Climate change impact on Māori wellbeing and culture 'sobering' yet 'insightful'

Thursday, 21 October 2021

Pāua shells could be affected by warming sea temperatures in the coming years.

A new report highlighting the effects climate change will have on Māori in the coming decades is a “sobering” read, but it presents an opportunity to adapt.

He huringa āhuarangi, he huringa ao: A changing climate, a changing world, a multidisciplinary report from Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga (NPM) and Manaaki Whenua Landcare Research, was released on Wednesday. Created by 11 researchers from universities and organisations around the country, the report was a sweep of recent research and expert guidance rather than an exhaustive analysis.

It found that Māori wellbeing across four key areas – He Kura Taiao (living treasures), Whakatipu Rawa (Māori enterprise), He Oranga Tāngata (healthy people), Ahurea Māori, Tikanga Māori (Māori culture and practices) – would be moderately impacted by 2050, with a total of 25 risks across the four categories identified.

By 2100, the risks to ecosystems were likely to be severe, threatening Māori culture and wellbeing.

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John Reid (Te Arawa), a co-author of the study and senior research fellow from the University of Canterbury, said while the report showed a rather gloomy future, it presented an opportunity to adapt.

“We’ve got the time to adapt so we need to think about adaptation.”

He described its findings as “sobering and insightful”.

Shaun Awatere (Ngāti Porou), a senior kairangahau Māori for Landscape Policy and Governance at Manaaki Whenua Landcare Research and project lead on the report, said the 25 risks identified could make for “stark” reading, but there was always hope.

“The findings are confronting … but yet everyone still needs to believe that there's hope in order to be able to make those changes to ensure that our future generations are going to continue.

Dr Pauline Harris (Ngāti Kahungunu, Rongomaiwahine), a co-author and member of the advisory team and senior lecturer at Victoria University of Wellington, added the report was a good concise summary of relevant major climate change issues from a Māori lens.

Kōura could begin to move further south as sea temperatures warm, impacting North Island iwi who rely on it as a source of income.

Chance to take advantage of changing climate

Reid, who worked on the economic component of the study, said issues with Māori fisheries in the future stood out as an important topic.

“Māori are quite exposed in terms of where their investments sit in regard to quota.

“Māori own a lot of New Zealand Pāua, kōura and hoki quota and it looks as though those three species, in particular, are quite vulnerable to climate change.”

Ocean acidification caused the degradation of calcium on pāua and kōura shells. They were also vulnerable to small changes in water temperature, meaning temperature increases could kill them off.

“We’re just looking at sort of more … mild to moderate impacts by 2050, but then you’re starting to see the impact increasing beyond 2050.”

The species could start moving further south, presenting a problem for North Island iwi in particular, Reid said.

But despite the bad news, there was light at the end of this tunnel.

Reid said now was the time for iwi to expand into different forms of aquaculture and plan for the future. He suggested the need to invest in different technology and to think about how to take advantage of the changing climate.

“I do worry about the doom and gloom picture because it takes away people’s morale, it takes away their ability to adapt and adjust.”

He said it was important people thought: “How might we even use it to our advantage? Because we can”.

“I particularly feel for the younger generations when they’re confronted with these sorts of stories, that they need to have a positive outlook … I think there is hope and I think that needs to come out too.”

Coastal erosion presented a great risk to Māori infrastructure.

Environment degradation could undermine culture

The issue of sea-level rise threatening Māori infrastructure was also explored in the report. Researchers found some marae, papakainga and urupā (cemeteries) in low-lying areas prone to flooding might have to be relocated.

Reid said this was a major issue as most Māori cultural infrastructure was situated in areas particularly vulnerable to inundation and flooding events and the culture was “heavily embedded” within the environment.

“[If] you’re having those areas further degraded through climate change then that has this potential to undermine your culture.”

But again, this presented an opportunity.

”If you’re having areas that are becoming inundated with water, how might they be ecologically restored into wetlands? … Positive environmental outcomes … could emerge that might actually enhance culture as well.

“Māori culture is a culture that has adapted and changed over time … it too can continue to adapt and change as the climate changes.”

There was also a need to ensure mental health support was available for people dealing with the loss of their homes through coastal erosion and sea level rise, Awatere said.

Awatere hoped that any strategies responding to coastal erosion or rising sea levels, for example, didn’t only focus on humans. Any impacts humans faced, so too did animals living in the area. This element was often missing from discussions, Awatere thought.

”Adaptation planning is … taking into account not only those things that matter to humans but also the things that matter to the wide ecosystem.”

Building the groundwork

While larger reports like the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) attempted to take a multidisciplinary approach, this report appeared to be the first solely from an indigenous perspective.

Its creation was prompted by the National Climate Change Risk Assessment Framework, released last year, and the gaps acknowledged in it. Awatere said the group of researchers decided to respond to that “challenge” and went about framing the issue of risk through a kaupapa Māori lens.

“One of our aspirations is that this piece of mahi is going to help inform a national adaptation planning process,” Awatere told Stuff.

Reid added its insights could contribute to the national and international discourse on the topic of climate change and bring something “novel and new” that was uniquely New Zealand.

“I think it’s important because I think Māori do bring a really unique lens on the world, a different way, a different model of understanding how the world operates, so it offers opportunities to look at the world in a different way.

”Many lenses on the world is only going to be beneficial.”

Looking ahead, Reid hoped the gaps identified in this report would be filled by future iterations, providing a “richer and deeper” understanding to get a better idea of the strategies that needed to be employed to protect the most vulnerable.

Awatere agreed and said the gaps stemmed from a lack of detail on smaller scales. He said broad statements around droughts and wet periods didn’t cut it when trying to create specific adaptation plans.

“What might be the potential risks that some of our marae, wahi tapu and other culturally significant areas might face?

“There’s a greater need to do further work in this space in order to identify what might be those potential risks for people in those communities.”

He said the intent of this report was to help provide iwi and hapu with a starting point for when they began their own adaptation planning, and started engaging with local government and other authorities on the matter.