December 29, 2021
Matauranga tracked as Ngati Awa traps possums
TAGS: Ngati Awa, Predator Free 2050, Korehāhā Whakahau, possums, Jobs For Nature
Adam Gifford
A Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Awa’s possum eradication project has received a funding boost that means lessons can be shared with other iwi.
Korehāhā Whakahau was Predator Free 2050 Ltd’s first iwi-led landscape project when it was launched a year ago.
PF2050 Ltd has now secured a further $300,000 from the government’s Jobs for Nature programme for on an 18-month project to research mātauranga pertaining to the biodiversity and unique landscape in the eastern Bay of Plenty.
Science director Dan Tompkins says Korehāhā Whakahau will measure the well-being of the taiao according to the cultural and environmental values of Ngāti Awa and then develop written and audio-visual resources which can help other Predator Free 2050 projects and organisations.
“This funding is through Products to Projects initiative and the results will be integral for predator eradication projects’ work with mana whenua, and the use of new tools and technology guided by mātauranga,” he says.
Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Awa Taiao manager Michal Akurangi says the iwi is working on ways to eradicate possums across about 4700 hectares in ways that do not rely on using toxins.
“Through this project we want to build the capability and capacity of Ngāti Awa iwi and hapū in the biodiversity and biosecurity sector. We wouldn’t be able to do this without building, growing and fostering our knowledge systems and the connection our people have to the whenua,” she says.
“We want to be able to introduce mātauranga indicators to understand the changes to the health of the ngāhere and whenua. This funding boost from PF2050 has provided us with an opportunity to employ our own researchers to explore this area so we can comprehensively say that our project has been successful because species that were endemic to our rohe and important to our people are thriving.”
Three researchers are set to start with the project in the new year.