Te Tai Ao - Natural Environment

Over the past 60 years, the water quality has declined in many large NZ lakes, including Rotorua, Pupuke, Rotoehu, Rotoiti, Tutira and Horowhenua in the North Island, and Lakes Ellesmere (Te Waihora) and Forsyth (Wairewa) in the South Island (Rowe 2004). All of these lakes are important taonga to tangata whenua, and have served as pataka kai for many generations. These lakes have become turbid and are periodically affected by harmful algal blooms.

A new report from Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga (NPM) and Manaaki Whenua Landcare Research provides guidance for Te Ao Māori on climate change adaptation and mitigation. He huringa āhuarangi, he huringa ao: a changing climate, a changing world was produced by a multidisciplinary Māori research team working across many research institutions.

This report has been prepared for Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga as part of the summer internship programme 2018-2019. This project is titled Tangaroa Ara Rau: Whānau connections and Water Safety with a purpose to understand unique whānau connections to water and its benefit for water safety.

Throughout the summer of 2018 Terina Raureti (Ngāti Raukawa) was given the opportunity to work alongside the waka club Hauteruruku ki Puketeraki and their Tūmai Ora initiative which focused on engaging rangatahi with their pepeha through waka.

This research report has been titled Rākau-nui as an acknowledgement to the full moon phase in the Maramataka (Māori lunar calendar). Rākau-nui also represents the collected journey to which this full report has been constructed from. The Maramataka is
a repository of ancient and traditional knowledge orally handed down throughout the generations by our forebears to ensure the sustainability of a healthy environment and thus healthy people (Tawhai, 2013).

The Maramataka is a system of phases which allow Māori to construct ways to interact with the environment.

Is harakeke one key to a sustainable future for Aotearoa and, if it is, how do we utilise it to develop this sustainable future?

How can local tangata whenua be empowered to make the best decisions for sustainable management of Northland’s brown kiwi, and how can the isolated kiwi populations from Ipipiri (Eastern Bay of Islands) be managed to maintain local whakapapa and reduce the negative impact of small population sizes and inbreeding?