Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air
Click here for English translation
Ka nui te waiatatia e ōna hoa tata a Akuhata Bailey-Winiata i tana whakawhiwhinga ki te taonga whakaharahara STARR mō tana kuhutanga ki te whakataetae Resilience to Nature's Challenge – kia Manawaroa – Ngā Ākina o Te
Ao Tūroa.
He uri a Akuhata nō Ngāti Whakaue, nō Tūhourangi, nō Ngāti Tutetawha me Ngāti Tāwhaki.
Nāna te whakaihuwaka ki te wāhanga, kauhau mō te tekau mēneti ko tana kaupapa e pā ana ki ngā marae ki takutai me te pātai hoki he aha ō tātou whakaaro ki te teiteinga o te moana? Hai aha i a koe e hoa.
Nō te kāwai toto Māori e rangatira ai a Akuhata whai pānga ia ki Te Whakarewarewa, ki Ngapuna ki Ngāti Whakaue me te whārua o Ngai Tūhoe.
I whānau mai, i tangata mai a Akuhata i te 'Block' ko Fordlands te ingoa mōhiohio e tātou i Rotorua nei he pī ka rere hoki nā Ngā Mōkai a Koko kōhanga reo i Te Whakarewarewa nā wai ka tahuri ki te kura tuarua ki Kaitao Rotohokahoka.
Nō nā tata nei a Akuhata kia oti i tana tohu paetahi tuarua i Te Whare Wānanga o Waikato – he tohu paerua i te kaupapa Pūtaiao me te aronga nui ki te mahi rangahau i te Pūtaiao-o-Papatāhuaroa, ka riro hoki i a ia te tohu tiketike o te karaehe katoa mō tana tuhinga whakapae e titiro ana ki ngā marae takutai moana e pūare kau ki ngā whakawhiu a Tangaroa.
Kua whakaaengia tēnei uinga e ōna Manutaki engari tonu ko te karawhiunga o tana tero ki te rākau i tōna whāea kaokaoroa a Manuariki Tini te pūtake i wawe kē mai tana tahuri mai ki tēnei noho.Nā Matua Reimana tetehi pouako tawhito nō Kaitao Rotohokahoka ia i akiaki kia whāia te ara Pūtaiao. I rītaia a Reimana i te tau e rua mano kotahi tekai ma iwa.
"He toki kē tērā tangata, i whakapau kaha ahau i uru atu ahau ki ngā kaupapa pūtaiao katoa".
Ka ū katoa a Akuhata ki te kaupapa Pūtaiao , ka haere ia ki te Whare Wānanga o Waikato i te tau e rua mano kotahi tekau ma whitu ki reira whakaoti ai i tana tohu paetahu Pūtaiao, ko te aronga matua ki te Pūtaiao-o-Papatāhuaroa me te wairua o te moana, nā, ko tana kaupapa iti e aro kau ki te whenua me te kaupapa pūnaha kimi taunga (PKT) nō te tau e rua mano kotahi mā iwa tēnei, nā wai rā ka pōwhiringia ia ki te whakatutuki i tana tohu paerua.
Nā tana rironga i tētehi karahipi mātauranga mō te raumati ka noho atu ia ki Tauranga e kore nama ana nā te Resilience Challenge engari i tiakina ia e te Whare Wānanga me NIWA. Ko te mahi he whakaū a pūnaha kimi taunga ngā marae e noho pātata ana ki ngā awa me te takutai, tuarua he kimi i tō rātou teiteinga, te pāmaomaotanga ki te takutai me te kaha hoki o te pīnakitanga.
"He kitenge nōku i te mana o tēnei momo mātauranga e ora ai te iwi me te motu whānui hoki nā reira i urutomo atu ai ki tēnei kaupapa nui whakaharahara."
Ko Akuhata te tuatahi ki a haere ki te whare wānanga i tana whānau ko te pae tawhiti hei tākuta. Ko tana tohu-kairangi he mea utua e Resilience to Natura National Science Challenge, ka matawhāiti te aro ki te timunga me te paringa o te moana me te whakahaerenga o tēnei āhuatanga ki tā te Māori titiro. Hai te whare wānanga he whetū kōmata a Akuhata he tāiki ngāpara mō te rangahau he mōhio nō rātou ka ihiiihi te hāpori i āna hua.
Ko tōna hiahia nui ki a mārangiarearengia āna mahi rangahau kia ngāwari hoki te reo e mātau ai te iwi.
Mā tēnei e noho ngātahi ai te hāpori me ngā iwi ko reira kimi māramatanga ai rāua e eke Tangaroa ai tātou katoa. Kia areare mai ngā taumata whai mana kia kite ngā matapō,kia rongo te turi, kia kōrero te wahangū, ae e āuē ana tō tātou taiao. Ko te tāhūhū mātua o tana mahi kia mātau ai ia ki te huranga o ngā marae me ngā urupā e noho takutai ana ki ngā whakawhiu o te pikinga o te moana.
He mōhio hoki nōna ko ngā tangata noho ki te moana kua āuā noa atu tēnei mōhiotanga ki a rātou – whoi e ai ki āna mahi rangahau tūturu e tika ana kai te kaha kē te horonga o ngā urupā i takutai, ka rua ka waipuketia katoatia ngā marae.
Taha ki te mihimihi: 'Kia mātau anō ai tātou ki te wairua o ngā marae e noho takutai ana me ngā urupā hoki, ara ko te teiteinga me te pāmamaotanga atu ki te takutai, me te kaha nanao atu ki ngā māhere o NIWA kia mōhio ai tātou ko tēwhea o ngā marae e noho mōrearea ana – kātahi ka whakarōpūngia te whakapapa o te whenua noho takutai ana me ngā tini marae me ngā urupā hoki, nā tēnei mātauranga e mārama ai tātou ka pēwhea e whakahoki wairua atu te whenua ki te pikinga o te teiteinga moana, ko te mea whakamutunga ko te titiro ki te pae tawhiti he aha te oranga, he aha hoki te kaupapa mōrearea ki tua mō tātou mō te iwi Māori'.
Kua kitea e ia he kotahi rau e iwa tekau mā tahi ngā marae puta noa i Aotearoa, he āhua kotahi kiromita pātata ana ki te takutai moana tāpirihia ki tēnei ko ngā urupā o Te Moana o Toitehuatahi he whā tekau mā tahi.
O ēnei marae katoa he toru tekau paiheniti e noho kotahi tekau mita raro ana i te huapae o te moana. O ngā urupā nei e wha tekau paihenita o rātou kai te noho tekau mita raro ana i te huapae o te moana.
Kua oti hoki i a mātou tētehi whakamātautau tātaringa whenua o ngā marae takutai me ngā urupā, nā te mea he rerekē katoa te wairua o ia whaitua, ka kitea e mātou ko te nuinga o ngā takutai māori nei he whenua papaku, he whenua toromi, he riu hoki pērā i te whanga o Tauranga, ā, he toru tekau mā waru paihenita o ngā marae takutai e pēnei ana. Waihoki ko ngā tawhangawhanga e rua tekau mā tahi paiheniti o ngā marae takutai e pēnei ana.
Ko te wāhanga taumaha ko te mihimihi. He wāhi nui te tapu o te marae me te urupā ka tae atu te tangata ki ēnei wāhi ka tae mai te aroha ka tae mai te āmaiami, e kore e tāea te pēwhea. Ko ngā hua o te mahi rangahau nei ka noho hai tuatahitanga e titiro ana ki te hononga o ngā marae takutai me ngā urupā e noho ngātahi nei me te moana ko ngā painga me ngā kingonga.
Engari kia mātau ai te tangata ki te take kai te piki te teiteinga o te moana. He oranga tēnei rangahau hei awhina atu i ngā iwi noho takutai ana ki whea rātou whakaara marae ai, ki whea rātou tanu tupapaku ai engari hoki kia noho haumaru hoki wēnei wāhi tapu.
Anei tētehi pātai taumaha ka tukua e ahau ki ngā hāpori takutai moana, hēnā, pēwhea ngā hua o te ora?
Pēweha te timatanga? Whīwhiwhi ana ngā kōrero whakakī i ngā pātai nei e tika ai ngā marae me ngā urupā kia kāua e waipuketia, kai te āhuatanga hoki o te taiao, ngā marae me ngā urupā, nā reira me whakaemia e tātou ēnei āhuatanga katoa kia kotahi mai.
Ko te pae tawhiti mōku kia para tonuhia tēnei ara o te tohu kairangi – ki te ketuketu kōrero, mātauranga hei awhina i ngā marae me ngā urupā, waihoki ngā hāpori o te moana ki te kaupare i te teiteinga o te moana me te tuku hoki i tēnei mātauranga kia māori noa te pānui kia māori kau te kōrero.
Ko te oranga o ngā marae me ngā urupā o te takutai moana kai o tātou ringaringa.
His peers sang Akuhata Bailey-Winiata's praises for winning the Director's Prize for his STARR presentation in the recent Resilience to Nature's Challenges — Kia manawaroa — Ngā Ākina o Te Ao Tūroa session!
Akuhata (Ngāti Whakaue, Tūhourangi, Ngāti Tutetawha, and Ngāti Tawhaki) won the award for the 'Best 10 minute / 10 slide talk' for "Coastal marae: What about sea level rise?"
But he is much more than that.
His whakapapa links him to some of the biggest families in Whakarewarewa, Ngapuna, Ngati Whakaue and Ngai Tuhoe.
Born and raised at the "Block" Fordlands, Rotorua, and an alumnus of Nga Mokai a Koko Kohanga Reo at Whakarewarewa and Western Heights High School, Akuhata recently completed his second Waikato degree — a Master of Science (Research) in Earth Sciences gaining First Class Honours for this thesis about the national exposure of coastal marae and urupā to sea level rise.
He has the green light from his supervisors at Waikato University to speak to us and, in his words, got the kick up the bum from his auntie, Manuariki Tini to take this opportunity.
Once he got confirmation from the university, he was ready to go.
Akuhata said he was encouraged into science by his chemistry teachers, Reimana Issac and Hilary Hurst at Heights.
They showed me the diversity of science, and the impact science can have on our world and society, this real-world application sparked my desire to know more.
"They were awesome. I did pretty well at high school. I did all three sciences, Biology, Chemistry and Physics."
Once hooked on science Akuhata headed to Waikato University in 2017 where he completed his first degree, a Bachelor of Science majoring in Earth Science and a minor in Geography looking at geospatial information system (GIS) in mapping. At the end of 2019
I was awarded a summer scholarship at our Tauranga campus funded through the Resilience Challenge and supervised by Professor Karin Bryan, Dr Shari Gallop and Dr Scott Stephens (NIWA). We used GIS to map the proximity of marae to the coast and rivers and started looking at their elevation, distance to the coast and slope.
He was offered a chance to do a masters degree.
"This opportunity to do a masters degree was something I had not really thought too much about, but I like to take every opportunity given so I went ahead with my masters."
The overall objective of his masters was to understand the exposure of coastal marae and urupā to a rise in sea level.
"We achieved this by first understanding the characteristics of these coastal marae and urupā such as elevation and distance to the coast. As well as using NIWA extreme sea level coastal flood maps to analyse which coastal marae or urupā may be inundated at increments of sea level rise.
Following this, we focussed on classifying the coastal geomorphology of these coastal marae and urupā which will be critical to understand how the coast will respond to a rise in sea level. Lastly, we started to explore the way forward and what is next to address this issue in the best way for Māori.
"I realised the impact that this research could have for my people and my country. From there I was hooked, which has brought me to where I am now."
We found 191 marae around Aotearoa New Zealand are within 1km of the coast and 41 Bay of Plenty urupā are known to be within 1km of the coast. Of these 191 coastal marae, 30 per cent are situated below 10m above sea level.
Of the 41 coastal urupā we looked at in the Bay of Plenty region, 40 per cent are situated below 10m above mean sea level.
We found that the most common type of coastal geomorphology around marae is shallow drowned valleys (such as Tauranga harbour) with 38% of coastal marae having this geomorphology. Followed by coastal embayments (such as Cheltenham Beach) with 21% of coastal marae having this geomorphology.
The outputs from this research will be the first national baseline investigation which seeks to understand the exposure of coastal marae and urupā to a rise in sea level. I hope that this data can be used in the future by coastal marae, hapū and iwi to make informed and relevant decisions to help protect and preserve these sites of significance for future generations.
The most challenging aspect of this research is engagement. This is because marae and urupā are such important historical and cultural sites to Māori and anything that threatens their safety is an emotive issue.
What specific mitigation strategies can you foresee that will help safeguard affected marae and urupā?
This is the hardest question that I am faced with when talking with coastal communities, so what? What do we do? And when do we do it? Potential solutions to safeguard marae and urupā from coastal flooding and erosion can be complex and expensive, and dependent on the coastal environment of these coastal marae and urupā. Hence creating a solution is going to need to incorporate these factors and more.
"Halfway through this year I submitted my masters thesis, it got marked with an A grade, making it a masters degree with first class honours. I have to be honest I didn't really know what that was, however it sounded good so it must have been good."
The first in his whānau to go to university, Akuhata is now on his way to becoming Dr Bailey-Winiata.
His PhD, funded by the Resilience to Nature National Science Challenge, researching the impact of sea level rise on Māori infrastructure and communities and opportunities for redress. The university describes Akuhata as a star for his work ethic and commitment to his research and the communities that will benefit from his mahi.
What Akuhata wants most of all is for the message uncovered by his mahi to be made available to the community to make relevant and effective decisions .
It needs a genuine acknowledgement by those in power both regionally and nationally that our taiao is under pressure and we need to do something about it.
I am two months into my PhD at the University of Waikato, with my lead supervisor Dr Shari Gallop [Ngāti Maru, Te Rarawa] (University of Waikato) and co-supervisors Professor Iain White (University of Waikato), Dr Liam Wotherspoon (University of Auckland), Dr Tūmanako Fa'aui [Ngāti Uenukukopako, Ngāti Te Roro o te Rangi, Te Arawa] (University of Auckland) and Associate Professor Mark Dickson (University of Auckland).
My PhD is going to look at the impact of sea level rise on Māori infrastructure and communities and the opportunity for redress.
An online petition supporting the hapū has over 1950 signatures.