June 26, 2015
Swamp kauri on par with pounamu
The chair of Northland Regional Council’s Te Taitokerau Maori Advisory Committee says Northland iwi want swamp kauri to be given the same protection as South Island greenstone.
Dover Samuels says the council does not have the power to control or regulate the trade in the ancient logs, which are being dug up and sent overseas with allegedly minimal processing.
He says the government and the Ministry for Primary Industries need to come up with a tougher regime that involves tangata whenua in processing the logs before they are exported.
Some Maori want to go further.
"Many of our kaumatua believe that the ancient kauri is very similar to the pounamu that has been put in the hands of Ngai Tahu in terms of their treaty settlement, that Ngai Tahu is the kaitiaki of the pounamu and it is illegal to extract it without a permit from Ngai Tahu and I don’t see any difference to what is required under their treaty settlement with perhaps a provision in the settlement of Ngapuhi nui tonu," Mr Samuels says.
Copyright © 2015, UMA Broadcasting Ltd: www.waateanews.com