Te Mana o te Wai: Upholding the Life Force of Water

Poipoia has been part of a group of practitioners advancing the principles of Te Mana o te Wai, which seeks to uphold the well-being of water. Their efforts include both training and the development of comprehensive guidance materials to support iwi, hapū, councils, and other stakeholders in implementing these principles effectively. As these current policy settings change, Poipoia seeks to provide up to date, accurate information for Taiao practitioners through workshops, social media and through guidelines that will continue to evolve.

te mataapuna o te wai fund

Poipoia is excited to be partnering with Te Wai Maori Trust and the National Iwi Chairs Forum to manage and distribute $13m of targeted freshwater funding from the Ministry for the Environment directly into the work of on the ground kaitiaki all over the country. This funding has been fundamental in providing much needed resouring to projects that otherwise would have never had the chance to be delivered. It has injected much needed capacity and capability into our communities for the betterment of the Taiao.

Mana Whakahono a Rohe Agreements

In April 2022, the Taupō District Council and Ngāti Tūrangitukua formalized a Mana Whakahono ā Rohe partnership agreement, marking a significant step in collaborative resource management. In partnership with Whaia Legal, Poipoia was able to support this agreement being drafted and implemented. Poipoia specializes in fostering partnerships between iwi/hapū and local authorities. These agreements may not always be in the form of MWAR agreements, however the process and template of this project has many learnings that Poipoia has been able to transfer into other similar arrangements.

Impact Assessments

Poipoia has created a helpful process to support the development of clear articulation of the impacts of proposed consent applications on hapū and iwi.

This process is not limited to waahi tapu, instead it provides the ability to assess impacts culturally, environmentally, socially and economically on the receiving whānau. We mentor whānau through this process, helping them to understand the planning process and ensure that both the applicants and the whānau are comfortable with the direction undertaken.