General Manager Chris Baillie has this to say about the purpose of Orokonui Ecosanctuary:
"I want to work for an organisation that contributes to the conservation of Maori culture in a similar way that we are protecting indigenous flora and fauna".
Maybe she's got the wrong employer then. The aims of the Otago Natural History Trust are quite clear, as expressed in the trust's constitution:
- To promote the preservation, protection, conservation and fostering of flora and fauna found in New Zealand.
- To provide facilities for the maintenance and care, and housing and display of flora and fauna found in New Zealand in an environment reflective of their natural habitat.
- To educate, and to encourage the awareness of the public, in respect of the preservation, protection and conservation of flora and fauna found in New Zealand.
- To do anything else within New Zealand that will advance any of these aims.
The aim of Orokonui Ecosanctuary is to create:
- A healthy self-sustaining ecosystem, free of all introduced mammals, and comprising indigenous species that are appropriate to the Orokonui site, where people can enjoy a peaceful encounter with nature, and from which they may take recreation, refreshment, new knowledge, new skills, and a new commitment to conservation.
Exploitation of Maori culture to generate income might fall under the Trust's last aim, and maybe that's what's happening with all the Maori cultural activities that are occurring at Orokonui. But where's the nature conservation message in that? Why is the emphasis increasingly directed away from the protection of the wildlife that was here for aeons before any humans?
