Opinion: Centre for innovation to inspire

BIG PLANS: The Manuka Story experience is expected to attract more than 180,000 visitors a year. ARTIST'S IMPRESSION/SUPPLIED

When I was young my cousins and I used to swim in Lake Rotorua.

From dad's small boat we could see the bottom most of the way out to Mokoia. On such excursions we would from time to time catch glimpses of the concentric ridged circles - whakairoiro - of sand radiating outward.

Dad, a trained scientist used to call them environmental indicators. At the centre of these carved sand circles or whakairoiro, lived the leader of the wider hapu of freshwater mussels - a grandfather sized kakahi.

Our elders taught us that in times of approaching climatic crisis these special kakahi would emerge from hiding, warning us of approaching danger.

It was not only a scientifically based observation likely associated with barometric pressure change, but also a metaphor applied to rangatira of Ngati Whakaue who emerged from every day duties to lead our people in times of crisis: Te kakahi whakairoiro o Ngati Whakaue.

It will come as no surprise to most of our long term residents of Rotorua that we have already entered into a period of cross generational climactic and social crisis.

Environment and human wellbeing are interconnected and at its source is water.

My elders used the state of our springs, lakes and rivers to judge the social health of our people. Today scientists use other longitudinal measures, but ultimately both support each other: we are in crisis.

In the mid 1990s Dr Hikooterangi Hohepa pointed out to me the kakahi sudden re-emergence from the lakebed.

He was very concerned. This occurred a year before the first algae bloom hit Lake Rotorua, turning it to green pea soup and burned the skin.

Since then the kakahi have disappeared, perhaps forever, beneath the contaminated silt that now layers our once pristine sandy lake floor.

With such thoughts to the fore, last week the Rotohokahoka Trust announced its joint venture with New Zealand Manuka Limited and the development of a visitor centre that will bring to the fore the story of Mānuka, a powerful antiseptic, water cleansing plant.

This gateway visitor centre, will lead up the hill to the centre for innovation.

The vision of Rotohokahoka Trust is to be in service to our community.

The trustees have identified we are in crisis: (waterways and homelessness). But with crisis comes opportunity to innovate: thus emerging from our Rotohokahoka bush is te kakahi whakairoiro - Rotorua's very own centre for innovation, designed to inspire new science that emerge from different knowledge systems to find novel ways forward to rebalance Rotorua environmentally and socially back on to pathways of wellbeing.

- Professor Paora Tapsell is the chairman of Maori Studies, University of Otago as is also chairman of Rotohokahoka Trust.