Nicola MacDonald (Ngāti Wai, Te Rarawa, and Taranaki) is the CEO of Ngāti Manuhiri Settlement Trust, and recipient of the 2024 New Zealand Environmental Hero of the Year / Te Tao Taiao o te Tau award. Her work on shellfish bed and land restoration around the Mahurangi is well documented, as is her leadership of the management of invasive caulerpa seaweed, and the exploration of a natural fibre alternative for mussel spat. Who is Nicola MacDonald? We were curious to find out, and spoke with her recently. Nicola MacDonald, the eldest of 6 children, 5 girls and the youngest a boy, she was raised by her Mother. She describes her family as matriarchal – being surrounded by strong women from both her Mother’s and Father’s hapū has instilled in her the obligation to look after her family, marae, hapū and iwi. Nicola is a proud mother to two children both of whom have followed in her footsteps and are involved in conservation and she has a blended whānau with her partner Mook, of 5 stepchildren and is Pūmāmā to their six beautiful mokopuna. Nicola has spoken at overseas conferences sharing an indigenous perspective on conservation, including Canada, New Mexico and more recently representing New Zealand at APEC in Taiwan. She was invited to talk about oceans conservation and indigenous leadership which she used as a focal point to challenge delegates to advance and prioritise protection and restoration. As she says, “If you accept deprivation and loss, then you can’t restore it. It was a real eye-opener for me about what can happen when a sliding scale of values favours economics over the environment.” Ngāti Manuhiri is one of only 2 hapū who with the support of their iwi, Ngāti Wai, negotiated directly with the Government for a Treaty Settlement. This saw Hauturu-o-Toi (Hauturu / Little Barrier Island) gifted to the Crown in 2017, with a 1.2 ha reserve retained in hapū ownership. At just under 1,000 registered members, Ngāti Manuhiri is a small hapū Nicola describes as “youthful” and widely dispersed. The challenge she sees for the young people is to reclaim their identity, lost over generations along with land, language and cultural ties. The rebuilding of the whare on Hauturu is a priority for the trustees, a vital step towards reclaiming that identity. In her award acceptance speech, Nicola spoke of the need to protect taonga, of it being time for a change, and of the need to look to the future of the tamariki and mokopuna. Clearly these things underpin much of her work, however she is pragmatic, adding that priorities change depending on the risk or the crisis at hand. Right now, the effects of climate change and risk to biodiversity have her attention. If it were up to her, after rebuilding the whare, the next project would be a marine sanctuary surrounding Hauturu. After that, turning to technology – a virtual Hauturu, perhaps, so that many more people can learn about the island and it’s taonga. Her focus is on giving back – a challenge she lays down to everyone that visits the island. Nicola attributes her self-belief and drive to the strong women in her upbringing that were such positive role models for a young, intelligent Māori woman. She attributes her mother telling her, as a 15 year old, “let your mahi do the talking for you”, for refusing to be oppressed by the sexism and racism that she and many other women faced and that continues today. Nicola can reel off a list of achievements but when pressed says that of course she does not do it alone; her greatest satisfaction is working collaboratively with communities and stakeholders. Ngāti Wai are people of the sea, so it is no surprise that Nicola turns to the sea “in it or on it,” as well as the forest when she needs to recharge. As she says, “You don’t need a therapist’s couch, just put on some tramping shoes and get out into the forest or put your togs on and go for a swim”. Nicola is articulate, focussed, determined, funny and probably unstoppable. Potentially daunting, it turned out to be most gratifying to be admitted to the CEO’s office and meet the woman behind the desk. Ngā mihi nui. Hei tiaki i te whenua He tiaki i te moana He tiaki i te whānau He kaitiaki hoe, he kaitiake au Protect and look after the land Protect and look after the sea Protect and look after the family You are a guardian; I am a guardian (from Nicola’s award acceptance speech)
