Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air
See below for English translation
Kātahi nā te kaupapa whakahirahira a Geoff Reid.
Ko Toitu Whenua te kaupapa. Hei tāku he kaupapa me kaha mātakia e te mārea. ( He whakapāohotanga mataara nāku ki te iwi – ehara au i te tangata kauawhiawhi rākau, ka roa ahau e tū nei ki te marae ātea o Papatūānuku ka pāngia ahau ki te māuiuitanga kauhikahika).
Kua tata ki te kotahi tau ahau e tuhi nei mā Kāhu ki Rotorua, whaihoki kua tūhonohono atu ahau ki ētehi tupua whakahirahira ake o te takiwā nei, kōeke mai, rangatahi māi, whānau mai. Me te pai rā.
Ko taku haerenga ki te tiata i Mōtene i te wiki kua pāhemo ehara i tētehi āhuatanga ka kaha haerengia e ahau, engari e ora nei taku ngākau i taku taenga.
He wā tūtakitaki ki ētehi hoa onamata, ā , kātahi nei ka whai hoa kōrero hou. Nā reira i mātau ai ahau ki ngā kōrero o rohe kē atu.
Ko te kaupapa nei a Toitu Whenua he kaupapa tirohanga whenua ā rere topatopa iti nei. E titiro ai ki te whānuitanga o te whenua o te takiwā Waiariki. Ko te mana o te pakipumeka ki a ia tonu kāore e tino take ana ki te reo kōrero, ki te reo whakahua.
He mātanga titiro whenua a Geoff, nā tana mātakitaki i ngā whenua o te Waiariki ka tūtakarerewa tana whatumanawa ki tāna e kite ai.
He tūhonohono atu ai a Tim Firkin me Grant Nicholson nā reira i hua ai tēnei pakipumeka. He ahakoa kāore he reo tataki, ka ū kaha kē te hunga mātakitaki ki ngā whakaahua kua whakaahuangia e ngā pou hopu pikitia, ka tū te ihi, ka tū te wehi, ka apakura te ngākau.
Ko te waiariki tētehi whenua tino momona, kai Tauranga ngā wāpū e tūnaha pūtea nui ana.
Ko tētehi atu ara ko te taha ki te nehenehe, ko te hua kiwi me te ahuwhenua, katoa ēnei he mana nui. Ko te ngako o tēnei pakipumeka he whakaatuhia ngā āhuatanga pai me ngā āhuatanga taumaha ka hua mai i ēnei tūmomo ūmanga nui me ngā taumahatanga ka pā kaha ki te taiao.
Ka tūkinongia ngā awaawa i ngā peihana pākawa ota, ka paru ngā mātaitai. Mēnā kāore e tika te whakaaraara i ngā hopua para ka puta aua ngārara ki te whenua me te wai, ā, ka māuiui te taiao me te tangata.
Ehara ko te tuku para ki ngā awaawa anake te mate nui engari ko te rāweke me te whakahuri i ngā awaawa kia torotika ai. Ka uiuingia hoki ētehi kaumātua o te takiwā pēnei i a Trevor Ransfield i Waiotahi.
Kai tētehi wāhanga hoki o te pakipumeka he wā whakawhiti kōrero. Ka noho tokowhā rangatira ki tētehi pae, ā, ka tukuna e tētehi whakaminenga a rātau pātai huhua ki ēnei rangataira, ā, mā rātau e whakahoki.
He rangatira onamata a Tipene Marr, nō te pae o te Kaunihera ā rohe mō te takiwā o Toitehuatahi o mua. He Ngāti Rangitihi ia.
Hai tāna, ia wā ka karawhiua e ia āna pātai mō te taiao te take ki ngā mema kāore tētehi o rātau i whakarongo i āna take, he horo kē rātau ki te kaupare atu, ka whakamoea ki te whenua. Kai tētehi wāhanga o te pakipumeka ka aro kaha ki ngā painga e kawea nā e ētehi pēnei i ngā painga o te whakatupu rākau Māori hai whakaora i te taiao.
Kai Pukekauri he pāmu e pā tata ana ki Katikati tētehi wāhi, tētehi tauira rangatira.
Hai tā tētehi o ngā pou tuku pātai ko te whakatupu rākau Māori hai patu i ngā tarutaru tētehi kaupapa uaua te kawe ki te rohe ā kaunihera. Whakaae katoa te pae rangatira. Kātahi a Te Taru White ka puta ki tana hui tuatahi nei, nā, e whakarongo pīkari ki ngā hiahia me ngā amuamu a te mārea, hei tāna, waiho ki a ia.
Māna e āta tātari ngā kōrero me te rongo kōrero a te pakipumeka. Ko te tūkinotanga o Waihi tētehi kaupapa nui ki a ia. Ka rau noa āna maumaharatanga nōna e itiiiti ai ki tēnei takiwā e kohi pipi, e kohi tūangi ana.
Wheoi anō rā, ko te kaupapa Toitū Te Whenua, tētehi kaupapa mana nui e hoa mā. E kai e kai.
— Na Raimona Inia i whakamaori
What an eye-opener Geoff Reid's Toitu Te Whenua is.
For my money this sobering documentary should be on everyone's must-see list. (Disclaimer: I am not a tree-hugger and too much fresh air and sunshine give me hives.)
Since taking on the Kahu Ki Rotorua role a year ago I have been meeting people outside the usual circles of koeke and whanau.
And this is a good thing.
Going to a theatre at Motions last week would not have been part of my usual routine.
I am so glad I did. I renewed old acquaintances and made new friends.
And I learned what is happening in our rohe.
Toitu Te Whenua is essentially a drone's eye view of large tracts of the Bay of Plenty.
The film clips tell the story, words are not really necessary.
Nature photographer Geoff is an environmental activist who can read a landscape and he found the environmental situation in the Bay of Plenty and Rotorua Lakes District "alarming".
The documentary was made in conjunction with film maker Tim Firkin and animator Grant Nicholson. While there is no commentary, the impacts of industrial land use and poorly enforced environmental regulations on human and environmental health are sharply in focus.
The Bay of Plenty is a rich area, with the Ports of Tauranga returning a multi-million dollar profit.
Then there is forestry, kiwifruit and dairy farming, all of them powerful industry players.
The 45-minute film was made to show that wherever there's big industry interest there are similar problems with the environment.
Waterways are poisoned by nitrate runoff and kaimataitai can be unsafe to eat because of e-coli contamination.
Unlined effluent ponds contribute to the problem of runoff.
It was not just runoff into waterways but straightening out their natural curves so that they became straight ditches.
Geoff and crew interviewed a number of kaumatua, including Trevor Ransfield at Waiotahi.
Following the film a four-man panel took questions from the floor. Tipene Marr (Ngati Rangitihi) was formerly a member of the Bay of Plenty Regional Council. He said he was often rebuked or ignored when his questioned the council's actions. The documentary also showed the effects of pest plants and how the planting of native trees could help land recover as had been demonstrated at Pukekauri Farms near Katikati.
A speaker from the floor said trying to get more plants high up on the weed list of the regional council was a real mission. The panel agreed.
Te Taru White, who attended his first meeting as a regional councillor that day, said he would take on board what the meeting and documentary had to say.
The degradation of Little Waihi estuary was of particular interest to him because that was
an area where happy childhood memories were made and picking pipi was a large part of that.
Toitu Te Whenua is thought-provoking and provided much food for thought.
There are 93 horses still facing an uncertain fate.