Indigenous Pacific Approaches to Climate Change : Aotearoa New Zealand

Situating Maori Ecological Knowledge (MEK) within traditional environmental knowledge (TEK) frameworks, this book recognizes that indigenous ecological knowledge contributes to our understanding of how we live in our world (our world views), and in turn, the ways in which humans adapt to climate change. As an industrialized nation, Aotearoa/New Zealand (A/NZ) has responsibilities and obligations to other Pacific dwellers, including its indigenous populations. In this context, this book seeks to discuss how A/NZ can benefit from the wider Pacific strategies already in place; how to meet its global obligations to reducing GHG; and how A/NZ can utilize MEK to achieve substantial inroads into adaptation strategies and practices. In all respects, Maori tribal groups here are well-placed to be key players in adaptation strategies, policies, and practices that are referenced through Maori/Iwi traditional knowledge.

Lyn Carter is Senior Lecturer in Te Tumu (the School of Maori, Pacific and Indigenous Studies) at the University of Otago, New Zealand.