Kauri resin extraction a win-win for Ngai Takoto and lands

Technology has come a long way since diggers sluiced for kauri gum fragments in Northland in the late 19th/early 20th centuries.

Far North iwi Ngai Takoto hopes its joint venture with a company to extract waxes and resins from a peat wetland at Kaimaumau (Kauri gum extraction makes comeback, April 17) will prove to be a win-win, providing for the iwi's economic future and improving the environment.

The iwi has joined with Auckland-based Resin & Wax Holdings, which has gained consents to extract kauri resin and wax from about 10 per cent of the 4000ha-plus wetland. The company has held a mining licence for peat in the Kaimaumau area since 1991, but machinery has only been invented in recent years to extract waxes and resins by using solvents.

The Northland Regional Council has granted consents for staged commercial extraction from 400ha of wetland that forms part of a wider almost 950ha block owned by Ngai Takoto.

Te Runanga o Ngai Takoto CEO Rangitane Marsden said the venture was a big win for the iwi, which would help secure its economic and environmental future, while providing jobs and opportunities for its people.

The iwi bought the farm, then largely covered in wattle, pine and scrub, as part of its Treaty of Waitangi settlement.

"We knew the farm required a lot of work to bring it back into any kind of state that it could be used to provide any economic benefit, but the environment is a big part of our kaupapa, and that had to be a primary focus," Mr Marsden said.

Resin and Wax would return the peat to the ground in a state that could then be used for planting. The resins and waxes had a variety of uses, including in industrial solvents and lubricants, and in some countries were used for sealing roads.

"We knew the soil was quite toxic, and this will enable us to get the soil cleaned up so we can use the land again, whether that be for farming or horticulture or whatever, but it will help provide work and opportunities," he added.

Two iwi members were already working with the company to establish the project, and more employment and training opportunities would arise as the pilot project expanded. No value or potential job numbers had been put on the project at this stage.

"This is the first time we've done a joint venture, but it's going to be a big win for us, and will help future-proof the iwi. To be honest we're over the welfare programmes — that's not going to create education or create jobs or opportunities," Mr Marsden said.

"We have to get our own ventures going to create those opportunities, and this will help set up those economic, environmental and employment opportunities."

The iwi would also work with the Department of Conservation, which had an estate neighbouring the iwi land, to see how they could jointly enhance the environment.