Geospatial Support for Agroecological Transition through Geodesign

This chapter is an overview of the geospatial support for the geodesign activities in the indigenous agroecology project, ‘He AhuwhenuaTaketake’, in Aotearoa, New Zealand. Work was focused on three farms across New Zealand – TeKaio (Banks Peninsula, South Island), Taiporutu (Mahia Peninsula, North Island), and Henga (Chatham Island, approximately 500 kms east of the New Zealand mainland). Global navigation satellite system (GNSS) surveys produced spatial data layers for TeKaio and Taiporutu, including terrain data, while processed stereo drone photography provided terrain and orthophoto coverage of Henga. In addition, data on farm infrastructure, topographic features, and sacred Maori pa sites were collected. This resource was the foundation for geodesign activities on the TeKaio and Henga farms, initially forming a GIS base-map for recommended, planned, and plotted expert-based agroecological use of the farm. Expertise was also coded as input into spatial analytical procedures for geodesign applied to TeKaio, subsequently visualizing the results to: a) devise a mapped scheme of tree plantings for Rongoarakau (vegetation-based traditional medicine for people and livestock) through multi-criteria evaluation, and, b) to plan facilities (paths, information platforms) for agritourism visitor farm access through cost-path analysis-calculated maps.