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2024 News

  1. Losing our edges: why reserves need to be bigger

    Native shrublands were once common across the Canterbury Plains, but over time, conversion of land to other uses including irrigated pasture have contributed to their gradual decline. Now, a new study by scientists at Manaaki Whenua - Landcare Research has found that spillover of nutrients and water...

  2. Zooming out for a better view of the freshwater policy landscape

    It’s not easy being a policy-maker. The world has more humans on it than it has ever had, we are hitting environmental limits and thresholds, systems are complex, and system changes have effects that are difficult to predict.

  3. Root and branch: the importance of Aotearoa’s mangroves

    Mangrove forests conjure images of lush, hot tropical swamps rich with life: wading birds such as herons or spoonbills, crabs skittering across the mud, lizards and snakes, and somewhere perhaps the flick of a crocodile’s tail as it launches into the water. Although we don’t have the snakes or the c...

  4. Helping Māori to make informed decisions about their whenua

    There is a Tiriti obligation on the part of agencies and institutions, local government and central government to include mana whenua as part of any climate change adaptation approach, plan or policy.

  5. He Awa Ora, He Tāngata Ora: Healthy Rivers, Healthy Communities

    Kairangahau Māori Jade Hyslop leads He Awa Ora, He Tāngata Ora, a project investigating how the study of river shapes and patterns can help Māori-led catchment restoration strategies.

  6. Whenua Koiora: Resilient restoration of wetlands informed by mātauranga-ā-hapū

    Kairangahau Māori Mahuru Wilcox leads Whenua Koiora, a project involving kaitiaki Māori to identify climate change impacts on wetland restoration projects.

  7. He Ngahere, He Korowai: Resilient land-use strategies for whenua Māori

    Senior researcher Dr Suzanne Lambie leads He Ngahere, He Korowai, a project focused on identifying resilient land uses on highly erosion-prone

    whenua Māori (Māori land).

  8. Carbon stocks – can ryegrass be beaten?

    Around the world, soils under managed grasslands hold a lot of carbon: up to 22% of all land-based carbon stocks. How the land is managed affects whether these soils gain, lose, or keep their carbon – and historically, much carbon has been lost as natural ecosystems have been converted into grassla...

  9. Using bird data for better urban planning

    One of Manaaki Whenua’s strengths as an organisation is that it is a great synthesiser – bringing diverse people, information and thinking together to create impact for Aotearoa New Zealand.

  10. Metal detectors: a new geochemical atlas for Aotearoa

    Thanks in part to experts in soil contamination from Manaaki Whenua, Aotearoa New Zealand now has its first ever Geochemical Atlas, providing a baseline of concentrations of elements in our near-surface soil.