Te Pokohiwi o Kupe | Wairau Bar in the Marlborough region is where one of Aotearoa New Zealand’s earliest archaeological heritage sites is located, dating back to the early 1300s. This article describes a baseline study to map the effects of present-day and future sea levels on archaeological heritage land at Te Pokohiwi ō Kupe. Results suggest that approximately 20% of the heritage land is susceptible to a 100-year storm-wave inundation under present climate and sea-level conditions. With 1 m of sea-level rise likely to be reached between 2070 and 2130, approximately 75% of heritage land will be compromised by a 100-year storm inundation event.

Māori collectives are drawing from mātauranga and asserting rangatiratanga over disaster preparedness for the wellbeing of their communities. However, long-standing impacts of colonisation have contributed to Māori being disproportionately impacted by disasters, and to a lack of knowledge concerning the existence and availability of Māori-centred disaster risk and resilience (DRR) tools that help whānau prepare. Two key findings were drawn from a desktop literature review and thematic analysis.