Curious Minds

Ngāti Mutunga’s Curious Minds initiative is a community-driven citizen science programme funded by Venture Taranaki, with Ngāti Mutunga and Taranaki Regional Council as science partners. The flagship project, Kimihia Kermit was a project centered on monitoring native frogs (pepeketua) and their habitatsKimihia Kermit uses community participation and digital tools to gather data on species presence and environmental conditions.

Kimihia Kōura, focuses on kōura (freshwater crayfish) as key indicators of stream health within Ngāti Mutunga’s rohe. It engages local schools (Urenui, Mimi, Uruti) and whānau through holiday programmes, wānanga, and field surveys, using a bespoke mobile app to crowdsource kōura sightings, population counts, and habitat assessments. The goals are to map kōura distribution, foster environmental stewardship, and strengthen cultural connections to local waterways.

In addition to freshwater monitoring, Ngāti Mutunga has partnered on the Te Āhua o Ngā Kūrei project under the national Curious Minds NZ banner, focusing on the Urenui estuary. This initiative included shellfish surveys, sediment sampling, water testing, predator monitoring, and assessments of cultural health. Early findings exposed a sewage contamination issue, prompting collaboration between the iwi, Taranaki Regional Council, and other agencies to address water quality concerns. Together, these projects build scientific capability, community engagement, and cultural knowledge through empowering Ngāti Mutunga to monitor, restore, and celebrate taiao using both mātauranga Māori and Western science.

All these projects aim to empower iwi and hapū as kaitiaki, fostering intergenerational learning and collaboration with science partners to address ecological challenges in rivers, wetlands, and estuaries.