Foundation North Submission to Ministry of Primary Industries Manatū Ahu Matua

Foundation North was established in 1988 as one of 12 regional community trusts, to distribute funding to support regional communities in perpetuity. Foundation North holds in trust an endowment, or pūtea of over $1.5 billion to make grants each year to not-for-profit initiatives in Tāmaki Makaurau/Auckland and Te Tai Tokerau/Northland to enhance lives and respond to community aspirations now and for generations to come. The Foundation North Trust Deed includes a specific commitment to have regard to the principles of Te Tiriti o Waitangi in interpreting the Trust Deed and in performing obligations under the Deed.

In 2016 Foundation North initiated the Gulf Innovation Fund Together (GIFT) to spark innovation to improve the mauri or life force of Tīkapa Moana/Te Moananui-ā-Toi (Hauraki Gulf). The aim was to support breakthrough ideas and solutions to improve the Gulf’s health.

When Foundation North initiated GIFT, it knew little about the human systems surrounding the Hauraki Gulf, the root causes behind its environmental degradation, or what it would take to reverse declining ecosystem health. When GIFT ended in 2022, part of its legacy saw GIFT grantees providing evidence from their projects, evaluation, reflection and learning processes about what is blocking change and where seeds of hope and potential lie. Our annual GIFT reports can be accessed here.

Influenced in part by this evidence, Foundation North has organized all its work into 4 focus areas, interwoven with a commitment to Te Tiriti and climate change action.

• Hāpai te ōritetanga | Increased Equity
• Whakauru mai | Social Inclusion
• Whakahou taiao | Regenerative Environment
• Hāpori awhina | Community Support

Each of these focus areas has a clearly stated kaupapa or purpose, desired outcomes, change pathways, core activities and signs of progress identified. For example, the focus area of Whakahou taiao | Regenerative Environment states that Foundation North will support holistic approaches to conserving, restoring, and renewing the environment so that Te Taiao and people can flourish together. Initiatives proposed by tangata whenua are a priority.

Importance is placed on activity that will lead to:

• Ecosystems and communities being renewed and regenerated
• Mātauranga Māori being recognised, valued, and implemented
• Tino rangatiratanga – community-led action for Te Taiao
• Increased connection and access to Te Taiao

This regenerative environment approach supports a deeper, lived understanding of the relationship between people and Te Taiao.

The Hauraki Gulf – Tīkapa Moana is a taonga or treasure with national significance. It became New Zealand’s first marine park in 2000 but is ailing due to human activity; efforts must be made to stop the degradation. Foundation North supports:

A. The submission for a Rāhui by the five iwi (Ngāti Pāoa, Ngāi Tai ki Tāmaki, Ngāti Tamaterā and Ngāti Rehua Ngātiwai ki Aotea), protecting taonga species in the Hauraki Gulf (Tikapa Moana) and taking an iwi led approach.

B. The temporary fishery closures (Rāhui) in the Hauraki Gulf; this includes Waiheke Island, Umupuia Beach, Te Mātā and Waipatukahu for two years with considerations to extend this to six years. The proposed closures will provide the needed time, space and resources for the health of the Hauraki Gulf to foster an environment to see the taonga species replenish.

C. The Pou Rāhui project: bringing together science, mātauranga Māori, iwi practitioners, environmentalists and taiohi, taking a long-term intergenerational approach.

D. The education and training approach proposed by the iwi; to increase community awareness and involvement to stop overfishing; and degrading of the Hauraki Gulf.

E. Significant and urgent investment in resources needed in coordinating, controlling, and eliminating Caulerpa, one of the biggest threats to the Hauraki Gulf’s biodiversity and stability. 

Foundation North highly recommends

• A collaborative approach to fisheries management; centred in mātauranga Māori science which looks to restore the mauri of the Hauraki Gulf.
• Systems change approach; supporting innovation; research to create change.
• Investments in time, policies, funding and activities to address the urgent need to respond to the declining state of the Gulf. The detection of Caulerpa in many areas poses a significant threat to the Gulf's resilience and even more susceptibility to climatic events.
• Fisheries New Zealand recognises the leadership of the Pou Rāhui project and work to support its objectives, including considering changes to existing time frames for a s186a temporary closure.
  

Foundation North recommends that the Minister of Oceans and Fisheries approve 186a Temporary Closure for a 6-year period for Ngāi Tai ki Tāmaki, Ngāti Tamaterā, Ngā Pāoa, and Ngāti Hei and also encourages Fisheries New Zealand to take an iwi-led approach and centre Te Ao Māori and mātauranga practices that will restore the mauri of the Hauraki Gulf for future generations.

Ngā mihi nui,
Peter Tyan
Chief Executive, Foundation North