Starts Government-funded Restoration Pilot

Regional and national leaders gathered in Ōmāpere today to celebrate the launch of Te Kete Hononga - a major new tool for equipping community-led ecological restoration across Northland and beyond.

The hui also acknowledged the start of a year-long pilot under new native biodiversity policies announced by Associate Environment Minister (Biodiversity) James Shaw in Kerikeri in July. More information on Biodiversity and what the Government is doing is here.

The pilot involves 15 biodiversity and restoration projects across Northland - and Te Kete Hononga is a key component.

Developed by Reconnecting Northland, in partnership with local communities and the Department of Conservation, Te Kete Hononga, or basket of connections, weaves together conservation services, resources, investment, knowledge and skills for the communities and projects that need them.

“Te Kete Hononga has evolved over many years working with communities who are determined to restore their whenua, wetlands and native bush,” says Reconnecting Northland’s Pou Manatū Eamon Nathan (Te Roroa).

Remote communities face major challenges in fulfilling their ambitions. “They must navigate their way through layers of regional council and central government, engage with experts, coordinate local residents, hire contractors and source funding. And that’s before the hard work of pest control, fencing and planting begins.”

Te Kete Hononga provides a toolkit, learned from more than a decade of experience, for communities to manage the process themselves. It starts with a kairaranga (weaver) who meets with community leaders to listen, understand and then weave together a package of support.

By connecting the strands, communities meet their social and conservation goals; businesses get consistent work through professionally managed contracts; and agencies improve their efficiency, increase their capacity and leverage their impact.

“Te Kete Hononga creates a self-nourishing cycle of knowledge, connection and relationships that benefit everyone - and the natural systems that we all depend on,” says Thalea Tane (Te Roroa, Ngāti Whātua, Ngāti Korokoro), project manager for Reconnecting Northland.

Reconnecting Northland hopes to create a network of projects that, over time, will create landscape-scale ecological restoration.

“We’d love to see ngahere and awa restored, from coast to coast, right across Northland. But that takes time - probably three generations. Meanwhile, our work has already started, helping communities realise the aspirations for their local area.

"That’s what Te Kete Hononga is all about,” says Tane.

Liz Oliver, chair of Reconnecting Northland, says the end goal is seeing thriving communities and ecosystems. “Our vision is to see nature-based employment and commercial opportunities through ecological restoration. When we work with nature, not against it, we will create a much more sustainable and longer lasting economy and environment for our communities and our whenua.”

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