‘Te Reo O Te Repo – Kei Konei Tonu’ Cultural WetlandHandbook Launched

A new cultural repo (wetland) handbook is being launched to help give a voice torepo throughout AotearoaNew Zealand.

‘Te Reo o Te Repo – Keikoneitonuau | The Voice of the Wetland – I am still here’is the second volume of the Te Reo o Te Repo cultural wetland handbook series published by Manaaki Whenua – Landcare Research. The handbook is being launched virtually as part of the INTECOL International Wetland Conference on Tuesday 12 October. The handbook focuses on providing more information on the cultural significance of repo to help define priorities for wetland restoration.

“‘Te Reo o Te Repo – Keikoneitonuau’continues to advocate the voices of our repo through the voices of our peopleandprovides Māori values, knowledge, and perspectives from across Aotearoa New Zealand, ranging fromwhānau, marae,hapū, and iwi-led restoration projects and practical demonstrations that illustrate the diversity of our precious wetland ecosystems, to academic research that provide the underpinning of cultural resources and mātauranga Māori based tools and approaches,” saysManaaki Whenua – Landcare ResearchKairangahauMāori Yvonne Taura.

Repo sustain indigenous biota, filter nutrients, absorb floodwaters, and sequester carbon, providing multiple economic, social and cultural benefits. However, 90 percent of repo inAotearoahas been lost since European settlement and the remaining wetlands are still under threat of being further degraded by human impacts.

Co-editorssay thenew addition to thecultural wetlandhandbookseries, funded by the Strategic Science Investment Funding for Crown Research Institutes, will be a useful tool in restoringand reconnectingwhānautotheir local repo.

“Our intention was to continue advocating the voices of our repo through the voices of our people. Recognising that our repo are still sadly declining, we felt that we needed to maintain their presence in national conversations. It encouragesus to build onour remaining indigenous biodiversity by using our own mātauranga gifted to us from ourtūpuna,” Taura adds.

Te Reo o Te Repo – Keikoneitonuauisavailable to downloadhttp://www.landcareresearch.co.nz/publications/te-reo-o-te-repo-kei-konei-tonu-au

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