Business_Spotlight_No3_202..

26 Business Spotlight 3/2020 INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION

“The Maori have a very kin-oriented relationship with

the natural world,” says Maori Brad Coombes, an expert on

the Maori relationship with the land and environment and a

senior lecturer at the School of Environment at the University

of Auckland. “We don’t separate our own lines of descent from

the descent of other species. They intermingle.”

The Maori, therefore, have traditionally had a spiritual asso-

ciation with the land, water and soil. Not only do they derive

their sense of identity from these elements, but they also see

themselves as guardians of the natural world. “Inevitably, the

relationship to things like forests and food gathering sources

changed over time,” says Coombes. “But the importance of tra-

ditional land to the whole belief system of the Maori cannot be

underestimated.”

European settlement followed Captain James Cook’s three

voyages, the first of which was in 1769. In their own way, the new

settlers also appreciated the beauty and value of the land, and

later they formed deep associations with it as farmers. But while

Europeans brought modernity, industrialization and affluence,

they also introduced invasive species and new diseases. The

result has been the depletion of vast areas of forests, polluted

rivers and the extinction of a large number of endemic animal

and plant species. Today, biodiversity is rapidly declining and

40 per cent of indigenous plants are threatened with extinction

in this century. Around 74 per cent of the country’s indigenous

freshwater fish are threatened, as are more than 40 per cent of

bird species.

The importance of agriculture

In 1840, a number of Maori chiefs signed the Treaty of Waitan-

gi with the British. The Maori interpreted the treaty as giving

them a degree of sovereignty and control over their own affairs

and land. The British saw things differently. One way or anoth-

er, the Maori lost control of increasing areas of land throughout

the 19th and 20th centuries. Vast parts of the country today

are given over to agriculture, a lucrative part of which is dairy

farming. New Zealand has a human population of 4.9 million, a

dairy cattle population of 6.5 million and a sheep population of

27.5 million. Unsurprisingly, the country’s biggest exports are

milk and meat products. New Zealand accounts for a colossal

Maori culture:

a strong tie

to the natural

world

affluence [(ÄfluEns]

, Wohlstand

appreciate sth.

[E(pri:SieIt]

, etw. zu schätzen wissen

dairy cattle

[(deEri )kÄt&l]

, Milchkühe

dairy farming

[(deEri )fA:mIN]

, Milchwirtschaft

decline [di(klaIn]

, zurückgehen, schwinden

depletion [di(pli:S&n]

, Erschöpfung, Schwund

derive sth. from sth.

[di(raIv frQm] , etw. aus

etw. ab-, herleiten

descent [di(sent]

, Abstammung

extinction [Ik(stINkS&n]

, Aussterben, Ausrottung

freshwater fish

[)freSwO:tE (fIS]

, Süßwasserfisch(e)

indigenous [In(dIdZEnEs]

, einheimisch

inevitably

[In(evItEbli]

, zwangsläufig

intermingle

[)IntE(mINg&l]

, sich vermischen

kin [kIn]

, Verwandtschaft

polluted [pE(lu:tId]

, verschmutzt

senior lecturer

[)si:niE (lektSErE]

, außerordentliche(r)

Professor(in)

soil [sOI&l] , Boden

sovereignty

[(sQvrEnti]

, Souveränität