Te Waihora protected – recognition of additional outstanding features
Jul 2011Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu applied jointly with the Department of Conservation to amend an existing Water Conservation Order (WCO) for Te Waihora/Lake Ellesmere. This is the first such application under the provisions of the ECan Act 2010. A suite of amendments have been recommended by the Hearing Committee. These include recognition of tikanga Māori and customary fisheries as additional outstanding features that are worthy of formal protection under the WCO.
Extensive evidence was presented during the hearing outlining the significance of Te Waihora as a "central hinge of Ngāi Tahu's history". Recognition of these key values within the WCO is an important step on the way towards restoring the largest freshwater lagoon in New Zealand.
Jen Crawford, Lisa Smith and Beth McAuley of Anderson Lloyd's Resource Management Team acted on the application to amend the Order.
