SPEAKERS
Kate McArthur
KM Water - co-presented with Morry Black | Mauri Protection Agency
Kate McArthur is an independent consultant with more than 20 years of experience in freshwater science and resource management. She has a background in ecology and natural resource management and has worked as a senior water scientist for regional councils. Kate has a deep interest in tangata whenua relationships with water and the environment and works with iwi Māori to develop water frameworks and cultural assessment tools.
Kate has provided expert advice for many regional plan processes across Aotearoa New Zealand and facilitates tangata whenua and community engagement in freshwater plan development. She is the immediate past President of the New Zealand Freshwater Sciences Society and has worked at the national level representing tangata whenua and stakeholder interests in freshwater policy and was appointed by the Minister for the Environment as a Freshwater Commissioner in 2020. Kate is also an experienced and accredited RMA Hearings Commissioner,
Can we measure mauri? Hapū-led monitoring of three Hawkes Bay awa
Thurs 7 Nov 9am - 11am
Mauri is in everything, the living and the non-living. Mauri resides in the smallest things and in the connections between them. Mauri is fundamental to Te Ao Māori (Māori worldview) and is an integral value when considering how we relate to our environments and rivers. Upholding the integrity of mauri and restoring it where degraded are critically important to tangata whenua. Particularly when practising kaitiakitanga birth rights and when participating in and decision making on resource management processes.
How do the whanau know if the mauri of the awa is degraded or healthy? Mauri is a deeply spiritual and intangible value that cannot be measured directly by humans. Therefore, indicators or ‘proxies’ of mauri are important monitoring tools for tangata whenua, to measure and communicate the cultural health of rivers through time and space. Ngā Pou Mataara Hou is a hapū-led monitoring framework developed by mana whenua for the Tukituki, Karamū and Ngaruroro Rivers. The framework provides a consistent monitoring method that is flexible and relevant to each hapū and river site.