Background map layers used for context in GIS
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Māori whānau, hapū and iwi across Aotearoa are increasingly using GIS (geographic information systems) to map their whenua (land), taonga (treasured places) and whakapapa (genealogies). Māori led mapping often blends Western GIS methods with tikanga (customary practice) and mātauranga Māori (Māori knowledge). GIS tools help communities present information for resource management, cultural narratives, planning, and evidence for decisions.
Basemaps are the background layers that help you read your data in context. In Māori GIS work, basemaps often sit behind decisions about whenua, taiao, access, planning, and change over time. They can also carry risk, because high detail imagery can reveal more than you intended to share.
This post covers the main basemap options used in Aotearoa, how WMTS tiles work, how imagery is updated, and how to add these basemaps into QGIS, ArcGIS Online, and other tools.
A basemap is context, not truth. It helps you see patterns and locate features, but it is not a legal boundary, and it is not always perfectly aligned everywhere.