Te Ripo O Hinemata Wetland Restoration Action Plan‏

2016 - July

Our new signage about the land and trust . Thank you Te Kenehi and Heeni.

This signage is opposite the Koputaroa Hall.

Part of the reserve is a significant wetland area – Te Ripo o Hinemata – owned and managed by Ngāti Hinemata. Te Ripo o Hinemata is 18.9 ha of freshwater wetland and low hill slope on the floodplain of the Koputoroa stream about 2km north-east of here. In 1992 the Manawatu-Kukutauaki no 3 section 2E5 Trust was set up as kaitiaki, and in 1999 the trust decided that the wetland should be protected under a Department of Conservation Covenant.

A ten-year restoration plan has involved the planting of thousands of native plants, including harakeke (flax), tī kouka and kahikatea. Ecological, cultural and spiritual values are integral to the project.

North of this sign are several significant sites. Kereru marae (Koputaroa Rd) belongs to Ngāti Takihiku, Ngāti Hinemata and Ngāti Ngārongo – three closely related hapū of Ngāti Raukawa. Its name originated in the former Kereru clearing, a place where these birds were plentiful.

The two urupa for the people of Kereru marae are Papakiri (across the railway line to the north-east) and Pua-o-tau (drive down Paiaka Rd and turn right).

The wider area was allocated by the Native Land Court in the 19th century as a reserve for Ihakara Tukumaru and his people.

Some of the threatened or rarely-seen species which are present at Te Ripo o Hinemata and the Koputoroa stream are: the giant carnivorous snail (powelliaphanta or pūpūrangi); the giant and banded kōkopu; mudfish (hauhau); and kākahi (fresh-water mussels). The latter three species were used as kai, but have become rarer due to poor water quality, changed water levels and the decline of other species that affect them (eg the kākahi, in its larvae phase, needs to attach itself to a small fish like kōaro or whitebait to move to new living areas). Tuna (eels) are also important.