Conservation and Restoration of a Cultural Forest Landscape: Protecting the Forests Created by Moriori on Chatham Island

Moriori agroforestry practices led to the creation of forests dominated by an introduced tree, kōpi (Corynocarpus laevigatus). Kōpi trees produce an edible drupe which was essential to the successful settlement of Rēkohu (Chatham Island). It is also only on kōpi trees that Moriori created a unique art form, called rākau momori, marking the trees with anthropogenic, animal and abstract images. The remaining stands of old growth forest which include kōpi trees and rākau momori are in varying states of decline and until recently were not identified as a cultural landscape. The acknowledgement of the forests as cultural landscapes has resulted in changes to the conservation and management practices of these spaces. The current management practices have been designed following paleo-ethnobotanical research (palynology and anthracology), ethnography and archaeological excavations which suggest Moriori planted and managed the forests until they were abandoned following an invasion in 1835.