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Funded Years: 2020/21 2021/22 2022/23

Postcolonial Biosecurity Possibilities

Social values

The Biological Heritage National Science Challenge recognises that many people and organisations have a role to play in biodiversity conservation, especially when it comes to protecting taonga species from invasive pathogens. But still little is known about the many intersecting ways people are connecting with te taiao, and more specifically what motivates people to care for or act to save taonga species. A better understanding of how people, organisations and social groupings attach meaning to te taiao, ngahere and taonga and connect value to that meaning across different contexts is needed to enable care for and with te taiao. 

Building understanding

To build this understanding (whakamārama), this project aims to explore the shared and relational values of kauri and myrtaceae.  This is no easy task given these values are re-presented, embodied, and enacted diversely across ngahere, neighbourhoods, meeting rooms, legislation and organisational budgets. Typically the assemblage of values creates contestation over the way kauri and myrtaceae ecosystems are understood as well as tension between the different ways people relate with them, thus limiting the potential for te Tiriti o Waitangi based biosecurity in New Zealand.

Creating narratives

In order to assess and shape the diversity of interactions, meanings, values and knowledges by which kauri dieback and myrtle rust are understood, experienced, managed and cared for we need to create richer more enabling narratives and maps (i.e. mental maps, spatial maps, path finding and organisational maps) to those that currently dominate in decision making moments. Whilst the information and analysis used to respond to and manage kauri dieback and myrtle rust is improving, there are still large gaps in knowledge of their related socio-ecological systems, and new impacts are being discovered leading to the development of new management strategies.  Little work has been done to date to extend and connect knowledge of the ecological values attributed to myrtles and kauri and other socio-cultural dimensions of forests and landscapes. By ‘mapping’ values and using a variety of methods and tools we will help decision makers at a variety of scales and sites to incorporate shared and relational values into decisions.

Multiple approaches

Focussing on the narration of values and relationships we use qualitative mapping approaches that draw on multiple research capabilities through arts, spatial, system, social, critical and organisational capture of value, to enable reflection on colonising and decolonising practices at work through assemblages of values. We will identify points of contestation and shape conversations so that possibilities for moving through tensions are generated. We do this by sharing (making and re-making) diagrammatic styled maps with researchers from diverse backgrounds and their collaborators involved with kauri dieback and myrtle rust understanding and response. Doing so, we are resourcing interactive mapping approaches and more fulsome conversations between and across researchers and stakeholders. Gaining input from a variety of perspectives we support diverse considerations and explorations of the values-shaping activities across existing and future biosecurity systems (including those of our project team). Audio and video recordings of these explorations will be used to add the narrative layers to the maps (where consent is given and with kauri and myrtaceae present where possible). This will support understanding of what values are perceived to matter in different decision-making processes and help people reimagine new pathways to visual more diverse possibilities for caring with and valuing te taiao.

Transformation risks

This work is aiming to be transformative, to question the status quo about our colonial biases that shape ways of knowing and doing.  This means those invested in the status quo may challenge or attempt to discredit, silence or more likely ignore what is generated.  This is a risk we regularly reflect on and are attempting to find ways of skilfully navigating.  There is also a high risk that as a group of non-Māori aiming to support vision mātauranga we will stumble and trip ourselves up with our own colonial biases. We are investing in relationships and relational ways of working as a way to reduce or mitigate the impacts of this stumbling. We are also seeking guidance from advisors in the Challenge and within our own networks on how else we might improve our practices.

Research Enquiry

Provocations

We have collaborated with Te Papa to investigate two ‘provocations’ at the museum to seek public responses.
The first received over 12,000 responses.

The provocation about Kauri Dieback asked:

We should protect kauri, even if that means we’ll never get to walk in the kauri forest again.
How do you feel about this idea? 

• Excited

• Don’t Care

• Angry

• Worried

• Hopeful

The provocation about Myrtle Rust asked:

Your garden can harbour myrtle rust, a fast spreading fungal disease that is harming myrtle plants like pōhutukawa and mānuka and could wipe out ramarama.

Idea

To protect myrtles like pōhutukawa in their natural setting, we should not plant any myrtles in our gardens.
How do you feel about this idea?

• Why?

Project Outputs

Peer Reviewed Publication

Relational approaches to biosecurity: positioning social science to co-produce tree protection in partnership with mātauranga
- Submitted for publication and currently under review

Maps

Two KUMU maps of the team, projects and linkages across NRT and other related research areas are currently being developed.