Home26 August 2025
If a picture is worth a thousand words, a video is worth its emotional weight in gold. A prime example of this is the hard-hitting pair of videos from a recent outreach initiative led by Bioprotection Aotearoa. Students of Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Wairarapa share what they learned about the environment—like how to pronounce Phytophthora agathidicida (the pathogen that causes kauri dieback)—as they journey through their local Wairarapa wetlands and the further-afield ngahere of Aotea.
Video ended up being the perfect medium to share how much outreach means to Bioprotection Aotearoa by placing the viewer in the shoes of the students.
“Outreach is about the youth that we engage with,” says Meikura Arahanga, Bioprotection Aotearoa Kaipāhekoheko – Outreach and Research Coordinator. “I think it’s essential and important that they get to explore their own environment that’s right outside their back door.”
The two videos (one bilingual and one full immersion te reo Māori) are masterfully captured and curated by Max Tiweka from Maxwell Productions. Blending storytelling, documentary, and peer-to-peer education, they capture the emergence of understanding as rangatahi explore the breadth and importance of concepts like biosecurity and ecosystem complexity.
“They took so much interest in the iNaturalist app and capturing everything,” says Meikura. “They were able to interact with nature through technology and understand what they were looking at because scientists were there on hand to actually talk them through what they were seeing.”
Meikura thinks making these videos was the best thing they could have done to showcase the impact of the outreach effort. She is especially proud of the full immersion te reo Māori resource.
“Te reo Māori is facing challenges at the moment, and the particular school we worked with only speaks te reo Māori,” says Meikura. “So having them in their environment, learning in their language, learning about their spaces, and having it captured on video, I think that was the best decision.”
We hope you invest in yourself and your understanding of the people and ecosystems of Aotearoa New Zealand by watching these videos – they are gold.
ENDS
NB: This outreach effort was in partnership with Tiakina Kauri, which is part of Biosecurity New Zealand, a business unit of the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI).
Watch the Videos:
Whai mai i ēnei tauira mai i te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Wairarapa
Whai mai i ēnei tauira mai i te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Wairarapa, i a rāua e kuhu ana ki ngā whenua taurikura o te Wairarapa me ngā ngahere ki te moutere o Aotea.
Biosecurity Risks and Rewards in Wetland and Forest Ecosystems
Join the students of Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Wairarapa on a journey through their precious wetlands and the ngahere of Aotea. See the natural world through their eyes as they share their deep connection to te taiao.
About the Outreach Programme | Exploring Biosecurity and Forest Health
An interactive programme connecting kura with researchers to learn about biosecurity, forest health, and the science that protects Aotearoa’s ecosystems.
Contact:
Meikura Arahanga
Kaipāhekoheko – Outreach and Research Coordinator
Bioprotection Aotearoa
Email: [email protected]
Zohar Marshall
Communications Manager
Bioprotection Aotearoa
Phone: 021813334
Email: [email protected]