Amiria Tikao explores marae-led responses to climate change.

In 2023, the eighteen Papatipu Rūnanga of Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu were brought together on the 25th year anniversary of the Ngāi Tahu Settlement for a climate change symposium.^[1] With pakeke and rangatahi representing each Rūnanga, the symposium was a place for our people to discuss what former Kaiwhakahaere Lisa Tumahai called “the biggest challenge of our lifetime – climate change”. Of the eighteen marae across our takiwā, sixteen of them are at risk of climate induced hazards. My own whakapapa extends across most of Te Pātaka o Rākaihautū (Banks Peninsula). All five of the marae where I was raised are on that list.^[2] 

The depressing reality of climate change is a fire fuelled by the threat of losing our papakāinga, by the impacts being felt across Aotearoa and the capitalist rhetoric driving legislation to ‘fast-track’ profit at the cost of the environment. It’s not hard to feel hopeless. However, our marae urge optimism. Across the takiwā, the eighteen Papatipu Rūnanga have been busy. From adaptation and mitigation plans and joint ventures, to co-governance schemes and eco-marae, the Papatipu Rūnanga have been active in their responses to climate change. 

Ōnuku is one of my marae on the Banks Peninsula, sitting on the remnants of a reserve carved out for the Ngāi Tahu people who lived in and around Akaroa after Kemp’s Deed.^[3] The impacts of climate change on Ōnuku and its people, like all marae on Te Pātaka o Rākaihautu, can be understood by an explanation of its colonial past and geographical location. Put simply, the marae are located on the edge of the coast close to the water, and each face the severe threat of coastal hazards: coastal erosion, sea level rise, coastal flooding and rising groundwater.^[4] All confront the possibility of managed retreat in the not-so-distant future; some, such as Taumutu, having already shifted their kāika once or twice before.^[5] 

The Ōnuku marae climate change adaptation and mitigation plan is named Te Kori a te Kō, “a name that is inspired by our past. It reaches back into our origin stories and gives voice to our special connection to the whenua and moana”.^[6] Recently presented at the Ngāi Tahu climate change symposium, it will soon be a keynote presentation at the World Congress for the International Federation of Landscape Architects in Istanbul this year. The theme of the Congress is “Code Red”, focused on climate change adaptation.^[7]

Te Kori a te Kō encapsulates five projects centred on Akaroa Harbour where Ōnuku is located. The Harbour is described as “the compass, teacher, and guide” for the kaupapa. Whānau resilience and hauora is at the heart of the plan. Each project has been “designed to build knowledge of climate change whilst physically engaging in shaping a more resilient future”.^[8] For Ōnuku, ecological restoration is as much about restoring the links between Māori and the land as it is about restoring the natural environment itself.

In January of 2024, the Rūnanga hosted the first of five climate change adaptation wānanga over three days at Ōnuku marae. As stated by the Rūnanga environment portfolio, what “we have discovered is that action empowers people. By ‘doing’, people are more engaged and feel more positive about making a difference”. The event brought together whānau, Western scientists, freshwater ecologists, mātauranga and rongoā experts, geomorphologists and community leaders to work on a range of kaupapa. The wānanga aimed to grow knowledge and relationships through workshops, discussion panels and activities, such as learning how to dually monitor streams using Western ecology and mātauranga frameworks.^[9] 

In collaboration with EOS Ecology and Environment Canterbury, one of the Te Kori a te Kō projects is formulating stream catchment management plans. This project seeks to identify threats and opportunities to build capacity in mahinga kai and plan for future change. One of the aims is to build a deeper understanding of the mahinga kai value of the local streams to the marae. Stream catchment booklets we made at the wānanga capture the story, cultural context and issues of each stream.

Another project, the Kākāno programme, focuses on māra kai (gardens) with the overarching goal of ensuring food security at the marae and in the homes of whānau. The Kākāno programme includes the implementation of physical gardens on the marae, and research for new potential food security opportunities.

The re-cloaking of Papatūānuku aspect of the plan encapsulates projects which are already underway. Takapūneke Reserve and Akaroa wastewater are two ‘on-the-ground’ examples of ecological restoration projects carried out in partnership with Christchurch City Council (“CCC”), Environment Canterbury and local communities. The Akaroa wastewater plant is located on Takapūneke Reserve, a recognised wāhi tapu of significant importance to Ōnuku and Ngāi Tahu. Ōnuku has worked together with different government agencies and local community groups to move this wastewater plant. CCC now states that “[i]t is… widely acknowledged that the construction of a wastewater treatment plant at this site was an act of particular cultural insensitivity”. The plant is being rebuilt away from the wāhi tapu of Takapūneke.^[10] The other half of this project is Takapūneke Reserve itself, which Ōnuku co-governs with the CCC.  This group’s goal is to revive the mauri and mana of the site through ecological restoration, recognising “the Rūnanga’s historic cultural, social and spiritual connection to the land”.^[11]

The research feasibility project encapsulates “restoring the mauri of Akaroa… with profitable Ōnuku economies”.^[12] Working with a range of different bodies, the Rūnanga has been considering investment opportunities which will assist with the restoration of the natural environment, such as kelp farming and Hinemoana Halo, an ‘indigenous-led blue nature market’.^[13]

The five cornerstones of Te Kori a te Kō are exciting and innovative, and keep us rooted in our mātauranga and tikanga. As stated by the Rūnanga, it “is from [our] deep and rich well of history that we look to the past to define our future”.^[14] The plan is stated to have “[flipped] climate change adaptation planning on its head”, integrating bottom-up and top-down frameworks, and importantly, starting with action.^[15] In the wise words of my māmā, one of the architects behind this plan, “perhaps the future… is a whāriki, a woven mat which weaves together all the knowledge of the past, equally representing two world views in order to forge a future which demonstrates a deep knowledge and respect for the natural world”.^[16] 

In this turbulent world we live in, it is vital to hold tight to the stories of success. This work is just a glimpse into what is being done, and what is to come. I am immensely proud to be a part of this mahi, to hīkina te mānuka of my pōua and tāua^[17] who fought tirelessly to ensure our ahi kā did not burn out. While we protect the mauri of our whenua, we too keep our fires lit: mō tātou, ā, mō kā uri ā muri ake nei – for us and our children after us.

Ngā kupu āpiti - Notes

[1] Ngāi Tahu “Ngāi Tahu marks 25 years since Settlement” (25 October 2023) Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu <ngaitahu.iwi.nz>.

[2] Lisa Tumahai “Climate change - ‘challenge of our lifetime’ - Ngāi Tahu” (1 October 2023) Radio New Zealand <rnz.co.nz>.

[3] Harry Evison The Ngai Tahu Deeds: A window on New Zealand history (Canterbury University Press, Christchurch, 2006).

[4] Tonkin & Taylor Ltd Coastal Hazard Assessment for Christchurch District (Summary report prepared for Christchurch City Council, September 2021) at 3.

[5] Te Taumutu Rūnanga. “Climate Change” <tetaumuturunanga.iwi.nz>.

[6] Onuku Rūnanga “Te Kori a te Kō” <onuku.nz>.

[7] Tuia Pito Ora | New Zealand Institute of Landscape Architects “NZILA President speaking at IFLA 60th World Congress” (9 May 2024) <nzila.co.nz>.

[8] Above n 6.

[9] Above n 6.

[10] Christchurch City Council “Akaroa reclaimed water treatment and reuse scheme” <ccc.govt.nz>.

[11] Ōnuku Rūnanga and Christchurch City Council Takapūneke Reserve Management Plan (2018).

[12] Above n 6,

[13] Conservation International Aotearoa “Hinemoana Halo” <conservation.org/aotearoa>.

[14] Above n 6.

[15] Debbie Tikao “Te Kori a te Kō - Climate Change Adaptation Wānanga” (12 March 2024) Tuia Pito Ora | New Zealand Institute of Landscape Architects <nzila.co.nz>.

[16] Debbie Tikao and Huia Rereti “The Weaving of the Kākahu” in Te Kahui Whaihanga | NZIA Canterbury (ed) Shifting Foundations: Post-quake Architecture of Ōtautahi Christchurch (Freerange Press, Christchurch, 2023).

[17] Kāi Tahu mita for koroua and kuia.

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