Leading from the front issuu

HEARTENING COLLABORATIONS
for the Estuary
With people like Hinewai Ormsby voted on to the
Hawke’s Bay Regional Council last year, the people of
the region can feel assured there’s a strong voice lobbying
consistently for the restoration and preservation of
the environment, for this generation and those to come.
Also co-director of award-winning tourism business
Napier Māori Tours with her husband Cam Ormsby,
Hinewai is passionate about doing all she can to help
keep Ahuriri Estuary safe, through her dual roles.
A collaboration between fourth generation sheep and
beef farmers, the Holt family, and Napier Māori Tours in
late 2019 saw this couple recognised with the first ever
Environment Award at the Hawke’s Bay Tourism Awards
that year, for walking their talk and improving the region’s
environment.
At the time Hinewai said, “As a tourism business focusing
on Māori culture and kaitiakitanga (environmental
stewardship), we take our responsibility for protecting
our environment seriously. We achieve this by growing
close to 3,000 native trees each year that we plant
around the waterways that feed the Ahuriri Estuary.”
According to Hawke’s Bay App, this was the first time
that two distinct businesses — tourism and farming —
have collaborated to contribute to a healthier Estuary,
and in the past two years they’ve instigated numerous
similar initiatives. “As locals,” Hinewai said, “we have a
responsibility to protect the lands and waters that surround
us.”
Opposite: Hinewai Ormsby, treasuring the Estuary and doing all she can to keep it healthy; Above, Hinewai and Pat at Waitangi
Regional Park; Cam and Hinewai Ormsby, a strong team for the environment.
The Environment – Pat walks his talk in his own hood 65