| 59 Team effort behind logging award The Te Waa logging team with the Best Native Forest Enterprise Award. Karen Phelps It was a team effort that won Te Waa Logging the Best Native Forest Enterprise Award at the inaugural 2022 Central North Island Wood Council Awards. “It’s really humbling to win and get the recognition of all the good mahi our team do,” says Justine Pereka who owns the company with partner Waa Owen. “It’s a celebration for them. It was nice for the industry to come together and celebrate its achievements. Forestry is a professional job and requires skills and quali cations. It’s a good career pathway. Our whole approach is about giving back, not just taking, whether that’s by showing respect for the land or by creating an environment where our crews are being positive contributors to society.” It was Te Waa Logging’s wilding pine control operation in native forest, its approach to respecting the land and ful lling Maori cultural obligations and its focus on community and creating new employment opportunities for local unemployed people that won it the award, she says. Waa says the company is proactive in its cultural obligations. With guidance from his parents Les and Lovey Owens the company has been shown to follow tikanga, respecting the land it works on, engaging with hapu, iwi and landowners. “Dad initiated our pathway to always undertake a whakawatea (clearing of the way), and whakamoemiti (blessing) for each new block we’re working on, even if it’s a neighbouring block to one we’ve already worked,” says Waa. “We ask for representatives of that land block, such as the property owner/s, trustees or hapu, and they have the opporRURAL SERVICES » Te Waa Logging tunity to hui with the working group. We talk about what we’re doing on the land and the environmental bene ts of wilding control. We also cover the risks we might impose and ask them to voice any areas of concern and identify any protocols for waahi tapu.” The initiative was a silver lining for the company in the aftermath of Covid-19. As part of the Government’s Covid response it was successful in securing funding through MPI to set up a Wilding Control team. The funding was to target unemployed people in the local community, so Waa recruited two workers to start with, lining them up with some training including GrowSafe certi cation and First Aid. “Our aim was to create some work opportunities for local people so that they could positively participate in our community and local economy, while providing an income for their whanau,” explains Waa. Since starting out, the crew has grown to four workers who work fulltime on wilding control. Contracts are currently held with Project Tongariro, DOC, Environment Waikato, NZ Forest Managers and Horizons regional council. With a vision to develop the team Waa has been working with them to design career pathways, whether that be into forestry harvesting roles with Te Waa Logging or elsewhere. “The initial crew have moved on to develop their industry skills with chainsaw work, and a year on they are well skilled workers contributing to the local community and economy,” says Waa. Based in Turangi Te Waa Logging prides itself on 0800 623 255 | www.mcfallfuel.co.nz PROVIDERS OF INDEPENDENT AND PROFESSIONAL FOREST MANAGEMENT SERVICES: • Domestic and export log marketing • Harvesting, log merchandising and value recovery • Harvest planning and forest engineering • Estate planning, modelling and inventory • Forest establishment, development and protection • Emissions Trading Scheme Services CONTACT PO Box 304, Turangi PH: (07) 386 8757 E: nzfm@nzfm.co.nz W: www.nzfm.co.nz having strong values, which have been interwoven into the business by Waa’s parents Les and Lovey Owens since the company was started in 1993. Te Waa Logging started out with a production thinning operation initially in the Rotoaira Forest, which is managed by NZ Forest Managers, and the land owned by Rotoaira Forest Trust. Now the logging crew moves between Rotoaira Forest and Lake Taupo Forest, which are within the tribal lands of Ngati Tuwharetoa. “As land owners in both Rotoaira and Lake Taupo Forests, we take pride in working our own whenua,” says Waa. “We liken it to working our personal maara (garden), and when we tend to it correctly, it will produce us the fruits we need. We try to walk the talk and give back where we can. That extends to encouraging our workers to give back with their time, whether it’s through the marae or a planting day – we try to help out and lead by example wherever we can.”
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