Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu, Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Waewae and Te Rūnanga o Makaawhio will formally welcome the Western South Island stewardship land national panel to the West Coast with a pōwhiri at the Arahura marae near Hokitika today.
Minister of Conservation, Kiri Allan, will attend alongside Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu Kaiwhakahaere Lisa Tumahai, Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu Kaihautū (CEO) Arihia Bennett, the national and mana whenua panel members, and Department of Conservation’s Director General, Penny Nelson.
“This pōwhiri is an incredible honour for the national panel members” says DOC Director Operations, Karl Beckert.
“We value Ngāi Tahu’s participation and advice as the mana whenua panel and the national panel progress with the reclassification of stewardship land within the Ngāi Tahu takiwā.
“The mana whenua panel will work alongside the national panel to support them to make revised land classification recommendations to the Minister of Conservation” says Karl Beckert.
The national panel will carry out technical assessments of the conservation and cultural values of stewardship land areas.
Developing recommendations on revised land classifications is expected to take eight months for each region.
“DOC is working closely with both panels to ensure they are supported and have a clear understanding of the scope of their work.
“We understand that there is strong interested in this project across the West Coast. There will be an opportunity for the public to provide feedback on the recommendations through a public consultation process,” said Mr Beckert.
