About the tool

Any decisions relating to the use of your whenua require you to have a relationship with and understanding of your whenua. This can be a complex process, but building a solid foundation will support you and your whānau in the long-term to make well informed decisions. Different ways that you can work on your relationship with, and understanding of your whenua include:

Cultural and historical knowledge

• The history associated with your whenua over time.
• Whakapapa related to your whenua.
• Wāhi tapu and cultural sites of significance.
• Purakau and intergenerational kōrero related to your whenua.

Building cultural and historical knowledge usually requires whānau based rangahau.

Biophysical attributes

• Your local climate, temperature, rainfall patterns, and growing season length 
• The properties of your soils, things like whether they are prone to be waterlogged or free draining, stony and difficult to dig or crumbly textured, or lacking in nutrients
• The slope of your whenua (for example, rolling or steep) and the direction that the slopes are facing. 
• Water access on your whenua.

Where possible, we have tried to connect you with publicly available data that may help you better understand biophysical attributes of your whenua. You will find this information in the ‘Taiao’ section of this tool, and by selecting your whenua in the ‘whenua location’ screen you will pull up information that is relevant to your location. 

You will see that we have included information about the potential impacts of climate change to help you think about how your environmental conditions might be different in the future. However, the climate change information is predictive only and is based on modelled outputs, so it’s indicative only and needs to be applied with caution.

The information provided is drawn from national and regional datasets and is intended to provide a high-level guide only. We suggest you consult a suitably qualified advisor for specific paddock-scale information. For example, soil chemistry analysis will confirm the ratio of different nutrients in your soil which can be important to know for growing crops with specific nutrient needs.

Building a picture using the above information will support you to assess the suitability of different land use options and will help you to be more active in conversations with consultants who you may eventually engage with in your evaluation processes.

Māori landowners have a range of aspirations that impact on land-use decision making. We have identified four broad groups of common aspirations for Māori landowners including:

• capability (skills, knowledge, and relationships)
• whānau (jobs, wellbeing, identity, and culture)
• environment (mauri, wairua, and ecosystems), and
• financial (profit, resilience, and productivity) 

By identifying the relative importance of these aspirations in Matarau, the potential land use options will be presented in a way that prioritises the outcomes that you said were most important to you.

The natural characteristics of your whenua will play a key role in determining which land use opportunities are likely to be feasible options for your whenua. For example, crops like hemp and onions do not perform well in waterlogged soils, and truffles require specific soil conditions to grow successfully.

By selecting your whenua in the ‘whenua location’ screen, you will have prioritised the land use opportunities that are likely to perform well given the natural characteristics of your whenua/region.

Our land use factsheets give you high-level information about the biophysical requirements (including climate, soils, and water) for individual land use opportunities. Where we have data available, we have also included information like the expected investment required along with potential economic returns. Market conditions are dynamic, and it will be critical to invest in gaining up to date information about things like the supply chain, market trends, and risks.

This information does not constitute a detailed business case and we recommend that you consult a suitably qualified professional prior to investment.