Selwyn_Times: June 21, 2023
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SELWYN RURAL LIFE<br />
Wednesday <strong>June</strong> <strong>21</strong> <strong>2023</strong> <strong>Selwyn</strong> <strong>Times</strong> 35<br />
Advertising Feature<br />
Mahinga Kai meets FEPs<br />
• By Isabelle Teresa<br />
The concepts of farm environment<br />
plans (FEPs) and Māori values and<br />
customs may at first glance seem worlds<br />
apart. However, in essence they share<br />
similar commitments to upholding<br />
natural resources, and are increasingly<br />
being linked in New Zealand farming<br />
practice.<br />
The Mahinga Kai workshop organised<br />
by Ellesmere Sustainable Agriculture<br />
Inc and the Whakaora Te Waikēkēwai<br />
Project, at Te Pā o Moki Marae on 31<br />
May, was well attended and fascinating.<br />
It was also a training session for which<br />
farmers could receive an attendance<br />
certificate to support their FEP audit<br />
reporting.<br />
Channell Thoms (Ngāi Tahu, Ngāi<br />
Tūhoe) is a freshwater ecologist<br />
and Senior Advisor at Environment<br />
Canterbury (ECan). She introduced the<br />
topic with this whakataukī or proverb:<br />
“Toitu te marae a Tane, Toitu te marae<br />
a Tangaroa, Toitu te iwi”: “If the land is<br />
well and the sea is well, the people will<br />
thrive”.<br />
She explained that while many people<br />
think of mahinga kai as being about<br />
accessing and preserving traditional<br />
food sources and practices, the concept<br />
is wider. It encompasses all aspects of<br />
natural resources, and the way we work<br />
with our hands to manage and gather<br />
Channell Thoms,<br />
freshwater ecologist<br />
and Senior Advisor<br />
at Environment<br />
Canterbury (ECan).<br />
them. Channell’s messages put a strong<br />
emphasis on constant observation of<br />
your particular setting throughout<br />
the seasons, and on seeking out and<br />
passing on local stories and knowledge –<br />
messages that ring true for farmers and<br />
landowners.<br />
There is extensive guidance for<br />
practitioners on ECan’s website,<br />
including: “Mahinga kai is about…<br />
maintaining those things that sustain and<br />
nourish us, and that bring us wellbeing<br />
– clean water, clean air, clean soil, and<br />
sufficient shelter.”<br />
This is why FEP auditing emphasises<br />
water body management, water quality<br />
and usage, soil quality, native and natural<br />
vegetation and plantings, documented<br />
observation and support of valuable<br />
indigenous species, and that farming<br />
activities are done in a way to minimise<br />
adverse effects.<br />
For example, irrigating efficiently,<br />
and only when it’s not raining, means<br />
not taking more water out of waterways<br />
and aquifers than necessary, while<br />
reducing overland flow and leaching of<br />
contaminants.<br />
Mahinga kai is a deep topic, which<br />
adds richness to how farmers can express<br />
the care they have for their land.<br />
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