Business North July / August 2021

| 73 Doing things ‘by M ā ori for M ā ori’ Richard Loader TMF’s membership of Māori Trusts and Incorporations hold more than fifty individual land holdings and collectively administers 35,000 hectares of Māori freehold land in Taitokerau/Northland. Taitokerau Maori Forests FORESTRY F orged around the core values of self-de- termination and independence, Taitoker- au Māori Forests (TMF) is a collaboration of Māori Land Trusts and industry representa- tives. Established in 2014, TMF’s membership of Māori Trusts and Incorporations hold more than fifty individual land holdings and collec- tively administers 35,000 hectares of Māori freehold land in Taitokerau/Northland. While the vast majority of the land is in forestry, much of it is in younger plantings still some years away from seeing a harvesting crew, while other estates are in the closing stages of a lease. “The time is right for Māori to do things by Māori and for Māori,” says Trust Chairman Ernest Morton. “Most of the leases for land owned by the Trusts and Incorporated Societies within TMF will start expiring late 2021/2022 and be hand- ed back to the individual Trusts. “Every Trust operates its own business au- tonomously, but we come together as TMF for the sake of marketing and sharing ideas. We thought if we got together we could pool all the forest estates together to create more lev- erage and to create employment from a Māori perspective — a Māori world approach.” Ernest says over the years Northland Māori have watched logs go past the homes that own the land that the trees are on, receiving nothing in return but a pile of dust. “There were no royalties that came out of the logging. Every trust had its own lease contract but thirty years ago plus our people didn’t know how to negotiate and the terms didn’t favour us. “In those days we had to be a passive play- er, rather than an active player. Now we’re moving from that passive attitude to an active role within the industry. “Now, we need to be ahead of the game and start putting things in place so that we have more of a work force. “We’re more focused on the domestic market, supporting the local mills, and also up-skilling our people.” Ernest remembers the days when the country was flush with skilled people, taking advantage of the opportunities before them and prepared to work, but says the mindset of working is no longer there. “We want to re-create that mind-set so that we can get families coming back togeth- er, populating our countryside and building the capacity and capability with an attitude towards whanau, hapu and iwi. “But this is not only about building Māori. It’s also about building communities. We’re looking at partnering with industry out there, not just ourselves. So we have a wide perspec- tive of being more proactive with a progres- sive attitude. We call it ‘anga mua’ — to look forward.” With Economic Development Minister Stuart Nash recently announcing he wants to see a greater role for a public forestry service with a focus on skills training, TMF embraces the op- portunity to train people the way they believe they should be trained. “Other training organisations have failed abysmally because they were focused on numbers and targets, bums on seats, rather than the industry itself.” While it will be some time before forest- ry under TMF control sees any significant harvests, Ernest says this will allow time to prepare and bring the people to a place where they understand the business, ‘know the smell of it’ and the logistics of managing the business. “There is an important role for the contrac- tor workforce but we’re saying while labour is one thing we also want to build management. “We’ve been sending some of our young people down to Rotorua and some of them have qualified as forest managers now. “We’re sending them off to organisations like PF Olsen to get further experience so that one day they can come home and apply them- selves within their own territory. “This time round, we’re going to be more in- volved in the top half of leadership, managing our own affairs for Māori by Māori.” Ernest recalls many years ago working as a forestry contractor in Waipu Forest where there were a lot of archaeological sites. “There were three of us there with local iwi. In addition to me there was the forest owner and DOC and looking at the block of trees across the stream and everyone had a differ- ent view. The local iwi looked at it as the place where they used to swim, plant their food and their home. “DOC said we better look after the species that were out there, and the forest manager had his calculator out working out how much the logs were going to cost him, how much pruned production, what the grade was and the top value. “From our Māori perspective we’re very aware of protecting and enhancing the en- vironment. When the land thrives it comple- ments the visions of the people, the people give back to the land and that is the way Māori look at it, so there is growth in both areas.” “We thought if we got together we could pool all the forest estates together to create more leverage and to create employment from a Māori perspective — a Māori world approach.” Talk to us about all your Farm & Building Supplies 8-16 SHI Kawakawa 0800 185 500 • 09 404 0043 kawakawafarmcentre@xtra.co.nz kawakawafarmcentre@xtra.co.nz STOCKFEED TO POLE SHEDS Farm& Kawakawa 1512B State Highway 10, Kerikeri PO Box 196 Kerikeri, 0245 M: 0274840999 E: terrainnorthland@xtra.co.nz Safety Shop Wire Rope Warehouse Forestry & Rigging Services proud supplier to Taitokerau Maori Forests