Haukapuanui Vercoe. Photo: Supplied/Haukapuanui Vercoe
Marae are often on the front line of natural disasters, opening their doors to shelter the community and at times hit hard by floods themselves.
PhD researcher Haukapuanui Vercoe said marae needed to be adequately resourced so they could be in the best position to respond to natural disasters.
Vercoe was recently recognised with the 2025 New Zealand Esri Young Scholar Award.
He represented Aotearoa at the Esri User Conference in San Diego, showcasing how indigenous knowledge and technology can work together to strengthen marae, whānau, hapū, and iwi resilience against natural hazards.
Vercoe told Saturday Morning his research trajectory grew out of a love of mathematics and physics at school, engineering is the combination of both so it was a natural subject to pursue.
At university he had the opportunity to do research on marae and this transitioned into his PhD, which he is currently working through.
Vercoe conducted an analysis of 869 marae nationwide using geographic information system (GIS) mapping to identify the marae that were at risk from natural hazards.
"Based on the initial assessment I guess the most significant results are that there's around 20 percent of marae that are in areas that could be damaged by liquefaction in an earthquake event, similarly about 40 odd percent of marae are in areas where their buildings could be damaged in an earthquake," he said.
"If we think about marae on the most extreme end... there are about 10 across the country that are prone to four of those different hazards all at the same time."
One of the most common issues facing marae was that many were previously not at risk in terms of their location, he said.
"So back in the day it would have made sense to be beside a river or a stream to sustain themselves in terms of gathering food, but with the issues of land use change, climate change, increased rainfall... a lot more marae are now at risk."
Some marae are already having conversations about relocation and managed retreat, especially those near the coast facing rising sea levels, he said.
"But those conversations aren't exactly the easiest, there's factors such as attachment to place, some of our marae have been where they are for over a hundred years and so the thought of moving is deeper then just a physical infrastructure or engineering move, it's kind of an emotional decision as well."
Vercoe said there was often an expectation for marae to remain open even during a natural disaster.
"Sometimes I think it's underappreciated or not really recognised or acknowledged by a lot of people... because marae, they are not only open to the hapū and the iwi but also the wider community, and so I think that's something that needs to be more recognised because a lot of our marae run on the smell of an oily rag."
A lot of the time marae were funding this themselves even though they were under resourced already, he said.
"They already do a tremendous job as it is but imagine what it would look like if they did have the adequate resources and infrastructure in place."
Having some form of disaster preparedness training or establishing relationships between marae and Civil Defence was one way marae could be better prepared, he said.
Some marae were even putting their own practical but "groundbreaking" solutions in place, he said. Such as having water tanks on site, installing back up generators or even solar panels.
One of the key points highlighted by Cyclone Gabrielle was that communication was vital, he said. After electricity, telecommunications was the most important lifeline utility, he said.
"Just simple practical solutions that would help to enhance the resilience of a marae in the aftermath of an event."
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