We have recently farewelled Tim Higham from the Tū Mai Taonga team - a passionate storyteller and advocate for restoring people and place on Aotea, Great Barrier Island.
Tim Higham has a made a career of telling conservation stories all around the world.
But it’s his latest gig, guiding the iwi led conservation project Tū Mai Taonga in its communications on Aotea, Great Barrier, that is closest to his heart – and one that has taught this old hand something new.
The power of listening. And the power of mana whenua finding their own voice.
“I have had a long career in conservation and communications all over the globe,” Tim says, after recently stepping down from his role at Tū Mai Taonga for health reasons.
“I had a stint in Antarctica, Bangkok, and worked for the United Nations based in Geneva, as well as championing the Hauraki Gulf Marine Park (including protecting Bryde’s whales from being struck by ships) and being part of the start-up for Predator Free 2050 in Aotearoa, New Zealand.”
It was always Tim’s dream, though, to live and work on Aotea, Great Barrier, where he’s owned a beautiful old rustic farmhouse in Kaitoke, for twenty years. His home is off the grid, an idyllic spot where the silence is occasionally broken by the sound of the repeated rhythmic call of the native parrot the kākā, or his fox terrier Van rustling in the bushes.
When Tū Mai Taonga was set up with Jobs for Nature funding through Predator Free 2050 Limited and the Department of Conservation, he jumped at the opportunity to be part of telling its story and supporting emerging leaders within iwi. The project is also supported by Auckland Council, and Foundation North.
“I remember going to visit local kaumatua Opo Ngawaka and his wife Elaine on Māhuki, one of the Broken Islands south of Port Fitzroy on Aotea, early on in the project,” Tim says. Opo was at the time the chair of Ngāti Rehua Ngātiwai ki Aotea Trust, which has taken on the Tū Mai Taonga project.
“After having fried bread and fish and listening to Opo talk about why the project was important to his whānau, I went away to write up a story and realised this was something quite unique and different …
“The way Opo spoke about his relationships with plants and animals and place was a completely different way of seeing the world and different to the way I would generally communicate an environmental cause.
“There is a deep connection, generation wise, whakapapa wise, with what is here, and that is what Opo was saying .
“I came to realise this really was the heart of any communications about Tū Mai Taonga- that I had to stop and listen and support the articulation of those fundamental ideas of belonging and long term living alongside everything else that belongs here.”
“My role was to enable another voice to emerge.”
Opo Ngawaka acknowledges Tim’s contribution.
“Tim has helped us understand ourselves better,” he says. “He has helped us find our own voice. We are truly grateful for this.”
Tū Mai Taonga project leader Makere Jenner says Tim developed a deep understanding of the uniqueness of the project – about mana whenua restoring both people and place.
“These are our fundamental principles. We want to restore our bush and birdlife in a Te Ao Māori way – but we also want to regain the wellbeing of our people, the language, culture and economic independence our whānau has lost along the way.
“Tim’s contribution will help us achieve our Tū Mai Taonga goal, where both people and place thrive.”
Tū Mai Taonga project leader Makere Jenner and Tim Higham, at Tim’s farewell.
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