On Sunday 31 July, the trustees of Te Uretureture, hosted a ceremony celebrating a major milestone in their journey to transform their ancestral whenua - the completion of a new 5ha kiwifruit orchard.
They gathered in the rain to plant the final kiwifruit vines and sign official lease documents.
Changing the land use wasn’t about profitability for the trustees of this Matakana Island whenua. They made it clear from the beginning that they wanted to protect cultural sites, conserve native habitat and to provide a home and jobs for their people. Two years later, they’ve managed to do just that.
Working closely with Te Tumu Paeroa, they’ve taken the land out of maize, and found a new land use that supported their aspirations of bringing balance to the whenua.
Blair Waipara, manager of Land Development at Te Tumu Paeroa says “This has been a fantastic journey for us and the land owners. It hasn’t been without its challenges, but we’ve overcome them and the result is a fantastic new orchard. It’s great to find an alternative to maize that will serve the land owners well for a long time to come.”
The development continues to be guided by the dedicated trustees. It was their dream of adding to the social, environmental, cultural and economic value of the whenua that put this project in motion.
Mike Ngātai, the Orchard Development Manager at Southern Cross Horticulture who oversaw the development, is also a trustee of Te Uretureture. He says working on his whenua was different to other projects he’s worked on “there’s a lot more aroha, a lot more passion. You put a lot more into this because it’s your own, and you’re doing it for the whānau. Plus all my boys too, because they’re the ones that’ll inherit this.”
This achievement is just the beginning for the trustees who also hope to place a Ngā Whenua Rāhui conservation covenant on the wetland areas of the whenua and to protect the pā sites and urupā with official reservation status. The balance of the land will be used for growing lucerne and housing.
Trustee and land owner Jason Murray says “You’ve got to have a balanced approach to economics no matter how you use the land…. It’s our role to whakatika that and return the land to its former glory, and help balance nature and economics.”
The orchard is a $2 million project between Te Tumu Paeroa and the trustees of the land. From start to finish, Tumu Paeroa supported the trustees, by facilitating the development and providing expertise on a new land use.
Over the next few years, as the orchard continues to develop, Te Tumu Paeroa will continue to oversee the day to day operations on the land owners behalf, ensuring that the whenua is well looked after.
If you’re interested in the services Te Tumu Paeroa have to offer, go to www.tetumupaeroa.co.nz.
