Maori

Latest news

Matariki viewing prospects

21 June 2022

NIWA meteorologists say people living in the lower North Island and eastern South Island are likely to get the best views of the Matariki star cluster during the upcoming weekend.

Taonga Species Series: Piharau

Feature story

8 June 2021

What does science tell us about New Zealand lamprey?

Taonga Species Series: Pātiki

Feature story

28 April 2021

What does science tell us about New Zealand flounder?

Freshwater species show vulnerability to climate change

Media Release

15 September 2020

A new study has identified seven freshwater species native to Aotearoa-New Zealand that will likely be highly or very highly vulnerable to climate change.

Our work

Cultural Keystone Species

A four-year research programme focused on the co-management and restoration of our freshwater taonga species.

Recovering plants for reintroduction to Lake Ōmāpere

Three plants of an endemic submerged quillwort (Isoëtes) were recovered from Lake Ōmāpere by NIWA in 1998, prior to the lake weed (Egeria densa) dying off and the lake switching into an algal dominated turbid state. No further isoëtes plants have been observed in the lake since that time.

Maniapoto Cultural Assessment Framework

Maniapoto Māori Trust Board and NIWA worked collaboratively during 2018-19 to support Ngāti Maniapoto whānau to reconnect with and participate in the assessment of their freshwater according to their values.

Latest videos

We are NIWA, Taihoro Nukurangi

Te Kūwaha, NIWA’s National Centre for Māori Environmental Research is a dedicated Māori research team, with a vision to work in partnership with others to enable complementary knowledge systems to support kaitiakitanga and provide environmental research excellence that enhances the social, environmental and economic aspirations of whānau, hapū and iwi, Maori communities and Maori business.

Tracing tsunamis through history

Weaving whakapapa and science together to trace tsunami through history.

Matariki viewing prospects

Media Release

21 June 2022

NIWA meteorologists say people living in the lower North Island and eastern South Island are likely to get the best views of the Matariki star cluster during the upcoming weekend.

Cultural Keystone Species

A four-year research programme focused on the co-management and restoration of our freshwater taonga species.

Taonga Species Series: Piharau

Feature story

8 June 2021

What does science tell us about New Zealand lamprey?

Taonga Species Series: Pātiki

Feature story

28 April 2021

What does science tell us about New Zealand flounder?

Freshwater species show vulnerability to climate change

Media Release

15 September 2020

A new study has identified seven freshwater species native to Aotearoa-New Zealand that will likely be highly or very highly vulnerable to climate change.

We are NIWA, Taihoro Nukurangi

Maniapoto Cultural Assessment Framework

Climate Change Vulnerability Assessment (CCVA)

To prepare for changes in climate, our freshwater and oceans decision-makers need information on species vulnerability to climate change.

Building pathways

Feature story

28 July 2020

It has been a whirlwind first six months for Ngāpera Keegan and Tekiteora Rolleston-Gabel, the first two young researchers in NIWA’s newly established Māori Graduate Internship Programme.

Taonga Species Series

NIWA, through the MBIE-funded Cultural Keystone Species programme (2016-2020), have developed a series of iwi engagement booklets sharing science knowledge to support species management strategy.

Tracing tsunamis through history

Weaving whakapapa and science together to trace tsunami through history.

Scientists make break-through in saving freshwater mussels

Doctoral student, Michele Melchior, has made an important breakthrough in the effort to save New Zealand's freshwater mussels, or kākahi.

Kākahi were once a valuable food source for Māori, and they also play a crucial role as indicators of the health of waterways. All three kakahi species in New Zealand are in decline.

Scientist collects rubbish to rid river of plastics

It may be rubbish to everyone else, but to Amanda Valois each little scrap of plastic on a river bank or in a waterway tells a valuable story.

Freshwater Update 80, March 2019

Freshwater Update 80 brings you the latest information from our Freshwater & Estuaries Centre, with articles that cross a broad spectrum of freshwater research. This edition has articles about the sources of plastics in our waterways, the discovery of long-lost lake plant species and a breakthrough in research about freshwater mussels/kākahi.

Māori carvers head to Antarctica

Media Release

30 January 2019

Two Māori carvers head to Antarctica next week to complete and install a traditional carving at Scott Base, New Zealand’s headquarters on the ice.

Scientists confirm former site of Pink and White Terraces

Media Release

29 November 2018

The diary and hand-drawn maps of a nineteenth century geologist has enabled NIWA scientists to confirm the former site of the iconic Pink and White Terraces at Lake Rotomahana.

Te Huringa ki te Rangi – He Rautaki Tāwariwari. Adapting to climate change – a decision-making model for Indigenous Peoples

Te Huringa ki te Rangi is a decision-making model to support indigenous and coastal communities who are grappling to understand and evaluate climate change impacts and risks, and how to integrate these into their development plans for the future.

Hapū joins forces with NIWA in tuna research

Feature story

20 June 2017

Local hapū and NIWA are working together to find out more about juvenile freshwater eels or tuna in streams connecting to the Wairua River in the Wairoa catchment in Northland.

Erica Williams - Where the water is clean

Feature story

20 June 2017

Erica Williams' story starts with the website of Moerewa School, where pupil Tyra-Lee explains her connection to a very special place in her small Far North town.