Pathways to Ecosystem Regeneration

Many thousands of New Zealanders put in time and effort to reverse the decline in our biological heritage, but they often face challenges in connecting with one another and scaling up their effort. They also might have to overcome economic, legislative, and organisational barriers to create more sustainable and culturally appropriate environmental stewardship.

This investment team aims to build social and ecological resilience by restoring connections between people and nature, while understanding and valuing those connections in a non-market way.  We seek to work with communities to develop tools and approaches that reflect their unique needs and contexts, and ultimately support their efforts to scale-up for impact.

Clarifying pathways and removing barriers for enhanced restoration success

Sometimes the biggest barriers to successful restoration are not ecological but social. In this investment, we explored the relational values and perceptions people hold for introduced freshwater and wetland species to identify shared values. This research was grounded in Te Tiriti principles and acknowledged the role that everyone and every species plays in caring for te taiao.

Co-developing exemplar restoration projects that showcase successful regeneration of mātauranga and bioheritage

New Zealanders care greatly about nature. Many have discovered that incredible outcomes are possible when groups come together to achieve common restoration goals. But it is not always easy. That is why we worked with Predator Free Wellington, Ōpāwaho Heathcote River Network, and Reconnecting Northland as exemplar Restoration Collectives to highlight the impact of collectives in nature restoration, characterise the social connections in environmental groups, and facilitate sharing and rediscovery of intergenerational mātauranga.

Developing the tools and approaches needed to connect and enhance the success of local regeneration efforts

Even when we know what works, there are gaps in the systems that support communities to effectively care for te taiao. This research was all about identifying and bridging those gaps. We focus on two national scale intiatives to develop resources to enhance biodiversity on farms, and, to trial a Te Taiao Collectives Network to investigate the knowledge sharing and benefits of connecting restoration leaders.

Clarifying pathways and removing barriers for enhanced restoration success

• Research on introduced trout revealed the value of understanding diverse perspectives when seeking solutions to environmental challenges and launched a new research programme, called Fish Futures, working toward holistic and just freshwater fish management in Aotearoa.
• Research on black swans advanced complex systems analysis and generated bespoke advice and solutions that led to changes in gamebird regulations for North Canterbury facilitated by building long and strong relationships with mana whenua.
• Future wetland mangement will be better informed by our exposure of the multi-level constrains to cross-cultural wetland management and social-ecological scale mismatches in wetland management.
• An investigation into freshwater translocations in Aotearoa identified legilsative, procedural and social justice barriers that need addressing if we want to use translocations to enhance biodiveristy and support mana whenua rights and responsibilities.
• Through international collaboration we have developed 15 recommendations that call for the recognition and support of Indigenous peoples and their knowledge systems in safeguarding the biological and cultural diversity of our planet.

Co-developing exemplar restoration projects that showcase successful regeneration of mātauranga and bioheritage

• Our final report from working with the Ōpāwaho Heathcote River Network, identifies the key roles of ŌHRN in community environmental action, the relationships that sustain these roles, and the strengths and challenges of this collective approach.
• Working with Predator Free Wellington, we quantified the ecological and social outcomes of PFW’s landscape-scale eradication effort on Miramar Peninsula as an exemplar of collective action.
• Working with Reconneting Northland, we developed an integrative framework that identifies key support services and resources needed by taiao groups to pursue their restoration goals and uphold the dreams and aspirations of their communities

Developing the tools and approaches needed to connect and enhance the success of local regeneration efforts

• In addition to working directly with farmers to develop biodiversity management plans, the Farming with Native Biodiversity project developed resources such as e-learning modules, podcasts, and templates to make it easier for farmers to start taking realtistic actions to manage biodiversity.
• The Te Taiao Collectives Network brought together leaders in restoration to learn from each other at in person and online wānanga. The wānanga summaries capture key learnings and insights on the evolution of collectives, sustainable resourcing, engagement and collaboration, restoration planning, and innovations for landscape restoration.