Why the Challenge?

Our Land and Water – Toitū te Whenua, Toiora te Wai – National Science Challenge aim is to enhance primary sector production and productivity while maintaining and improving our land and water quality for future generations.

The way we use and manage our land and water will be transformed by: greater value in global markets; innovative resilient land and water use and collaborative capacity. These drivers, along with research to connect them, form the three themes Challenge research will address.

The Māori title is “Toitu te Whenua, Toiora te Wai”. Toitu te Whenua – let the permanence of land remain intact; Toiora te Wai – let water abound. The title is an adaption of the Māori proverb, “toitū te whenua, whatungarongaro te tangata” – land is permanent while people come and go.