Posts Tagged ‘Bluff Hill (Motupōhue) Environment Trust’

Ka taki mai te māuru
When the nor’wester howls

At the inaugural Māori Climate Forum in Wellington in 2003, formal recognition of traditional Māori understandings of weather and climate variability and change was made, with several Māori elders highlighting the importance of giving a greater account of this knowledge of the environment.

Building on these initial efforts, in January 2016 Te Kūwaha-o-Taihoro-Nukurangi was awarded research funding from the Vision Mātauranga government science programme, as part of the Deep South National Science Challenge. This funding enables the team to work closely with knowledge holders from Ngāi Tahu whānui to identify, revitalise, and promote the use of environmental indicators to forecast weather and climate extremes.

The battle for the birds of Motupōhue

Removing introduced pests and predators from “The Bluff” – an iconic landmark overlooking Te Ara a Kewa (Foveaux Strait) – is the result of a concerted community effort by 25 volunteers from the Bluff Hill (Motupōhue) Environment Trust. The Trust’s work was publicly recognised in November when it won the Environmental Action in the Community Award at the 2017 Southland Community Environment Awards, hosted by Environment Southland.