Uenuku Charitable Trust hosts national hui as it plans Pōkākā Eco Sanctuary

(From left) Paora Haitana, Steve Hirini and Chris McKenzie accepted $5000 toward the Pōkākā Eco Sanctuary from Whanganui Forest & Bird's Esther Williams and Keith Beautrais in 2019. Photo / file

Raetihi will host the Sanctuaries of New Zealand annual gathering in August as plans to create the Pōkākā Eco Sanctuary in the Ruapehu District move ahead.

The Uenuku Charitable Trust (UCT), made up of the Uenuku, Tamahaki and Tamakana iwi, is a member of Sanctuaries of New Zealand (SONZI) and plans to create the Pōkākā Eco Sanctuary.

The trust was to host SONZI's annual gathering last year - but that was postponed because of Covid-19.

This year it is welcoming more than 100 people to Raetihi, from August 10 to 12.

"It will be a little bit of a challenge for little Raetihi, but we are up for these challenges," UCT treaty manager Steve Hirini said.

The theme this year is iwi and conservation and the hosts will introduce themselves as "people of the rainbow, Uenuku, located under magnificent Mount Ruapehu" to conservation practitioners from all over New Zealand.

"We will talk about the people and some of the work we have done to enhance ecosystems on our own land."

The gathering begins with a powhiri at Raetihi Marae at 9am on August 10. It moves to The Centre at 14 Seddon St for a science day in which experts from Landcare Research and Auckland University will talk about predator trapping, forest bird movements, feral cats, weka and bats.

UCT gets to lead the morning session next day, on iwi in conservation.

Its members have a lot of involvement, Hirini said, in the Kiwis for Kiwi project, for example. They have some Jobs for Nature funding to use on predator control.

"We will share some of our kaitiaki-based practices, weaving that with western practices."

That afternoon is the "soapbox" session, where participants have five-minute slots to talk about their work and ideas.

The final day begins with the SONZI annual general meeting, followed by a field trip to the proposed Pōkākā Eco Sanctuary.

It's among second generation podocarp forest in what's now the 11,000ha Erua Conservation Area west of the Makatote Viaduct and State Highway 4. Its centre lies between the Makatote and Manganui o te Ao rivers and it has been planned for at least four years.

The central 200ha is to be predator-fenced, with extensive predator trapping in the surrounding 2500ha, managed by the iwi. They want to restore the abundance of taonga birds that once lived there, including kākā.

A visitor and education centre is planned, and the sanctuary will provide jobs and training, as well as a place to share stories. Some will be about "the old, ancient walking tracks between Taupō and Taranaki that follow these great rivers," Hirini said.

"We want to reconnect, and share that with others."

One challenge for the sanctuary's 15 trustees could be the use of 1080 poison to kill predators. The Conservation Department recommends an aerial application of poison baits for Erua Conservation Area this spring, to protect whio, bats, falcon and kiwi.

UCT is working toward a Treaty of Waitangi settlement for the three iwi. An agreement in principle was signed in November 2018 and is to give the trust $21.7 million and the return of significant sites - including the Pōkākā area.

The trust is on track to sign a deed of settlement later this year, Hirini said.