OUR PROJECTS

Through the Wai Maori hands on fun learning programme, participants carry out standard scientific procedures to measure water quality, whilst Māori tikanga, concepts and philosophy are observed and explained. Wai Maori is a highly adaptable programme that easily links to all curriculum areas. A typical Wai Maori streamside workshop will take approximately 1 - 1.5 hours, karakia and introductory korero lead into a 30-45-minute period spent measuring clarity, temperature, and pH and searching for bug life. Bugs are identified, results assessed, to determine the health and quality of the site.

The application and practice of kaitiakitanga has become increasingly difficult for Māori due to growing pressure, exploitation, and cumulative stressors on marine resources. He Pou Tokomanawa is an iwi-led research project, facilitated by Tiakina Te Taiao and in partnership with Cawthron Institute. Our aim is to enable a pathway for mana whenua iwi, to exercise their kaitiaki role over Te Tai-o-Aorere and Mohua (Tasman and Golden Bays). We are contributing to wider ecosystem-based management (EBM) tools unique to New Zealand through a co-designed approach and robust ethics process to draw on mātauranga Māori expertise specific to our case study area.