MANIAPOTO CULTURAL ASSESSMENT FRAMEWORK

A multi-year project undertaken by Maniapoto Maori Trust Board and NIWA to create better understanding of environmental issues for Maniapoto marae and whanau has been completed.

The project was a three-year piece of work to build the capacity and capability for Maniapoto by delivering marae based wānanga. These wānanga delivered opportunities for Kaitiaki to learn and explore issues related to land use activities and associated environmental effects on the awa. It also enabled whanau to learn and adopt a suite of tools associated with freshwater fisheries monitoring and water quality monitoring using both cultural frameworks and scientific methods.

The Waikato River Authority has supported the wider project through two funding rounds in 2017 and 2018 with total funding of $157,000. The project has also seen the development of Cultural Health Indicators of several of Maniapoto Marae.