'Incredibly generous' - Wairarapa iwi gifts Pūkaha forest back to the state

A Wairarapa iwi has gifted Pūkaha forest back to the state.

Rangitāne iwi marked the occasion at a gifting ceremony attended by the prime minister and other MPs. 

The forest had been returned to iwi last year as part of a Treaty of Waitangi settlement deal.

"It is for all of our people here in Aotearoa to be able to take pride in a beautiful taonga that we have here in Pukaha,” Tina te Tau-Brightwell from the Pukaha board said.

Jacinda Ardern described the decision as “incredibly generous."