Auckland/Tāmaki-makaurau
30 April / 30 Paenga-whāwhā 2018

Land blocks information now accessible via Māori Maps pilot

A new pilot project has added Māori land information for the Waitangi Catchment Area in the Bay of Islands/Peowhairangi to Māori Maps (www.maorimaps.com).

Through links to Māori Land Online and Landcare Research, the website’s core map displays information for the catchment — including block name and area, total owners, management name details and soil information.

Browsers to the site can select land blocks displayed in vivid colour in proximity to marae in the Waitangi Catchment Area. Based on user feedback, Te Potiki National Trust (the charity that administers Māori Maps) will add land information nationwide.

The Amokura Iwi Consortium (representing chief executives of seven Taitokerau iwi) gave its approval to the Māori Maps pilot at a meeting in Whangarei on 10 April.

“We are grateful to the consortium for their guidance, and to Te Tumu, University of Otago for enabling this pilot through its National Science Challenge project Mauri Whenua Ora,” commented Dr Paora Tapsell, Chair of Te Potiki National Trust.

He also acknowledged the Ministry of Justice, the Māori Land Court and Landcare Research for making land block data available, and website developers Zest IT.

Māori Maps, the website portal to the 768 tribal marae of New Zealand, seeks to encourage connections between marae and their descendants — and land information provides a new means of access for whānau and individuals.

“Not only will this information enable a richer understanding of the Māori landscape, but it also provides another avenue for people to make connections back to their ancestral marae,” Tapsell said.

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