Nā Hora Kairangi Nicholas tēnei atikara
From restoring native forest on Te Pātaka o Rākaihautū to protecting the mauri of culturally significant lakes, two partnerships involving Wairewa Rūnanga have been recognised with major national environmental awards in the space of two weeks.
The first came on August 19, when Tautoru Mautai, a partnership between Wairewa Rūnanga and Orion Group, won Community Initiative of the Year at the NZ Energy Excellence Awards in Wellington.
Then over the weekend, Wairewa was again represented on the national stage as the Mana Moana Three Lakes collaboration received the Te Ao Māori Award at the 2026 Freshwater Champions Forum in Nelson.
“For Wairewa it is encouraging and a sign that we are on the right track. It is a chance for us to pause and reflect to date, but the mahi continues and there is so much more to do,” says Ana Gray on behalf of the Rūnanga.
The two kaupapa are separate, with different partners and different environments at their heart. But both are grounded in a shared commitment to caring for whenua and wai, drawing on mātauranga Māori and working collectively to leave something stronger for those who come after.
Tautoru Mautai
Tautoru Mautai is a 35 year partnership between Wairewa Rūnanga and Orion focused on restoring former farmland on the Southern Bays of Te Pātaka o Rākaihautū. The project is one of the largest indigenous forest initiatives in the area, with planting planned across up to 300 hectares over 10 years.
More than 173 hectares have now been covered, with 244,000 kānuka, kāio and tōtara seedlings planted. More than 1100 pests, including possums, rabbits, hares, rats, stoats, deer and wild cats, have also been removed.
But the story of Tautoru Mautai begins well before the first trees were planted.
In 2006, farmer Jim Wright gifted his approximately 449 hectare farm to Wairewa Rūnanga when he died, returning a substantial area of whenua to the people of Wairewa.
Wairewa representative Ana Gray says the kaupapa now stands on the work of those who came before, including Kāti Irakehu and Kāti Mako kaumātua Theo Bunker and Robin Wybrow. Bunker passed away in 2024 after seeing the first year of planting completed.
“While we talk about pest control what we are really talking about is restoring the balance in favour of our native and special species” says Gray.
The partnership with Orion took more than a year of negotiations, led by the original Wairewa Steering Group of Gray, Kelly Barry, Matiu Prebble and Tim McIntosh.
“This project is intergenerational. We are merely the current caretakers” Gray said.
Planting will continue through to 2032, with further work focused on upskilling whānau and creating pathways for Māori businesses.
Mana Moana Three Lakes
The second award recognises a separate environmental partnership.
Mana Moana Three Lakes received the Te Ao Māori Award at the 2026 Freshwater Champions Forum at The Suter Art Gallery in Nelson on August 28.
The collaboration brings together Whakakī Lake Trust, Wairewa Rūnaka and Lake Ōmāpere Trust to restore and protect the mauri of their culturally significant lakes. The project is developing freshwater management solutions across three regions, combining mātauranga Māori with environmental science.
More than 60 nominations were received for this year's Freshwater Champions awards, recognising individuals, whānau, iwi, landowners and community groups working to improve freshwater ecosystems across Aotearoa.
For Wairewa, the two awards recognise different partnerships and different environmental challenges.
Together, they show the Rūnanga's ongoing work with others to restore whenua and wai, while maintaining connections with tīpuna, whānau and laying out the foundation for the generations to come.
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Mai i te whakatipu ngahere taketake ki Te Pātaka o Rākaihautū, ki te tiaki i te mauri o ngā roto whakahirahira, kua whakawhiwhia ngā kaupapa e rua a Wairewa Rūnanga ki ngā tohu ā-motu mō te taiao i roto i ngā wiki e rua.
Nō te 19 o Hereturikōkā, ka riro i a Tautoru Mautai, te kaupapa whakahoahoa i waenga i a Wairewa Rūnanga me Orion Group, te tohu Community Initiative of the Year i ngā NZ Energy Excellence Awards ki Te Whanganui-a-Tara.
Nō muri mai, i te mutunga wiki kua hipa, ka kitea anō a Wairewa i te taumata ā-motu, i te whakawhiwhinga o te tohu Te Ao Māori Award ki te kaupapa Mana Moana Three Lakes i te Hui Toa Wai Māori 2026 ki Whakatu.
He kaupapa motuhake ēnei e rua, he rerekē ngā hoa mahi me ngā taiao kei te pūtake o ia kaupapa. Heoi anō, e hono ana rāua ki te aronga kotahi, arā, ko te tiaki i te whenua me te wai, ko te whakamahi i te mātauraka Māori, me te mahi ngātahi kia ora tonu ai te taiao mō ngā uri whakatipu.
Tautoru Mautai
He kaupapa whakahoahoa a Tautoru Mautai mō ngā tau 35, i waenga i a Wairewa Rūnanga me Orion, e aro ana ki te whakaora i ngā whenua pāmu o mua i ngā Takiwā ki te Tonga o Te Pātaka o Rākaihautū. Koia tētahi o ngā kaupapa whakatipu ngahere taketake nui rawa atu o te rohe, ā, kua whakaritea kia whakatōngia ngā rākau ki runga ki te 300 heketea i roto i ngā tau 10.
Neke atu i te 173 heketea kua oti kē te whakatō, ā, 244,000 ngā tipu kānuka, kāio me te tōtara kua whakatōngia. Neke atu hoki i te 1100 ngā kīrehe whakakino kua whakakorehia, arā, ko ngā poaka whenua, ngā rapeti, ngā kāhea, ngā kiore, ngā toriura, ngā tia me ngā ngeru mohoao.
Heoi, i tīmata kē te kōrero mō Tautoru Mautai i mua noa atu i te whakatōnga o ngā rākau tuatahi.
I te tau 2006, ka tuku koha te kaipāmu a Jim Wright i tana pāmu, tata ki te 449 heketea te rahi, ki a Wairewa Rūnanga i tōna matenga, hei whakahoki mai i tētahi wāhi whenua nui ki ngā uri o Wairewa.
E ai ki te māngai o Wairewa, a Ana Gray, e tū ana tēnei kaupapa i runga i ngā mahi a te hunga kua wehe atu ki tua, tae atu ki ngā kaumātua Kāti Irakehu, Kāti Mako hoki, a Theo Bunker rāua ko Robin Wybrow. I mate a Bunker i te tau 2024, whai muri i tana kitenga i te whakatōnga o ngā rākau i te tau tuatahi.
E ai ki a Gray, neke atu i te kotahi tau ngā whiriwhiringa mō te hononga ki Orion, ā, nā te Wairewa Steering Group tuatahi, arā, ko Gray, ko Kelly Barry, ko Matiu Prebble me Tim McIntosh, i ārahi.
“Ki a Wairewa, he tohu tēnei kei te tika tō mātou ara, ā, he wā hoki tēnei ki te whakatā, ki te titiro whakamuri ki ngā mahi kua oti. Engari, kei te haere tonu te mahi, ā, he nui tonu ngā mahi kei mua i a mātou,” hei tā Gray.
Ka haere tonu te whakatō rākau tae noa ki te tau 2032, me te aro hoki ki te whakapakari i ngā pūkenga o te whānau me te whakatuwhera huarahi mā ngā pakihi Māori.
Mana Moana Three Lakes
Ko te tohu tuarua e whakanui ana i tētahi kaupapa whakahoahoa kē.
I riro i a Mana Moana Three Lakes te tohu Te Ao Māori Award i te Hui Toa Wai Māori 2026 ki Te Whare Toi o Te Suter i Whakatu i te 28 o Hereturikōkā.
E whakakotahi ana tēnei kaupapa i a Whakakī Lake Trust, Wairewa Rūnaka me Lake Ōmāpere Trust, hei whakaora, hei tiaki hoki i te mauri o ō rātou roto whakahirahira ki te ahurea.
Kei te waihanga te kaupapa i ngā rautaki whakahaere wai māori ki ngā rohe e toru, mā te whakakotahi i te mātauraka Māori me te pūtaiao taiao.
Neke atu i te 60 ngā tono i tukuna mō ngā tohu Freshwater Champions i tēnei tau, e whakanui ana i ngā mahi a te tangata, a te whānau, a te iwi, a ngā kaipupuri whenua me ngā rōpū hapori ki te whakapai ake i te hauora o ngā pūnaha wai māori puta noa i Aotearoa.
Mō Wairewa, he rerekē ngā kaupapa me ngā wero taiao e whakanuihia ana e ēnei tohu e rua.
Heoi, e whakaatu ana ēnei i te mahi ngātahi a te Rūnanga me ōna hoa mahi ki te whakaora i te whenua me te wai, me te pupuri tonu i ngā hononga ki ngā tīpuna, ki te whānau me ngā uri whakatipu.