Two research funds amounting to NZ$1.45 million are available for Māori climate research. The Deep South Challenge announcement says:
“These two funding streams encourage uniquely indigenous responses to the impact of climate change. Our Te Aho stream encourages community-led action research, with or without the participation of academic institutions. Our Te Taura stream supports larger-scale research projects that may involve multiple research partners.”
The Māori possess deep knowledge, skills, and experience that can be efficient tools to adapt to climate change impacts.
Their perspective and understanding of nature, people, and resources can offer a new context to enhance and enrich climate adaptation and mitigation initiatives in New Zealand.
The Māori yearns to keep aflame their desires to protect their lands, the ownership, and rights to their lands, to ensure that their culture, belief, and values are protected and nurtured and will flourish in the face of many social and global challenges.
Climate change is another threat to what the Māori hold dear, and thus they have a vested interest to protect their land, assets, and people against the impacts of climate change.
The goal of the two research funding initiatives, Te Aho and Te Taura, is “to support organic, creative, innovative and Māori responses to the impacts of climate change. These initiatives have been developed in recognition of the diversity of experience, knowledge, and responses to climate change across and within ngā iwi and hāpori Māori.”
To know more about the research funding for Māori and to access the funding, click the link below:
PHOTO CREDIT: The background image Māori people used in the photo is by Broddi Sigurðarson – originally posted to Flickr as Ninth Session of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=11981155
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