
Mana whenua partnership
Our commitment is to partner with mana whenua and make mātauraka (knowledge, wisdom, uderstanding) Kāi Tahu an integral part of our decision-making. Our ICM Team is working with and through Aukaha and Te Ao Marama Inc (consultancies representing Kāi Tahu), to establish four mana whenua representatives to co-design the Upper Lakes catchment action plan.
Building on existing plans
The development of each catchment action plan begins with a stocktake of the environmental actions that are already happening in the area. The stocktake highlights the mahi (work, effort) that the wider community are already putting into caring for their place but will also show us where or whether there are gaps and opportunities for further collaboration.
Upper Lakes integrated catchment group
It is important that catchment action plans are 'owned' by iwi, the community and ORC. This means they need to be developed in partnership. We will bring together a group of four mana whenua representatives, approximately 15 community representatives from conservation groups, agricultural catchment groups and industries, and several local, regional and national government agency representatives. This group will form the Upper Lakes Integrated Catchment Group.
The Upper Lakes Integrated Catchment Group will participate in a series of monthly workshops facilitated by our team - over the course of 6-8 months. The workshops will follow the Open Standards for Conservation Management sequence:
- Vision
- Environmental values and nature's contribution to people<br>
- Pressures and their causes<br>
- Strategies for action<br>
- Operational planning<br>

Please visit our GIS hub for more information: https://upper-lakes-orcnz.hub.arcgis.com/

Get in touch with our group
We would love to connect with you and hear about your restoration journey, or maybe even help you with yours.
Flick us an email:
icm@orc.govt.nzDisclaimer
This topic features real world stories about the efforts of catchment groups, agencies and individuals who are who working to improve the health of our waterways. This story has been shared by the author through the Healthy Waterways register. For questions about about this story, please get in touch with the author. If you have concerns about the story content, please get in touch: admin@lawa.org.nz
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