmanuhiri iwi wanted to do something that would bring about a change.
It started off with a beach clean-up event.
Back in the '80s Muriwai Beach was treated like a dumping ground.
With the determination to leave a mark for their future generations, both the iwi groups took steps to conserve the land.
“Not only did it mark the birth of Te Wherowhero project, but also me as a kaitieki.”
Ms Pohatu said preserving the lagoon gained priority due to both its environmental and cultural significance.
The estuary houses the kuaka (godwit) birds, the species which is well-documented/known for their longest non-stop flights — not even stopping for a snack.
As per New Zealand Birds Online website, for Māori, they were birds of mystery and were believed to accompany spirits of the departed.
“Our environment is a taonga and something that we need to constantly work on to improve the relationships between whānau and the whenua,” Mr Waipara says.
Ms Pohatu said the trees, in fact, were the future taonga — since they were so valuable as a resource.
For example, the planting of toetoe trees was crucial to producing the much-needed tukutuku panels for the wharenui.
“These are panels with designs woven into them. All of our marae need restoration around tukutuku, but we actually don't have the resources or the abundance in our region.”
The depletion of the natural resources can be dated back to when European settlers/Pākehā came to Māori shores and cleared fields of resources.
“We have artisans who have to go out of the region to get the resources to do the mahi.”
Hence, part of the iwi role was to be able to create that abundance, so that traditional activities still continued and were passed down generation after generation, Ms Pohatu said.
“So having the planting included, marking the end of the art festival, makes perfect sense since all of the materials used to make art come from the environment and hence are interlinked. By rebuilding our forests and whenua, artists get to make and display their artworks,” she said.
Mr Waipara said weaving workshops run by the Muriwai weavers as part of the festival were a good example of how the relationship between taiao and art was one and the same.
“It's not just the physical materials, but the knowledge that is connected to it.
“That's even true for the light trail as well, as those artists have put forward the representations of their work which actually stems from matauranga Māori and the idea that everything is connected,” he said.
Despite conservation efforts, climate change is one of top priority issues considered by the kaitieki.
Ms Pohatu said it was in March this year that the severe weather patterns had a big impact and resulted in slash being deposited at their beach.
“I look back now and think in hindsight when we started this more than 20 years ago, we could have focused on the sea side and not the lagoon side. Especially with the sea level rising and an increase in erosion risk.”
Pest control is another priority.
“We had the Gisborne District Council come out and do a shoot.
“We got 60 hares in two nights. Probably because of climate change some of those predators are breeding more often and so that has a huge impact on the plant species that are there.”
One of the “saddest things” about Te Wherowhero is that while it's environmentally acknowledged, securing funding to conserve it has always been an issue, she says.
“The thing is conservation feels good, but it actually doesn't make any money. However, it's something that helps us reconnect to the whenua and learn stories. So it's crucial we do something about it.”
Locking the gates of Te Wherowhero — Browns Beach side entry — to the public is one of the several measures the kaitieki have taken to minimise the human-related impacts on the taiao.
She said: “I would like to acknowledge all the people who over the years have participated, volunteered their time, and believed in this kaupapa — that has got us to where we are now and that's a collective effort.”
