Lottie Boardman

My research project looked into the politics of knowledge in the mānuka honey industry in New Zealand, with a particular focus on the roles and perspectives of Māori (the indigenous people of New Zealand) involved in the industry. Mānuka honey, highly valued as a medicine and as a health food owing to its extra-antibacterial properties, is the product of a collaboration between introduced honey bees and the mānuka plant (Leptospermum scoparium), native to both New Zealand and Australia. With its colonial and indigenous heritage, mānuka honey serves as a unique lens through which to examine contemporary relationships between Māori, non-Māori New Zealanders and the New Zealand state in relation to native species (their conservation and use), land and intellectual property. My research focussed on the political dynamics of the creation, validation, use and transfer of knowledge relevant to mānuka honey production. I interviewed Māori involved in the mānuka honey industry about the details of that involvement, how they gained the knowledge necessary to be involved in the industry, their views on current industry issues and on the future governance of the industry, and their views as to whether they are served by current (usually state-funded) research into various aspects of mānuka honey production. In addition to the interviews, I observed a symposium on the protection of the name “mānuka honey”, attended the three-day honey industry conference, and was invited to a Māori bee club meeting. For my capstone project for my Master of Environmental Management at FES, I will analyse the data gathered from these interviews and observations and from a range of relevant documents, to elucidate contemporary relationships between Māori, non-Māori New Zealanders and the New Zealand state in relation to control over the conservation and use of the mānuka plant, influence over knowledge creation within the mānuka honey industry and control of intellectual property relating to mānuka honey.