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Innovation Stories
2020 Innovation articles
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Innovation stories
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Innovation 2020
Innovation 2021
Innovation 2022
Innovation 2023
S-map goes from strength to strength
12 December 2020
Over the past 15 years S-map has transformed soil survey in New Zealand, from a mix of hard-copy soil maps and bulletins and a few regional endeavours based on old-fashioned informatics tools such as spreadsheets, into a robust, nationally consistent information system supplying soil information to ...
Innovation story
Innovation story
S-map
Land
Sharing our knowledge abroad
12 December 2020
For decades, soil scientists from Manaaki Whenua have been visiting Pacific Island countries and territories (PICTs) to collect soil samples and map soil patterns. This work is vital to help decision-makers improve their soils knowledge and land management practices.
Innovation story
Innovation story
Soil
International development
Building whakawhanaungatanga in Waikato and the Bay of Plenty
12 December 2020
For Māori, elements of ecosystems and their linkages form the basis of whakapapa (ancestry) and kaitiakitanga (guardianship/management) principles, and are crucial to taonga, traditions, health, and well-being. Over time, the development and intensification of land has resulted in degraded ecosystem...
Innovation story
Innovation story
Mātauranga Māori
Ecosystem
GIS for Māori land managers
12 December 2020
Iwi and conservation groups throughout the country can now track and plan the conservation progress of native taonga species in their rohe thanks to a new free software package developed by Manaaki Whenua.
Innovation story
Land
Innovation story
GIS
Tracking climate change awareness among rural decision-makers
12 December 2020
Over the coming decades changes in climate are likely to have serious effects on New Zealand’s productive land environments. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) projects a 0.8°C increase in temperature by 2040 for New Zealand, as well as more extreme rainfall events and increased dr...
Innovation story
Innovation story
Action on climate change
Decision-making in freshwater management – a social learning approach
12 December 2020
Scientists have long recognised that one of their biggest challenges is how to translate their recommendations into lasting management and behaviour changes among stakeholders. Individuals or people working in organisations may not be able to make changes easily, owing to a combination of norms and ...
Innovation story
Innovation story
Managing land and water
National environmental reporting – our science behind the headline reports
12 December 2020
The recent increase in environmental regulations in New Zealand, including the National Policy Statements for Freshwater Management (2013, 2017, 2019) and the recent National Policy Statement for Highly Productive Land, is increasing demand for monitoring and assessing the impacts of land use on our...
Innovation story
Innovation story
Policy
A new national soil carbon monitoring system for agricultural land
12 December 2020
Every year, under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Paris Agreement, New Zealand is obliged to report its national human-produced (anthropogenic) greenhouse gas emissions and removals. With average soil carbon stocks in New Zealand’s agricultural soils estimated at ab...
Innovation story
Innovation story
Soil carbon
Land
Nitrous oxide and methane emissions: measurement and mitigation
12 December 2020
A renewed New Zealand Government focus on climate change in the past 3 years has sought to identify future research needs to address gaps in greenhouse gas monitoring and mitigation, thereby improving New Zealand’s national inventory for international reporting and mitigation technologies to meet pr...
Innovation story
Innovation story
Greenhouse gas emissions