Kāhu ki Rotorua: Toa taiao working to protect kārearea

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He toa tiaki taiao a Tane Lawless, ina hoki te nui o tona aroha nui ki tenei take, ka hau noa atu ia ki te nehenehe i runga i te aroha kau. He kore utu, he nama kore, he ngakau whakaiti. Ki a hoki kau nga maumaharatanga ki te tau kua hori ki te taima i whai wa ai tatau ki te korero ki a ia, kua kaha te tupu o tona ao hurihuri. Kai te taumata whakahaere o Rotoiti 15 ia hai tarati. Koia nei tetehi o nga kahui whenua momona katoa o Te Arawa.

“Ko taku haerenga hou tenei. Naku tonu tetehi rautaki i whakatakoto kia eke ai ahau ki te wahi e whakahaerehia ai o tatau whenua, ka nui taku hiahia ki te noho tonu ki te puku o te ngahere engari kaore i ahau te taha ki te ture.”

E toru tekau ma waru te pakeke o Tane. Ko ona kawai whakapapa he huhua, ko Ngati Pikiao, ko Ngai Tuhourangi, otia, he Ngati Raukawa. Kai Taupo tona kainga noho. Ko tana mahi itiiiti nei he matai Karearea. He kahui tokotoru kai te maunga o Tauhara e noho ana. Wheoi ano ra, he kaupapa apiti noa tenei ki tana mahi tuturu hai tangata whakatika motuka, taraka hoki, a, me te kawe i tana kamupene whakaputa pueru nana tonu i timatangia hai kamupene motuhake mana. Ko te putea nui tenei hai awhina i a Tane ki te kawe i ana tino kaupapa, ko Papatuanuku tetehi ko ana tamariki hoki tetehi. Ka puta a Tane ki te nehenehe, ka haere hoki ana tamariki tokorua. Ko te pae tawhiti ki a tahuri mai hoki ana tamariki ki te tiaki i nga manu Maori katoa. Na reira ka nanao atu ai a Tane ki ana tamariki ki a piri ai raua ki a ia e hakoke ana, e mahi ana i te nehenehe. ' Tika hoki. Kai te taiao, kai tenei takiwa tonu nga Karearea e rerere kau ana’.

E mea ana a DOC, ko te Karearea tetehi manu nui te mana kai te ata mimiti haere. Kapuia katoatia nga Karearea huri noa i te motu ka eke ki te takiwa o te toru mano ahua rima mano te rahi o enei manu. Engari - e hoa ma. Kai te matemate haere ratau. E heke ana nga nama o enei manu ataahua. Ka tae ki te taima whakana e mea ana ki a taua, he rangi mahi kore, kai te nehenehe ke a Tane e haereere ana. He whakarauora taiao, he tiaki manu, he whakatupu rakau Maori. Me i kore e kitea a Tane i Taupo kai te tuara hiwiroa o Kaimanawa e mahi ana, kai Te Rotoiti ranei e patu kararehe ana. Kua aua noa atu tana taima mahi ki runga o Makatiti, he patu paihamu, he puhi warapi, ngeru he aha noa atu, he aha noa atu te momo ngarara mena ehara taua kararehe i te kararehe Maori kai raro ia e putu ana.

Tana pukuriri hoki ki nga ngeru mohoao. Hai tana, he kararehe murere, he kararehe tinihanga hoki. “Ka nui te inoi atu ki te hunga tiaki kararehe kia taurawhingia nga kararehe, a, kia puritia hoki ratau ki ro whare.”

E mea ana hoki a Tane, ko te tau kua pahemo nei tetehi tau nui te amaimai mona. Ko te take, ka hau noa ona whakaaro me tona kaha ki te pena putea hai whakawatea i a ia kia tu tuturu ia ki te nehenehe hai manu matarae mo te taiao.

Ka nui te hiahia ona ki a kotahi mai nga tini whanau me nga whanaunga o te kainga ki te hapai i te mana o te taiao. Kai tona ngakau te korero, ko nga rakau me nga manu katoa he taonga tuku iho enei no nga tupuna. Ko tona kaha kai te whenua, he tangata tuku werawera, he ringa raupa, e ora ai te taiao mo nga mokopuna, engari ano te taha ki te mahi pepa he wero nui kai te aroaro. Taria te wa e tika ai tenei taha.

— Na Raimona Inia i whakamaori.

Tane Lawless is an eco-warrior, so passionate about our taiao he volunteers his leisure time to protect our environment in any way he can.

Since we spoke to him last year he has expanded his involvement from field worker to being elected as a trustee on Rotoiti 15, one of Te Arawa’s biggest land trusts.

“It is my new adventure.

“This was a logical step for me, to get closer to the governance of our whenua. I still want to concentrate on the taiao but I need to know how the regulations work as well.”

The kārearea is described by the Department of Conservation as the country's most threatened bird of prey.

Tane, 38, whose tribal affiliations include Pikiao, Tuhourangi, Tuwharetoa and Raukawa, lives at Taupō where he is currently monitoring three karearea around Maunga Tauhara.

That’s in addition to holding down a fulltime job as a mechanic and running his own clothing label.

All that mahi is to fund his first love: Papatūānuku and her children.

He takes his two sons into the ngahere and up mountains for a close-up look at the taiao.

His ideal would be for whanau to look after the manu.

That is why he involved his two young sons in monitoring of two karearea and two eggs.

“There are definitely karearea in the rohe.”

The karearea is described by the Department of Conservation as the country’s most threatened bird of prey, with only around 3000–5000 breeding pairs remaining.The population of the karearea, the New Zealand falcon or Falco novaeseelandiae, is decreasing.

During what should be his time off Tane can be found doing whatever he can to make a safe and healthy environment for our native manu and plants.

If he is not at Taupō or the Kaimanawa Range, Tane can likely be found at his boyhood home Rotoiti, culling pest animals and plants.

He has been working on the Makatiti Dome where pest animals include stoats, weasels, possums, wallabies and feral cats.

He gets really hoha about feral cats which he describes as vicious and cunning predators.

“I wish cat owners would have their animals neutered and keep them inside.”

He describes the past year as one where he took some gambles in building a putea, all in his mission to devote more time to nature and be a true kaitiaki.

Tane would like to see whanau involved more actively in looking after the taiao.

For him, trees or birds are a taonga handed down by our tupuna.

He has a passion for the mahi and just likes to get the job done, to see them protected for the next generation. As for the paperwork? That’s the next step, learning more about governance.