Ko te whakaora anō i te mauri o te wai me te whenua, ko te whakatipu i tētahi reanga kaitiaki taiao hou anō hoki, ngā tino whāinga o te kaupapa whakatō i ngā rau rākau taketake ki te repo o Wai Tākihi i te whārua o Ruatoki, i Te Waiariki.
He mahi tēnei i whakatuwherahia ki te karakia whakawātea i tēnei wiki, hei whakarite i te whenua me ngā ihuoneone mō te kaupapa nei. Ko te whakapai ake i te kounga o te wai te tino kaupapa, e ai ki a Pou Temara o Te Tawa Kaitī, te tarahiti e tiaki ana i te whenua e karapoti ana i te Wai Tākihi.
“Ko te ngako o te whakatō rākau, kia pai ai te wetewete i ngā kino mai i te wai tai kia kore ai e uru atu ki roto i ngā kōawaawa, ahu atu ki ngā awa, ki te moana,” hei tāna.
He harakeke, he tī kouka, he mānuka ētahi o ngā momo rākau taketake kua whakatōkia ki te whenua hei ārai i ngā parahanga e rere atu ana i te pāmu o Te Tawa Kaitī. He wāhanga nui tēnei o te whāinga kia whakaora anō i te taiao, e ai ki tētahi atu uri o te whenua nei, ki a Tyson Kelly.
“Koinei te ate o te tākihi o te whenua, o te pāmu. Kia whakatika ai mātou i tēnei wāhi, kia pai ai te rere o te wai ki Whakatāne.“
Ki te ora ngā reporepo, ko tāna he tātari i te wai, e piki anō ai te kanorau koiora, e hau anō ai te ora ki ngā momo taonga pēnei i te tuna. He mea nui tērā ki a Molly Turnbull, he kuia e mōhiotia ana mō te mahi kai i te whenua.
“Kia kore ai ngā paru o te hēte miraka e uru atu ki te wai, arā ka whakakino haere, kua kore e ora ngā tuna, ngā mōrūrū, ngā morihana noho ai i roto i te awa, ka kore ana tātou e tiaki i tō tātou whenua, i a Papatūānuku,” hei tāna.
Nā whai anō te aro nui atu a Ngā Whetū o Tāwera Kōhanga Reo me ngā tauira o Te Kura o Tāwera ki te kaupapa, inā rā, ehara ko te whakatō rākau anahe te mahi, engari ko te whakatō hoki i ngā kōrero tuku iho mō te kaitiakitanga ki roto i a rātou. Ka mihi hoki a Bobbianne Hughes ki te nui o te tautoko a te hapori.
“You can be a change no matter how old or young you are, and really grateful for the Kōhanga reo, te Kura me te Wharekura to come here today to say you can be the change.“
He kaimahi a Hughes mā Trees For Survival, he rōpū atawhai ka mahi tahi ki a HALO Whakatāne ki te whakahaere kaupapa whakaako i te mātauranga tiaki taiao, mahi whakaururua whenua anō hoki.
“You get back to Papa; she has the answers, and just keep growing our whenua,” hei tāna.
“This is whakapapa, and we are the whakapapa today; we create new whakapapa right here with our mokopuna and the tauira.”
Ka nui hoki te tautoko a Turnbull ki aua kōrero, inā rā he wāhanga tēnei o tētahi kaupapa whānui ake.
“Kei roto i ngā kōrero mō te whakatō i ngā tipu nei ka mōhio rātou he aha te mahi a ngā pakiaka, he aha te mahi a ngā peka, he aha te mahi a ngā hua me ngā pua o ngā rākau, arā he whakaruruhau mō ngā manu, Te Aitanga a Pēpeke, ā, he wāhi marumaru hoki.“
Ka mutu, kei te pae tawhiti hoki te tirohanga nui a ngā kaiārahi i te kaupapa, pēnei i a Kelly.
“Kei te whakaaro au 100 years time, what’s this place gonna look like? Me mahi mātou ngā mahi ināianei kia pai ai te whenua mō ngā rangatahi o āpōpō,” hei tāna.
Ko te matapae ia, he oranga nui ka hua ake i te tipu matomato mai o ngā rākau, ā, ka tipu ngātahi mai tētahi reanga hou e mōhio ana ki te manaaki i te whenua, ki te manaaki hoki i a rātou anō.
Nā Te Okiwa McLean nō Pūkāea
