The New Zealand Ecological Society (NZES) completely rejects the content of a recent letter to The Listener magazine. Our society recognises the equal status of Indigenous Knowledge, particularly mātauranga Māori, and Western science and considers that both are valid components of the NCEA science curriculum and global research landscape.
Society faces many pressing challenges in public health, ecology, conservation, environmental science, education and public policy, and we must jointly deploy all relevant tools and diverse ways of knowing to address these issues. Mātauranga Māori must be at the forefront of Aotearoa New Zealand’s response to these challenges. When respectfully used together, mātauranga Māori and Western science approaches offer rich possibilities and novel insights, as can be seen in a number of recent publications on these topics:
http://www.rauikamangai.co.nz/
https://newzealandecology.org/nzje/j43_3
https://scientists.org.nz/Special-Issue/
Tim Curran
NZES President
Kiri Joy Wallace
NZES Vice President
Symon Palmer
Māori Representative NZES Council