Home, Land & Sea Series 2 Premieres Tonight – On Whakaata Māori

A documentary series showcasing Māori innovation and success on whenua, awa and moana premieres tonight, Monday 19 February at 7.30 PM on Whakaata Māori and MĀORI+.

HOME, LAND AND SEA highlights how the Māori approach to farming invariably differs to conventional, more mainstream approaches.

Producer Nicola Smith (Ngāti Kahungunu) from Rotorua-based production company Jack Media Limited says kaitiakitanga is the guiding principle for all the featured ventures.

“All our stories are about how we connect with our land and so, by definition are all about whānau and whakapapa,” says Nicola Smith.

“Māori fishing, Māori farming, and farms led by whānau Māori all focus on sustainability and creating a resource for generations to come.

“Several stories reference that their land will never be sold; that the work they do now is for the mokopuna of the hapū and iwi.

“There is also a strong element of reducing dependence on outside suppliers, telling their own stories, and being allowed to make their own mistakes to ensure lessons are learned well,” says Nicola Smith.

Coming up on HOME, LAND AND SEA SEASON 2:

EPISODE 1: MONDAY 19 FEBRUARY 7.30 PM: TŪHOE TUAWHENUA TRUST – The Tūhoe Tuawhenua Trust is committed to finding ways to ensure that Ruatāhuna is a thriving community. Through their commercial ventures and regular wānanga they are reconnecting their people with their whenua and whakapapa.

EPISODE 2: MONDAY 26 FEBRUARY 7.30 PM: GRAVITY FISHING – Nate Smith is on a journey to change the way Aotearoa approaches commercial fishing. Born and bred on Rakiura, from a long line of fishermen, Nate works to empower and support small local fishing communities and bring a sustainable approach back to Aotearoa’s seafood industry.

“Our approach to harvesting seafood is taking the orders first, and then we go to sea and we target that amount of fish,” says Nate Smith.

EPISODE 3: MONDAY 4 MARCH 7.30 PM: KAI ROTORUA – Kai Rotorua is an organisation that connects people to Papatuānuku and growing kumara is their main tool. When their volunteers decided to grow the kumara for Rotorua’s Matariki Umu Kohukohu Whetū, they began a learning journey that includes planting, tending, harvesting and even restoring a traditional ana kumara, not used for hundreds of years.

“It’s hard to connect a Māori with a carrot, but by crikey, when you start talking about the kumara,” says Te Rangikaheke Kiripatea.

EPISODE 4: MONDAY 11 MARCH 7.30 PM: TŌRERE MACADAMIAS – Tōrere Macadamias’ pioneer Vanessa Hayes and her whānau traverse thirty years of trials, tribulations and triumphs to become world leaders in the industry. And they bring in more Māori growers through the Mātaatua Macadamia Collective.

“Our ten-year growth strategy is to grow a thousand hectares of organic macadamias by 2029 and, of that thousand hectares, I would like at least 50 per cent of that to be Māori,” says Vanessa Hayes (Ngāi Tai, Whakatōhea, Te Aitanga a Māhaki)

EPISODE 5: MONDAY 18 MARCH 7.30 PM: MANAAKI WHITEBAIT – Will commercialising an endangered species bring it back from the brink? Manaaki Whitebait has set out to revitalise Aotearoa’s declining whitebait population, shaking up the entire commercial whitebaiting industry in the process.

EPISODE 6: MONDAY 25 MARCH 7.30 PM: OHIWA TRUFFLES –

Expensive and gourmet – truffles are fast becoming the crop du jour for entrepreneurial Māori. Ōpōtiki growers Matiu Hudson and Annette Munday are leaders in truffle farming and they encourage and support new growers, including Moana a Toi Truffle Collective to get into this burgeoning business.

EPISODE 7: MONDAY 1 APRIL 7.30 PM: WI PERE TRUST FARM – Established in 1899 by the Right Hon. Wiremu Pere, the farm embodies a unique blend of cultural and commercial endeavours.

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