None so deaf as those who won't hear

Forest and Bird, Volume 16, Issue 2, 1 May 1985, Page 19

None so deaf as those who won't hear

by

Mark Bellingham

,Forest and Bird

northern regional field officer

I: the far north of Aoteoroa, where turbulent northern waters meet the land, lies Unuwhao, between the wide sand beaches of Kapowairua (Spirits Bay) on the one side and Takapaukura (Tom Bowling Bay) on the other. These bush clad hills are the turangawaewae of the Ngati-Kuri of Te Hapua. Their cultural and natural importance has resulted in successive attempts to have governments recognise Unuwhao as a special type of reserve, but

to date these requests have fallen on deaf ears. Even on summer mornings cloud can envelop Maunga Unuwhao, one of the highest hills in the Te Paki region, providing a refuge for moisture-loving and cooler climate plants. Horopito are conspicuous among the pohutukawa and taraire on the summit. The puriri-taraire-kohekohe forests gradually became confined, over the year, to Maunga Unuwhao and many

steep gullies across Unuwhao, but recently the forest mantle began to advance. Under the kanuka, a new forest is emerging, linking the remnants of the original bush. Unuwhao has its own unique fauna. Best known are the large land snails: two sub-species of pupuharakeke (Placostylus ambagiosus) survive only there, along with pupurangi (Paryphanta busbyi watt). While there is little information about small land snails, more intensive searching will no doubt reveal new species — as has been the case in the nearby Spirits Bay catchment. Three endemic beetles are also confined to Unuwhao. The rapid regeneration of forest and shrublands in the whole Te Paki region has paved the way for a more favourable environment for lizards and birds. Tui and pigeon had virtually disappeared 20 years ago but are now on the increase. Unuwhao would be a suitable site to reintroduce bush birds now absent from Northland, thanks to habitat improvement and absence of possums, deer and goats. In the past the land from Kapowairua to Takapaukura was the most intensively occupied in the whole Te Paki region, for here are found the most fertile soils and year round water supplies that drain from Unuwhao. Great fortified pa at Maungapiko, Maunga Unuwhao and Tomokanga remain as silent sentinels, reminders of the

proud and strong ancestors of the Ngati Kuri. But the strength of their tangata whenua, their land, has been inexorably whittled away: ‘‘In 1793 our land was 100% Maori owned; in 1896 it was 70% Maori-owned; by 1978 it was 65% Crown-owned,"’ says Saana Murray, kuia (elder) of the Ngati Kuri. When the missionary Rev Richard Taylor arrived in the 1840s, tribal land disputes racked the people of Te Paki. Taylor degided to settle these by buying 50,000 acres in contention for £681 — the sale was and still is in dispute, but the land has passed out of Maori ownership. With this went the most fertile land, at Kapowairua, where ‘‘Waitanoni the waterfall sustained the kumara garden, taro and other cultivations, and villages of raupo and nikau whare weather many a storm."’

The land at Kapowairua (Taylor’s Grant) is now the site of a Lands and Survey camping ground, the activities at which have further incensed some of the Ngati Kuri. Toilets have been placed on former kumara gardens, in direct conflict with Maori cultural concepts of soil and water pollution. A large dune and prehistoric midden next to the camping ground was planted in marram, contrary to recommendations by the DSIR Entomology Division and the local people that it should be planted in the native pingao. Since 1967, all land in New Zealand has been rated on its potential for production, putting a severe financial strain on the Maori community which has large

areas of land suitable only for soil and water protection and reserves. This rate burden was a major factor in Northern Pulp Ltd being granted a 46-year lease for exotic afforestation over a large portion of the remaining Ngati Kuri land. While the exotic forests were being established, Lands and Survey offered the Te Hapua 42 Incorporation, which controls the land, a cross lease — more land for exotic planting, in exchange for Crown control of Unuwhao. But the seeds of mistrust had been sown long ago, and the offer was soundly rejected. The Incorporation set aside the Unuwhao bush and coastal area from afforestation and have accepted a proposal from Matiu Rata to reserve this for the ‘""national interest.’’ Unfortunately the proposal for a special reserve has so far been met with a thumbs down. While the Wildlife Service and the Entomology Division of the DSIR have supported the idea, other Government departments have proved uncooperative and intransigent. Furthermore, the development-oriented Mangonui County Council has been extremely reluctant to waive rates, even on such a nationally important piece of coastline. The reserve proposal — drafted by DSIR’s Entomology Division — encompasses protection for cultural, historic and scientific values, with the control and management being held by the Maori owners for the nation. Such a simple concept is not properly catered for in existing reserves legislation. Unless the initiative made by the Ngati Kuri is taken up, the will of Maoris throughout New Zealand to formally protect their land could be lost forever. oe