In the Far North, wilding pines are a big issue because we have so
many vulnerable habitats up there that wilding pines can move into.
Pines can grow incredibly quickly and much bigger and taller than any of our other native species.
They also mature at five years old. Basically, what you end up
with is a (wilding) pine forest that doesn't really support much biodiversity beneath it.
The MPI funding has allowed us to form collaborative and effective partnerships with
iwi hapu, community, landowners other stakeholders such as contractors and DOC, but a very special
feature of this program is that we're able to partner with mana whenua and they actually have
an investment, a long-term enduring relationship to the land that will go well beyond the scale of
either this project or even our own careers. What we've found is that working with mana
whenua we can achieve way more than just trying to work on our own.
We engaged with the NRC (Northland Regional Council). We could work together as iwi and
the NRC to see if we can do some mahi around eradicating these wild pines and the team from
the NRC they've been really good, passionate about the environment, and keeping this particular area,
keeping it safe from all the pests and all the weeds that are sort of slowly creeping in here.
We've had the forestry crews in, and they have taken on local people and that is good for
our socioeconomic values here in Te Hiku. It contributes socially
and economically but also psychologically and spiritually.
Wilding pines are a 4.6-billion-dollar threat to the New Zealand economy and
every year that they're left to grow the cost of controlling them increases by 30%.
The economic benefits to the Far North of this program is that it brings jobs over the long
term into the local community. This has opened up a good stream of work opportunities for our
rangatahi around our communities looking after their taiao, it's been really good because the
contractors are local, they're part of the iwi, they're building capacity, they're getting all
the skills that need to be done for future work. We're working well with them because we know them.
So, to have something that creates consistent work for the guys that they can come today in
and day out really plays a big part in the way their lifestyles lived and what they can
provide for their families. Being able to change the direction that their kids follow in their
footsteps, you know, that's that's pretty rewarding out of the whole lot, I think.
In Northland we have a very high biodiversity in comparison to most of the rest in New Zealand.
We also have a vast array of different kinds of habitat. Now these habitats such as the gumlands
and the dune lakes and the wetlands and the sand spits have got their own unique plant
and animal communities which would disappear if they were taken over by wilding pines.
The funding from the wilding pine programme has been a game changer in Northland.
What it's done is probably we're able to tackle a problem before it becomes out of control.
So, places like the Aupōuri peninsula where we can start at north cape and slowly work backwards.
We've actually got a chance to eradicate pines probably within 10-year period. So,
a grown pine tree can take (up to) 600 litres of water a day and if you look
at some of the dune lakes and compare them to how they were 30 years ago,
the ones that have got pines around there’s very little actual water left in them, and when we take
pines away, use Lake Ngatu as an example, then one year later with less rainfall coming down, that
lake had a higher level than the previous year. Te Paki station is on the west coast in
the Far North and it's a large area encompassing some plantation forestry,
big areas of farmland, but it also has some really huge areas of natural habitats including
major dune systems, dune lakes, lagoons, huge wetlands and large areas of shrubland and gumland.
We are privileged to be home again on this land of ours and part of that privilege is how to
reconcile ourselves again. The restoration plan is to get it back to as natural a state as we
possibly can and if we can have that flourishing, our whole ecosystem flourishes along with it.
We've got our own nursery where we can take our seeds from. Our area, it's huge to us,
to see our environment try to keep pristine and in its natural state. We do a lot of work in in iwi
spaces you know and especially when you whakapapa back to these areas to see the whenua get restored
back to its natural habitat is pretty cool to be a part of. It's really rewarding in the sense that
in the next five to 10, 15 years we can go back past these places and see the
work that we've done and how much has changed the landscape.
Looking at the bush in a better state than we left it is probably the most rewarding thing
that we get. I tend to do a better job because I know I whakapapa back to here so it's rewarding
knowing that you're working on your own land and it's going to be better for the next generation.