2024 NZPI CONFERENCE PRESENTATION
SESSION: Thursday 21st March, 3:10pm - 3:40pm
PRESENTED BY: Elva Conroy & Roana Bennett
Maketū is a low-lying coastal area located along the Bay of Plenty coast of Aotearoa. The Maketu community has seen more frequent coastal flooding, including near Whakaue Marae, following subtropical storms. In 2019, large swells caused a landslide, causing koiwi (human remains) to tumble from the clifftop urupā at Ōkurei to the beach below.
In 2022, the Maketū Iwi Collective brought together the community to build a common understanding and awareness about the potential impacts of a changing climate on their homes, cultural infrastructure, food supplies, livelihoods and surrounding environment.
He Toka Tū Moana Mō Maketū is the result - an Iwi-led, community-involved and agency-supported plan which identifies local solutions to an increasingly evident problem. Tying it all together is the absolute commitment to restoring the taiao (environment), protecting the people and native species of Maketū, and influencing government and business to do everything possible to reduce the impacts of climate change and to accelerate the transition to a carbon free economy.
In the words of the Maketū Iwi Collective, "we will be resilient like the anchor stone Takaparore - strong and steadfast against the elements and tides of change and uncertainty. Regardless of what happens as a result of a changing environment, we will remain standing".
In 2023, this plan won two prestigious NZ Planning Institute awards namely, Best Practice Award for Non-Statutory Planning and the Nancy Northcroft Supreme Award.
Elva Conroy
Principal Planner, Conroy and Donald Consultants Ltd
Elva specialises in the development of indigenous-led, values-based frameworks, plans and strategies. Areas of specialty include freshwater and geothermal planning, land use sustainability, natural hazards and climate change, as well as spatial planning. She is the winner of multiple awards from the New Zealand Planning Institute for indigenous-led plan writing.
Roana Bennett
Kaiwhakahaere for Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Whakaue ki Maketu
Roana Bennett is a tireless advocate for iwi, hapū and whānau in the face of the changing climate. As Kaiwhakahaere for Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Whakaue ki Maketu, she serves as a driving force behind the iwi-led, community-wide, award-winning Maketu Climate Adaptation Plan. She firmly believes that addressing severe environmental degradation is fundamental to addressing climate change. She leads a team of iwi taiao practitioners and places a strong focus on involving rangatahi and tamariki through wānanga and hands-on activities in the estuaries, wetlands, and rivers in and around Maketu.
Her professional background is in strategy, governance and management, and she is a former finalist in the New Zealander of the Year Awards. She sits on a number of boards that, collectively, are responsible for over $100M of iwi assets.
