Activities related to the flax industry and agricultural development including drainage, diversion of waterways and clear-felling of the inland coastal forests, transformed the immediate area surrounding the Lake and the Whakaki Lagoon system itself. By the 1900s a large proportion of the wetlands area surrounding Whakaki Lake had been drained and converted to pasture (Coombes, 2007). Drainage and agricultural conversion accelerated in the early 1900s and was facilitated by the 1908 Land Drainage Act, which established drainage boards whose membership was drawn from ratepayers. When the drainage boards were first established in the Whakaki area Māori land was still in customary title and some land was being leased to Pākehā farmers
148 Paparatu station is part of the Te Whakaari Incorporation located in the Wairoa, Hawke‘s Bay
region. The hapū of Iwitea are the major shareholders in this incorporation.
149 A kawenata is a covenant an agreement between Māori land owners and the Department of
Conservation towards a joint programme of conservation.
150
Te Kooti constantly challenged the authority of the Crown and new settlers and was the founder of the Ringatu faith. Refer to Judith Binney‘s work for a more comprehensive account of life of Te Kooti and the Ringatu faith.
151
Refer to the Department of Conservation website www.doc.govt.nz for information on the Ngā Whenua Rāhui fund and the Ngā Whenua Rāhui kawenata provision.
(Coombes, 2007). Since these properties were not rated, Māori were excluded from participating in drainage decision-making (Coombes, 2007) as members of the drainage boards were mainly farmers and, not surprisingly, farming interests, as opposed to those of the local hapū or the wider community, dominated decision-making. Exclusion from the decision-making body did not prevent local hapū from voicing opposition to the large-scale drainage operations proposed by the drainage board. At least five petitions were submitted objecting to the composition of the drainage boards and to the ignoring of indigenous rights and interests in the decision-making process (Coombes, 2007). In 1900 the Whakaki wetlands system was estimated to be 6000 hectares. By 1960 it had been reduced to 600 hectares (Coombes & Hill, 2005). Despite the significant reduction in area of wetland customary relationships such as subsistence harvesting was still possible at the lake. However by the 1970‘s the local hapū, lagoon recreational users and representatives of government agencies were becoming increasingly concerned about the impact of major ecosystem changes on the quantity and quality of local flora and fauna. (Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment, 1993a). The changes were attributed to an artificial opening to release flood waters from Whakaki Lake through the sand dunes directly to the sea that began in 1956. This practice effectively reversed the natural drainage flow of the Rāhui Channel and allowed sea water to directly enter Whakaki Lake changing the lake‘s ecology at the new opening.
Ownership of the Whakaki Lake bed152 resides with the Whakaki Lake Trust (the Trust), which was established in 1969. Prior to 1969 the bed of the lake was included in Hereheretau B2 block. Coombes and Hill (2005) argue that ―the owners of Hereheretau B2L2 clarified and formalised their sovereignty over the lake in 1969, when a special trust order was filed with the Māori Land Court to form the Trustees of Whakaki Lake‖ (p. 380). Establishing Whakaki Lake Trust was a deliberate strategy for assertion of mana whenua and kaitiakitanga over the lake.
The Trust is responsible for the management and regulation of access and use of the Lake‘s natural resource albeit within the confines of Māori land and resource management legislation. The Trust has a long history of lobbying at the local, regional and national level initially for restoration of the Rāhui Channel and then for enhancement of the lake itself. Local hapū members have been raising their concerns related to drainage of the lake since 1911 (Coombes, 2007) and in relation to flooding since 1950. The Trust has continued to support this position. For example, the Trust has vigorously protested the direct opening from the lake to the sea and, in 1973, the Trust began lobbying Government ―...to restore the Rāhui Channel and Paakaa outlet‖ (Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment, 1993a, p. 1). During the 1980s a joint proposal for restoration of the natural opening from the National Water and Social Conservation Authority, the Hawke‘s Bay Catchment Board and the Wildlife Service was developed but never eventuated. The opening issue was once again resurrected in 1990 by the Māori Standing Committee of the Hawke‘s Bay Regional Council. A Whakaki Lagoon Working Party was established and in December 1991 it lobbied the Minister for the Environment for financial assistance, which was declined. In 1992 the Whakaki
152
Lagoon Working Party approached the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment stating concerns over management of the lake. In August 1992 an investigation into the management of Whakaki Lagoon153 was initiated to clarify responsibility and the extent of the ecological decline of the Whakaki Lagoon system, and to identify potential strategies for enhancement of this wetlands ecosystem. The investigation, identifying both the direct role of Crown agencies in the ecological decline of Whakaki Lagoon and also the decline in hapū authority or mana whenua, recommended a significant contribution from the state towards restoration. At the same time the Hawke‘s Bay Regional Council was developing a wetland enhancement and management programme and a decision was made to commit funds for major hydrological changes to the Rāhui Channel. Although the committed funds were only able cover part of the restoration expenses and the Trust was required to raise another $85,000. The point is however that as global awareness and support for the conservation and sustainability agendas have grown, hapū and Crown interests have aligned and support and financial assistance for restoring the Whakaki wetland ecosystem have emerged. Since the 1990s the current political environment has become even more receptive, with several major wetland restoration projects supported through the Ngā Whenua Rāhui programme.
The Whakaki Lake restoration programme was the first wetland restoration programme driven and led by hapū in Aotearoa New Zealand. During the restoration programme the Trust developed working relationships with Hawke‘s Bay Regional Council, the Department of Conservation, the Wairoa District Council, Eastern Fish & Game, and Whakaki 2N Incorporation. In 1996 restoration began with major changes to the lake hydrology. After fourteen months of excavation the Trust turned their efforts towards a large- scale replanting programme to protect and enhance the wetland and coastal ecosystems. Fencing and de-stocking, noxious plant and animal pest control, ecological monitoring and research related to customary harvesting, particularly of eels, are ongoing. Future plans also exist for the development of an environmental educational programme and a native coastal bird breeding programme.154 This collaborative approach enabled the Trust to restore the Rāhui Channel and implement the Whakaki wetland restoration programme. The Trust began the arduous task of restoring the mauri of this highly significant cultural resource.
The Whakaki Lake Trust hapū-based restoration programme has received both international (Ramsar) and national ("Well justified" awards for top conservation efforts, 1 February 2001) recognition for its work to ―...restore the natural hydrology and ecology of the Whakaki Lagoon and its associated large coastal wetland system‖ ("Well justified" awards for top conservation efforts, 1 February 2001).
Hapū-based restoration programmes provide an opportunity to re- establish cultural connections with natural resources and exercise mana whenua rights and obligations. Consolidation of existing cultural knowledge and ways of knowing associated with wetlands and development of new knowledge provide an indication of the importance of the wetland resource to the
153
Whakaki Lagoon refers to Whakaki Lake and tributaries.
154 Information on the restoration work of the Whakaki Lake Trust can be found on the Ngā
Whenua Rāhui website http://www.doc.govt.nz/getting-involved/landowners/nga-whenua- rahui/nga-whenua-rahui-fund/featured-projects/whakaki/.
community and informs cultural identity and well-being, kaitiakitanga practice, and social cohesion.