Ngā kaituhi: Karen Denyer & Monica Peters

E mōhio pai ana a Karen Denyer, he mātanga hauropi mō te 20 tau, rāua ko Monica Peters, te ūpoko tuarua o te Citizen Science Association of Aotearoa New Zealand, ki te hiahia kia wātea te kaupapa o ngā rohe kōreporepo ki te marea. I āta whakahuia e rāua ngā meka pūtaiao pono hei whakarite wheako pārekareka ki te pānui, he whakawhānui i te mōhiotanga hoki, mā te tuhinga whakawhiti kōrero me te whakakata whakatakē hoki. 

Hei tauira, ko tā rāua whakapae kāore ō tātou manu hahaki pērā i ō ētahi atu whenua, ā, ko tētahi o ā tātou tino manu kōreporepo - ahakoa kāore e tino mōhiotia ana - ko te manu tōtōkau arā ko te Mātātā, e kīia ana e rāua he rite tana āhua ki “te tiu kua kūmea whakamuritia i te puihi.” Ka kapohia te kōrero a Gordon Stephenson, he kaipāmu o mua, nāna hoki te National Wetland Trust i tīmata, arā ko ngā rohe kōreperepo ō tātou “wāhi memeke.”

Kei te kaha whakapae a Denyer rāua ko Peters me hau te rongo o ngā rohe kōreporepo, ā - ahakoa kāore i te hiahia kia takahia e te tūruhi - me haere katoa tātou ki tētahi repo tūtata, me te whakamaioha anō.

Me te pāpouri, kua tūkinohia te 90 paihēneti o ō tātou rohe kōreporepo; he haurua noa iho o te toenga e noho haumaru ana.  He kino rawa, me panoni.

Atu i te kōkiri i te kaupapa o ngā rohe kōreporepo, ka whakatakoto te pukapuka i tētahi rārangi kaipūtaiao me ngā tāngata e mahi ana ki te tiaki i ngā repo i roto i tētahi raupapatanga upoko e arotahi ana ki ngā rohe kōreporepo rerekē, ngā tipu, ngā kararehe me ngā mahi e whāia ana. Ka whakapuaki a Paul Champion i te hohonutanga o tana mōhiotanga mō ngā tipu o ngā rohe kōreporepo - 523 ngā momo tipu rohe kōreporepo māori, ā, 226 ngā tipu rāwaho, tae atu ki te Grey Willow i kōwhiria e Champion ko te riha tuatahi i runga i te rārangi riha kāore e hiahia ana.

Ahakoa e aro ana ki a Aotearoa, ka toro atu ki Te Kōpakatanga ki te Tonga, i reira whāki ai a Dr Clive Howard-Williams, e hāpai ana te McMurdo Ice Shelf i te 1500 kiromita o te rohe kōreporepo, he cyanobacteria karaka muramura hoki o reira, koirā pea te momo tawhito rawa i te ao.

Ko ngā whakakitenga ka whakapōauau pea i a koe, ka riri pea koe i ngā mahi rorirori e mahi nei tātou. Hei tauira, ko ngā mahi a Dr David Campbell me ana tauira i te Whare Wānanga o Waikato e rangahau ana i te wāhi rei o Kopuatai. Ko taua rohe kōreporepo 10,000 heketea te nui e ngongo ana i te waro mai i te kōhauhau - he whakarea ono te pāpātanga i ō ngā repo rei o te tuakoi raki. Āe, he pūnaha hauropi mīharo tō tātou, arā he kaha ake ki te aukati i te huringa āhuarangi i puta i a tātou, i ngā mahi a te kāwanatanga.  Engari ka aha tātou?

Ka whakatahe atu i ngā wai o ngā wāhi rei me te huri hei pāmu kau e whakaputa waro ana. Ka pērā. Ko te whakapae a Campbell e 2 mekatana o te hauhā e tukua ana i ia tau i te wāhi katoa i whakatahea atu i ngā wāhi rei i Waikato - he rite ki te 25 ōrau o te tukunga ahuwhenua o te rohe katoa.  Kātahi rā.

Heoi anō, i te mutunga o te pānui i te Shallows ka whai tūmanako tonu. Ko tētahi āhuatanga i tino kaha nei a Denyer rāua ko Peters ko te whakauru i te mātauranga Māori e tipu haere ana, me te hiahia kia whai whakaaro ki ngā uara ahurea o ō tātou rohe kōreporepo. E ai ki a rāua, nui ake i te 800 tau a Māori e noho tata ana, e whakamahi ana hoki i ngā rohe kōreporepo.

Ka whakaatu ngā kaituhi e whai take tonu ana taua mātauranga, he pērā hoki te mahi a Yvonne Taura, he kaimahi i Manaaki Whenua, ko tāna mahi he tuitui i te tikanga Pākehā me te tikanga Māori hei tūāpapa mō ngā mahi whakaora. Mā te mātauranga Māori, te pūtaiao Pākehā, me ngā kaipūtaiao, ka tiaki pea, ka whai hua hoki tātou i ngā rohe kōreporepo. 

Ahakoa ko te ingoa ko Life in the Shallows, he hōhonu kē te pukapuka nei, ā, he nui ngā kōrero hei whakaarotanga ake mā tātou.

 Nā David Gadd i arotake

Nā Tamati Waaka (Ngāti Pūkeko, Te Whānau ā Apanui, Tūhoe) i whakamāori