Ecological State Assessment Tool (ESAT): a cross-cultural natural resource management tool from Aotearoa, New Zealand

Abstract

A cross-cultural approach to conservation and natural resource management will enable resource managers to access the full potential of dual knowledge epistemologies and facilitate genuine co-management. To achieve this epistemological convergence in Aotearoa, New Zealand, a framework and an ecological assessment tool are required that can employ indicators from both neoclassical ecological science and indigenous science, in particular mātauranga Māori. The Ecological State Assessment Tool (ESAT) was developed to assess quantitative scientific data using Māori ecological indicators. ESAT models population or social data weighted according to an applied Māori ecological perspective. ESAT may be applied to any conservation project to integrate Māori ecological knowledge in resource management. We illustrate the utility of ESAT in a case study of how different conservation management practices affect the ecological health of a short-tailed bat colony (Mystacina tuberculata), Pekapeka O Puketītī-Piopio. Applying ESAT shows that although pest control programs were achieving management targets, social engagement had a significant effect on ecological health outcomes for the bats. ESAT may assist territorial authorities and the Crown to meet their resource management obligations to Māori under the Treaty of Waitangi, value mātauranga and provide a way for Māori and ecologists to conceptualise and understand each other’s epistemology. Furthermore, ESAT can be adapted to include any cultural or ecological indicators, enabling its application internationally.