Call to Action – May 2023
Aotearoa New Zealand’s rivers are polluted and choked with sediment, and forests are falling silent. Storms rage across our landscapes, driven by human-induced climate change, destroying communities and livelihoods, taking lives, and scarring the land. Ecosystems are collapsing, and sea levels and temperatures are rising.
Papatūānuku is in trouble. And so are we, her people.
The interrelated climate, fresh water and biodiversity crises are driven by human action, and inaction.
We now face an existential crisis. We caused this mess; we must fix it.
To this end, Pure Advantage and Tāne’s Tree Trust, with a growing alliance of partners, including tangata whenua groups, who share a unique connection with the land and bring valuable knowledge and perspectives rooted in te ao Māori, are calling on Government, businesses, local communities, and every individual of Aotearoa New Zealand to support and commit to an urgent and ambitious national indigenous reforestation and restoration initiative:
Recloaking Papatūānuku.
By strategically reforesting and restoring an initial 2.1 million hectares of indigenous forests over the next 10 years, we can start to reverse the alarming decline of our indigenous species; protect and improve our soils and waterways; secure enduring, long term carbon sinks; and weave climate and ecological resilience into our landscapes.
Recloaking Papatūānuku presents a well-researched, low-cost, multi-win and high value opportunity for Aotearoa New Zealand to globally pioneer the nationwide implementation of a nature-based solution to address a range of critical and interlinked ecological issues synergistically, and with the degree of urgency and ambition of action that Papatūānuku needs and deserves.
Informed and guided by mātaraunga Māori, it also acknowledges our collective responsibility for the well-being of her future mokopuna and presents an intergenerational commitment to create a lasting legacy for them.
With multi-stakeholder support and collaboration across Aotearoa New Zealand, it is entirely achievable. But we need to start on this transformative initiative now.
Recloaking Papaptūānuku Alliance signatories include
