Listen Now: 
Te Urewera Board is telling iwi members and other visitors to stay away from the area this summer.
The board closed Te Urewera when the country went into Covid alert level 4 in August, and it doesn’t intend to reopen for hunting, tramping, boating, fishing, or camping until the end of January.
Board and Te Uru Taumatua chair Tamati Kruger says that will give time for vulnerable local communities to prepare for a post-elimination world.
Final decisions about re-opening and subsequent access would be made with reference to the comprehensive Covid response plan for Tūhoe communities developed by the Tūhoe iwi authority.
Mr Kruger says vaccination rates are still relatively low, with just 55 percent of those registered with the iwi’s Tāneatua medical centre having received a first dose and 40 percent fully vaccinated.
He says Te Uru Taumatua has developed a vaccination workforce as well as investing in isolation and quarantine facilities and equipment.
RELATED NEWS
