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2018 Innovation stories

  1. Ancestral knowledge in the classroom

    Manaaki Whenua researchers have launched a bilingual teacher guide and a student booklet in te reo aimed at teaching Māori students ancestral knowledge about fungi (hekaheka).

  2. Manaaki Whenua scientist is Zonta Science Award winner

    A love of the natural world saw Manaaki Whenua scientist Dr Jessie Prebble named the 15th Biennial Zonta Science Award winner. The award was established in 1990 by the Zonta Club of Wellington to further the status of New Zealand women in science.

  3. Soil core scanning, national inventory and monitoring

    Globally, soil scientists have turned their attention to soil carbon research to investigate how much carbon is contained in soils and how best to retain or increase soil carbon stocks. Any increase is a direct offset to greenhouse gas emissions to the atmosphere and could be accounted for in nation...

  4. Wai Ora Wai Māori app launched

    Developing a deeper understanding of the state of Māori natural food and traditional resources was the drive behind the creation of the Wai Ora Wai app.

  5. Remote sensing utilised

    Manaaki Whenua has a long history of research leadership in environmental monitoring from space, using state-of-the-art remote-sensing technologies, satellite imagery, and smart science to cost-effectively map the vegetation (land cover) across the length and breadth of New Zealand.

  6. Land Domain Report collaboration

    Manaaki Whenua contributed many of the data sets, computer models, and peer-reviewed science that underpinned the Our Land report.

  7. Combating wilding conifers

    Wilding conifers are a huge threat to New Zealand’s environment. The non-native trees, also known as wilding pines, now invade more than 1.8 million hectares of land.

  8. Honey presents golden opportunities

    Mānuka and kānuka honey are in high demand worldwide, and Manaaki Whenua is working with Māori landowners on ways to drive further value from local varieties.

  9. Te weu o te kaitiaki (the roots of the guardian)

    Manaaki Whenua has been working with the Tūhoe Tuawhenua Trust and the Ruatāhuna community to develop and test a complementary forest monitoring package that uses both mātauranga and scientific approaches in forests of importance to them.

  10. Landscape-scale predator control pays off

    Large-scale landscape predator control is a vital component of many restoration projects across the country. The Cape to City programme in Hawke’s Bay is a great example of a collaborative approach to this work to restore natural habitats and improve biodiversity, underpinned by Manaaki Whenua’s res...