Te Roroa, a Māori Iwi from the region between the Kaipara Harbour and the Hokianga Harbour in Northland, Aotearoa New Zealand, has a number of projects using Biocultural Labels.
One of these is a thesis by Fern Donovan, who studied a threatened freshwater fish species, the shortjaw kōkōpū, that is endemic to Aotearoa New Zealand.
According to the Local Contexts Project for the thesis:
“Te Roroa encourages positive relationships and seeks to develop research partnerships and collaborations with a shared desire to enhance the health and well-being of our natural landscapes. The application of Local Contexts Labels with partner agencies, institutions, and individuals is a recognition of positive intent from all parties.”
Te Roroa applied their Biocultural Provenance Label to the thesis, the first instance of any community doing so.
The thesis was deposited in the Te Herenga Waka – Victoria University of Wellington institutional repository. Library staff added the digital infrastructure and connection to the Local Contexts Hub so that Te Roroa’s BC Provenance Label is included in the research metadata. Fern also includes the Label within the thesis itself.
