MEDIA RELEASE: 9 June 2026
Ngāti Tūwharetoa Welcome Significant Milestone for the Restoration and Protection of the Waikato and Waipā Rivers
The release of the final Environment Court decision on Plan Change 1 (PC1) marks a significant milestone in a decade-long journey to restore and protect the health and wellbeing of the Waikato and Waipā river catchments.
For Ngāti Tūwharetoa, this decision represents a hard-fought and nationally significant step in giving practical and enforceable effect to Te Ture Whaimana o Te Awa o Waikato — the Vision and Strategy for the Waikato River — and reinforces the enduring collective responsibility of iwi as kaitiaki of the awa.
For Ngāti Tūwharetoa, the health of the Waikato Awa begins at its source within Taupō Moana — a taonga of immense spiritual, environmental, and cultural significance to the iwi. The waters flowing from Taupō-nui-a-Tia carry not only ecological importance, but the whakapapa, identity, and enduring responsibilities of Tūwharetoa as kaitiaki. The wellbeing of Taupō Moana and the Waikato Awa are inseparable, reinforcing the importance of a connected catchment-wide approach to restoration, protection, and long-term environmental stewardship across the entire river system.
Tūwharetoa Māori Trust Board acknowledges the strength of partnership and whanaungatanga demonstrated alongside Waikato-Tainui, Ngāti Maniapoto, Raukawa, and Te Arawa River Iwi throughout this long process. Together, river iwi have consistently advocated for a catchment-wide approach that recognises the interconnections between the awa and all land uses within the catchment. Cumulatively, those land uses have detrimentally affected the health and wellbeing of the river over generations.
Tūwharetoa Māori Trust Board Chair John Bishara says the decision is not an endpoint, but a foundational investment in the long-term restoration and protection of the awa for future generations.
“Ngāti Tūwharetoa holds an enduring relationship to Taupō Moana and the headwaters of the Waikato Awa. These waters are part of who we are. The health of the river begins at its source, and our responsibility as kaitiaki extends from Taupō-nui-a-Tia throughout the wider river catchment.
“Ngāti Tūwharetoa have been here for generations and will remain forever. Our responsibility to the awa and the whenua is not temporary or transactional; it is inherited through whakapapa and carried forward for our mokopuna apōpō.
“Plan Change 1 represents one of the most significant environmental milestones for the Waikato and Waipā river catchments in a generation. It reflects years of collective iwi leadership, persistence, technical engagement, and partnership to ensure Te Ture Whaimana is not treated as symbolic or aspirational but embedded within enduring and enforceable environmental protections for the awa.”
Plan Change 1 establishes one of the most comprehensive catchment-based environmental protection frameworks in Aotearoa. It directly addresses the cumulative impacts that have affected the Waikato and Waipā river systems over decades and creates an 80-year pathway toward restoring water quality, ecological health, and overall balance across the catchment.
The framework recognises that meaningful restoration requires long-term systems change for land uses and an intergenerational commitment to achieving the Te Ture Whaimana vision. This is all while enabling communities and industries living and working within the catchment to make changes and transition in a practical and durable way.
Chief Executive Officer of Tūwharetoa Māori Trust Board, Rakeipoho Taiaroa says the significance of Plan Change 1 must also be understood within the broader context of environmental protection across Aotearoa.
“At a time when environmental protections are increasingly contested and weakened across the national policy landscape, Plan Change 1 stands as one of the strongest examples of catchment-scale planning in Aotearoa.
“It embeds the restoration and protection of the awa within enforceable regulation that is based on best available information, rather than leaving the future health of the river dependent on goodwill, shifting political priorities, or voluntary action alone.”
Tūwharetoa Māori Trust Board emphasises that this work is fundamentally about responsibility, stewardship, fairness, and intergenerational care, not control.
“This is about whakapapa. This is not about control, and it is not about disadvantaging or targeting farmers. The reality is we are also farmers and foresters. This work is about ensuring long-standing legal commitments, environmental responsibilities, and partnership obligations are properly recognised and implemented in a way that is fair, balanced, and future-focused.
“Our responsibility as kaitiaki is grounded in our Tūwharetoa whakapapa. It is enduring, intergenerational, and tied directly to the long-term health of the awa and the wellbeing of all communities who live alongside it.”
Tūwharetoa Māori Trust Board says the focus of this work is restoring environmental balance for the benefit of current and future generations.
“The awa cannot afford continued delay or incremental erosion of environmental protections. Plan Change 1 acknowledges the reality that cumulative degradation has occurred over generations, and that meaningful restoration requires equally long-term commitment and systems-level change.
“The cost of inaction has already been carried by the river. It has been 10 years since Plan Change 1 was first notified. This decision represents an investment in ensuring future generations inherit an awa that is healthier, more resilient, and better protected than it is today.”
Tūwharetoa Māori Trust Board says the work ahead will continue to require collaboration between iwi, local government, central government agencies, landowners, communities, and environmental partners.
“Progress depends on partnership, not confrontation. Our role as kaitiaki requires us to act deliberately, with integrity, restraint, and foresight; always considering the impacts of today’s decisions on those who will inherit this whenua, our wai, and awa after us.” says Rakeipoho Taiaroa.
Chair John Bishara says, “As we reach 100 years of Tūwharetoa Māori Trust Board, we acknowledge the generations of leadership, advocacy, and stewardship that have upheld our responsibilities to Taupō Moana and the Waikato Awa. This decision continues that enduring legacy of kaitiakitanga and long-term care for the wellbeing of the awa, the whenua, and all communities connected to them.”
This decision marks a significant milestone in an intergenerational journey grounded in whakapapa, strengthened through enduring partnership, and focused on restoring and protecting the health and wellbeing of the Waikato and Waipā river systems for generations to come.
ENDS
Contact, and further information:
Delilah Te Aōrere Parore-Southon
Senior Communications Advisor, Tūwharetoa Māori Trust Board
delilah@tuwharetoa.co.nz