The Department of Conservation is not interested in renewing the Waikaremoana lakebed lease, it has told Wairoa Waikaremoana Maori Trust Board and Te Uru Taumatua. That is according to Te Uru Taumatua and Te Urewera Board chairman Tamati Kruger. The 50-year iwi-Crown lakebed lease was due for renewal in July 2017. DOC held a right of renewal, but the lease has still not been renewed. Treasury documents show DOC's cost for the...

The Department of Conservation (DoC) is not interested in renewing the Waikaremoana lakebed lease. Te Uru Taumatua and Te Urewera Board chairman Tamati Kruger said DoC had informed Wairoa Waikaremoana Maori Trust Board and Te Uru Taumatua to this effect. The 50-year iwi-Crown lakebed lease was due for renewal in July 2017. The Government held a right of renewal but the lease has still not been renewed. Instead DoC is managing its...

Park management seen as a new model with no equivalent in the world. There are many ways to encourage a better standard of behaviour and engagement with Te Urewera, says Te Uru Taumatua chair Tamati Kruger. Unprecedented levels of rubbish this summer have made Te Uru Taumatua realise they need to accelerate their work on establishing a collective enterprise to better address this.  "These standards and priorities are something that...

Poor behaviour and littering continues to dismay both tangata Whenua and visitors to Waikaremoana while also raising questions around the direction of the lake's management. Wairoa Mayor Craig Little supports the Ngai Tuhoe plea for visitors to stop trashing Lake Waikaremoana and the surrounding area.  Mr Little said for people to treat such a beautiful area with so little respect was disappointing. "These people have a sense...

The dumping of vast amounts of rubbish by visitors to one of the country's most scenic lakes has shocked the iwi which manages it, and prompted calls to crack down on unruly behaviour in the area. There have even been calls on social media for Lake Waikaremoana, in Te Urewera region, to be closed to visitors if things do not improve. But Ngāi Tūhoe says policing the area will do little to stop the disrespect and...

A 2000-year-old forest hidden beneath a Tūhoe lake could provide vital information on climate change patterns, Niwa says. Niwa scientist and underwater photographer Crispin Middleton has been working with New Zealand Geographic to document the ancient forest at the bottom of Lake Waikaremoana, 80 kilometres west of Gisborne. Initially a personal project for Middleton, now Niwa is considering paleo-climatic research on the...