Skip to content

Our lakes

  • The Project
  • The Science
    • Field Sampling
    • Laboratory Analysis
    • Student Projects
  • Science Aims
  • Rohe Studies
    • Rangitīkei Iwi Rohe Study
    • Wairarapa Moana iwi rohe study
  • Virtual Experience
  • Social Science
  • Iwi Relationships
  • The Team
    • Advisory Groups
    • Lakes380 Co-lead Institutes​
    • National Collaborators
    • International Collaborators
  • Partners
  • The Project
  • The Science
    • Field Sampling
    • Laboratory Analysis
    • Student Projects
  • Science Aims
  • Rohe Studies
    • Rangitīkei Iwi Rohe Study
    • Wairarapa Moana iwi rohe study
  • Virtual Experience
  • Social Science
  • Iwi Relationships
  • The Team
    • Advisory Groups
    • Lakes380 Co-lead Institutes​
    • National Collaborators
    • International Collaborators
  • Partners

New website uses digital storytelling to share Wairarapa lake histories

Media Release

A new website brings together Māori and Pākehā histories, scientific insights and personal memories of Wairarapa lakes as part of a project that aims to kick-start fresh conversations about lake health and mauri (a Te Ao Māori concept meaning life-force).

The website (Wairarapa Moana Pūrākau Kete – lakestoriesnz.org) uses a range of mediums including short documentaries, audio recordings, photography and art to share stories that bring these lake histories to life.

They feature local experts and community members whose lives have been shaped by these lake taonga, sharing what the lakes mean to them and their vision for improving the health of both the lakes and their communities.

The project is a part of Cawthron Institute and GNS Science’s joint Lakes380 research programme which aims to weave together different forms of knowledge, ranging from traditional scientific knowledge collected through lake sediment sampling, alongside social histories that provide important context.

Lakestoriesnz.org project leader Charlotte Šunde of Cawthron Institute said that some of these stories include how Ngāti Kahungunu gifted Lake Wairarapa to the Crown in 1896, the ‘battle’ to control Lake Onoke’s opening and the return of the lake bed to Māori through treaty settlements.

“Digital storytelling like this is a fairly new and very effective way of bringing lake stories to a wide audience, reaching far beyond the impact of scientific publications,” Charlotte Šunde said.

“By combining scientific insights from lake sampling with the stories that are told through these audio-visual pieces, we set out to open a space for dialogue about the history of Wairarapa Moana and what we might do to improve the health of these lakes and their communities.

“The stories also celebrate the positive changes that are happening throughout the community to improve the condition of Wairarapa waterways.”

The Lakes380 project has focused on building in-depth relationships with iwi in the Wairarapa and Rangitīkei, with different styles of engagement being adopted in each rohe that reflect the relationships formed and the unique priorities for each iwi. In Wairarapa, storytelling immediately emerged as an important opportunity given where iwi are at with environmental projects and treaty settlements for Wairarapa Moana, hence the decision to create a website that could be home to these histories.

Environment manager Rawiri Smith of Ngāti Kahungunu ki Wairarapa said that the stories touched the right tone with the community and that iwi would like to build on the project’s outcomes by creating a living record for all waterways in Wairarapa.

“These lake stories have provoked thinking, encouraging behaviour change out of our common humanity rather than through confrontation or enforcement,” Rawiri Smith said.

For more information about Wairarapa Moana Pūrākau Kete, visit lakestoriesnz.org.

For more information about Lakes380, visit lakes380.com.

Related Articles

See All
News

Congratulations Jamie Howarth

Blog

Lakes Appreciation Month – What do we value about our lakes?

Publications

New manuscript on Rototoa (Auckland)

New manuscript on Lake Rototoa in Auckland has bee New manuscript on Lake Rototoa in Auckland has been published!!

A new manuscript titled - Resolving 500 years of anthropogenic impacts in a mesotrophic lake: Nutrients outweigh other drivers of lake change - led by Dr Rose Gregersen (Victoria University of Wellington) has been published in the prestigious journal Environmental Science & Technology.

The research explores the history of Rototoa, a lake in the Auckland region of Aotearoa-New Zealand. The researches combined sediment core analysis with historical data, and ecological experiments to determine what was causing the decline in lake health in recent decades. 

The researchers show that the health of the lake remained stable despite catchment deforestation and erosion, and the introduction of several non-native fish species. The most significant and sustained changes in lake health coincided with nitrogen and phosphorus fertilizers in the catchment.

Congratulations Rose on your excellent research!

Visit www.lakes380.com for a link to the full manuscript.

#Lakes380 #Cawthron #GNS #ScienceLife #NZscience #research #researchLife #VictoriaUniversityofWellington #Aucklandlakes #rototoa #paleolimnology #sedimentcores
Lakes380 instagram
Loading...

Sutton Salt Lake

Middlemarch

Otago

Lake Tarawera

Rotorua

Bay of Plenty

Lake Ursula

Fiordland National Park

Southland

Lake Wairarapa

Wairarapa

Wellington

Lake Waikare

Te Paki

Northland

Dukes Tarn

Richardson Mountains

Otago

Explore your lakes

See all lakes
Lakes 380 reversed logo
About
  • The Project
  • The Science
    • Field Sampling
    • Laboratory Analysis
    • Student Projects
  • Science Aims
  • Rohe Studies
    • Rangitīkei Iwi Rohe Study
    • Wairarapa Moana iwi rohe study
  • Virtual Experience
  • Social Science
  • Iwi Relationships
  • The Team
    • Advisory Groups
    • Lakes380 Co-lead Institutes​
    • National Collaborators
    • International Collaborators
  • Partners
Our Lakes
  • All Lakes
  • Regions
    • Northland
    • Auckland
    • Waikato
    • Bay of Plenty
    • Hawke’s Bay
    • Taranaki
    • Manawatū/Whanganui
    • Wellington
    • Tasman
    • West Coast
    • Marlborough
    • Canterbury
    • Otago
    • Southland
  • Coastal Lakes
  • Lowland Lakes
  • Highland Lakes
  • Alpine Lakes
Resources
  • Contact & Links
  • Blog, News & Publications
  • Video Gallery
  • Results
  • Glossary
Contact Us

Email us

Twitter Instagram Envelope
Sign up to our newsletter for updates
Our Privacy Policy | Our Copyright Policy

© 2023 Lakes380 Project

Home

Our Lakes

  • All Lakes
  • Regions
    • Northland
    • Auckland
    • Waikato
    • Bay of Plenty
    • Hawke’s Bay
    • Taranaki
    • Manawatū/Whanganui
    • Wellington
    • Tasman
    • West Coast
    • Marlborough
    • Canterbury
    • Otago
    • Southland
  • Coastal Lakes
  • Lowland Lakes
  • Highland Lakes
  • Alpine Lakes

About

  • The Project
  • The Science
    • Field Sampling
    • Laboratory Analysis
    • Student Projects
  • Science Aims
  • Rohe Studies
    • Rangitīkei Iwi Rohe Study
    • Wairarapa Moana iwi rohe study
  • Virtual Experience
  • Social Science
  • Iwi Relationships
  • The Team
    • Advisory Groups
    • Lakes380 Co-lead Institutes​
    • National Collaborators
    • International Collaborators
  • Partners

Resources

  • Contact & Links
  • Blog, News & Publications
  • Video Gallery
  • Results
  • Glossary