‘Māori David Attenborough’ named as semifinalist in 2024 Kiwibank New Zealander of the Year Awards

East Coast conservationist Graeme Atkins has been named a semifinalist in the 2024 Kiwibank New Zealander of the Year Awards.

Mr Atkins (Ngāti Porou and Rongomaiwahine) is one of 10 people named in the New Zealand Environmental Hero of the Year Te Toa Taiao o te Tau category.

He is well known as a  strong advocate for the environment, in particular the environment of Tairāwhiti.

Mr Atkins worked for decades as a Department of Conservation ranger before raising the alarm on the devastation of the Raukūmara Ranges, which led to the creation of the Raukūmara Pae Maunga Restoration Project.

Referred to as the “Māori David Attenborough of plants” in the conservation community, Graeme has demonstrated sustained excellence in botanical discovery and played a pivotal role in protecting many rare plants such as ngutukākā (kākābeak, Clianthus maximus), mikokoi (native iris, Libertia cranwelliae), and putiputi o te ao pouri (Dactylanthus tailorii).

He  founded Tairāwhiti Ngutukākā  conservation group which has taken on the work of replanting  and protecting ngutukākā (kākābeak) plants around Tairāwhiti.

Grame also founded the hapū-led myrtle rust response project Te Whakapae Ururoa, tasked with tracking the spread and infestation at sites across a 27800-hectare stretch of the East Coast shoreline identified as being critically vulnerable to myrtle rust infestation.

He was the 2020 winner of the Loder Cup awarded by the Minister of Conservation each year to a person or group to celebrate their outstanding conservation work in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Early this year, Graeme played an instrumental role in highlighting the environmental catastrophe caused by slash in the Tairāwhiti region in the aftermath of Cyclone Gabrielle.

The footage he recorded of kaimoana suffocated by the silt that came down the Waiapu River led national television news coverage and further inspired calls for an official inquiry into land use in the region.

Graeme is also a kaitieki of Tikapa Beach where he lives. He has organised beach clean-ups in the remote area to show the impact rubbish and pollution can have on one of the region’s remote beaches.

On his Facebook page, Graeme acknowledged his nomination for the award.

“For those who don’t know me, I’m all about getting our own people looking after our own places,” he said.

“The crisis our species faces is too big for agencies to fix alone. Involve the people . . . share the load. If we don’t look after home, no one else will. (It is) my driving force that gets me out of bed each and every day.

“I’ve been doing this mahi for 30 years and can safely say with confidence and experience that we are failing in our roles as kaitieki. Dying ngahere, collapsing catchments, rising riverbeds, vanishing river flats, smothered beaches and dying kaimoana every time it rains. What are we handing on to our tamariki mokopuna?

“There is hope. Fifty-one locals are now employed in taiao restoration mahi at home; 44 are helping to restore the mauri of our Raukūmara Pae Maunga and seven are working on our myrtle rust response project Te Whakapae Ururoa, based around the wider East Cape/Cape Runaway region.

“Four small businesses, nurseries annually supply our Tairāwhiti Ngutukaka East Coast Kākābeak Trust with several thousand ngutukākā and assorted native plants and trees. Our trust supports them with guarantees of purchasing their stock with the end goal of eventually upscaling to provide several hundred thousand trees each per annum.

“Our region is in desperate need of millions of native trees,” Graeme said. “Helping these businesses will meet the need for locally sourced  native trees. (I’m) super, super proud of all this mahi and all the people now involved in the care of home.”

The  New Zealander of the Year awards feature seven categories — New Zealander; Young New Zealander; Senior New Zealander; Innovator; Community; Environmental Hero; and Local Hero.

All semifinalists go on to the next round of judging, where they are whittled down to three finalists to be announced on February 21.

Overall winners will be revealed at the New Zealander of the Year Awards night at the Viaduct Events Centre in Auckland on March 27.