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Story: Human effects on the environment

Māori gardens

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Māori gardens

This is a sketched reconstruction of Māori gardens near the mouth of the Washpool River in southern Wairarapa, about 600–700 years ago. The forest had been cleared from the river flats, and stone walls were built to provide shelter and divide the land for growing kūmara (sweet potato).

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How to cite this page

Janet Wilmshurst, Human effects on the environment – Early human impact, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/artwork/12533/maori-gardens (accessed 10 June 2026).

Story by Janet Wilmshurst, published 2 March 2009.

Comments

Carabuat
07 May 2015
I think Maori also had a significant impact on the archipelago’s fauna: nearly forty species of birds, a bat, three to five species of frogs and numerous lizard taxa became extinct during the pre-European Maori era