March 07, 2018
Iwi part of Hauraki Gulf solution
The chair of the Hauraki Gulf Forum would like to see more support for participation of iwi, including an eventual move towards co-management.
The forum has just released its fourth three-yearly State of Our Gulf report, which John Tregidga says should be a wake up call for people concerned about the heath of Tikapa Moana.
He says levels of nitrates coming into the Firth of Thames from the region’s 400,000 cows are still too high despite the investment by farmers and pollution levels from Auckland city are also increasing.
Any solution needs to take notice of the Treaty of Waitangi and Maori customary rights, which is why he appreciated the input of tangata whenua.
"They’ve put a huge commitment into the spatial plan Sea Change, many hours of people sitting round the table working on what needs to happen. If there is one group that does get it, it is tangata whenua. And I’m a great advocate and have been for some time and not the most popular on this course but I’m very much in favour of co-management when it comes to our water," Mr Tregidga says.
The Hauraki mayor would like to see larger and in some cases temporary marine reserves to allow fish stocks and the marine environment to recover.
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