Enhancing awareness and adoption of cultural values through use of Māori bird names in science communication and environmental reporting

Abstract

In biodiversity reporting, use of Maori species names supports the cultural aspirations of Maori. It helps to retain the Maori language and its dialects, and implicitly acknowledges indigenous relationships with the environment. However, although it is clear that there is growing support for incorporating Maori views, terminology (including species’ names) and knowledge in New Zealand environmental reporting, there is often confusion about which Maori name to use, and about some of the regional nuances of the language. Here, we discuss the range and use of Maori bird names in biodiversity reporting, management and research as well as science communication. We piloted some potential mechanisms for improving awareness and adoption of regional names as well as the knowledge and understanding of both birds and culture those names contribute. We show that shifts in the use of species names can occur within short periods of time and identify potential pathways through which such shifts might occur. We emphasise that working with communities should be central to the incorporation of Maori bird names in regional and national reporting to support regional language variants that reflect the relationships of those groups to specific places and build community capability. We propose that creating a federated dataset to build maps of Maori bird names will support such reporting.