Old Problems New Solutions Intergrative research supporting natural resource governance

Abstract

Water is a taonga – a treasure, essential for life. Water is a resource, a vital input for agricultural production and manufacturing. Rain, rivers and lakes are sources of inspiration and creativity. Water permeates ecosystems, jurisdictions, and communities, linking complex and emergent social, cultural, technological and economic systems. Globally, droughts, changing rainfall patterns, increasing demands for irrigation and the modification of great rivers through dams are part of a water crisis that no one individual, group, sector or state can resolve alone. In response, integrative, adaptive and participatory approaches to water resource management are increasingly suggested as solutions on the basis that water means many things to many people