Growing An Urban 'Food Forest' In South Auckland

Friday, 11 April 2025, 6:27 pm
Article: RNZ

Pokere Paewai, Māori issues reporter

A researcher has partnered with a South Auckland marae to grow an urban "food forest" with the goal of using it as a seed for future change.

The forest at Papatūānuku Kōkiri in Māngere has been up and running for five years using a food growing technique called syntropic agroforestry, where ideally food is grown without relying on outside inputs like fertilizers and fossil fuels.

For University of Auckland Doctoral Candidate Daniel Kelly learning to garden was a huge change and it's a passion he wants to share.

"I've always loved the bush and obviously, we know lots of New Zealand's forest were cut down and that's an issue. So this idea of being able to grow food and have trees as part of it was particularly appealing."

When Kelly learned about syntropic agroforestry at a workshop at PermaDynamics in Northland, something "just clicked". He was impressed by both the beauty and productivity of the food forest.

Syntropic agroforestry is a technique for growing trees and food that is inspired by pre-modern farming in Europe and contemporary indigenous practices in Brazil.

"Perhaps one way to think about it is like orchard plus, so forests often have more canopy, more diversity, and so a food forest in this sense is trying to create a food producing environment modelled on a forest ecosystem," he said.

In his forest Kelly planted taller trees in rows to create a canopy layer, with medium sized trees in between the rows and vegetables and other plants much closer to the ground.

The canopy trees are pruned in spring, providing a burst of sunlight to the vegetables and young fruit trees below, while the mulch from the pruned trees adds carbon and fertilizes the soil.

Kelly said the goal was to combine all the plants, food producing or not, into a 'complementary ecosystem'.

One of the key benefits of syntropic agroforestry was the ability to grow food without synthetic inputs such as fertilizers, he said.

"But there's a kind of deeper level problem and that's the farm machinery and the farm fertilizers which all come from petrol from fossil fuels. And so this other way of doing it which is how people have grown food before working with animals, but also working to basically make compost from trees and plants that are around you."

Kelly said there were many people doing similar work all over the world, trying to expand their footprint for all of the social and environmental benefits.

"For me, sustainability is our future, there's no way we can get there without putting these things front and centre and if this can be a technology that helps support those movements, then I'm all for it."

Kelly said he began this work as a "total rookie" in terms of his knowledge of plants, now he was just keen for more people to give it a go.

"You don't need to know it all. Put some plants together, give it a crack and you'll be learning in no time."

Papatūānuku Kōkiri Kaiwhakahaere Matua (CEO) Valerie Teraitua-Hotene said Kelly came to the marae to volunteer with their gardening programme.

The food forest has been running since 2020 and Teraitua-Hotene said the marae is wrapped to have it on their whenua.

From bare clay five years ago, the forest has grown 12-metre tall trees, berries, bananas, peaches, figs, pawpaw, peppers, and many other crops.

"The hapori (community) love it. It's become a source of pride and purpose, tamariki are learning alongside kaumātua, the schools are visiting, volunteers are showing up, everyone's part of it. It's changed how people see the marae, it's no longer for pōwhiri and tangihanga it's a hub for resilience, leadership and transformation."

In 1986 Papatūānuku Kōkiri secured the formal lease of property adjacent to the marae, some of which was converted to gardens. Teraitua-Hotene said the vision was to reconnect Māori who had moved from rural areas to the big smoke to their whakapapa and to the land.

"That's the goal really, not just to feed bellies but to nourish the wairua and restore mana to the way we grow and share our kai," she said.

In that sense the food forest reflects the values of the marae, from providing healthy kai, to reconnecting with the land and finding potential solutions to climate change, she said.

"The food forest shows that we don't need fossil fuels to grow abundance we need whānau, tikanga and time. So we're not trying to be perfect or be environmental heroes we're just showing up."

The bounty from the forest is shared with the community. Teraitua-Hotene said in Māngere and South Auckland there was not much access to culturally appropriate kai so the food forest was helping to restore the dignity of choice and access.

"But it also supports our koha cafe, so we have a koha cafe on Papatūānuku Marae where anyone can come for a nourishing meal under the model of 'koha atu koha mai, give what you can take what you need,' no one leaves hungry."

Right now the forest is thriving - 'a living, breathing forest of kai' - and Teraitua-Hotene believed it was something other marae could adopt.

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