E-pānui: Five ways to have a Para Kore Kirihimete
Ngā karere a Para Kore - Noema
He Pitopito Kōrero nā te Kaihautū Matua
Jacqui speaking at Waikato Hui-ā-Rohe 2024
Addressing the loss of funding
Tēnā koutou i tēnei wā,
Since 2021, Para Kore has received operational funding from the Ministry for the Environment’s Community Environment Fund (CEF). The disestablishment of this fund, announced in the May 2024 Budget (which also funds Environment Hubs Aotearoa and many other valuable environmental initiatives and organisations), has resulted in cuts to our kaimahi, severely impacting the programmes we can deliver to local communities.
Although Para Kore is deeply concerned about the loss of CEF funding, this setback will not diminish our unwavering commitment to our atua, our people, and the protection of the taiao.
Our identity is inextricably linked to our maunga, whenua, and waters. We remain in solidarity with the communities, ecosystems, and partners who share our vision for a thriving, resilient environment.
Para Kore deeply appreciates the incredible support from everyone who has supported us so far, and we invite ongoing engagement with existing and new partners as we confront the current political landscape where government actions show no regard for the earth's climate, future generations, or our taonga species.
We will continue to explore new opportunities, collaborations, and strategies to ensure that our mission to play our part in safeguarding the taiao for current and future generations remains at the forefront of our efforts.
The challenge for us at Para Kore is to create co-delivery partnerships and models to embed and normalise Para Kore kaupapa locally with those that align with our mission of zero waste, zero carbon whānau, hapū, iwi and hapori Māori.
Para Kore for a Free Palestine
Para Kore stands in solidarity with Palestine, Lebanon, South Sudan, Congo, West Pāpua, Kanaky and all oppressed and marginalised people across the globe. We unequivocally condemn the violence, dispossession and ongoing genocide of Palestinians by the Israeli Defence Force.
As a Kaupapa Māori organisation built on values of whakapapa, kaitiakitanga, manaakitanga and whakawhanaungatanga, this ongoing genocide and the current refusal of Israel to allow humanitarian aid into Northern Gaza conflict intensely with our values. We echo the call of all countries and communities that have criticised Israel’s attacks on Gaza, and we urge the New Zealand Government to do the same by immediately sanctioning Israel and granting humanitarian visas for Palestinians who have whānau members living here in Aotearoa.
Toitū Te Tiriti
On Sunday, November 10th, Tangata Whenua and Tangata Tiriti alike will gather to start the monumental journey of ‘Hīkoi mō Te Tiriti’ from Te Rerenga Wairua, Northland to the lawns of Parliament in Te Ūpoko o te Ika. This hīkoi represents a unified Aotearoa, upholding our nation's founding document - Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
Te Tiriti o Waitangi provides the basis for a thriving and enduring relationship between Tanagta Whenua and Tanagata Tiriti. By recognising and upholding the tino rangatiratanga of Māori over our lands, waters, resources, and taonga species - as promised in article two - we can realise the shared aspirations of our tūpuna and forefathers and all enjoy a future where Aotearoa New Zealand is connected, te reo Māori thrives, taonga species are abundant, and our waters and native forests flourish.
Tangata Tiriti is the word we use for non-Māori living in Aotearoa; it means ‘people of the treaty’ and recognises that the right of non-Māori to live in Aotearoa is derived from that formative document. We implore all Tangata Tiriti to join this movement and call for a unified Aotearoa that is better for everyone.
Kia kaha tātou.
Find out more about the hīkoi and the movement here.
Ngā manaakitanga
Jacqui Forbes
Mahi Para Kore
Have a Para Kore Kirihimete
Christmas is just around the corner, and during the festive season we see a huge spike in consumption and consequently para filling up our landfills; from excess kai being thrown in the rubbish, wrapping paper, and decorations - it all adds up.
Me whakaara ake tātou ki te taiao.
Five useful tips for having a Para Kore Kirihimete:
Gift experiences - go for a whānau bush walk, take the kids mini-golfing, visit your local beach or awa, or play hide and seek. Gifts don’t have to be material, and some of the best memories will come from time with your loved ones.
Be of service - Clear out your parent's gutters, stain the deck, do the dishes, wash your sister's car, weed your nan’s garden, or pick up your brother’s tamariki and have them overnight. This won’t cost you or the taiao, but it will grow your connection with your whānau and friends and make you feel good at the same time.
Hei aha te moumou kai - Share excess kai with your neighbours/whānau, freeze food so it lasts longer, compost food scraps, feed the chooks and always eat the leftovers in the fridge before you start cooking or make another trip to the supermarket.
Let’s keep kai out of the bin - because food in landfills creates global warming methane. Hei aha tēnā!
Feed the whānau - He taonga te kai, our kai is precious - gardeners, hunters and foragers know this well. Bake some goodies, cook dinner for your kaumātua, gift fruit trees, homemade relish, your favourite recipe or a rewana bug. These are the gifts that keep on giving.
Gift nothing at all - sit down and enjoy a meal with your whānau and friends. Plan ahead, and put the word out; no pressies this year, or buy one Secret Santa present. That Secret Santa gift could have guidelines - must be handmade, must be under $10 or must be second-hand. Slow down, do less, relax and enjoy the season. Rest is resistance after all!
Let our gifts be a koha, not a hōhā.
Tamariki of Te Kauwhata Primary School, helping out in the compost with Matua X
Para Kore kaiārahi Paul Murray, also known as Matua X supports Te Kauwhata Community Compost Hub.
One year after its establishment, they have recently harvested an abundance of nutrient-rich compost and applied it to their school gardens and the Te Kauwhata Community Gardens across the road. This is a circular, regenerative solution in action, using the valuable resource of kai waste from Te Kauwhata Primary School and the neighbouring hapori to help grow more kai for the community.
Pictured here is the fabulous tamariki at Te Kauwhata Primary, whose dedicated mahi has helped make this project such a success.
Raahui Pookeka Community Compost Hub
Huntly Primary School joining in on the learning
The Raahui Pookeka Community Compost Hub - hosted by Matawhaanui Trust onsite at the Kaahui Tuuwaa Maara Kai - are the second compost hub to be established in the Waikato District. Set up on the last day of April this year, here they are on the first week of August, turning the first box into the second.
Matua X says, “We can already see the process of new soil being made before our very eyes. We were so pleased to have tamariki from Huntly Primary School come along this day to join us in the learning, and while we were there, Kimihia School arrived to add their food waste to the mix, which they are now doing weekly. The finished product will be going into the maara kai which feeds whānau in Raahui Pookeka Huntly.”
Preparing the kai for E Kai Māori wānanga at Pakirikiri Marae, Tokomaru Bay
E Kai Māori ki Tokomaru Bay
In early October, a three-day ‘E Kai Māori’ wānanga - led by Matua Joe McLeod and supported by Para Kore - took place at Pakirikiri Marae in Tokomaru Bay.
Whānau who attended learnt the names and how to identify rākau Māori and introduced plants, and what different combinations of leaves to use when cooking meat, fish, scallops, squid and vegetables.
Attendees weaving the rourou kai
E Kai Māori is an opportunity to decolonise our puku, connect to our whakapapa by eating from our traditional landscapes and raise the inherent mana of our kai.
Attendees enjoyed the kai reka, left-overs were taken home, food waste went to the pigs, and the rourou kai made from harakeke were composted - hei aha te moumou kai!
Ngā Kaupapa o te Wā
He Whenua Rongo gathering at Te Mahurehure Marae in Tāmaki, Aotearoa, 2024
Mana Wāhine Declaration for Hineahuone - Māori women's declaration for soil and seed.
Papawhakaritorito Trust recently led a delegation of Mana Wāhine to Navdanya in North India to present the Mana Wāhine Declaration for Hineahuone, a Māori women’s declaration for soil and seed.
Para Kore expresses its full support of Papawharitorito Trust and this vital mahi. The intention of the declaration is “Resistance to late-stage capitalist patriarchy and the imperative for restoration of our soil and seed are at the heart of this declaration. It is an urgent call by Indigenous women to return to ways of listening to, and being in inter-relationship with, Hineahuone (Soil Deity) and Papatūānuku (Mother Earth).”
Hua Parakore on the big screen
Hua Parakore - Rebuilding our Broken Food System is an eight-part television series following Dr Jessica Hutchings as she travels from Aotearoa to India to meet Hua Parakore whānau.
In this series we learn about the role of Māori Food and Soil Sovereignty in creating meaningful solutions to the climate crisis, food insecurity and ecological breakdown and to highlight how broken our current industrialised food system is.
https://www.papawhakaritorito.com/kaupapa
Are you utilising this rauemi? ‘Kia kaha te Reo Taiao’
Developed in collaboration with Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori, Department of Conservation and Ministry of Education, this resource will help you become familiar with Māori words and phrases you can use while you are out enjoying te taiao, the unique environment of Aotearoa.
Kia kaha te reo Māori, kia kaha te mahi tiaki taiao.
Tukuna te reo kia rere - See the full resource here.
Photo from the 2024 Repair Festival, courtesy of Repair Cafe
The First Ever Repair Festival in Aotearoa
From 14 - 22nd of September, Repair Cafe events were hosted across the motu, from Ōtepoti Dunedin to Tāmaki Makaurau to Whaingāroa Raglan.
Repair cafes are mīharo - they provide a space for community members to come, be welcomed, and seek support to fix their pakaru (broken) possessions. This means that our whānau are connecting with their hapori (community), saving money and precious resources while reducing waste going to landfills. It is a win for the taiao and a win for your pocket.
Photo from the 2024 Repair Festival, courtesy of Repair Cafe
A ‘Right to Repair’ bill is currently going through parliament and, if successful, would protect your consumer rights by making spare parts and repair information more accessible whilst also putting the impetus on businesses to create products to be more durable and long-lasting.
Find out more about the ‘Right to Repair’ and how you can support the kaupapa, here.
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Mehemea he kōrero anō, he pātai rānei āu, kia kaha rā ki te whakapā mai ki a mātou.
Ngā manaakitanga, nā Arohanui me te whānau kaimahi o Para Kore.