Kānuka oil sourced from the abundant kānuka forests in Tairāwhiti is being used to treat eczema.
Kānuka oil sourced from the abundant kānuka forests in Tairāwhiti is being used to treat eczema.
Tairāwhiti-based research highlighting the potential for a kānuka industry has led to a potential export deal for products and recognition with an award.
A successful five-year collaboration between Māori landowners, Manaaki Whenua–Landcare Research, Hā Kānuka (the Māori Kānuka Collective) and Hikurangi Bioactives Limited Partnership won Te Tohu Tūhura award inthe Science New Zealand Awards 2025 for delivering tangible impact for Aotearoa New Zealand in genuine partnership with Māori.
The collaboration showed the economic, employment, biodiversity and land-use potential for kānuka.
Dr Nikki Harcourt from Manaaki Whenua-Landcare Research said the award was highly significant and heralded the ability for Māori to explore sustainable economic opportunities from taonga species growing on their whenua while upholding environmental health.
The partnership between Māori landowners, scientists and entrepreneurs has revealed the potential of kānuka products from Tairāwhiti to meet growing global demand for natural health products, as well as protect against erosion and climate change.
Co-founder and director of Hikurangi Bioactives Limited Partnership Manu Caddie agreed there was huge potential to grow the kānuka industry in Tairāwhiti.
“The award is nice recognition for 10 years of work by Hikurangi Bioactives Limited Partnership (a joint venture between charitable social enterprise Hikurangi Enterprises and private investors, including myself), but the real prize will be a licensing and product export deal that HBLP is aiming to finalise this month,” Caddie said.
In 2021, HBLP and Harcourt secured funding from the Ministry for Primary Industries SFF Futures Fund to explore the potential to build a new industry based on kānuka oil.
This 12-month initiative formalised the establishment of Hā Kānuka, a collective of six Māori entities across Aotearoa New Zealand working together to assert Māori interests on the development of a kānuka industry.
“My primary role was to create a commercialisation strategy for kānuka bioactives,” Harcourt said.
“I specialise in working with Māori entities to help them understand the economic potential of their tipu rongoā (medicinal plants) and lead a bioactives platform at Manaaki Whenua-Landcare Research.”
“MWLR is the CRI that leads in the terrestrial indigenous species space (e.g. native plants). My expertise is in immunology and commercialisation of natural products.”
Dr Nikki Harcourt from Manaaki Whenua-Landcare Research has created a commercialisation strategy for kānuka bioactives.
The partnership is developing new products, including kānuka oil as a treatment for eczema.
A 2022 clinical trial showed that a 3% kānuka oil cream (from kānuka in Tairāwhiti) reduced eczema severity more than an existing treatment.
The project shows the power of Māori working collectively and collaboratively to develop an indigenous species industry based on mātauranga and tinorangatiratanga.
The Tairāwhiti collaboration has created a roadmap and toolkit to support other hapū and iwi around Aotearoa who may wish to build an industry from other taonga species.
A statement from Science New Zealand said the development of a kānuka industry would create economic and employment opportunities for Māori living in remote areas, with new land use options.
Science New Zealand gave a list of reasons this was significant in the Tairāwhiti region:
Much of the forestry industry on the East Coast is pine trees, with 80% of the logs destined for the Chinese market, meaning the effects of a change in that trading relationship would be severe. Diversification of land use into high-value products would reduce this risk.
Kānuka’s deep root system helps stabilise slopes in cyclone-prone regions, offering erosion control and biodiversity regeneration.
The Government has been supporting the establishment of a Māori-led industry based on kānuka oil since 2020 (including $1.9 million through the Ministry for Primary Industries’ SFF Futures fund) because of the potential it has for economic development in areas like Tairāwhiti and Ruatōria.
Harcourt has worked closely with Māori across Tairāwhiti to understand their ambitions and the characteristics of their land.
Kānuka is abundant on the East Coast and in Hawke’s Bay.
An unrelated research project to develop kānuka-based products has pilot production facilities based at the University of Auckland, which are likely to be relocated to Tairāwhiti, creating 15 skilled jobs in Ruatōria. This reflects the momentum being generated through Māori-led R&D of kānuka-based products.
