The chair of Te Urewera Board, Tamati Kruger, says people wanting to contribute to the region’s future management need to learn to see it in a different way than the old national park model.
The , which includes both Ngai Tuhoe and crown representatives, has called for public submissions on what needs to go into its 10-years management plan, Te Kawa O Te Urewera.
Mr Kruger says Ngai Tuhoe is keen for expert advice, but people need to be mindful Te Urewera is considered a living person in its own right.
"This is a new international status in conservation and in viewing the land who else in the world has come up with that except us in Aotearoa, that the land owns itself and that we the people should not just live off the land but with the land," says Tamati Kruger.
