Embracing Kaitiaki

Born and raised in New Zealand, I grew up surrounded by nature. Some of my favorite childhood memories are swimming in blue freshwater lakes, building snowmen in the mountains, and biking across green hills. This clean and beautiful New Zealand is the image that we show to the world—but this is only a half-truth.

When I think about those memories of swimming in the lake, I also think about my dad, who loved fishing. He was always proud when he reeled in a nice, fat fish. Over the years, however, he noticed that the fish were becoming smaller and smaller and eventually he decided that it wasn’t worth fishing anymore.

This is one of the minor impacts of abusing Mother Nature—and there are many other worse effects. We destroy precious habitats to expand cities and farms, pour chemicals that poison the soil and rivers, and burn fossil fuels at unsustainable levels that lead to climate change. We are taking too much from her and giving her a sickness. If we carry on this way, the illness will spread so much that she will not be able to recover, and the next generation will not experience the same beautiful world that

I grew up in.

Māori, the indigenous people of New Zealand, understood the concept of kaitiaki: guardianship of the land, sky, and sea. We must return to this idea and change our damaging relationship with the Earth. I think that change must be at two levels: individual action and larger government intervention. I do my best to minimize my impact on the Earth by eating plant-based, recycling, using less water, and avoiding plastic waste, and share these ideas with people around me to inspire them to do the same. I also use my passion to drive changes at a broader scale through my consulting work, where I have the opportunity to influence national environmental and energy policy.

My dream is to see a world where we live in harmony with nature and do everything with a sustainable and restorative mindset. I hope that we can all start to see our role as guardians of the Earth. I want my children to swim in the same blue lakes, make the same snowmen, and ride their bikes along the same green hills. Let’s all work together to make it happen.

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