May 06, 2020
Orakei example for Owairaka resolution
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Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei is calling for compromise on both sides to end the standoff over Ōwairaka-Mount Albert.
Environmental spokesperson Ngarimu Blair says an opinion piece he penned should not be seen as an endorsement of the Honour the Maunga protest group but as an affirmation of Ngāti Whātua’s position as the ahi ka iwi.
He says the way Ōrākei has managed the reafforestation of Takaparawhau-Bastion Point can serve as an example, where some exotic trees were left in place because removing them before replacement plantings had grown up would expose the soil to erosion.
Honour the Maunga’s position that none of the 345 exotic trees on Ōwairaka should be cut is unreasonable.
“Everyone's got to compromise in this. The focus should be on the long term objective which is to bring back as many native trees and shrubs as we can in our generation so our mokopuna can look up at those places again and see kereru. Heaps of kereru, maybe catch a few and make a korowai or have a boil up with them. ,” he says.
Ōrākei has two members on the Tupuna Maunga Authority.
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