A Call for Action

 The Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment published a review of environmental funding in December 2020 entitled: ‘A review of the funding and prioritisation of environmental research in New Zealand’. Here is a link to the report. Below is a short summary of the report, with a focus on collections and databases discussed in the document. As both a member of the document review panel and a member of Species Aotearoa I want to give my perspective on the document and start a renewed call for action on the coordination of collections and databases in New Zealand.

 The report consists of: an introduction; the New Zealand environmental research landscape; collections and databases; what long-run strategic priorities exist for environmental research and how are they reflected in the allocation of research funds; and aligning the allocation of research funds with national environmental priorities. The general premise of the document was to put together a straw-person funding system, with an accompanying strategy, which could be led by the Ministry for the Environment with input from a number of currently invested agencies, iwi and interest groups. This is clearly calling for a much more holistic system with long-term objectives, truly integrated Mātauranga Māori, long-term funding and expert direction of environmental research.

Collections and databases

 The document does a good job of identifying different types of organisations involved in collections and databases. Nationally important collection maintenance and database creation and ownership comes from Crown Research Institutes, Universities, Museums, Government Departments, Ministries, private organisations and individuals. The Nationally Significant Collections and Databases were created in 1996 and are made up of 25 collections and databases mainly held by CRIs. Many of these are focused on biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. 

 The collections and databases chapter concludes with a statement around the fundamental importance of collections and databases to help define the status of our environment and provide evidence of environmental change. It also states the dangers of continuing the competitive model, which reduces our project scoping and eventual outcomes.

 The Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment review and the Royal Society of New Zealand review of taxonomic collections published in 2015 identify the structural issues and underfunding across our sector. The document can be found here. This not a new problem or one that is easily solved. Funding is only part of the solution, better coordination, understanding and direction are needed to really lift our ability to use what we have and thus begin to answer some of the research questions posed in the Conservation and Environment Science Roadmap.  Here is a link to the document.

Next steps

 So what realistic steps can be taken to better connect our taxonomic collections and databases?  Species Aotearoa has been in existence since 2017 and has contributed to a number of documents related to systematics and taxonomic collections within New Zealand and Australia. Species Aotearoa has recently come up with a framework to start to address some of the issues discussed in the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment document. Areas identified as possible task groups are: training and capability; permits; communications; and indigenous knowledge.

 A training and capability task group could focus on, the creation of a collection register, capacity building of the taxonomic workforce, creating clearer career paths, listing expertise gaps and understanding professional development needs. A permits task group could focus on collection permissions, Intellectual Property and Wai262.  A communications task group could work on public awareness, community needs, and end user engagement. An indigenous knowledge task group could focus on Mātauranga Maori connections to taxonomic collections to create a richer understanding of what we have.

 This work is not currently possible without consistent and focused coordination.  For the past four years, Species Aotearoa has been operating as a voluntary committee with no funding.  Members have received agreement and support from their host institutes to fund travel and time for committee meetings.  This level of support, although very useful, falls short when trying to create task groups with individuals outside the current committee membership and workloads larger than what would be manageable within a voluntary status.  We are therefore seeking external funding for a coordination role, partial funding for a chairperson and some travel funding for participants of the task groups.  I am committed to work on this funding request over the next six months.  I would like those interested in finding a solution to the issues raised in the PCE review and the tasks outlined above to contact me. 

Dr Dean Peterson
Director Collections & Research
Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa
Email: dean.peterson@tepapa.govt.nz