A Marine Health Index (MHI) based on community knowledge
.... a practical monitoring tool being developed by Te Tiaki Mahinga Kai for Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu.
What is a Marine Health Index?
A marine health index is a set of indicators, observations and measures that help a scientist, fisher or manager record and track changes in the health of a particular coastal area.
Most health indices use scientific observations that are standardized and repeatable. Measures of water quality and species composition, size and abundance are typical science-based indicators of environmental well-being. Science is just one way of assessing the health state of a habitat, a more uncommon method is the application of community knowledge.
A health index based on community knowledge, often called a Cultural Health Index, is developed by gathering and transforming local knowledge into a compact assessment form that lists the main characteristics describing the state of the, in this case marine habitat.
An MHI developed for and with a particular community of people might include indicators such as the continuation of traditional harvest practices, changes in the taste, smell and size of kai, and visual water pollution and litter.
MHI for Mātaitai, Taiāpure and Temporary Closures
Te Tiaki Mahinga Kai is currently working with the management committees and community members associated with the Te Whaka Ā Te Wera Mātaitai (Paterson Inlet, Rakiura) and East Otago Taiāpure at Karītane to develop a MHI. The work is generously funded by Ngāi Tahu.
The vision is that the MHI will become a tool for these communities to judge the state of their mātaitai and taiāpure themselves in an independent, inexpensive and robust manner.
Once tested in these areas, the MHI can be adapted and applied to coastlines around the country. Community members will be able to easily record and begin building up an archive of observations from a range of people. As more people use the MHI over months and years, long-term changes in environmental health can be used to support additional management actions and restoration activities. Comparisons between areas can also shed light on the health of New Zealand’s marine environments as a whole.
Te Tiaki Mahinga Kai's research on developing a Marine Health Index will be led by Katja Schweikert She will interview kaitiaki with long experience in mahinga kai and kaitiakitanga to learn how Māori and other reserve managers assess the current state of health of an area.
Related Efforts
A Cultural Health Index for the assessment of the health of streams and waterways, Gail Tipa and Laural Teirney, Ministry for the Environment.
The main goals of the “river CHI” are to “provide a way for Maori to take an active role in managing freshwater resources” and to “provide an opportunity for resource management agencies to discuss and incorporate Māori perspectives and values for stream health in management.”
Māori methods and indicators (tohu) of environmental health for marine protection - Ngati Kere and Ngati Konohi, DOC and MfE.
