Iwi values in intergrated catchment management
Demonstrating water sampling methods to local Iwi.
Case Study 4
ICM research work with Motueka iwi Te Atiawa, Ngāti Rarua and Ngāti Tama, through Tiakina Te Taiao Ltd, has attracted national attention from government and Māori groups wanting to implement collaborative science and resource management projects.
ICM researchers built a collaborative working relationship with these iwi, which the iwi acknowledge has raised their capacity and mana. This process has been documented as guidelines for anyone wanting to work with or consult with iwi, available on the ICM website.
Early in the research programme, iwi identified their priority issues as capacity building for Māori involvement in resource management, information collation for iwi management plans, defining the process for undertaking cultural impact assessments of development proposals under the RMA, improved input needed in resource consent decisions, and contaminated sites management. The iwi have developed a GIS-based information system for their knowledge (Matauranga Māori), which is now used daily for input into council resource management decision-making.
Comparative work between scientific indicators of river health and cultural indicators of river health assessed by local iwi is ongoing in the Motueka and Riwaka catchments. It shows that, together, scientifically and culturally based monitoring methods can provide an enriched and complementary understanding of freshwater systems. Each approach offers a different worldview. The two methods can be used side by side by local government, community, iwi and hapū, and research agencies – for example in regional councils’ State of the Environment monitoring of rivers.
The ICM project has highlighted the importance of the Māori cultural perspective, and its contribution and knowledge for resource management throughout New Zealand. In Te Tau Ihu (the top of the south), this can be seen by the development of their overarching iwi pan-tribal resource management committee, enhanced GIS capability in marae, and the development and incorporation of iwi capacity in environmental monitoring teams.
Garth Harmsworth
Dean Walker
Tiakina te Taiao, Nelson
dean@tiakina.co.nz