Puniu awa cleanup wins Te Huia local hero tohu 01 Apr 2021 15:03 PM
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The 2021 Kiwibank New Zealand Local Hero of the Year is Māori environmental engineer Shannon Te Huia for his work to restore the Pūniu River.
He says his passion for te taiao came from growing up on the banks of the river at Mangatoatoa Marae just south of Te Awamutu.
His ropu Pūniu River Care plants native trees and undertakes other work to restore the ecosystem and encourage biodiversity, and it s inspiring others to restore their ancestral awa. We provide hope for other marae across the country that it can be done and it can be led from the marae. There s definitely a lot of interest and we ve been travelling around speaking with people with similar goals and providing a bit of guidance, Mr Te Huia says.