Adjunct Research Fellow Te Kotahi Research Institute, University of Waikato
Ngāti Pūkenga, Waitaha-ā-Hei, Ngāti Hauā
Manu is a biotechnology entrepreneur, academic and activist. Manu has spearheaded a range of initiatives designed to benefit both Te Taiao and Māori communities including marae, hapū, iwi and Māori landowners, as patients, partners, and investors in novel medicines derived from taonga species.
Manu co-founded Hikurangi Bioactives, a biotech venture focusing on natural health products derived from indigenous organisms like kānuka and kina.
He also co-founded Rua Bioscience, which raised nearly $50 million before becoming the first company established by Māori to be listed on the NZX.
Manu has supported the establishment of scholarship and internship programs for Māori graduates and is involved in Treaty-based regulatory developments for Indigenous organisms.
Internationally, he recently participated in a UN meeting on biodiversity and ecosystem restoration, and in May 2024 was the only Māori member of the Indigenous Caucus at the World Intellectual Property Organisation Diplomatic Conference that finalised a global treaty to prevent biopiracy associated with patents that use genetic resources or traditional knowledge.
Based between Tauranga and Ruatōrea, Manu believes the sustainable utilisation of taonga by Māori is one of the best opportunities to practice kaitiakitanga and realise tino rangatiratanga. To this end he is engaged in projects like: developing pharmaceuticals from an indigenous moss; a marae-based clinical study using psychedelic mushrooms to treat methamphetamine addiction; using Artificial Intelligence to identify potential health benefits of native berries; and global licensing of a clinically-proven eczema treatment using an extract from kānuka.
Upending Extractive Capitalism : Giving Control of Companies to Te Taiao
This presentation will share a number of recent case studies on efforts to put Nature and the interests of specific taonga at the centre of commercial enterprises. By giving legal control and explicit benefit-sharing arrangements to taonga through shareholdings and other financial arrangements, Capitalism can be a tool for funding the protection and regeneration of ecosystems while also creating income for landowners and employment for Indigenous communities. An emerging model of relationships between Indigenous peoples, researchers, commercial entities, genetic resources and ecological systems is proposed, with a discussion of some of the challenges and opportunities for further developments required to ensure a comprehensive model of ethical protection and utilisation can become common practice.
Presentation | Wednesday 9 October
Plenary Keynote Speaker
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