Week 7 Module Notes

Restoring Mauri - Interview with A/Prof Dan Hikuroa

  • Mauri - A Maori concept meaning life-supporting capacity, a sense of balance, vitality, and ecosystem health

  • Partnership between scientists and Nagti Whatua Orakei at Okahu Bay to restore Mauri

  • Okahu Bay Pollution History - Human waste oused to be stored and flushed into the bay, damaging its health

  • Community Concern - Decline in marine life near boats suggested possible contamination

Scientific Investigation

  • Used mass spec to confirm contamination

  • High levels of copper, lead, zinc - Toxic

  • Evidence led to boats removed from bay

Integration of Knowledge

  • Western science provides quantitative validation

  • Matauranga Maori framed the question and provided context

Mussel Restoration project

  • Reintroduce mussle beds for ecological restoration

  • Mussels filter water, improve biodiversity, and restore mauri

Okahu Bay Restoration Project

  • Focus on community-led restoration driven by Ngati Whatua Orakei, restore mauri of the bay

  • Acknowledged past injustices and seeks intergenerational healing

  • Return of fish species, clearer water

  • Health indicators include people collecting seafood again

Kawau Bay Mussel Restoration

  • Community Collaboration is key

  • Mauri Revitalization - Goal is a thriving, flourishing ocean for future generations

  • Radical collabiration seen as a key solution to marine degradation

Vision Matauranga - Ohiwa Harbour

  • Scientists ocollaborated with Kaumatua to identify traditional mussel beds

  • 112 million mussels (2007) to 80,00 (2019)

  • New mussel beds forming naturally

Phosphorus and Food Security

  • Phosphorus is essential for lifie

  • Food security is under threat due to population growth, degraded land, etc

  • Phosphorus has no substituite in agriculture

  • Phosphorus overuse casues environmental damage

  • Sustainable solutions include recycling phosphorus from waste, imporving fertalizer efficeincy

Waka Taurua

  • Indigenous knowledge offers holistic and value-driven insights that highlight aspects between people, environment, and well-being

  • The Waka Taurua framework uses the metaphor of a double-hulled canoe to represent 2 distinct knowledge systems (Maori, and non-Maori)

  • The framework emphasises the principles of balance, respect, and reciporocity, acknowledging strengths and weaknesses of each knowledge systems

Norms and Science

  • Scientific norms like replicability and generalizability are central to building credible and relevant knowledge

  • Norms shape how science is practiced, which questions are asked/valued

  • Science is a social activity, influenced by the values and priorities of the communities that fund and support it

  • Critical reflection on scientific priorities is essential