2024 Successful projects

Te Horo i Whakakotahi a Pūtōrino e Rua is a collaboration between Rangitīkei iwi, regional council, and researchers to explore the social and environmental implications of the 1855 landslide dam outburst flood in the Rangitīkei Valley. Rangitīkei Mātauranga-a-iwi will complement western science to extend our record of natural hazard events beyond the limited extent of European settlement and written history. Research outputs will inform mātauranga-based landuse management decisions to build resilient Rangitīkei communities, promote mātauranga and science amongst rangatahi, and build capability within partner organisations to support ongoing collaborations.

Māori have inhabited low-lying floodplains and coastal areas for generations, developing a deep cultural and spiritual connection with the whenua. Prior to European arrival, Māori moved with the seasons for kai gathering purposes and constantly adapted to the dynamic conflict between Tāne Mahuta, Tāwhirimātea and Tangaroa. Harnessing the mātauranga passed down through the generations will inform modern society’s ability to meet the challenge of climate change.

Extreme natural disasters are becoming more common as a result of climate change. This challenge affects people around the world and is highlighted in Aotearoa by the damage from Cyclone Gabrielle, one of the worst storms to hit the country in living history. As a society, we need to decide whether to stand and defend our turangawaewae or accept the power of nature and begin managed retreat.

Our work is guided by a He Awa Whiria approach, gathering targeted landscape information through precision surveys to characterise the whenua around Pūtōrino. Iwi inform tikanga, facilitating access to awa, whenua and mātauranga. Cataloguing oral history, landscape information and historic documentation through a Rangitīkei Mātauranga-a-iwi lens will inform treaty settlement and policies that consider both scientific and indigenous concepts and provide opportunities for scientists and indigenous communities to act as environmental advocates, supporting the collective enactment of kaitiakitanga.

This VMCF funding supports a unique mātauranga Māori scoping project to return traditionally woven sails to voyaging waka inspired by the recent return of Te Rā, the last traditionally woven Māori sail in existence, from the British Museum to Aotearoa. Te Rā’s short term return to Aotearoa created a rare opportunity for weaving and waka experts to exchange knowledge, confirming a collective aspiration to revitalize sail weaving technology and return woven sails to waka – a phenomena not seen on Aotearoa for over 150 years.

This 1-year scoping project will develop an R&D plan that will lead to the creation and testing of innovative modern textiles, using traditional weaving techniques to create resilient woven sails for voyaging waka. A relationship with the RSI sector opens new opportunities to both revitalize our traditional weaving art forms while also considering opportunities to innovate and progress mātauranga Māori, for example exploring the use of new woven textiles and traditional weaving methods.

2 x 3-day wānanga with raranga and waka experts, computer modellers and textile engineers will be held - the first being in June at the Auckland Museum where Te Rā will be exhibited until July 2024. The mātauranga Māori woven into Te Rā compels us to not only replicate its mastery using harakeke, but to take up modern technology and innovate, as our ancestors have done before us. Previous data gathered from foundational research on Te Rā and the expertise shared by waka voyagers and weaving experts, will help to computer model the shape, tensile strength and durability of potential innovative woven textiles.

Ideas, aspirations, challenges, and opportunities shared in wānanga will be collated and analysed to develop an R&D plan for future collaborative funding between mātauranga Māori – RSI. This kaupapa Māori led project is supported by Toi Māori.

As descendants of Tangaroa, iwi Māori have a right and obligation to hauhake (harvest) which is underpinned by tikanga, kaitiakianga and manaakitanga. Identity as iwi Māori relies on sustaining a living relationship with Tangaroa and providing manaakitanga to all people, by providing kaimoana which is bountiful and safe. We are facing an increasing number of food safety risks associated with hauhake kaimoana and the severity of the health impacts range from mild gastrointestinal upsets through to serious illness and, in extreme cases, death. When iwi Māori are unable to safely gather kaimoana it diminishes mana, capacity to manaaki (demonstrate hospitably), and connection to Tangaroa, a living ancestor.

The project will create connection between iwi Māori and the science sector, combining the science of food safety with indigenous knowledge. The goal is to empower kaitiaki with the tools, knowledge and networks to fulfil their aspirations to ensure hauhake kaimoana from their rohe is safe to consume. The science focus will be on a dangerous class of marine toxins known as paralytic shellfish toxins, which cause serious illness when present at high levels in consumed shellfish. Rapid testing tools, similar to those used for home COVID testing, will be provided to project partners, with training and ongoing support provided. Opportunities will be created for kaitiaki to learn about kaimoana food safety, and share their learnings with others, including kaitiaki and rangatahi from across the motu.

The project involves ngā iwi Te Arawa-ki-Tai, Te Whānau-a-Tauwhao te Hapū, and Te Ātiawa o Te Waka-a-Māui working together with researchers from Cawthron Institute. Robust science will support this project which has 2 strands; training and deployment of a rapid testing kit for paralytic shellfish toxins; and establishing a forum for kaitiaki to share ideas, discuss challenges and new perspectives.

Toheroa (Paphies ventricosa) are a taonga species with immense cultural and spiritual value for Ngāi Takoto and other iwi of Te Hiku ō te Ika a Maui (Te Hiku).

Little science research supports the mātauranga around why a once abundant mahinga kai has disappeared. Research that builds around the mātauranga, can help quantify necessary actions to restore the toheroa to their unique habitat at Te Oneroa a Tohe. A dual knowledge approach can support the toheroa to once again grow, flourish and sustain whānau, hapū and iwi.

Te Hiku iwi - Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Takoto Trust (Ngāi Takoto) and Cawthron Institute (Cawthron) propose to advance taiao-science research into the biology and ecology of toheroa. This will provide new knowledge on how to support revitalisation of Te Toheroa in Ngāi Takoto's takiwā.

Distinctively, a Rangatahi project team (5) will lead this Connect, guided by Ngāi Takoto and an influential project champion. Partner, Cawthron Institute provides world-class expertise and knowledge.

The partners will focus aligning the mātauranga with taiao and aquaculture research, to support toheroa revitalisation, through hikoi, hui, wānanga, exchange: in-situ, and in-vivo laboratory experiments.

The partners aspire to catalyse new knowledge and taiao restoration, to support re-establishment of a treasured mahinga kai, and potentially, in the future, restore a valuable commercial fishery.

The key contact for this project is Wiremu Marsden - wiremu.marsden@ngaitakotoiwi.co.nz

Our study is a community-led research project between Papatūānuku Kōkiri Marae, Waipapa Taumata Rau - The University of Auckland and Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi.

The idea of our project comes from the fact that concerns about wellbeing and mental health are an issue for many Māori in Aotearoa New Zealand and that safe spaces are urgently needed for whānau to feel heard, understood and supported. Normally, the ways to understand a person's wellbeing comes through questionnaires and assessments that are based on Western ideas of wellbeing which is often limited in usefulness and relevance to Māori worldviews, Māori culture and lived realities of communities. This is why the aim of this research project is to create and test a novel Indigenous wellbeing assessment tool, led by the community of Papatūānuku Kōkiri Marae.

With this project, our goals are to engage with the diverse community of Papatūānuku Kōkiri Marae in Māngere/South Auckland to get a better understanding of what wellbeing means from a Māori and Indigenous perspective. As part of this project, we will train community members in research skills with the support of Māori experts and community leaders. We will hold wānanga with the wider marae community to create a novel digital wellbeing assessment tool which is designed in a way that is meaningful for whānau. We will then interview several members of the community to see how well the tool works for them and to get a better understanding of their wellbeing. We will share the findings of our research widely with the community.

With this research project, our aspirations are to grow community leadership and self-determination, to use Indigenous knowledge and innovation to achieve healthy, sustainable, growing and thriving communities.

The technology of tension and compression in construction is ubiquitous across the Pacific. Boats were microcosms of the application of tension and compression which enabled oceanic voyaging with outrigger waka evolving in a dynamic response to the sea. The architectural creation myth of Aotearoa states that our first whare were based on these overturned waka yet with little further scholarship as to how such whare might have adapted to this new environment.

Likewise whare evolved as a dynamic response to a ground rendered liquid by earthquakes and howled by winds. The traditional technology of mīmiro stabilised the whare's interconnected elements of poupou, heke and tāhuhu through post-tensioning. Like the trimming of a sail, mīmiro pulled the house towards the ground. It used timber rafters that weren’t straight but cambered and adzed into shape. Such carving was more structural than ornamental. For East Coast Māori carving thus arose from the sea, from the god Tangaroa.

In this project we apply mātauranga whakairo to new offsite timber fabrication techniques and use structural software to model and analyse, design and report on its structural performance. By focusing on the forgotten structural tradition of carving, we produce both artistically and culturally appropriate outcomes and develop our understanding of the principal elements of whare and their interconnectivity. Augmented by construction cost and cosmology, the project shows whakairo in a new technological light.

Integrating old traditions and new techniques produces innovative indigenous work. This investigation seeks a new type of structure, neither pin nor moment jointed, a hybrid frame-portal allowing for larger, clearer spans than were traditionally realised. The aspirations for mātauranga whakairo, once bound to whare, can be scaled to the warehouse with potential longer-term economic benefits from an Aotearoa-centric design whakapapa.

Ngāti Rangi will work alongside the Dame Ella Campbell Herbarium to establish a Ngāti Rangi herbarium. The herbarium is the first phase of our Southern Gateway vision to create a world-class research facility. Establishing a herbarium will provide an important opportunity for us to practise taonga species plant identifications and organising a herbarium collection for the benefit of uri.

We will be entering into the native reserves and sites of significance in the Ngāti Rangi area through Te Pae Ao. We will collect samples from the ngahere, to document and identify the plants we have in our rohe. These plants will be monitored using our Ngahere ora app to ensure the mouri of the ngahere is maintained.

Te Pae Ao is a critical element of the conservation partnership framework between Ngāti Rangi and the Crown. Te Pae Ao is a joint committee established by the Ngāti Rangi Claims Settlement Act as the administering body of the following:

• Kiokio Conservation Area
• Mangaehuehu Scenic Reserve
• Mangateitei Road Conservation Area
• Ngā Roto-o-Rangataua Scenic Reserve
• Raketapauma Conservation Area
• Raketapauma Scenic Reserve
• Rangataua Conservation Area
• Rangataua No.2 Conservation Area
• Rangataua Scenic Reserve

The Ngahere Ora app is a Kaupapa Māori assessment tool to measure the oranga of mahinga kai holistically. The tool allows whānau to measure and restore the mauri of mahinga kai.

Research is needed to:

• To maintain and enhance the mouri of the reserve sites:
• To enhance and give expression to the relationship of Ngāti Rangi and our kawa, tikanga and ritenga with indigenous flora and fauna, enabling us to discharge our kaitiakitanga duties
• to help whānau prioritise activities for restoration programmes by analysis of the data
• to build a repository of our taonga species.

The key beneficiaries of the research are Ngāti Rangi uri; students of science, ecology, and environmental disciplines.

Ko te Awarua o Porirua te mana mauri o Ngāti Toa Rangatira - Ngāti Toa Rangatira defined, led and delivered with the support of science knowledge partners, for us and for our tamariki, mokopuna who are to follow.

Te Awarua o Porirua (Porirua Harbour) is the physical, spiritual, and cultural manifestation of Ngāti Toa Rangatira and is a tupuna taiao feature that Ngāti Toa Rangatira cultural identity emulates from. It has sustained and served Ngāti Toa Rangatira with both spiritual, physical and economic abundance nō mai anō, nō mai anō [for generations]. However, in recent decades the mauri ora of Te Awarua o Porirua has been significantly harmed by human activity, which has had a significant imapct on the mauri. Ngāti Toa Rangatira as kaitiaki of Te Awarua o Porirua are determined to revitalise the mauri ora of the harbour environment so it can once again sustain, provide an abundance of physical, cultural and economic mauri ora for the iwi into the future.

This project promotes a wider view with a shared vision based on thriving environmentally connected communities populated by healthy and thriving people who are culturally strong. We know that hauora can only be achieved when we factor in; physical, spiritual, environmental, heritage, community and our unique cultural elements. This hauora vision will be achieved through growing and bringing Ngāti Toa tikanga and kawa to the fore across all aspects of this programme coupled with enhancing the effiacay of mātauranga Ngāti Toa Rangatira. This approach will be supported by leveraging science knowledge and services from science partners ESR and University of Canterbury.

Aotearoa has squandered our water resources through our obsession with agriculture. The revised National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management (2020) (NPSFM) again emphasises the importance of tangata whenua to the management of waterways with an overarching framework of Te Mana o te Wai that should now place the health of the awa as the paramount goal of any resource management activities. This provides one of the strongest positions to date for tangata whenua to effectively contribute to a future where water resources are more fairly and effectively managed for both the environment, tangata whenua and wider society. However, the effectiveness of the contribution from tangata whenua is compromised by challenges of funding, capability and western science expertise. We need more effective protocols for tangata whenua to better understand the huge amount of information available for many awa and what aspects of awa management will best meet their goals for their awa.

We plan to develop a methodology (tikanga) for how iwi/hapū could most efficiently compile together existing data on their awa and/or set up monitoring programs to better inform the state of their valued freshwater resources. We would develop a GIS based Artificial Intelligence decision support tool to allow them to better understand what management options could be most effective and/or affordable to improve their target values. We also plan to develop protocols for how they can translate those environmental desires for their awa into NPSFM attribute states that will help with communicating their requirements for the awa to other stakeholders such as the Regional Council.

Waitiaki ki Uta, Waitiaki ki Tai is a project that allows Rangatahi to test out the latest Water Quality monitoring technology while supporting them to gain knowledge and skills in scientific research, traditional observation techniques and Maramataka Maaori (the Maaori lunar calendar). This Kaupapa is a collaboration between Te Pu-a-nga Maara – a Rangatahi led collective of Taiao innovators, Digital Sensing Limited – a research and development company, and Dr Leonie Jones – a local Maori Scientist. It is informed by the aspirations of Mana Whenua and was born out of the need to not only address issues surrounding water contamination, monitoring and compliance, but to also acknowledge the importance of localised ancestral knowledge and practices in guiding scientific taiao innovations. With a focus on monitoring Puhinui Stream, observing local environmental indicators and aligning these to Maramataka, Waitiaki ki Uta, Waitiaki ki Tai aims to test the effect of run off, track the impact of restoration mahi, revive the traditional practice of tirotiro and reestablish a localised lunar calendar for the area. It is about having our Rangatahi involved and learning at every step of the research process; it is about giving them the opportunity to connect with the science and innovation system; it is about letting them share their expertise and lead in bringing maatauranga maaori to the forefront of environmental research and mahi tiaki Taiao. Through Waitiaki ki Uta, Waitiaki ki Tai we hope to build the capacity and capability of our Rangatahi, whaanau, marae, hapuu and iwi to undertake Kaupapa maaori research informed by mana whenua aspirations, led by local ancestral knowledge, and translated into action for our Taiao.

The impacts of climate change are already evident across Aotearoa and have had major effects in Ngāti Rārua rohe with civil defence emergency declarations for flooding, extreme weather and wildfire. Climate change is an existential threat to Ngāti Rārua taonga tuku iho, our taiao, whānau wellbeing and business interests. As such Ngāti Rārua Climate Change Strategy 2023 purpose is to protect, strengthen, and enhance the taonga tuku iho of Ngāti Rārua and secure the continued wellbeing and prosperity of Ngāti Rārua whānau and marae through the impacts of climate change. One component of the strategy is to work proactively and collaboratively to better understand the science alongside the mātauranga of Ngāti Rārua.

Ngāti Rārua will draw on the lessons and achievements of our tupuna, as they faced unprecedented changes. The research project will be grounded in the knowledge, histories, pūrakau and experiences of Ngāti Rārua whānau from the heke of Ngāti Rārua tupuna to Te Tauihu which strengthens our contributions to inform and guide environmental management responses to the challenges of climate change. Our partners will provide the scientific knowledge and evidence that will sit alongside Ngāti Rārua māturanga. Combined, the impact and long term benefits will better prepare us all for what will be faced for our mokopuna today and into the future. 

Building resilience and capacities to respond to climate change, identifying and maximising opportunities for innovation, and extending partnerships and networks to build capacity and skillsets are needed so that Ngāti Rārua are enabled to determine and implement the necessary responses. In order to be effective, these responses must be specific to each rohe, and our partners are pivotal to this journey.

As Ngāti Rārua last recognised chief of the Wairau rohe said in the 1924

"There will be no benefits should we foolishly sit idle"

The Whaingaroa forest is a diverse ngahere on the east coast of Te Tai Tokerau, and an excellent example of temperate coastal rainforest containing kauri, tawa, and tōtara, and taonga bird species including kiwi and kūkupa (New Zealand pigeon). The forest was heavily logged in the 19th and 20th centuries, with parts burned or converted to farmland, so that the current vegetation is a mix of old-growth and secondary forest. There have been substantial impacts from non-native plants and mammals, and kauri dieback is present. Fortunately, the future of the forest looks positive, with a group of kaitiaki from Ngatirua whānau whānui formed to oversee the ngahere, and baseline survey data collected to prepare for its future.

This proposal seeks to establish a relationship between Tau Iho I Te Po Trust and Manaaki Whenua – Landcare Research to produce a baseline map of vegetation and taonga species for the forest’s future kaitiakitanga, and to develop protocols around data sovereignty issues pertaining to hapū. This work will use field survey data to improve understanding of where taonga species occur. It will produce fine-scale vegetation and bird maps delineating taonga hotspots and species interaction networks of the ngahere, for presentation at wānanga. These maps will assist in optimising taonga species management, including sites where species co-occur and potentially interact. Data sovereignty is an emerging issue for Māori. This work will contribute to the development of best practice protocols to ensure the needs of hapū are met when handling emerging data sources (e.g. plant and bird location data, remote sensing data), including their inclusion in online databases and visualisation tools (e.g. iNaturalist, eBird) and the socialisation of Māori data sovereignty.

The research will be conducted over 1 year (June 2024–May 2025) involving the Tau Iho I Te Po Trust and researchers from MWLR.

Totara holds a special place for Māori, through our pūrākau, our whakapapa and our practices. It is especially important to our carvers (kaitā), who treasure its form, ability to be carved and its natural properties. Yet in our modern world, we know there is a growing demand for native wood products, including totara, and that our native species are slower growing. Our legislative regime is also protective of native species, making it harder to access totara and other native species Te Taonga and Scion have partnered to collate knowledge in support of our taiao and the longer-term wellbeing of totara. Our research will share the experiences of carvers and science to confirm innovative approaches, techniques and bionased materials to innovate carving practices and in doing so, reduce the burden on totara and impacts on our ngahere. This includes researching alternative timbers for carving, bio-based treatments, the benefits of lamination, and incorporation of modern technologies into design processes. This is an opportunity for an integrated mātauranga and science approach to support and innovate the practices of kaitā, and to support the longer-term wellbeing of totara and our ngahere. Through the intersection of two worlds, we want to reduce the impacts on totara and our ngahere, and find new, sustainable and innovative practices can emerge.

Recent shifts across the RS&T sector to be more inclusive and diverse, largely through the recognition of Te Tiriti o Waitangi 1840, the demand and need for Māori participation across this sector increased almost exponentially and quite abruptly. The methods and reasoning for some of these engagements have led to undesirable interactions and unintended consequences for all parties, and with Te Ara Paerangi on the horizon there is a need to review and refine engagement processes and cultural participation across the RS&T sector.

This VMCF placement project connects Bioprotection Aotearoa; a national Centre of Research Excellence (CoRE) and Tahuri Whenua; the National Māori Vegetable Growers Network, and collectivises their experience working across the RS&T and Māori horticulture sectors (respectively). Through working collaboratively there is a real opportunity to facilitate and improve Māori participation and inclusion across the RS&T sector, first focussing across the bioprotection and crop protection spectrums. This will be achieved through TW and BA working collaboratively as trusted partners to co-design processes and resources that are mutually beneficial. It is intended that these tools and outcomes could be adopted and adapted wider across the RS&T and Māori horticulture sectors.

The project will place a representative from Kānuka Charitable Trust into Te Kotahi Research Institute at the University of Waikato to investigate key issues relating to research and development in Aotearoa. The project will look at how significant compliance or non-compliance with the Nagoya Protocol is for businesses and research organisations in Aotearoa, and how the Protocol relates to common concerns around Māori ownership, access and benefit sharing in the utilisation of indigenous organisms and IP derived from them.

Our research, led by Owhaoko B&D Trust in partnership with the New Zealand Flora Seed Bank (NZFSB), aims to bridge the gap between science and mātauranga Māori using seed banking, to preserve the taonga flora biodiversity within the Mōkai Pātea whenua administered by the Trust. This whenua belongs to Ngāti Tamakōpiri, Ngāti Whitikaupeka and Ngāti Whiti Tama.

The Mōkai Pātea whenua is rich in biodiversity, housing our taonga plant species and ecosystems. However, conservation challenges are intensifying due to environmental changes. An ecological assessment published in 2009 identified populations of rare and/or threatened native plants that are regionally uncommon, sparse, or declining. Additionally, three ecologically concerning weed species were identified, posing threats to the native plant community as well as grazing and animal pests hindering native plant regeneration efforts. These factors, compounded by climate change, synergistically threaten our taonga flora biodiversity, requiring a proactive long-term preservation strategy. We aim to foster a partnership between our iwi and the scientific community, merging traditional knowledge with technical expertise.

Seed banking is a critical insurance strategy for ensuring the ongoing preservation of taonga plant species. Through a two-year placement, we will host the NZFSB to develop innovative strategies to conserve and manage our biodiversity effectively.

We anticipate several outcomes from this partnership based on these key themes:

• Facilitating knowledge exchange and capacity building to enhance biodiversity conservation practices within our iwi,
• Re-evaluating the well-being of taonga flora species and biodiversity within our whenua,
• Weaving scientific knowledge with mātauranga Māori in a holistic approach, exemplified through an integrated conservation management strategy model.

The primary beneficiaries are Ngāti Tamakōpiri, Ngāti Whitikaupeka, and Ngāti Whiti Tama, who will gain enhanced preservation capabilities. Additionally, the wider community, researchers, and environmentalists will benefit from our collaborative approach, potentially serving as a model for similar projects nationwide.