Changing ecology

Abstract

From the moving opening welcome by the local Māori hapu (sub-tribe) Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei, it was clear that EcoTas13, the 5th joint meeting of the Ecological Societies of New Zealand and Australia had a unique flavour and contribution to make to ecology. This distinct character became yet clearer when the Māori welcome was reciprocated by O.Costello (University of Technology, Sydney, Australia), one of the stolen generations of the Bundjalung people of New South Wales with the presentation of a traditional message stick, conveying the Aboriginal legend of the rainbow serpent. Strong cross-Tasman indigenous collaboration was further developed in a symposium on indigenous ecology, exploring the novel insights that may be gained by merging the traditional knowledge of indigenous peoples with that from Western science.