A letter from our co-chairs - Mokoro Gillett and Norm Bruning
Ko Ihowaa, te mana, te Ihi, te tapu.
Te kaihanga o Matariki, o Meretuuahi
Kia hiwa raa ki teenei tihi, kia hiwa raa ki teeraa tihi
Whakapuru tonu, whakapuru tonu
Moe araara, ka tau te manu ki runga i te pae
Kia tuu, kia mataaraa
As co-chairs of the Manaaki Kaimai Mamaku Trust, we commend the immense amount of work that has been completed over the past year by all the Kaimai Mamaku Restoration Project (KMRP) whānau. Despite the challenges thrown at you, your resilience and persistence are inspirational. The project has grown in breadth and impact as a result. Your on-the-ground mahi has been supported not only by Jobs for Nature funding, but also by the ongoing support, funding and collaboration of Department of Conservation Te Papa Atawhai (DOC), Bay of Plenty Regional Council Toi Moana (BOPRC) and Waikato Regional Council Te Kaunihera ā Rohe o Waikato (WRC), to whom we express our gratitude and thanks once again.
This year it is encouraging to be able to thank two new funders, TECT and BayTrust, who have demonstrated their support for our landscape-scale mahi, co-governed leadership and iwi-hapū led projects. We look forward to expanding our team of funders in the coming year.
In the past year, Gerry Gardiner (Tauranga Moana) left our Board and we deeply appreciated his knowledge, wisdom and humility. We welcomed two new Trustees, Kevin Palmer (community trustee and treasurer) and Peri Mason (Ngāti Raukawa), who add valued knowledge, perspectives and expertise to our Board. We also wish to acknowledge and thank Ngā Iwi Tōpū | Māori Caucus for their work in bringing iwi representation across the
Kaimai Mamaku motu | area to our Board table.
This year our team welcomed the secondment of Brad Angus from DOC, which has been of benefit to our project teams and broadened our ability to support capability building. Our team has worked very hard to maintain trusted relationships, strengthen project teams and expand our stakeholder networks.
Over the past year, trustees have been privileged to see new Stage 1 projects being presented, projects progressing to Stage 2 implementation and projects expanding. The linkages between te taiao | earth projects and social, cultural and health benefits are being realised in myriad ways. Despite the financial challenges we face, we must find a way forward so that the benefits to people and Papatūānuku are not lost.
Once again, we commend the work of the Trust, the KMRP and all its stakeholders and participants to you.
With your collaboration, support and manaakitanga, we can achieve the vision "The Kaimai Mamaku thrives; hence we thrive".
