Networks
Manaaki Whenua provides staff and overseas colleagues with fellowships and travel opportunities that enhance strategic and science personal networks. We actively participate in various networks and regional activities that contribute towards fostering sustainable development in New Zealand.
Fellowships enhance international networks
We supported eight staff through our Manaaki Tangata Fellowships-seven of whom spent time working with colleagues in top overseas research institutes and universities in Canada, Fiji, Samoa, the Peoples Republic of China, USA and UK. Research included impacts of major disturbances in forests, weed problems, catchment management and stakeholder engagement, stormwater initiatives in urban development, and climate change. Another staff member was awarded a Manaaki Tangata Fellowship to work on statistical modelling at a New Zealand university.
Three overseas staff from the Czech Republic, UK and USA were awarded Manaaki Whenua Fellowships to work with us here on two projects relating to climate change, and another project on a group of previously unstudied New Zealand fungi.
This year, our senior Hayward Fellowship was awarded to Professor Robert
Pitt from the University of Alabama, who worked with our Auckland staff
on stormwater modelling, treatment and management in urban areas. These
Fellowships are funded through Manaaki Whenua's NSOF allocation.
Supporting information »
The Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF)
GBIF is a global mega-science project to establish free access to the vast quantity of data on biodiversity that is held in museums and research institutions. Our Research Manager, the New Zealand representative on the GBIF Governing Board, organised the Board's ninth meeting in Wellington in October 2004.
Manaaki Whenua provides 1.43 million specimen/observation records to
the GBIF network through the New Zealand node at www.gbif.org.nz.
We are currently ranked 13th out of 132 data providers, supplying 78 million
records in total. Manaaki Whenua records originate from four of the FRST-funded
Nationally Significant Collections and Databases, speci?cally: the Allan
Herbarium, the Fungal Herbarium, the International Collection of Micro-organisms
from Plants, and the National Vegetation Survey Databank. The GBIF portal
currently provides the only method to extract and map the extensive vegetation
data for New Zealand. However, a new web portal, soon to be launched on
our website, will map this information against other, signi?cant geo-spatial
layers including topology, climate, Land Environments NZ (LENZ) and soils.
This new portal has been funded by the Terrestrial and Freshwater Biodiversity
Information System programme.
www.biodiversity.govt.nz/land/nzbs/tfbis/tfbis/
www.gbif.net
Sustainable business networks
Manaaki Whenua is an active member in a number of sustainable business
networks. We are one of the founding members of the New Zealand Business
Council for Sustainable Development. We actively participate in and support
the Sustainable Business Network. In October last year, Manaaki Whenua
sponsored the "large business" category, and helped judge the "small business"
category at the Sustainable Business Awards.
www.sustainable.org.nz/awards.asp
Regional Council Awards
We continued to work with Environment Canterbury on the biennial Resource
Management Awards. As in previous years we provided an assessor and a
judge for the "professional- institutional" category. Manaaki Whenua also
presented its own award to the Waimakariri District Council for their
Northbrook stormwater retention ponds, Io Io Whenua, which receive about
60% of Rangiora's stormwater. The Prime Minister, the Rt Hon Helen Clark,
announced all the winners at a gala lunch in October 2004.
www.ecan.govt.nz/About+Us/Awards/RMAward.htm
This year, we also provided three science specialists to help judge
Auckland Regional Council's Environmental Awards.
www.arc.govt.nz
"Future thinkers"
Staff and associates have been working with a broad range of end-users
(several central government agencies; and the tourism, education and health
sectors) to explore future scenarios for New Zealand. Encouraging people
to think with the aid of scenarios opens up new possibilities for them-they
are more able to consider far-reaching, inter-generational impacts stemming
from their decisions and the extent to which they could be contributing
to sustainable development in their organisation. This future-thinking
work has used some novel approaches, including a Future NZ game and a
100% Pure Conjecture screenplay, to engage interest and provoke conversations.
Both have been illustrated by appealing and engaging National Archives
images of 20 and 50 years ago that clearly demonstrate how differently
the future has turned out compared with the glib perceptions of several
decades ago. At the same time, these images emphasise that much of what
we have today is a consequence of decisions made back then, and how far
we have since come. The Future NZ game will be made available to the public
during 2006.
Sustainable business - publications »
He mate kāinga tahi, ka ora kāinga
rua.
One plantation risks death; more than one raises hope for survival.