Māori are among the most vulnerable to climate change
From attacking trees to hugging them, Mike Smith is on a mission to recruit new members to his cause, to save the country from climate change. Smith, infamous for his chainsaw attack on the lone pine on One Tree Hill in 1994, isn't afraid to pull punches but knows there's a hard fight ahead. "I have to work with farmers, 10 years ago I would have called them settler f...... land squatters," he says. "Now, I have to try and get these people on board." READ MORE: * Quick! Save the planet: Why Stuff is embarking on a long-term climate change project * Beach Road: The rising sea and the reshaping of New Zealand * 'Life-altering' changes needed to avoid the worst of climate change * Fighting climate change wouldn't stop our economy, but it might hurt the poor Smith, the activist, is now in charge of climate change policy for the high profile Iwi Leaders Group. He says Maori, in particular, are at greater risk from the effects of climate change. "We're super vulnerable, like we are to anything," Smith says. "When it comes to climate change it's like the poorest people in the world are going to be hit the hardest first and that's a lot of us." MOST AT RISK The government's ' Adapting to Climate Change Stocktake ,' published in December 2017, says vulnerability to climate change depends on the level of exposure to the change and ability to cope and adapt. Maori are among the groups identified in the report as most vulnerable. The report says there has been more heavy rainfall, flooding, erosion and landslides in the hills causing sedimentation of waterways on the coast since 2005. The extreme weather events are a threat to lifelines and services. As the sea levels rise, high tides and storm surges will erode the coastline. Saltwater could fill groundwater aquifers close to the ocean. Weeds and animal pests will be difficult to control. On the west coast of the North Island between Otaki and Levin, Maori have taken matters into their own hands, joining with scientists to combat the effects of climate change. "It can be quite overwhelming the global climate change issues," says Otaki resident and environmental scientist Aroha Spinks. She was part of the team of scientists who worked with senior architecture students, local iwi, hapu and Maori land trusts to identify climate change risks and create adaptation strategies. The students turned those into designs and presented them in a series of art exhibitions. A comprehensive scientific report was also produced. Locals will decide which plan they'll use in phase two of the project later next year. "To see those prediction models of how much water was going to be along that coastline was a big eye opener," says Spinks. "I'm sure some people got a bit of shock to see how much of that coastline could potentially be underwater." UNDER WATER Urupa, Maori burial sites, are common along New Zealand's coastline and could soon become submerged. "For some hapu and iwi there is a real pressing need to act to move tupapaku (corpses) to higher ground," says Niwa research scientist Dr Darren King. "What do we do with when it's multiple owned land? Do we let Tangaroa (the god of the sea) claim it? Or do we have conversations to divert interests in land to other places that are more resilient? "It can be overwhelming when climate is so connected with everything." King has worked on multiple Maori community projects to help them use science and traditional local knowledge to understand the threats and how to adapt. He runs Niwa's Maori Environmental Science Programme and believes Maori can develop their own solutions. "The climate change challenge for Maori society is about sustainable living arrangements and development, as much as it is about natural hazards management such as risks associated with flooding, storms and coastal erosion," he says. In 2013, King worked with Matihetihe marae in the Far North, situated behind sand dunes in Mitimiti north of the Hokianga harbour. "The sea is encroaching particularly during storm events," says King. "They've had multiple floods at the marae. "We did some work to better understand what the future might look like up there, the implications of the changes ahead. The whanau there are working on a climate change strategy for their marae." THE COST OF LIVING A major challenge for Maori communities is how they will pay for any necessary physical adaptations. For well-off households and communities, the costs of adaptation will be manageable. But many Maori communities struggle to survive in the present let alone thinking about what needs to be done to adapt to, and help reduce climate change, says Dr Rhys Jones, a public health medicine specialist. "A lot of people talk about climate change as a threat multiplier for people who are also facing disadvantages or poor health, it exacerbates those threats," Jones says. Substandard housing is an issue for all New Zealanders especially during an extreme weather event. But many of those living in poor housing are Maori, says Jones, who represents over 600 health professionals in Ora Taiao, the Climate and Health Council. "It's not just the immediate event, it's the period after; washed out roads, power out, no water. There are huge risks to health as well, if they can't access water and can't get to health services." A large portion of the multibillion dollar Maori economy is also vulnerable because it is based on climate sensitive primary industries such as forestry, fishing, agriculture and farming. Smith says it's tough on iwi who are only now starting to reap the benefits from 20 years of treaty settlements but have to rethink what they do economically. He cites Maori fisheries as an example. "We turned up a day late a dollar short," he says. "The seas had been basically pillaged and we just caught the tail end of it. We've got all this money and expectations tied up in the fishing industry, there is vested interest in there and now these type of climate problems require us to re-evaluate." WORKING ON IT Smith is up for the challenge but is concerned others aren't. "We've got 10 years to get our emissions down. We've got to shift public opinion and support governments that are prepared to do the right thing even if it's going to hurt." He says either climate change is not on the radar for Maori or they are leading the charge. "For those of our people who aren't connected to our communities, who don't have a cultural strength and who are just the poor person in South Auckland with no networks, they're going to be super vulnerable." Climate change plans have been developed by Maori in Mitimiti, Northland; by Ngati Whanaunga in the Coromandel; Te Arawa in the Bay of Plenty; iwi and marae along the eastern seaboard; Ngati Kuri in Kaikoura and Ngai Tahu in the South Island. Others have been collaborating with other Maori, government departments, scientists and researchers to create their own climate change plans. The coastal project Spinks is working on is one of eight funded by the Government's Deep South Vision Matauranga programme . In total, $3.5m has been allocated over 10 years for Maori-focused climate change research. Spinks says the project was developed off the back of work already done by locals over the past 20 years. They've restored six wetlands using volunteers to plant native species in different parts of the area, on small budgets. "We need to start somewhere," says Spinks. "If everybody's doing these small steps, planting a few plants in their backyard, together we can make a difference." The Iwi Leaders Group and Ora Taiao have both backed the Ardern Government's ban on new gas and oil exploration and the zero carbon act, which commits New Zealand to a carbon neutral economy by 2050. "We should be aiming to get there before then," says Jones. "It should be a really strong target as well, all greenhouse gases." He believes solutions to climate change can provide huge health and wellbeing benefits which will also help reduce inequalities for Maori. "If we were to increase healthy and energy efficient homes you can reduce the emissions and decrease infectious diseases, pneumonia and rheumatic fever - especially if you invest in the communities that need it the most. You can have a pretty significant impact on health by fixing homes. It should be a no-brainer." Jones advocates for meat free Mondays and cutting down on dairy consumption. "Moving from a largely animal based diet to more plant based can actually have significant health benefits but it's also really good for reducing greenhouse gas emissions." THE EXPERTS Despite the scepticism of Western scientists, King believes matauranga Maori - traditional knowledge - can add value to climate change science. "A lot of the criticism comes from a complete misunderstanding of what matauranga Maori is," says King. "People refer to matauranga Maori as specific forms of knowledge but it's also deeper than that. In English, you call it elemental knowledge or metaphysics." He says Maori have been dealing with climate variability for centuries. Maori have historical knowledge about ecology, says Spinks. Kaumatua join her project workshops where they share their local expertise with scientists. "You can see it sometimes they're blown away by what a local kaumatua will know about their whenua (land) and waterways, species and the different times of the year they're there and how those interactions all work." THE 'H' WORD There are, however, no shortcuts from the climate change problem. There will be hardship, King says. "I'm sure some of that hardship is coming. Much of it will come through central government policy and then some of it will come from grassroots too." Smith uses another 'h' word - "hurt". "It doesn't matter which way you spin the dice on this, whatever's being done is going to hurt. People who are looking for a painless way of mitigating climate change I don't think there is one." He believes radical new thinking is required. "How do we collectively as New Zealanders address this problem? We're going to have to hold hands across the country to sort this thing out."