Rangitāne o Wairau: Iwi-led Flood and Inundation Risk Modelling

This project explored how mātauranga Māori and iwi knowledge can be integrated into flood and inundation risk modelling to better understand the impacts of climate-related hazards on culturally significant landscapes.

Developed through a collaboration between Rangitāne o Wairau and Earth Sciences New Zealand, the research combined whānau interviews, cultural mapping, and geospatial hazard modelling within the RiskScape platform. The work focused on the Wairau Bar and Te Pokohiwi o Kupe area, a landscape of deep cultural and intergenerational significance.

The project identified that flood and coastal hazards are experienced not only through physical and economic impacts, but also through cultural disruption, ecological degradation, emotional stress, and impacts on whakapapa relationships with place.

A key outcome was the development of iwi-led consequence functions that enabled cultural dimensions of risk to be represented alongside conventional hazard modelling assessments. The project provides a foundation for future iwi-led climate adaptation and hazard resilience planning across Aotearoa New Zealand.