Category Archives: New Zealand

New Zealand Cricket wants the Black Caps to be the All Blacks of world cricket, sitting at the top of the game year after year after year.

As it pursues that goal of sustainable success, it has commissioned lawyer and former board member Don Mackinnon to conduct a review of how the national mens cricket team got to where it is today.

Such reviews normally come when things arent going well for sports teams and organisations, but this one comes at a time when the Black Caps are in as good a place as they have ever been.

LAWRENCE SMITH/Stuff

Black Caps Matt Henry, Henry Nicholls and coach Gary Stead leave managed isolation in Auckland.

They made the final of the 2021 T20 World Cup, losing to Australia last weekend; the final of the inaugural World Test Championship, beating India in June; and the final of the 2019 ODI World Cup, losing to England only on the boundary countback tiebreaker. They are ranked No 1 in the world in tests and ODIs and No 4 in T20s.

READ MORE:* Black Caps vs India: Hosts power to series victory in Twenty20 game two in Ranchi* Tom Blundell ready to fill BJ Watling's big gloves in the Black Caps test team* Black Caps all-rounder Rachin Ravindra enjoying 'special' tour of India * Mark Chapman grasps chance as Black Caps narrowly lose T20 opener to India

They have had a remarkable rise over the past nine years, since the nadir in early 2013, where they were humiliated in South Africa, all out for 45 in the first innings of the first test in Cape Town. At the end of that tour, they were ranked No 8 in tests, No 9 in ODIs, and No 8 in T20s.

The challenge for NZ Cricket is to keep that success going once the current playing group moves on. Taylor, Kane Williamson and in white-ball cricket Martin Guptill will sit among the countrys greatest batsmen when their careers end, while Trent Boult, Tim Southee, and Neil Wagner will be regarded as some of its greatest bowlers.

NZ Crickets high performance manager Bryan Stronach feels the relationship between players performing at that level and the Black Caps success is a circular one, and readily acknowledges they are untested when it comes to maintaining results while bringing a new generation through.

If you look at our system and our structures and our support, how much have we added to Kane Williamson? I'm not sure it's that much. He is an amazing player and always wouldve been, and it's just his mindset and growth and how he goes about things.

JOHN DAVIDSON/Photosport

NZ Crickets high performance general manager Bryan Stronach says it wants sustainable success for the Black Caps.

Those generational players are amazing, and we're a little bit untested around this, but our hope and our hunch and what our information is saying is that we feel we are doing a far better job of supporting that next tier of players to be even better now.

The immediate impact of players such as Kyle Jamieson and Daryl Mitchell over the past two years is a sign that hunch is correct, while the consistency provided by Guptill, Taylor, and Williamson over a long period has helped the likes of Tom Latham, Henry Nicholls, and BJ Watling to flourish as well.

Stronach has been around the Black Caps for more than a decade, starting as a strength and conditioning coach. He was there at the end of the 2000s and the start of the 2010s when the success at the end of the 2010s and the start of the 2020s would have been unimaginable. Theres undoubtedly room for improvement the fact that they lost two of the three recent finals says it all, as does the fact that they made the test and ODI deciders by fine margins but its clear he relishes the challenge of ensuring it continues to the greatest extent possible.

We've climbed the ranks, and we've got to where we are now, which is still not where we want to go, he said. We still want to go a little bit higher, but that's not the goal. The goal is to get there and stay there, and that's our untested bit at the moment.

We have a whole lot of systems and processes and a whole lot of decisions that we make according to that, and sometimes we're actually sacrificing the short term of the Black Caps or the White Ferns in the now to make sure we get that stuff set up for the future, but it is untested, and that's our challenge, and that's probably the exciting bit for me.

We've made the improvements we have, but we want that sustainable success. We want to be up there year after year after year. We want to be the All Blacks of the cricketing world and there's no reason why we can't do that if we get it right.

No-one has hit more T20 sixes this year than Black Caps batsman Glenn Phillips.

That is where the work Mackinnon has been doing is set to be a tremendous help. NZ Cricket had been considering taking a broader look at the Black Caps for a while, but once they qualified for the World Test Championship final, they delayed the start of the review until after it. A report is due in the next couple of months and Stronach is eager to dive into it.

Whenever you do something, naturally humans look at the negative what have we done wrong? But we figure the most important thing for our sustainable success, to look forward and try to achieve that analogy of the All Blacks of the cricketing world, is to actually recognise the things we've done well, whether that's been planned or whether that's been luck and just come about, because there's always a bit of that.

Because then things become sustainable as opposed to forgetting that stuff that's gone well or somehow missing it and going on to the next big thing, where you create this cycle where yes, you might be getting better at different things, but you're not actually improving overall. The key for us is embedding what's actually going well, then worrying about the next thing.

We see this as a 101 to really get right and leverage off and that'll be the piece, hopefully for us, that carries on when most of us are gone, for whoever else is sitting in my role and the board's role and the CEO's role and so forth to understand and recognise and carry it on.

Here is the original post:

New Zealand Cricket wants the Black Caps to be the All Blacks of the cricketing world - Stuff.co.nz

Auckland, New Zealands largest city, will relax many virus restrictions nearly 12 weeks into its lockdown, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced at a news conference on Monday.

The easing of restrictions comes as the country records some of its highest daily case numbers since the pandemic began, with a record 206 cases reported on Saturday.

Starting before midnight on Tuesday, Auckland will allow the reopening of nonessential retail outlets and of public facilities like libraries, museums and zoos. Patrons will not be required to be vaccinated, though masks and physical-distancing restrictions will be in place. Up to 25 people will be permitted to gather outdoors, as well as for funerals and weddings.

Auckland, home to roughly a third of New Zealands population, went into a snap lockdown on Aug. 17 after a single case of the Delta variant was identified in the city.

The resulting outbreak has proved impossible to quash, prompting an end to the Covid-zero strategy that for most of the pandemic had allowed New Zealanders to live with few restrictions. The outbreak is largely contained to Auckland.

As of Sunday, more than 90 percent of eligible people ages 12 and older across the Auckland region had received at least one dose of a vaccine, Ms. Ardern said. The government expects to hit its target of 90 percent fully vaccinated around Nov. 29, she added, allowing it to move to a new system in which vaccination certificates will be required to access many services in the city.

It will mean all businesses can be open and operate, it will mean we will manage Covid safely, but differently, Ms. Ardern said.

Some health professionals had called for restrictions to remain in place, citing the disproportionate effect of the virus on New Zealands Indigenous Maori population, which makes up 37 percent of all cases in the outbreak despite constituting less than 17 percent of the wider population.

Link:

New Zealand's Biggest City Is to Ease Lockdown Restrictions - The New York Times

A plucky migrating godwit that captured New Zealands attention after it was forced to make a dramatic U-turn back to Alaska after 33 hours of non-stop flight has finally touched down in the country.

Every year, the Eastern bar-tailed godwits, or kuaka in Mori, make one of the longest avian migration flights in the world, travelling from their breeding ground in the Arctic, across the Pacific, to New Zealand.

About 80,000 godwits arrive in New Zealand each year, and move into harbours and estuaries across the two islands. Typically, the flocks are welcomed in September, sometimes to the sound of Cathedral bells.

This year, a female godwit, identified as 4BYWW by the bands on her legs, was confirmed as having made the longest flight ever recorded by a land bird. She travelled non-stop from Alaska to New Zealand, a journey of 12,200km that took eight days and 12 hours at an average speed of 59km/h.

But one unlucky godwit, an adult male known as 4BWRB, was forced to take a large U-turn over the Pacific Ocean, finishing up back at its Alaska take-off point after 57 hours of constant flight.

4BWRB took off from tidal flats in Alaskas Yukon-Kuskokwim delta on 11 September before encountering strong winds 2,000km into his journey and turning back after 33 hours of outward bound flight, the Department of Conservation reported.

It spent 11 days back in Alaska before giving the journey another try. It made it to New Caledonia, then spent five weeks resting before taking off again destination New Zealand. In a feat of stunning perseverance, it arrived in the North Islands Firth of Thames just after midnight on Tuesday morning.

The manager of the Pkorokoro Miranda Shorebird Centre, Keith Woodley, said the unlucky 4BWRB which also had to stop in New Caledonia last year had failed to do the non-stop flight three times in the past year.

So I mean, you wouldnt want it to buy you a Lotto ticket. But now its back here, its got time to recover, its got time to do the feather moult and time to get all the preparations on track.

Woodley has a particular fondness for the extraordinary efforts godwits go to before migration. They replace all their feathers to ready themselves for the next migratory flight and undergo physiological changes to enable them to store fat more efficiently.

Over the next few days he will be out scouring the estuary to try to spot 4BRWB and welcome him back.

The Pkorokoro Miranda Naturalists Trust was formed in 1975 and built its centre in 1990 to promote awareness of coastal ecology and shorebirds. Most of the godwits fitted with tracking devices are caught in Pkorokoro, with the trusts help.

4BWRB is one of 20 godwits fitted with radio transmitters. Monitoring the species helps scientists to assess the impact of weather on ultra-long-distance migration in real time, and to understand how migrating godwits adapt to changing weather.

Woodley said climate change was a problem for godwits at every point of the compass. In New Zealand, sea level rise is reducing habitats and foraging grounds; in Alaska, rising temperatures are changing the breeding environment and arrival of insects, which the godwit relies on for food. Unpredictable weather conditions across both hemispheres are affecting their flights.

Everywhere you look, these birds are likely to be affected by climate change, Woodley said.

Read more from the original source:

New Zealand finally welcomes godwit two months after it was blown 2,000km back to Alaska - The Guardian

DUBAI, Nov 9 (Reuters) - Two years since going toe-to-toe in a thrilling 50-overs World Cup final, England and New Zealand will again seek to deliver a knockout blow when they face each other in the semi-finals of the Twenty20 global showpiece in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday.

The clash pits contemporary cricket's most dominant white-ball team England against arguably the most consistent cross-format side New Zealand, who have reached the final of three of the last four major global tournaments.

The most dramatic of those finals was at Lord's in 2019 when Eoin Morgan's England were crowned 50-overs world champions via a now-scrapped boundary countback rule after the match ended in a tie.

Kane Williamson's team finally shed their bridesmaid's tag by winning the inaugural World Test Championship earlier this year and, like England, are now bidding to become reigning champions in two formats.

New Zealand coach Gary Stead said their heartbreak at Lord's would have no bearing on their Twenty20 World Cup encounter.

"I'm not sure they're will be anything from the 2019 game that will really come into it," Stead told reporters ahead of the clash at the Zayed Cricket Stadium.

"They are a quality side and I guess we just look forward to the challenge of playing the best side."

New Zealand were stunned by Pakistan in their Group II opener but went on to win four straight, with Trent Boult leading a sublime bowling unit backed up by twinkle-toed fielders delivering terrific catches.

With bat in hand, Martin Guptill has been the aggressor and Williamson the anchor, though their ability to chase down big totals remains untested.

TOP-ORDER REJIG

Opponents England looked the form team until being beaten in their final Group I game by South Africa, that defeat felt even more keenly with the loss of opener Jason Roy due to a calf injury.

Roy's absence will force a top-order rejig with Jonny Bairstow likely to partner an in-form Jos Buttler, though the 2010 champions have plenty of other options in an explosive lineup.

"It is a massive blow, not just because of the way he bats but also because of what he brings to the field, and around the boys," all-rounder Moeen Ali said of Roy's absence.

The defeat by South Africa could also serve as a wake-up call to Morgan's team, ridding them of any complacency that may have crept in after four easy wins on the trot.

England will also have to cope with the absence of 20-overs specialist Tymal Mills, who was ruled out with a thigh strain suffered against Sri Lanka, and could be tempted to beef up their attack by including bowling all-rounder David Willey.

"You can bring in (James) Vince, you can bring in (Sam) Billings, you can bring in a bowler," Moeen said.

"The great thing is there's loads of options and loads of combinations that we can go with."

Reporting by Amlan Chakraborty in Dubai; editing by Peter Rutherford

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

View post:

Another global showpiece, another England-New Zealand scrap - Reuters UK

Eoin Morgan has said that beating New Zealand in Wednesdays T20 World Cup semi-final would be a hell of an achievement given the injuries that have forced five key players out of his squad and the last-minute tactical rethink forced upon him after Jason Roys withdrawal on Monday with a torn calf muscle.

Morgan confirmed that within the group weve made a decision on who will open the batting with Jos Buttler, and without identifying the player chosen said the choice had not been a difficult one. He said, however, that further success in this tournament would be all the more impressive because of the absences of Ben Stokes, Jofra Archer, Sam Curran, Tymal Mills and now Roy.

It would be a really strong representation of what the white-ball side has achieved since 2015, Morgan said. We had a glimpse of that [depth] during our summer when we had to replace 15 players against Pakistan and they ended up beating Pakistans strongest ODI team 3-0. I think that was a good [demonstration] of the next generation of English cricketer.

I think its a compliment to the changing room and all the players and maybe more the support staff and the coaching staff, who create an environment where young players can come in and thrive. Its seemed to work for us for some time. Weve always talked about having strength in depth within our squads. But if the right environment isnt set up, it doesnt matter what XI you pick.

The New Zealand captain, Kane Williamson, also highlighted the depth of talent available to England when asked about the missing players. I think one of the strengths of the England side is their depth that theyve managed to produce over a period of time, he said. Having spent some time at the Birmingham Phoenix and being a little bit involved in the Hundred, you can tell that theres a huge amount of talent. Theyre still very much a strong side who have been playing some really good cricket.

Since the 2015 World Cup, the 50-over tournament where New Zealand thrashed England by eight wickets with more than 37 overs to spare, the nations have met at the 2016 World T20, the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy and twice at the 2019 ODI World Cup, with England prevailing on each occasion including in the final.

The Spin: sign up and get our weekly cricket email.

Weve played each other a number of times. Weve had some really good games in really good series, Williamson said. The evolution of the England white-ball side has been significant over a number of years. As a collective, theyre playing some really good cricket. We know its a nice challenge that were looking forward to.

This format is fickle in its nature and both teams will look to put their best foot forward and what will be will be at the end of it. Weve been ticking over reasonably nicely and watching from afar England have been doing something very similar, so it should be a really good contest.

Follow this link:

Eoin Morgan admits England injuries favour New Zealand at T20 World Cup - The Guardian

WELLINGTON, Nov 3 (Reuters) - New Zealand's foreign minister said on Wednesday that China's investment in the Pacific was creating economic vulnerabilities and she called for partnerships that would bolster resilience as the world emerges from the coronavirus pandemic.

Nanaia Mahuta, outlining New Zealand's approach in the Pacific, said the region was becoming increasingly strategic for big powers that were exercising their influence and pursuing their interests.

"It is a concern in terms of the way in which investments in the Pacific is occurring and creating quite a significant level of economic vulnerability and debt," Mahuta said when asked about China's growing influence in the region after her speech at the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs.

"That's an area that creates its own complexities," she said.

Mahuta said New Zealand offers partnerships that could strengthens the region's resilience, especially as the world recovers from the economic impact of COVID-19.

Her speech at the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs focused on the government's "Pacific Reset" that links New Zealand's future to a safe, secure and prosperous Pacific.

Mahuta said New Zealand's relationship with China was one that was respectful, predictable and consistent, but recognised the assertion of China within the Indo-Pacific region.

"We are very clear around things we can work together on, and we are increasingly becoming very clear about the things we do not and cannot agree on, much of which was in the human rights space," Mahuta said.

New Zealand's parliament in May declared that severe human rights abuses were taking place against Uyghur people in China's Xinjiang region. Chinese embassy criticised the declaration as interference in internal affairs. read more

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has said differences between New Zealand and its top trading partner were becoming harder to reconcile. read more

Reporting by Praveen MenonEditing by Robert Birsel

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Continue reading here:

New Zealand warns of economic vulnerabilities in the Pacific - Reuters

Ireland will hope to continue their hot streak of form when they face New Zealand in Dublin this weekend.

Andy Farrells men have won their last six matches, including three Six Nations clashes and encounters with Japan and USA.

The Irish move on to a huge test against the All-Blacks but will be determined to give a strong account of themselves against elite opponents.

New Zealand are among the most in-form rugby teams in the world right now having lost just one of their last 14 matches stretching back to the end of 2020.

In that winning run, they have dispatched Australia three times, South Africa once and demolished Six Nations champions Wales 54-16. Ireland will need their wits about them to get anything from this match.

RadioTimes.com has rounded up everything you need to know about how to watch Ireland v New Zealand on TV and online.

Ireland v New Zealand will take place on Saturday 13th November 2021.

Check out our Autumn Internationals on TVguide for the latest times and information for every match.

Ireland v New Zealand will kick off at 3:15pm.

There are several Autumn Internationals rugby games taking place this week including England v Australia.

Good news! Ireland v New Zealand will be shown exclusively live in the UK on Channel 4.

That means free-to-air rugby will return to your screens this weekend.

Coverage begins at 2:45pm, presented by Lee McKenzie.

You can tune in to watch the match via All 4 for free online and on the move.

Fans can access the streaming service on a range of devices from TV apps to laptops to smartphones and tablets.

Ireland:TBC

New Zealand: TBC

If youre looking for something else to watch check out ourTV Guideor visit ourSporthub for all the latest news.

See original here:

What channel is Ireland v New Zealand Autumn Internationals match on? Kick off time, TV and live stream - Radio Times

1 of 6

Donna Craig-Brown holds a large potato dug from her garden at her home near Hamilton, New Zealand Wednesday, Nov. 3, 2021. A New Zealand couple dug up a potato the size of a small dog in their backyard and have applied for recognition from Guinness World Records. They say it weighed in at 7.9 kilograms (17 pounds), well above the current record of just under 5 kg. They've named the potato Doug, because they dug it up. (Colin Craig-Brown via AP)

1 of 6

Donna Craig-Brown holds a large potato dug from her garden at her home near Hamilton, New Zealand Wednesday, Nov. 3, 2021. A New Zealand couple dug up a potato the size of a small dog in their backyard and have applied for recognition from Guinness World Records. They say it weighed in at 7.9 kilograms (17 pounds), well above the current record of just under 5 kg. They've named the potato Doug, because they dug it up. (Colin Craig-Brown via AP)

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) Colin and Donna Craig-Brown were weeding their garden in New Zealand when Colins hoe struck something huge just beneath the soils surface.

As the couple knelt down and began digging around the object, Colin wondered if it was some kind of strange fungal growth, a giant puffball. After Colin pried it out with his garden fork, he scratched away a bit of the skin and tasted it.

A potato.

We couldnt believe it, Donna said. It was just huge.

And not exactly pretty. Donna describes its appearance as more of an ugly, mutant look.

But its quite possibly the largest potato on record. When the couple lugged it into their garage and put it on their old set of scales, it weighed in at a remarkable 7.9 kilograms (17.4 pounds). Thats equal to a couple of sacks of regular potatoes, or one small dog.

In the weeks since their unusual find on Aug. 30, the couples potato has become something of a celebrity around their small farm near Hamilton. Theyve named the potato Doug, after the way it was unearthed, and Colin even built a small cart to tow Doug around.

We put a hat on him. We put him on Facebook, taking him for a walk, giving him some sunshine, Colin said. Its all a bit of fun. Its amazing what entertains people.

A more official weigh-in at a local farming store put Doug at 7.8 kg. The Guinness World Records entry for the heaviest potato is a 2011 monster from Britain that weighed in at just under 5 kg. The couple say theyve applied to Guinness to have Doug recognized and are waiting to hear back.

Guinness said it couldnt share information on the application and that the British potato remained the record-holder, for now at least.

Colin said he doesnt have any secret gardening tips. Usually they throw a bunch of cow manure and straw onto their garden and see what happens. He said theyd been growing cucumbers in that area of their garden before the weeds took over and hadnt planted any potatoes. Doug must have been self-sown, and quite possibly growing for a couple of years or more.

Its a mystery to me, Colin said. Its one of natures little pleasant surprises.

But Doug hasnt proved an easy charge to look after. As the couple showed the potato off, it began drying out and losing weight. Mold started growing from its wounds.

He was getting a bit pongy, said Colin, referring to the potatos smell.

So Colin cleaned up Doug as best he could and put the potato in the freezer, where it remains.

But Colin may not be done with Doug yet. An amateur brewer, Colin said hes keen to turn Doug into a nice drop of potato vodka.

See the article here:

Doug the ugly New Zealand potato could be world's biggest - Associated Press

It is the morning after New Zealand qualified for the T20 World Cup semi-finals by pipping the pre-tournament favourites, India, to second spot in their Super 12s group, and Mitchell Santner is heading out to play golf. This will surprise nobody who knows him after all, he describes himself in his Instagram bio as a part-time cricketer and full-time golfer but perhaps his ability to turn off and switch his attention to a different kind of white ball at this of all moments illustrates how comfortable his team have become with major-tournament success.

They are making a habit of playing their way into the serious end of the sports most important competitions. New Zealand have reached the last four of the last four 50-over World Cups and the last two finals were 2016 Twenty20 semi-finalists, 2021 World Test champions, and are continuing their run of multiformat form by shining once again in the United Arab Emirates.

To win the Test stuff was pretty special, our first major trophy, but obviously we dont want to stop there, Santner says. With the current setup and the current team, everyones got that belief that we can beat anyone on our day and weve shown that.

Obviously I think we always go into these tournaments kind of as the underdogs, but we can bank those experiences, keep doing the little things and think about that stuff down the road. We cant get caught up in that during the tournament, but maybe at some point well think: Shit, that was a pretty good effort, lads. The last few years have been pretty good for us in terms of beating big teams in big events so we just keep doing what were doing and not try to change a hell of a lot.

At the last 20-over World Cup, in 2016, Santner had just turned 24 and was new to the New Zealand side: their opening game against India in Nagpur was just his sixth T20 international. He marked it with what remains his finest bowling performance in the format, taking four wickets for just 11 runs with Rohit Sharma and MS Dhoni among his victims. The Black Caps went on to lose to England in the last four, and the theme of beating India before losing to England continued at the 50-over World Cup in 2019. They will attempt another repeat when they face Eoin Morgans side in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday.

I dont think 2019 will come up much, he says of the ludicrously dramatic ODI World Cup final at Lords. Obviously it was pretty heartbreaking at the time. Everyone played it pretty well, but inside they were probably feeling different, wanting to show some emotion. In terms of the game itself it was pretty special. We were unfortunate to be on the losing side but we hadnt made a lot of finals before so it was all new.

This is a different challenge, a different format, and we bank those experiences and try to be one better. Well do our scouting, put all the plans in place, and then just try to execute that as best we can on the day. If it works, outstanding, and if it doesnt, it is what it is. I think we cant look too much into the past. This is a different English side on a different surface.

It is a more different English side than they might have anticipated, with Jofra Archer, Ben Stokes and Jason Roy, who all started that 2019 final, among a string of key players ruled out through injury. Theyll still be a very good side and tough to beat, no doubt, Santner says. Even without some of those guys theyve come out flying and played some very good cricket. Tymal Mills and now Roys a pretty big blow, but theyll probably just send Jonny Bairstow to the top and look as strong as ever. I think the balance of the English squad at the moment is massive, they bat all the way down and theyve got the firepower with the bowlers as well. The wicket looks pretty good, so its going to be tough.

The Spin: sign up and get our weekly cricket email.

Santner was part of the Chennai Super Kings side that won the Indian Premier League in the UAE just before the World Cup started, though he never actually got a game and New Zealands final group match, against Afghanistan, was the first time he had played in Abu Dhabi. His two overs cost 27 runs another experience to bank. I guess you try to leave it behind and move on, he says. I think length is very important in Abu Dhabi, with it skidding on and not being a lot of turn, so as a spin unit you have to be on.

Right now, however, he is very much off. Getting away from the game is important, he says. Then when its time to turn on for the semi-final you can switch on easily. If youre not up for an ICC world event, well I guess this is the pinnacle.

It is one his side have got used to climbing, and they have new peaks in their sights.

Go here to see the original:

New Zealands Mitchell Santner: I dont think 2019 will come up much - The Guardian

As world leaders continue negotiations at the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow, several agreements reached so far have acknowledged the connection between climate change and the global loss of biodiversity.

Half a world away, we might feel somewhat smug. Almost a third of Aotearoa New Zealand is protected as conservation land, but we nevertheless have the highest number of threatened species worldwide, with 79% of birds, bats, reptiles and frogs at risk of or threatened with extinction.

The threat to wildlife is entirely due to human impacts, including the introduction of mammal predators and land-use practices that threaten Indigenous biodiversity.

Despite more than 40,000 people in 600 community conservation groups working throughout the country, these efforts and gains are tenuous, not yet arresting the decline in biodiversity.

Surveys show New Zealanders are increasingly aware of the state of our environment, but knowledge on its own does not spur action.

We suggest mtauranga Mori, a traditional system of understanding the natural world, could help take people from awareness to action.

Te Mana o te Taiao is New Zealands national biodiversity strategy and lays out conservation priorities for the next three decades. It promotes the braiding of Western science and mtauranga Mori and emphasises a focus on people as much as the environment.

Regular surveys show a marked shift in public perception of the state of New Zealands environment. Twenty years ago, a majority believed the environment was in good health, but today, most people believe it is in poor health.

The survey also asks if respondents had participated in environmental advocacy or volunteer work, but the percentage of people who have has remained steady over two decades.

Read more: Why Indigenous knowledge should be an essential part of how we govern the world's oceans

People feel increasingly disconnected from the natural world for a few key reasons, including:

a rise of individualism and the erosion of community

distraction by technology and entertainment

increasing urbanisation and inequality leading to an extinction of experience

poorer urban populations with fewer opportunities to connect with nature.

Awareness alone does not spur action, but research shows people who feel more connected with nature have a stronger sense of environmental responsibility.

If we wish to ensure the survival of our Indigenous biodiversity, we need to ask how we get from awareness to action. Indigenous peoples have played a strong role in conserving biodiversity over many centuries, and mtauranga Mori could hold some answers.

Read more: Indigenous knowledge and the persistence of the 'wilderness' myth

There are three main strands to how mtauranga Mori can turn knowledge into action.

Ecological science has increased our understanding of the inter-connectedness of ecosystems and has brought us closer to a mtauranga Mori concept of human relationships with the natural world. Within this concept, if the environment is not in good health, people cant be in good health either. Seeing ourselves as inter-connected and inter-dependent with the natural world engenders reciprocity and care for the natural world.

By embedding values and beliefs into facts, knowledge becomes more memorable, meaningful and relatable. This helps people to form an identity of belonging within the natural world and a connection to place. We are far more likely to care for a place if we feel a connection to it.

Awareness of our inter-connections and dependence on the natural world helps us see the dissonance between stewardship and practices that threaten other species.

Community conservation groups could play a central role in achieving New Zealands national biodiversity strategy through use of mtauranga Mori concepts.

Ecosanctuaries like Zealandia already provide opportunities to connect with the natural world, through education and volunteering. There are more than 80 sanctuaries throughout the country, providing opportunities for people to acquaint themselves with the natural world and become involved in conservation activities.

Ecosanctuaries demonstrate environmental restoration is possible and conservation is everyones responsibility, not just the role of the state. They effectively build a constituency for conservation within the community.

Zealandia identifies its role as an enabler of transformation in the way people engage with the natural world. Their 20-year strategy emphasises mtauranga Mori and inspiring change through shared passion.

The biodiversity strategy is fundamentally about people [] the task that we have in front of us is fundamentally about changing the way people value the natural world.

Mori continually straddle two worlds, navigating the Mori world view and the Tauiwi (Western) world. Non-Mori rarely step into the Mori world, and its unfamiliarity can cause discomfort.

Incorporating mtauranga Mori should not mean appropriating knowledge from Mori or glossing over legitimate Mori grievances. Instead, being able to hold two world views can be likened to gaining binocular vision people discern more depth and detail than by seeing the world through a single lens.

To maintain and improve our biodiversity, we need to practise conservation everywhere rather than only in conservation spaces. Embracing mtauranga Mori concepts could help New Zealanders to develop an identity of ecological belonging to become better kaitiaki (guardians) of our biodiversity.

This article is based on a presentation given at a Sanctuaries of New Zealand workshop earlier this year on the theme of iwi and conservation.

View post:

How Mori knowledge could help New Zealanders turn their concern for the environment into action - The Conversation AU