Making waves

Environmentalist and business operator Bianca Ranson talks to ELISABETH EASTHER about how immersing people in nature can be life changing.

- ELISABETH EASTHER

Activist and tourism operator Bianca Ranson (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Kahu ki Whaingaroa) is Forest & Bird's Hauraki Gulf A campaigner. A Waiheke Island resident, Ranson is also deputy chair of the Waiheke Local Board.

You spent your early years on Waiheke. How did life there shape you?

Waiheke gave me my love of the ocean, nature and community. I also saw people from all walks of life living together peacefully, whether they were artists, musicians or hippies, and most of them were passionate about conservation. We didn't have a car back then, so we used to walk everywhere. That really connected me to my surroundings, to the environment. So, from an early age, I understood my community wasn't just the people I shared the island with, it was all living beings.

For high school, you opted for full-immersion te reo at Western Springs College in central Auckland. What took you there?

One reason I chose Western Springs is that it has no formal uniform. Wearing a uniform would have been soul-crushing for me. The idea that girls should wear one thing and boys another didn't sit right with me, either. Their rumaki reo [language immersion] was the other attraction, because not only would I be learning in a Mäori environment, but also I'd be learning te reo Māori.

How did that lead to a career in outdoor education?

We had a really cool PE teacher who took us on amazing adventures. One time, we camped out at Whatipu on Auckland's west coast. Many of us had never been to a black-sand beach before or seen the sun set into the ocean. Seeing the impact that had on us as urban rangatahi Māori and how it made us feel, that was a turning point. Going on those trips also showed me that outdoor education could be an actual job.

Your business, Potiki Adventures, is an interesting marriage of tourism and social work. How did that evolve?