The Kaitiaki Intelligence Platform: An automated sensor network design for meeting the environmental intelligence needs of Māori Agribusiness Collectives and iwi

This main report details the process involved in creating the Kaitiaki Intelligence Platform, its overarching design, and cost to build.

Based on a detailed review of Māori, iwi, and MAC environmental reporting frameworks, alongside workshops with iwi and MACs, it was determined that these entities are seeking environmental intelligence that is framed from Māori worldview and draws upon both scientific biophysical indicators and local indigenous experiential knowledge and awareness.

This report details a design for an environmental sensor network that can meet these aspirations and generate the types of data that iwi and MACs seeking, while also generating data that would meet the needs of the sustainable finance sector, markets, and regulators. This network is referred to as the Kaitiaki Intelligence Platform (KIP).

In this report, we introduce MACs and iwi to the latest environmental sensing technology. We review this technology and look at the various technologies that can be brought together to build a platform that can provide comprehensive environmental monitoring and intelligence – we refer to this as Kaitiaki Intelligence Platform. We explore how such a platform might be framed using mātauranga Māori, and how such a platform could be used by MACs and iwi to enhance their farming and forestry practices, while generating insights to help them monitor the environmental health of their tribal lands and make informed resource management decisions.