A comprehensive framework for implementing mahinga kai as a compulsory National Objectives Framework (NOF) value, ensuring tangata whenua can safely reconnect with their ancestral waters and sustain traditional practices for future generations.
The National Objectives Framework provides a structured approach to freshwater management that must actively involve tangata whenua at every stage. Regional councils have clear obligations to engage meaningfully with Māori communities.
Regional councils must engage with communities and tangata whenua, ensuring active involvement in decision-making processes.
Enable tangata whenua to identify Māori freshwater values, including mahinga kai and other culturally significant aspects.
Apply the hierarchy of obligations to determine appropriate limits based on identified values and long-term visions.
Work together to establish limits that achieve priorities whilst respecting cultural values and environmental needs.
Long-term visions must be ambitious yet achievable, setting goals that inspire meaningful change over realistic timeframes. These visions form the foundation for all subsequent planning decisions.
These visions must be set at Freshwater Management Unit (FMU), part of an FMU, or catchment level, with timeframes that are both ambitious and reasonable—typically around 30 years for transformational change.
Mahinga kai represents both the species traditionally used as food, tools, or resources, and the places where they're found. This compulsory NOF value ensures cultural practices can continue whilst maintaining ecological health.
Kai is safe to harvest and eat, with desired species plentiful enough for long-term harvest across all life stages.
The mauri of the place remains intact, allowing customary practices to be exercised using traditional tikanga and preferred methods.
These values directly support the long-term visions by ensuring both ecological health and cultural continuity are maintained for future generations.
Environmental outcomes translate long-term visions into measurable objectives that can be monitored and assessed. Each outcome must directly link to the mahinga kai values and enable effective evaluation of policy success.
Tangata whenua can sustainably harvest mahinga kai plants (such as harakeke) and taonga important to them, for whānau and marae events year-round, in places where they have historically occurred.
Tangata whenua exercise kaitiakitanga whilst actively carrying out mahinga kai customs and practices in awa and repo throughout the year, respecting local tikanga and kawa in ancestral places.
These outcomes provide the bridge between aspirational visions and practical implementation, ensuring that cultural values are protected through measurable environmental improvements.
Attributes provide measurable characteristics to assess how well mahinga kai values are being protected. They must be specific, measurable over time, and formatted for NOF reporting requirements.
Existing NOF attributes support mahinga kai values, including fish populations, macroinvertebrates, dissolved oxygen, E. coli levels, and cyanobacteria monitoring.
Appropriate environmental flows and levels ensure adequate water quantity to support healthy mahinga kai populations and cultural practices.
Specific mahinga kai attributes developed with tangata whenua to measure cultural outcomes, including harvest abundance and site accessibility.
The combination of scientific and cultural monitoring ensures comprehensive assessment of both ecological health and cultural value protection.
Three key attributes demonstrate how mahinga kai values can be measured and managed effectively. Each attribute includes specific bands from A (excellent) to D (poor) with clear targets.
These attributes provide tangible measures that connect directly to cultural outcomes, ensuring that improvements in water quality translate to meaningful benefits for tangata whenua.
When quantitative attributes cannot fully capture cultural values, alternative criteria using social surveys and qualitative assessments provide comprehensive evaluation methods.
Likert scale surveys measuring knowledge transfer with target average score of 4: "Te Rea: I am learning and practising this knowledge" across all knowledge types.
Annual partnership audits achieving 'Tika' score where mana whenua have authority over natural resource management and are resourced appropriately.
Social surveys measuring connection to waterways with target average score of 3 or above, whilst maintaining environmental distress below 3.
These alternative approaches recognise that cultural values often require different measurement methods than traditional environmental indicators.
Successful mahinga kai implementation requires coordinated action across multiple timeframes, from immediate interventions to generational change programmes.
This phased approach ensures immediate protection whilst building towards transformational long-term outcomes that honour both cultural values and environmental health.
Effective monitoring combines mātauranga Māori with scientific methods to track progress towards target attribute states and environmental outcomes. This ensures accountability and enables adaptive management responses.
Monitoring must include measures of mātauranga Māori by tangata whenua and the health of indigenous flora and fauna. Cultural monitoring is undertaken by tangata whenua themselves, ensuring authentic assessment of cultural outcomes.
Key monitoring elements include:
This integrated approach ensures that both scientific and cultural indicators inform management decisions, creating a robust foundation for adaptive management that responds to changing conditions whilst maintaining cultural integrity.
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Through this comprehensive framework, mahinga kai values are protected and enhanced, ensuring that future generations can continue to exercise their cultural practices in healthy, thriving freshwater environments.
Mahinga Kai: Protecting Māori Freshwater Values