Building Capability and Capacity in Whānau
Brief Overview
Project Kaitiaki is a kaupapa established under the Tūwharetoa Māori Trust Board and guided by Ngā Kaihautū o te Awa o Waikato.
Our goal: build capacity in Tūwharetoa tangata to participate in decisions about wai and te taiao, combining mātauranga Māori with Western science.
Our Key Objectives
The Trust Board received funding from the Ministry for the Environment’s Te Mana o te Wai fund, the project ends in April 2025.
Funding Opportunities
Several funders within the Ngāti Tūwharetoa rohe support taiao kaupapa. Click each logo to learn more.
Project Kaitiaki alongside Natalya Gibson (Waitiaki Environmental Coordinator) created the Waitiaki Tohu Taiao Journal to help whānau monitor the health of our awa, wai, and taiao.
This journal weaves together mātauranga Māori observation and scientific monitoring, helping you track changes in your local environment over a full year. By combining kaitiakitanga practices with data, we can build a clearer, shared understanding of the wellbeing of our taiao.
Resources to get started:
These videos guide you through the Waitiaki Tohu Taiao Journal, covering Tirotiro Awa (observing stream health through water flow, riverbank vegetation, streambed composition, periphyton, and freshwater invertebrates) and Pūtaiao (water quality testing with a SHMAK kit).
NIWA developed these instructional videos on using SHMAK Kit equipment. Use them to guide your wai testing.
Annual Fresh Water Conference Te Wai Māori Trust was proud to present the Māori Freshwater Fisheries Conference, bringing together kaitiaki…
Kaupapa: Kura Taiao aimed to foster meaningful conversations, engage in insightful wānanga with esteemed taiao specialists, and create an atmosphere…
Te Hira Pū-Ao 2024 was held in Ahuriri, Napier from the 21st – 23rd of November 2024. Te Hira Pū-Ao…
Project Kaitiaki, alongside Natalya Gibson (Waitiaki – Environmental Coordinator), has created the Tohu Taiao Journal – A practical tool to…
Taiao Legislation
Project Kaitiaki partnered with Poipoia to offer E tū ngā hapū o Tūwharetoa, gathering hapū and whānau of Te Hikuwai to share kōrero, strengthen relationships, and identify priorities for wai and te taiao.
Facilitated by Tina Porou and the Poipoia team, this wānanga brought expert knowledge on current taiao legislative contexts and delivered capability-building programmes for hapū and iwi.
Wānanga resources:
How To Develop A Taiao Project
The second wānanga in the series helped whānau and hapū understand the components needed to develop and deliver taiao projects.
Delivered by Poipoia in Tūrangi (31 July) and Taupō (1 August), these identical sessions gave all whānau in our rohe the chance to participate.
Wānanga resources:
The Crown and Waikato-Tainui reached an Agreement in Principle regarding the outstanding claim to the Waikato River.
This agreement included the formation of the Guardians Establishment Committee to develop a Vision and Strategy for the Waikato River.
The Vision and Strategy for the Waikato River (Te Ture Whaimana o Te Awa o Waikato) was published.
Waikato-Tainui Raupatu Claims (Waikato River) Settlement Act 210 and the Ngāti Tūwharetoa, Raukawa, and Te Arawa River Iwi Waikato River Act 2010 passed into law as enabling legislation for the Waikato River Authority and established Co-Governance and Co-Management Arrangements for the Waikato River. The Trust Board represents the interests of the Waikato River Hapū of Ngāti Tūwharetoa under that legislation.
The Waikato River Marae Working Group (MWG) was formed in December 2015 through a process facilitated by the Tūwharetoa Māori Trust Board.
The Waikato River Marae Working Group was given the name Ngā Kaihautū o Te Awa o Waikato (Ngā Kaihautū). Ngā Kaihautū are the representatives of the Tūwharetoa Marae who maintain a direct interest in the Waikato Awa and Tributaries. Ngā Kaihautū are charged with implementing a long-term plan to protect the health and well-being of the Waikato River for Tūwharetoa, and work alongside the Trust Board in fulfilling its obligations under the 2010 Deed, River Acts and Te Ture Whaimana.
Ngā Hapū o Te Hikuwai are identified as the following:
Pākira Marae
Tutetawhā Marae
Waipāhīhī Marae
Nukuhau Pā
Te Rangiita Marae
Te Kapa o Te Rangiita ki Ōruanui
Maroa-nui-a-Tia Marae
Mōkai Marae
Ngā Kaihautū engages directly with the Trust NgBoard to consider matters relating to the protection and restoration of Te Awa o Waikato and its natural ecosystems and is made up of two Trust Board members and one representative from each of the following Te Hikuwai o Tūwharetoa Marae:
The Trust Board received funding from the Ministry for the Environment’s Te Mana o te Wai fund. The purpose of the fund is to build capability and capacity in Māori to participate in making decisions affecting wai and te taiao. The application was based on components from Ngā Kaihautū – Mahere Rautaki (Strategic Plan) 2020 – 2030.
The current project centres around the following key objectives:
Design a pilot project to develop kaitiaki plans with Te Hikuwai Marae
Develop a mātauranga framework specific to Tūwharetoa that helps us better understand and protect our wai māori for future generations
Investigate new ways to digitally preserve important information
Develop resources, and tools and hold wānanga to support hapū and whānau in their role as Kaitiaki
