April 09, 2024
Te Rāwhiti pair win supreme biodiversity award
Viki Heta and Arana Rewha from Ngā Hapū o Te Rāwhiti, Ngāti Kuta rāua ko Patukeha have won not only the Te Uru Kahika Māori Award but the supreme award in the 2023 Supreme New Zealand Biodiversity Awards presented at Parliament last night.
The award acknowledges more than a decade of pest eradication and environmental restoration programmes in Te Taitokerau,
They have employed people from Te Rāwhiti ond other small communities on projects such as reintroducing native birds in offshore islands and attempting to eradicate Sika deer from Russell Forest and Ngaiotonga Scenic Reserve.
Mr Rewha says their close connection to the taiao means they were first to pick up threats like the spread of caulerpa seaweed to the mainland.
“We’re one of the groups that found myrtle rust in the Bay of Islands in a nursery so I’ve been involved in quite a few firsts for New Zealand, myrtle rust for one, caulerpa for another, so we do get a few ngāngaras coming to our Bay of Islands,” he says.
Te Arawa Lakes Trust won the AssureQuality Emerging Leader Award for their mahi in schools and the Catfish Killas eradication programme.