'Healing the land, Healing the People'

Abstract

Natural systems throughout New Zealand that remain unharmed are in decline, this started in early European settlement with the introduction of new resources and a mind-set driven by economy. Pre-European New Zealand was a ‘land of bog, marsh, and peatlands’, resulting in the majority of the land cover being a large scale wetland. Over the past century, ‘90% of these wetlands have been destroyed or significantly modified through draining and other anthropogenic activities, resulting in the degradation, and loss of significant landscapes’ (Harmsworth, 2002).

This thesis brings to light Lake Wairarapa as the third largest lake in the North Island that once held some of New Zealand’s most significant wetlands. The lake in its historic state reached 210km² and today reaches a surface area of 78km². The drop in area was a loss due to the agriculture and horticulture industry, which have also become the primary sources of pollution, adding to the decline in quality and damage of the surrounding landscape.

The idea of ‘healing’ is understood as a method primarily applied to a person; however it can be adapted to the land. Rongoā is the traditional Māori method practiced by tohunga (priest/expert), it is a way of living due to the weaving of nature, wairua (spirit) and people to form a realm of well-being. This study explores how Rongoā Māori can be an important tool for landscape restoration and explores how landscape architecture can be adapted to cultural concepts and in return be able to deal with certain infrastructural problems.

This study has been approved by the Humans Ethics Committee. Approval number 21899.