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Annual reports

As the Crown Research Institute for our land environment and biodiversity we are dedicated to helping the people of Aotearoa New Zealand (AoNZ) understand and live well with our land.
Download Annual Report 2023 Part 1

Cover: Annual Report 2023 Part 1

The Manaaki Whenua Annual Report for the 2022/23 year is the second to reflect “Te Āpōpōtanga”, our organisational strategy for the coming years.

We present the report in two parts. Part 1 provides an overview of Manaaki Whenua, including highlights of our science and how we are building on our commitment, signed in June 2021, to uphold the principles of Te Tiriti o Waitangi in our work.

In Part 2 we present our directors' report and financial statements.

Download our 2023 reports

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Accompanying Innovation Stories 2023

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Kunzea robusta, a species of kanuka, Hawke’s Bay, c. 50 km west of Napier. Image: Thomas Mackay-Smith

Making “un-poplar” decisions: a framework for better tree choices in our hill country

Around 20% of Aotearoa New Zealand (5.2 million ha) is classed as “hill country” – much of it marginal pastoral agricultural land with lo...

Dr Scott Graham in a lucerne crop at Ashley Dene.

Managing lucerne to fix soil N

Lucerne is a widely used grazing fodder crop, and, like other legumes, is able to fix nitrogen in the soil. Well-managed lucerne is highl...

LiDAR imagery of tree crowns delineates species and crown height, enabling landslide risk to be calculated. False colour map

Getting to the root causes of soil erosion using high-res remote sensing

Soil erosion processes are notably active in Aotearoa New Zealand: our steep slopes, generally weak sedimentary rocks, and high annual ra...

Wilding conifers

Winning against Wildings – an update

Introduced conifers are the backbone of commercial forestry in Aotearoa New Zealand, worth around $5 billion a year. However, invasion of...

Metrosideros fulgens MID 011 small v2

How destructive could myrtle rust be to our trees?

Aotearoa New Zealand has 37 native Myrtaceae species, including pōhutukawa and rātā, mānuka and kānuka, ramarama and swamp maire, of whic...

Rat raiding a bird nest. Image: Ngā Manu Images

Using genomics data to unlock precision pest control

Pest control of invasive mammalian species – rats, mice, stoats, possums, and the rest – is a key priority for Aotearoa New Zealand to pr...

Two African tulip tree flea beetles

Natural enemy for invasive African tulip tree arrives in the Kingdom of Tonga

The African tulip tree is considered one of the 100 worst alien invasive species in the world and one of the top 30 terrestrial invasive ...

The study site: the Wairakei-Tauhara geothermal field near Taupo. Photo: John Hunt

Swapping time for space to track the impact of climate change on soil microbes

To test the effects of climate change on species at any scale is difficult. Scientists can’t manufacture realistic global warming in a te...

Matamata drought

Future drought could drain primary sector profit

Research published in August 2021 by the Deep South Challenge and Manaaki Whenua, with the support of Motu Economic and Public Policy Res...

Flooding

He huringa āhuarangi, he huringa ao: a changing climate, a changing world

In October 2021, Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga and Manaaki Whenua released a report offering new guidance for Te Ao Māori on climate change ad...

Nikki Harcourt and Kairangahau Māori Jade Hyslop

Building Te Ao Māori thinking into science knowledge systems

Indigenous knowledge systems and approaches hold a significant share in the well-being of the planet.

Example of the i3 framework applied to mask-wearing

Predator modelling applied to study of COVID-19 health equity

The COVID-19 pandemic has been disruptive of many science activities over the past 2 years. Fieldwork, conferences, hui, workshops – much...

Social licence to operate diagram

Building social licence to operate

Social licence to operate is an essential ingredient in successful applied research, and is sought after by groups and organisations wish...

Coronavirus COVID

Modelling the nation’s COVID-19 response

Recognising the need for robust ways to measure the effectiveness of contact tracing in reducing the spread of COVID-19, a team of resear...

arriving w care sm2

Prepare to arrive as guests: being manuhiri in the production of knowledge

New research led by Senior Researcher Dr Alison Greenaway has focused on how non-indigenous scientists embrace the geographical, cultural...

S-map Online: predicted soil carbon stocks in the middle North Island.

Updates and investment boost our national soils mapping capabilities

S-map Online provides the best available soil resource data for New Zealand and, in doing so, underpins the government’s roadmap for the ...

New maps show soil pH for New Zealand at a variety of soil depths.

A new soil pH map for New Zealand

Soil pH indicates the relative acidity or alkalinity of a soil, and significantly influences various soil functions, soil quality and fer...

Mapping of winter forage frequency, paddock by paddock, in Southland, in 2017-18.

Monitoring paddock-scale changes in land-use – from space

For over a decade, scientists at Manaaki Whenua have been developing and improving methods to map agricultural land-use and crop type usi...

Floyd Walker working on the āwheto (kumara caterpillar) project

How one thing leads to another – building long and deep relationships in effective land management

Manaaki Taiao is a rōpū (group) made up of Manaaki Whenua Kairangahau Māori (Māori researchers) working on Māori-led research projects wi...