Tourist education on indigenous lands: A collaborative approach

Chris North Leave No Trace New Zealand will describe the collaborative approach taken to train tourist concessionaires to  deliver Leave No Trace messaging to their clients.

This session looks at the challenges and opportunities of a partnership between Ngati Rangi (a Māori tribe) and Leave No Trace New Zealand (LNTNZ).  Aotearoa/New Zealand was founded on a partnership document – the Treaty of Waitangi –signed between Māori and the Queen of England in 1840.  In 1993, Tongariro National Park in the North Island became the first place in the world to be listed as a World Heritage Site for the spiritual and cultural values, also establishing grounds for a partnership with Māori tribes in the area.  The potential for partnerships to make a difference and improve environmental conditions is great, but a long history shows that cross-cultural partnerships are often fraught. Ngati Rangi is a tribe with ancestral lands in the Tongariro National Park experiencing significant impacts of tourism.

Chris North, Member of the Board of Leave No Trace New Zealand

Chris lectures in outdoor and environmental education at the University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand. His teaching background includes secondary and tertiary institutions in New Zealand and North America. He has worked as a teacher, tourist guide and outdoor instructor for a range of organisations.

Chris’ research is in the areas of outdoor education practices, adventure education, sustainability and environmental education and initial teacher education. Chris is a founder of Leave No Trace New Zealand.

In his spare time, Chris enjoys unicycling and family adventures in the outdoors.