Challenge
As part of the Government's Jobs for Nature programme, the Department of Conservation (DOC) invested significantly in iwi and hapū-led conservation initiatives across Aotearoa. While existing programme reporting captured traditional measures of success such as jobs created, hectares restored, and biodiversity outcomes achieved, DOC wanted to better understand the broader impacts these projects were creating for Māori communities and Treaty partners.
The challenge was to capture these outcomes in a way that reflected iwi and hapū perspectives on success, while generating practical insights to support future conservation investment and partnerships.
Approach
Verian's Mahinga Māramatanga Ahurea team partnered with three iwi-led Jobs for Nature projects to co-develop public case studies that documented their experiences, achievements, and aspirations. Rather than taking a traditional evaluation approach, the research was designed around kaupapa Māori principles, ensuring participants had meaningful input into how their stories were gathered, interpreted, and represented.
We worked closely with each project to tailor engagement and fieldwork approaches to local needs and tikanga. Through wānanga, site visits, kanohi ki te kanohi kōrero, and collaborative interpretation of findings, we created space for kaitiaki to define success in their own terms.
Alongside the public case studies, the project included a broader Te Ao Māori evaluation stream that helped DOC reflect on how future investment, reporting, and partnership approaches could better recognise the outcomes that matter most to iwi and hapū.
Impact
The research helped DOC develop a richer understanding of conservation success. While environmental restoration remained important, the project demonstrated that iwi-led conservation initiatives were also creating cultural, social, educational, and intergenerational benefits for communities. Outcomes such as strengthening kaitiakitanga, reconnecting people to whenua and whakapapa, supporting rangatahi development, and building community capability emerged as central measures of success for participating projects.
By combining place-based case studies with a kaupapa Māori evaluation approach, the research provided DOC with evidence directly from Treaty partners about the impact of conservation investment. The findings have informed ongoing conversations about future investment approaches, partnerships with iwi and hapū, and the organisation's broader Treaty operating model.
The resulting case studies also created a lasting public record of the achievements and aspirations of the participating projects, ensuring their stories could be shared more widely while remaining grounded in their own voices and experiences.
Back
