Northland iwi Te Uri o Hau opened the first stage of its new avocado orchard this week. It hopes to tap into a market that’s worth $230 million a year to the New Zealand economy. The orchard is located just a short drive away from Te Kopuru on the Pouto Peninsula on the west coast of Northland and covers 27 hectares. Staff have already planted 1,400 trees, with over 3,500 trees expected in the initial planting stages.
Te Uri o Hau trustee Anthony Thompson says the orchard is part of an overall strategy to entice tribal members back home: “Our Te Uri o Hau hapū, coming back to the Kaipara and making sure we’ve got employment opportunities - it’s about lifting the equity of our hapū. This project is really important and it’s the culmination of other projects that have come before it. Our forestry, our farms, our nursery, and now our botanical unit, or the avocado orchard.”
Source: teaonews.co.nz