Tourist leave no trace education project gets international recognition

Ngāti Rangi iwi located on the southern slopes of Mt Ruapehu and environmental group Leave No Trace New Zealand showcased the success of their partnership programme at the recent World Environmental Education Congress (WEEC) in Vancouver, Canada.

With tourism numbers in New Zealand growing year on year, Ngāti Rangi has noticed an increasing impact on their mountains (maunga) and rivers (awa) and throughout their lands (rohe).

Concerned about increasing damage to the Ruapehu environment and cultural landscape they contacted Leave No Trace New Zealand and together, developed and piloted a programme aimed at training local people working in the area of tourism and in turn, they passed on their learnt knowledge to visitors.

Based on Ngāti Rangi values and principles, the course was, led, co-developed and hosted by the iwi’s Pou Taiao Manager Dave Milner.

Milner explained “it’s gratifying to have our mahi (work) recognised internationally as world-leading.”

Tourism operators learnt how to deliver key messages to visitors to the region based on research into the most effective strategies compiled by the University of Canterbury’s Dr Chris North.

These messages included sharing the cultural significance of the maunga with visitors and encouraging them to make sure they bring their rubbish off the mountain.

Dr North added respectful actions like these seem simple but exponentially help to not only mitigate the impact on the Ruapehu environment but also helps build bridges among community.”

Research into the benefits of the training programme shows that participants are using the knowledge learnt from the course to tailor their messages to tourists over six months after the training.

Leave No Trace and Ngāti Rangi are pleased with the outcomes and recommend the benefits and learnings to other local communities who are concerned at environmental degradation in their areas. 

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