TE TIAKI MAHINGA KAI | Connecting Mātai Moana through holistic foraging practices | Olivia Lewisham & Luca Noakes (Group 05)
The practice of mahinga kai guides a traditional approach to interconnected land management. It recognises the natural environment as a series of deeply interconnected systems, where the diminishment of any one natural resource will be consequential to the whole ecology.
Our aim with this project is to revitalise Mātai Moana through the holistic lens of mahinga kai to develop a community-led restoration process. Primarily, this will involve fostering a sense of kaitiakatanga for the peninsula’s natural resources, incorporating strong community planting initiatives and infrastructure across the site.
To facilitate this, access and trails will be improved, and the old prison grounds will be repurposed as a hub for a nursery, seed bank and seed distribution network. At the same time, dedicated rongoā gardens and agroforestry zones will be created. In parallel to restoring the diminished biodiversity, harvesting and foraging will help instil some sense of reconnection to the landscape.
To holistically manage the landscape, the education of mātaraunga Māori across Mātai Moana is crucial. A centre of education alongside heritage trails will aid in providing not just knowledge of the landscape’s past, but how to care for it in the future. These will be accompanied with rongoā and mahinga kai education activities to encourage proper care for the land’s natural resources.
Finally, through the community-led restoration, there is an aim to cultivate whānaungatanga amongst the community. Through a mutual dependance and guardianship of the landscape, Matai Moana can become a centre of connection between whānau and the wider community. This will be upheld by the recreational and ecological value the landscape provides to Te Motu Kairangi, and Wellington as a whole. With proper care for the natural resources of the land, Mātai Moana will be a landscape of connection between the social, the natural and the cultural heritage of Aotearoa.
