Ara Hīkoi Aotearoa

Each year thousands of NZers and tourists explore our outdoors on bike. The average mountain bike tourist spends 3 or 4 days on their holiday. And many of them explore our plantation forests. I talked to independent economist Benje Patterson. Patterson has published a report showing that tourists who biked through New Zealand’s production forests in 2022 spent nearly $300 million on things like food, accommodation, and entertainment. Benje Patterson's report: Economic impacts of mountain biking in production forests in New Zealand Music: Verão by Shane Ivers Photo of Craters Bike Park by Miles Holden

Te Reo Irirangi o te Upoko i te Ika was at the launch of our new name Herenga ā Nuku Aotearoa on 28 July 2022. Their news story tells a little about what the new name means and why it is important for the Commission.  Te Reo Irirangi o te Upoko i te Ika kindly allowed us to reproduce and share this story. Ngā mihi nui ki a ratou. 

Ric Balfour from Landcare Trust and Felicity Brough from Walking Access Commission have formed a partnership where they work with farmers and catchment groups to help them develop public access routes when they are doing riparian planting. Felicity and Ric’s work is important because there is a strong link between good public access to land and healthy environmental outcomes. For more information about riparian planting and public access visit the Landcare Trust and Walking Access Commission websites, especially: The A,B,Cs of Riparian Corridor GMPs,  Catchment Groups,  Catchment Management,  Public access to rivers lakes and the coast, and Maps of public access areas in NZ --- Music: Verão by Shane Ivers. Photo by Ric Balfour

Celia Wade-Brown is best known to many people as the former mayor of Wellington. But since that political adventure, she has become a different type of adventurer, first walking Te Araroa, then cycling then Tour Aotearoa and more recently kayaking around significant parts of the motu. She’s also a member of the Walking Access Commission Board and Te Araroa Trust Board, and she founded Living Streets Aotearoa and organises the Wairarapa Walking Festival. --- Music: Verão by Shane Ivers.

Walking is not just a slow way of getting from A to Z. It is about experiencing all the other letters in between.  ——— Source of dawn chorus with blackbirds in the foreground: Department of Conservation

Ric Cullinane, our Tumuaki/Chief Executive shares the story behind creating easements for some stunning tracks located in central Otago.  This 10 year long project spans back to the dawn of the commission. The story includes behind the scenes information on easements, international celebrities and what can only be described as eye-watering views.

After four years at the Walking Access Commission Asher Wilson-Goldman is leaving us. He takes time out in his last week to talk about some of the changes to public access during his time as strategic communications and partnerships manager. And he talks about some of the challenges and issues for public access in the future.

Professor Mick Abbott teaches landscape architecture and sustainable land use at Lincoln University. He has a passion for New Zealand's many special outdoor places. He is working on a project to develop a network of tracks and trails that will connect the people of Franklin-North Waikato to each other and to the awa. He talks to us about his view that landscapes can shape people rather than people shaping landscapes. You can see his Franklin-North Waikato report, including maps, on our website.

The 38km Link Pathway Te Ara Tuhono between Picton and Havelock is nearly complete. After 15 years work on it, one of its instigators, Rick Edmonds, is looking forward to finishing. Edmonds says the idea for the path came when locals noted there was nowhere people could go for walks and enjoy the Marlborough Sounds environment, other than on the edge of the road.

Geoff Ricketts set up and now chairs the Ipipiri Nature Conservancy Trust, which this week bought Elliot Bay Farm in the Bay of Islands. You can see a map of the area on the Walking Access Commission website. The trust is going to preserve public access to the beach and also hopes to build a Great Walk standard multi-day walk on the bush-covered land. Photo credit: Richard Craig Smart