A document with both national and global significance, which provides guidance on the assessment of landscape in New Zealand has just been published by Tuia Pito Ora New Zealand Institute of Landscape Architects. Te Tangi a te Manu – Aotearoa New Zealand Landscape Assessment Guidelines is the result of more than four years of collaborative work by some of the country’s leading landscape architects.
The guidelines draw on the collective experience and knowledge of the profession, research of international guidelines, and a significant body of New Zealand ‘case law’ and will become an important reference for professionals working in resource management.
Author Gavin Lister has long championed the need for updated landscape guidelines and says the landscape is one of the more complex things when it comes to environmental management “because it’s a mix of both scientific and human factors. The guidelines are about the relationship of people with their environment.”
He hopes Te Tangi a te Manu will result in enhanced landscapes and “richer landscape values.”
Co-author Rachel de Lambert believes the guidelines are not just groundbreaking for Aotearoa New Zealand, but also internationally.“Our practice is diverging from places elsewhere in the world and we believe these guidelines will provide leadership in a wider sense beyond New Zealand.”
Alan Titchener, the other co-author, says the guidelines have achieved the difficult task of blending principles from Māori culture with European settler perspectives of landscape assessment.“I think the guidelines open the door for a more inclusive, reasoned way of dealing with landscape which will be transformative for the landscape architecture profession.”He describes Te Tangi a te Manu as a valuable document for the precious resource that is landscape.“It’s a treasure that reflects the combined wisdom of our profession and many others.”
Tuia Pito Ora New Zealand Institute of Landscape Architects President Henry Crothers says the guidelines are an exceptionally important piece of work and will have applications beyond the profession.“Te Tangi a Te Manu is a work of international significance, but its legacy will be to provide a strong framework which will have an immeasurable positive impact for the landscapes of New Zealand.”
More information about Te Tangi a te Manu – Aotearoa New Zealand Landscape Assessment Guidelines are available at https://www.nzila.co.nz/about/te-tangi-a-te-manu
