Media Release: September 3 2016

Minginui nursery nourishing Ngāti Whare’s regeneration¬¬¬¬

Ngāti Whare has opened a state-of-the-art nursery for propagating native trees and plants at Minginui, the small village about 90km south east of Rotorua that’s at the heart of its rohe.

The iwi’s $1 million investment includes irrigation booms and tray filling equipment from Italy, the latest technology from New Zealand’s nursery sector and locally engineered plant tables. The poly house that will protect and nourish the young trees can be remotely controlled via the internet.

Ngāti Whare had its traditional Kaitiakitanga, or guardianship, of the Whirinaki Forest in the central North Island recognised in its Treaty of Waitangi settlement. Part of that settlement covers the iwi planting thousands of native trees in parts of the forest once existing plantation pine trees are harvested.

Bronco Carson, the chairman of Te Runanga o Ngāti Whare, says he and his fellow directors on the iwi’s commercial board, realized they would need to source thousands of native tree seedlings a year and transporting them to the forest for planting out would be expensive.

“We went to Scion to find out about potentially creating our own nursery at Minginui, thinking we could not only grow the trees, but also provide employment for our whanau,” Mr Carson says. “During a tour of the Scion nursery in Rotorua we fortuitously came across a team that had just developed word leading technology to grow native trees. It involves taking cuttings from selected trees in the forest, rather than growing them with some difficulty from seeds.

“I think what has since developed shows just how a Crown Research Institute and a Maori owned business can successfully work together.”

Mr Carson says for Ngāti Whare the nursery is just part of a series of initiatives that he and Minister of Treaty Settlements Chris Finlayson and Minister of Maori Development Te Ururoa Flavell, discussed after Ngāti Whare accepted the Crown’s apology for past grievances.

“Another of the Ministers’ initiatives was getting the equivalent of ultra fast broadband to our kura and the village and getting computers into homes. That has been achieved and allowed us to have the remote control of the nursery too.”

Mr Carson says as well as already stimulating training and employment, the nursery will become a live laboratory for local children. They will not only learn about growing plants and the high level science Scion does, but they will also learn about regenerating the forest.

“Our mokopuna will also learn about Ngāti Whare history of sustainable milling, what happened when plantation farming of Pinus Radiata came along, the effect of corporatisation of the old forestry service and the closing of mills on our people,” Mr Carson says. “Most importantly they will learn the values of Kaitiakitanga and the need for protecting the forest for future generations.”

The Ngāti Whare Native Nursery has already attracted other contracts, including growing thousands of Manuka seedlings for NZ Manuka on the East Coast and to provide thousands of trees for regeneration and riparian planting.

“We have made a big investment, but this is just the beginning of us all growing Ngāti Whare’s asset base and balance sheet so we can make sure our whanau live good lives,” Mr Carson says.

Dr Russell Burton, general manager research and investments at Scion, says it has been inspirational to work alongside Ngāti Whare and to see how Mātauranga Maori and science can come together to make a positive contribution to regional development.

“We are honoured and proud to be Ngāti Whare’s partner in our shared vision to restore New Zealand’s indigenous forests,” Dr Burton says.

ends

© Scoop Media