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Māori perspectives on digital trade
(Te Kotahi Research Institute, University of Waikato, 2025-12) Lucas, Danielle
Māori have engaged in trade for generations, both domestically and internationally (Mika 2014, Spiller et al 2025). As a way to access resources and build or strengthen relationships, trade allowed Māori in the North Island to access pounamu from the South Island and now allows those around the world to experience Whakatōhea mussels, Tai Tokerau mānuka honey and Tohu wines (Tohu Wines 2021, Open Ocean Whakatōhea mussels 2021, Tai Tokerau Honey 2025). With Māori authorities and businesses exporting a combined $1,350 million worth of goods in 20233, Māori international trade is becoming increasingly important to both the national and Māori economies. However, the way we trade, and what we are trading, are rapidly changing. Advances in technology, from improved refrigeration and transportation to the creation of the internet, are expanding flows of trade in goods, services, capital, labour and now data. This new form of trade, in digital assets and on digital channels has “…fundamentally altered the production and consumption of goods and services worldwide over the past two decades (OECD 2023 page 1).” As a growing part of the national economy, Māori are increasingly engaging in digital trade, from utilising online platforms and QR codes for product identification to creating and exporting applications. As Whaanga et al (2015) state, Māori have a long history of “…adopting new technologies, but also of innovating and developing technologies that suit their specific needs and allow for the expression of their culture and identity.” As digital trade grows, it is important that Māori communities can participate in and protect against digital trade. Therefore, this scoping report looks at Māori perspectives on digital trade. Although there is currently limited focus placed in this area4, the rapidly developing nature of digital trade means it is one of increasing importance to Māori communities. This report provides a basis to explore digital trade. Firstly, it discusses definitions for digital trade, taking time to explore the growing divergence between 1) digitally traded goods and services, and 2) trade in digital assets and services. The next section highlights the policy impacts of these diverse forms of digital trade (compared to traditional or non-digital trade) and how these forms of trade may cause unique considerations for Māori communities, providing some of the limited evidence available on this. This analysis highlights the tensions between the desire for Māori organisations to take part in the economic and social benefits of digital trade while ensuring that Māori rights and interests are not lost during the growth of digital trade. In conclusion this report lists further areas where Māori perspectives on either trade or the technology sector are offered, which may help shed light on Māori perspectives of digital trade. Noting that there is a large number of adjacent reports to this area, the report recommends there is more specific and intentional research (such as a survey) on Māori perspectives on trade in digital trade to ensure these perspectives can be incorporated into trade policy.
Indigenous perspectives on digital trade
(Te Kotahi Research Insitute, University of Waikato, 2026) Cordes, Ashley; Sane, Sudhanshu
As Indigenous peoples, histories and practices of trading are held within our bodies, written in laws, archives, and treaties, and ultimately mediate relationships with land, communities, and technologies. The rapid and widespread adoption of networked communication in our Digital Age, and simultaneous financial uncertainty, have contributed to the creation and adaptation of new conditions of exchange. Digitality offers Indigenous peoples unique opportunities to trade across long distances while building economies on sovereign terms. In contrast to other forms of trade, digital trading is by nature highly reliant upon the Internet and its underlying infrastructures. These include transmission media: high-speed fiber optic cables; wireless spectrum; networking equipment: routers, switches, cell towers, satellite ground stations; end devices: laptops, phones, servers; and the core network software: the Internet protocol stack. Digital ledger systems (e.g., blockchain), digital wallets, encryption for secure transactions, security, machine learning/artificial intelligence (AI), and compliance protocols are particularly critical to the future of digital trading.
Indigenous biodiscovery wānanga: Summary report
(Te Kotahi Research Insitute, University of Waikato, 2026-03-31) Caddie, Manu; Caddie-Koia, Miria; Oldham-Malcolm, Wallis
The Indigenous Biodiscovery Wānanga held on 30–31 March 2026 at JetPark Hotel, Hamilton, brought together around 60 researchers, Māori representatives, community leaders, government officials, and industry experts to explore the intersection of Indigenous knowledge, biodiversity research, and commercialisation. This two-day event provided a forum for in-depth discussion on key challenges and opportunities in Indigenous-led biodiscovery, with a focus on protecting taonga species, ensuring Māori rights and interests are recognised, and building sustainable pathways for commercialisation that benefit both communities and ecosystems.
He rangahau tauutuutu: Research reciprocity framework
(Te Kotahi Research Institute, University of Waikato, 2026-02) Manukau, Merepaea; Hudson, Maui; Kusabs, Natalie; Mahuta, Nanaia
Research reciprocity represents a deep commitment to partnership with Indigenous communities in research collaborations. It emphasises the need for not only benefit sharing but also power sharing across the broader research lifecycle encompassing both upstream and downstream activities. Research reciprocity is inherently relational with a focus on distributing resources, opportunities, decision-making and control in an equitable manner. Research reciprocity combines the ethics and community engagement that inform equity in ‘International research collaborations’, the issue of trust and social responsibility aligned to ‘Responsible Research and Innovation’, the knowledge translation intent associated with ‘Research Impact’, and the concept of Fair and Equitable Benefit Sharing enshrined in the Nagoya Protocol; and brings them into dialogue with Indigenous aspirations for research partnerships including self-determination, cultural centredness, Indigenous data sovereignty, community wellbeing, and capacity building.
Tīmata whakaora, kickstarting recovery - Using bivalves to bioremediate degraded estuarine sediments
(The University of Waikato, 2025) Prinz, Natalie; Ellis, Joanne I.; Pilditch, Conrad A.; Savage, Candida; Gladstone-Gallagher, Rebecca V.
Estuarine soft sediment ecosystems worldwide are increasingly threatened by anthropogenic, land-derived and marine stressors that compromise their health and functionality with cascading effects on ecosystem services that they provide. Once degraded, natural recovery can take years due to the loss of long-lived, functionally important benthic species. These species are important in maintaining internal feedback loops, thereby facilitating resilient communities that underpin critical ecosystem functions. In this thesis, I evaluated the role of two functionally distinct bivalve species, Austrovenus stutchburyi, a surface-dwelling suspension feeding bioturbator, and Macomona liliana, a deep-burrowing porewater-pressuriser, in supporting recovery of estuarine function following disturbance. Two field experiments in Tauranga Harbour, Aotearoa New Zealand were conducted, first a controlled disturbance-recovery translocation trial (after acute disturbance) and second, a large-scale translocation across a gradient of environmental (chronic) stress. In the first experiment bivalves were added to defaunated plots in single and combined species treatments and compared to ambient and defaunated no-addition controls. Measurements were taken over a period of 389 days (one year) and included influence of bivalve additions on sediment properties, nutrient cycling, benthic metabolism (Chapter 2), and community composition recruitment (Chapter 3). Results from the first research chapter (Chapter 2) demonstrate that A. stutchburyi consistently enhanced ecosystem function proxies, reducing sediment mud content, increasing oxygen consumption, and stimulating ammonium flux, even when survival was low, compared to unaided recovery. In contrast, M. liliana showed limited direct effects on the measured ecosystem functions and the co-addition of both species did not yield synergistic effects. The second research chapter (Chapter 3) elucidates that the presence of A. stutchburyi also altered macrofaunal recovery trajectories and moderated the proliferation of opportunistic species, particularly in the absence of M. liliana. In contrast, M. liliana only treatments showed limited impact on functional recovery metrics but contributed to expected post-disturbance recruitment patterns by opportunists. Juveniles of both bivalve species settled in all treatments, M. liliana juveniles were enhanced in all defaunated treatments, whereas A. stutchburyi decreased but approached ambient after one year in all but M. liliana only treatments. While all treatments trended toward ambient community states over the course of one year, differences in recruitment patterns and functional diversity suggest that species additions only subtly altered recovery trajectories. In the third research chapter (Chapter 4), A. stutchburyi was translocated across 9 sites within the Tauranga Harbour. Results showed that translocation success was not dependent on the overall stress-gradient or ambient A. stutchburyi densities. Translocation success did, however, vary with heavy metal (zinc) contamination after three months, even when concentrations were well below guideline thresholds. Effects of translocations on measures of ecosystem productivity could only be discerned in translocation sites with >44% clam retention, showing that increases in benthic metabolism and organic matter degradation are dependent on bivalve survival. The synthesis of these chapters offers insights into the potential of using adult ecosystem engineering bivalves, particularly A. stutchburyi, to facilitate estuarine recovery and places this work in the broader context of restoration ecology with management implications. These findings highlight the importance of early reintroduction of ecosystem engineers to re-establish complex facilitatory feedbacks and support estuarine ecosystem recovery. However, successful restoration depends on environmental context, particularly the extent of stressor reduction needed to ensure translocation survival.