Access restored to final town cut off by Cyclone Cook
Road access to the Urewera township of Ruatahuna has finally been restored after being cut off for more than a week. Ruatahuna was one of several Bay of Plenty towns completely cut off by slips and flooding caused by Cyclone Debbie, and yesterday it was the last to have its roads reopened. Whakatāne district mayor Tony Bonne said the roads were still fragile and a lot of work was still needed to get them back to full use. Residents of...
Winding its way through dense forest laced with hidden waterfalls, the Whanganui River is the largest navigable river in Aotearoa, the Māori word for New Zealand. With the passage of the Te Awa Tupua (Whanganui River Claims Settlement) Bill in March, the river became the first water system in the world to be recognized as a rights-bearing entity, holding legal “personhood” status. One implication of the agreement is that the...
Media Release - Manuhiri to Te Urewera
All Te Urewera catchments received significant amounts of rainfall from Ex-Cyclone Debbie resulting in many rivers exceeding historic peak flood levels. Road closures has meant access being cut off to some areas in Te Urewera. Visit Whakatane (www.whakatane@govt.nz) and Wairoa District Council (www.wairoadc@govt.nz) websites for updates on the roads into Te Urewera. Manuhiri looking to spend time in Te Urewera need to take extreme care while...
Police urge hunters to be careful
Wairoa police are urging hunters to act responsibly during the roar and adhere to the cardinal rules of firearms safety. Police say it's all about hunters looking after themselves and their companions, adding they want hunters to enjoy themselves and come home...
Record summer season at Waikaremoana
In the mid 1800s Crown forces invaded Te Urewera. It was the first time they used "scorched earth" tactics - raising Tūhoe kāinga at Lake Waikaremoana. But now the iwi is back - stronger than ever. Manuhiri Visitor Experience Team Leader Tina Wagner says : "This is the first building we've had here since our people were removed." Tūhoe signed an agreement with the crown in 2013. Te Wharehou o Waikaremoana has now...
Te Urewera: the national park that isn’t
Te Urewera, the mountainous homeland of Ngai Tuhoe, the Children of the Mist, spent 60 years as a national park — a brief period really, considering the place still holds evidence of its seabed origins millions of years earlier. It was disestablished as a national park in 2014, as a result of the Ngai Tuhoe Treaty of Waitangi settlement, and is now administered by the Te Urewera Board, which comprises joint Tuhoe and Crown membership....