Rewilding with Diverse Communities
Words by Te Kohuroa Rewilding.
Tamariki from Leigh School, carrying out biodiversity surveys
(photo: Benthics)
Since its inception, Te Kohuroa Rewilding has been inspired by the principle of inclusivity.
The concept of rewilding focuses on collaborative problem-solving and equitable connections between a wide range of tangata (people), rōpū (groups) and stakeholders. To make our conservation processes truly open to all, our project team has recently been looking for ways to create inclusive pathways for communities that are currently under-represented in the environmental restoration space.
This new program is being led by Te Kohuroa Rewilding’s Equity and Accessibility Coordinator, Grac Coyle. Grac is a young, queer, disabled conservationist who is passionate about accessibility and diversity in conservation within both marine and terrestrial spaces. They have experience in anthropology and marine science (studying at Waipapa Taumata Rau), and currently support various projects with volunteer coordination and outdoor education, through their experience in pest management, peace education, and wetland ecology.
Grac Coyle (Equity and Accessibility Coordinator) is passionate about accessibility and diversity in conservation.
Representing diversity in leadership
Grac shares a lived experience of diversity, alongside project Founder, Frances Dickinson. Through their love of te taiao (the environment) and a desire for more equitable pathways for everyday people to participate in conservation, they both have created a vision for better representation of under-represented communities within rewilding.
“The ocean has always been a place I can go to be my authentic self”, says Frances. “I experience a feeling of connection and belonging with the animals and underwater environment that I don't feel on land, or with people.”
Frances carries out most of her work for the project accompanied by her NZ registered Assistance Dog, Obisidan (Sid) who is a regular attendee at community events. Sid also shares Frances’s passion for the ocean and often buddies with her in the water while she takes photos or carries out surveys. “I love that everyone benefits from having Sid along at our community events, and that there is a general acceptance around the range of supports people need to enjoy participating in active restoration”.
Creating an outreach program
To understand the rich diversity of communities who wish to get involved in rewilding, Grac is working on an outreach program to hear directly from those who wish to participate, but may not feel able to at the moment. This includes capturing the authentic voices of Māori, Under 30, Queer, Trans, Neurodiverse, Disabled, Migrant, Refugee, Pasifika communities and more. The outreach programme is also designed to be ongoing. “ It’s important that the inclusion of diverse voices is not an afterthought, but a pillar of the rewilding that we do” says Grac.
The outreach process is kōrero (discussion) and survey centric, and people can share their information anonymously. The questions are designed to gather feedback on current conservation practices and where the project can improve processes to expand participation. It is also designed to be open-ended, so that the participants can reflect on their own experiences in a way that makes sense to them.
“Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging initiatives are an important part of organisations such as ours” says Grac. “To us at TKRI, this means taking a slow, intentional approach and manageable steps to ensure the right amount of care and effort is put into pathways that open up conservation for all. This will result in accessibility strategies that are uniquely tailored, highly efficient, and ongoing.”
Obisidian (Sid) snorkelling at the Kelp Restoration Site.
(photo: Benthics).
How to contribute
Your voice matters! You don’t need to have attended any TKRI events before to fill out our survey, you don’t even need to be someone who works in conservation or gets outside! If you are within any of the hapori (communities) that the project team has identified as target demographics for this project, fill out our survey, or get in touch! If you are not - you definitely know someone who is, so pass this information their way!
If you have any pātai (questions) on what this mahi (work) looks like for Te Kohuroa Rewilding Initiatives kaupapa, feel free to reach out to Grac Coyle at tekohuroaequity@gmail.com.
About Grac
Grac Coyle is a queer conservationist who is passionate about accessibility in both marine and terrestrial conservation. They have a background in outdoor education, anthropology, and marine science. Grac works on various conservation project within Tāmaki Makaurau (Auckland) and in their spare time, they create sewn art and illustrations inspired by nature.