Dr Johannes Welsch
Environment Canterbury
Dr Johannes Welsch is an experienced leader in regulatory, environmental and catchment management. He currently leads biodiversity and biosecurity work in Central Canterbury for Environment Canterbury. His focus is on working with consent holders, landowners, stakeholders and local groups to design catchment programmes and regulatory conditions that support long-term environmental performance, not just short-term compliance.
Johannes is closely involved in initiatives like the Whaka-Ora Healthy Harbour plan, which is based on partnership, collaboration and community-driven action to restore ecosystems and give businesses and communities confidence about the future. With a PhD in agro-ecology and frontline biodiversity restoration experience across the Canterbury Plains, Johannes focuses on practical solutions shaped in paddocks, meeting rooms and community halls rather than only in policy documents.
Many Pathways, One Harbour: Placing Mana Whenua Aspirations at the Heart of Environmental Practice
Meeting compliance is necessary - but it is not the finish line. This presentation draws on the Whaka Ora Healthy Harbour Partnership to show that when environmental work is done in genuine partnership, outcomes can go well beyond what regulation alone delivers.
At the heart of this kaupapa are the enduring aspirations of Te Hāpu o Ngāti Wheke - mana whenua of Rāpaki and kaitiaki of Te Whakaraupō/Lyttelton Harbour. These aspirations were not born from a consent condition. They reflect generations of relationship with this harbour and a clear vision for what a healthy harbour looks and feels like. Treating them as a driving force, rather than a compliance duty, changes what gets delivered, how it happens, and who it actually reaches.
Through practical on-the-ground examples, this presentation shows how outcomes can be delivered through multiple pathways: ecological restoration, co-designed monitoring, cultural indicators, and community-led stewardship. These are all operating alongside, and often ahead of, formal compliance requirements. Good partnership doesn't wait for compliance to move.
The presentation also explores what genuine collaboration requires: how trust is built incrementally, how mana whenua voice is protected without being tokenised, and how mutual accountability keeps the relationship honest.
Kaitiakitanga, reciprocity, responsibility are not new ideas. The practice of embedding them within compliance frameworks is still being shaped. The Whaka-Ora experience offers practical lessons for regulators, iwi partners, industry, and communities alike.