Predator Free 2050: Ngāti Awa take lead as part of scheme

Korehāhā Whakahau is the first iwi-led project as part of the Predator Free 2050 scheme.

Korehāhā Whakahau is a Crown-owned charitable company aiming to eradicate possums, stoats and rats.

The project covers 4700 ha of the rohe and uses both modern technology and Māori knowledge.

Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Awa Taiao Michal Akurangi said it was an opportunity for the Eastern Bay of Plenty iwi to lead in environmental projects demonstrating key values, including kaitiakitanga - guardianship and protection.

Akurangi said traditional trap lines involved walking the trapline every day.

"We know that to cover a significant size area like we've got, we need to be a little bit more smart and efficient about how we do that," Akurangi said.

"So we've paired up with ZIP - Zero Invasive Predators - to use some of their technology.

"We use nodes and satellites and we spread them out along the trap lines next to traps.

"When one of those traps goes off, we get a message to our phones and it will signal specifically what trap has gone off.

"So it reduces our man-hour times so we can be very efficient."

Project Korehāhā Whakahau is one of 19 government initiatives focussing on conservation and protecting fauna and flora

A wānanga will be held in Whakatane to foster better relationships between tangata whenua and its partners with similar projects across Aotearoa.

"There's maybe a little help needed to help inspire or to support the projects to have a relationship with the tangata whenua," Akurangi said.

"We decided that it might be a good way that we might be able to contribute back by creating a safe space for the projects and their partners to come and have a wānanga and kōrero about what a relationship might look like for them in their place.

"We are really keen to share our experiences in the hope that might instigate a really open conversation with those projects and the partners," she said.

Department of Conservation Bay of Plenty operations director Jade Kingi-Hazel said the wananga was a space for all parties to learn from each other.

"It gives us an opportunity to understand how we can better contribute to our partnerships in this predator-free space," Kingi-Hazel said.

"We've had the opportunity to watch Korehāhā Whakahau and see how they operate, and they're doing a really good job out there in the community of engaging with others and building partnerships, but there's really an opportunity for ourselves as partners to understand how we can better contribute."

Hazel said the department hoped to connect and think holistically.

"There's really a good opportunity to turn up, engage, but also share your whakaaro and know that it's an open space to do that.

The wānanga will be held on March 3 to March 4 at Te Mānuka Tūtahi Marae and online.