Appendix 3: Recommended Interview Questions
- Why is this river/stream important to you?
- If you could protect five sites in the catchment which sites would you choose? Why would you protect them? (You will need to explain that for the purposes of the study a site is a reach of the river that can be viewed from one point during the study).
- How was this river used in the past? What sites were used?
- Can you still use each of these sites today?
- How is this river used today? What sites are still used?
- What mahinga kai sites did you use in the past in this river/stream? What was gathered from these areas? What mahinga kai sites do you still use today? What is gathered from these areas?
- For each species
identified in the response to Question 6, ask the following:
- How important was the species in the past?
- How abundant was the species in the past (relative assessment)?
- What was it used for in the past?
- What changes have taken place within the catchment that have affected your traditional sites?
- What are the
main changes you have seen in this river/stream over the years? The
following may be useful prompts:
- catchment land use
- river banks
- river channel
- flow
- water quality
- river mouth.
It is recommended that the interview be informal in nature, carried out in a conversational style and free of jargon or technical language. Each interview should last no more than an hour and a half (it may take less but should never be longer).
