56 | RURAL PEOPLE » Tane Mahuta Tu pruning: Over 400 rangatahi have now been trained through Tane Mahuta Forestry’s Learn While You Earn programme. • from page 55 in how we work. If we get a rangatahi who doesn’t identify with any of that, after coming to Tane Mahuta they will learn to identify with it. Maoritanga is about ‘who I am’ and belief in yourself. If you can connect rangatahi to that belief and where they come from, you will go a long way to solving a lot of the issues.” While very honoured to receive the award and what it recognises, Simon and Wini are incredibly proud of what successive rangatahi have achieved over the years, and that they took the opportunity to say, ‘yes — this is me, I’m going to do this, I’m, going to change’. “The big thing is to present that opportunity in a way that our rangatahi can relate to. There are plenty of people presenting opportunities, however, the rangatahi can’t relate to them, and therefore the statistics are not great. In Huntly there are 500 registered unemployed under 24 and 90% of them would be Maori. There are similar stats in other rural areas. Of those communities there would be maybe 4000 rangatahi that industry doesn’t want to employ and doesn’t want to train. “ Yes, there are issues to overcome, and we’ve been able to do that.” Rayonier Matariki Forests and Tāne Mahuta share a connection to a Bay of Plenty forest which has been the catalyst for a successful and enduring partnership. Tāne Mahuta’s principals, Simon and Wini Geddes, relate to Omataroa Forest as landowners and Rayonier Matariki Forests grow and manage around 6,700 ha of the forest. Through this relationship, Tāne Mahuta saw Rayonier Matariki’s commitment to the land and the community and approached them about their vision of getting local rangatahi working on their own whenua (land). Rob Schoonderwoerd, District Forester at Rayonier Matariki, said the timing of Simon’s approach was perfect. “We were struggling to ind people willing and capable to do the work at the time and Tāne Mahuta had a supply of workers. We always try to support the communities in which we work and by partnering with Tāne Mahuta it has been a win-win,” says Schoonderwoerd. Through Tāne Mahuta’s initiative, local rangatahi can train and obtain foundation skills in the forestry industry. Much of this work is in silviculture where young trees are nurtured to enhance growth and includes everything from planting seedlings, thinning to waste and pruning through to weed and pest control. Tāne Mahuta creating strong foundations for forestry “Over the seven years of our relationship with Tāne Mahuta we have given around a hundred rangatahi the opportunity to experience forestry but it’s not for everyone,” says Schoonderwoerd. “It’s great to see them give it a go and we have at least a dozen forest workers who are still with us, now trained and meeting industry standards.” Tāne Mahuta’s goal of building workforce capability in the region also places a huge emphasis on Māori working on their own whenua. Founders and directors of Tāne Mahuta, Simon and Wini Geddes, says there are a lot of Māori-owned forests in the Bay of Plenty and the best outcome is for Māori to be working in those forests. “We are not only about creating employment but also connecting local rangatahi to their land and creating a circular economy,” say the Geddes. “Rayonier Matariki Forests was very receptive to the idea and has given our young people an enormous opportunity as not all forestry companies are keen to start new, unskilled labour. “We have approached this together and it’s been very successful. A lot of our rangatahi need this support to get into work and by investing in them, everyone bene its.” STIHL SHOP Whakatane | 7-11 King Street, Whakatane | T. 07 308 8658
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