Journal Articles

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://mro.massey.ac.nz/handle/10179/7915

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    Re-Imagining Wild Rivers in Aotearoa New Zealand
    (MDPI (Basel, Switzerland), 2022-08) Brierley G; Fuller I; Williams G; Hikuroa D; Tilley A; Gomes A; García JH
    If wilderness is dead, do wild rivers exist and if so, in what form and in whose construction? This reflective article reviews perspectives on rivers in Aotearoa New Zealand as wild or tamed entities. A historical overview of the socio-cultural and institutional relationships with rivers examines the meanings of rivers in Aotearoa New Zealand through multiple lenses. This includes indigenous Māori knowledge, command-and-control mentalities of a settler society that assert human authority over rivers, the emergence of the environmental movement and associated legislation with a sustainability focus (the Resource Management Act), and recent movement towards co-governance arrangements that incorporate the original intent of Te Tiriti o Waitangi (1840). It is contended that management practices have disconnected society from rivers, and vice versa, creating a sense of environmental loss (solastalgia), especially for Māori. Using rivers in the Greater Wellington Region as examples, prospects to accommodate wild river behaviour in Aotearoa New Zealand are explored. Recognising that re-wilding is no longer a feasible option in most instances, further attempts to tame rivers are also considered to be unrealistic, especially in light of climate change and accentuated flood risk. Reconnecting with indigenous knowledge offers prospects to re-imagine wild rivers in Aotearoa, living generatively with rivers as dynamic and emergent entities.
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    Reanimating the strangled rivers of Aotearoa New Zealand
    (Wiley Periodicals LLC, 2023-03) Brierley GJ; Hikuroa D; Fuller IC; Tunnicliffe J; Allen K; Brasington J; Friedrich H; Hoyle J; Measures R; Seibert J
    Contemporary management practices have artificially confined (strangled) river systems in Aotearoa New Zealand to support intensified land use in riparian areas. These practices work against nature, diminishing the functionality and biodiversity values of living rivers, and associated socio-cultural relations with rivers. River confinement can accentuate flood risk by promoting development in vulnerable locations and limiting the flexibility to adapt to changing climate, prospectively accentuating future disasters. To date, uptake of space-to-move management interventions that seek to address such shortcomings is yet to happen in Aotearoa New Zealand. This is despite the fact that such practices directly align with Māori (indigenous) conceptualizations of rivers as indivisible, living entities. Treaty of Waitangi obligations that assert Māori rights alongside colonial rights of a settler society provide an additional driver for uptake of space-to-move initiatives. This article outlines a biophysical prioritization framework to support the development and roll out of space-to-move interventions in ways that work with the character, behavior, condition, and evolutionary trajectory (recovery potential) of each river system in Aotearoa.