Matawhenua Māori GIS Starter Kit
Free QGIS mapping for iwi, hapū and whānau
The Matawhenua GIS Mapping Starter Kit is a practical way to begin Māori GIS work without first building a mapping system from scratch.
It combines a ready-to-open QGIS project with public spatial datasets covering mainland Aotearoa. The starter data includes useful context for Māori land, marae, place names, whenua, taiao, property, hazards and other common mapping tasks.
The main idea is simple: download it, open it, find your rohe, then create local working layers for your own kaupapa.
Want the full instructions? Use the complete Matawhenua GIS Mapping guide for setup, QGIS instructions, coordinate systems, local data extraction, governance and worked examples.
Download
| Download | Best for | Approximate size |
|---|---|---|
| Matawhenua starter package | First-time users, learning and local projects | 1.7 GB download, about 4 GB extracted |
| Advanced national data | Broader national property and vector coverage | about 6 GB download, about 12 GB extracted |
| Advanced QGIS project | QGIS project configured for the advanced data | small project file |
The packaged data was assembled in August 2025. It is a starter snapshot, not a live data service. For current operational decisions, refresh important layers from their original providers.
What you get
The starter project brings together public national information that can otherwise take a new GIS user considerable time to find, download and organise. Depending on the package version, this includes:
- Māori Land Court blocks and property context
- marae and tangata whenua place names
- iwi areas of interest
- awa, roto and maunga
- Treaty settlement and Crown engagement context
- protected areas and conservation information
- land cover and land-use capability
- wetlands and environmental layers
- parcels, titles, survey references and paper roads
- selected hazard and earthquake information
- other community and national reference layers
The package is not an authoritative record of iwi or hapū boundaries, cultural sites, ownership or tikanga. It is a practical starting dataset that should be combined with local knowledge and current authoritative sources.
Why QGIS
QGIS is free and open source. It can operate locally on a computer without requiring local iwi or hapū data to be uploaded to a cloud GIS service.
That makes the starter kit useful when you want to:
- learn GIS without software licence costs
- keep working information on your own computer or organisational storage
- build maps for hui, planning, whenua and taiao work
- create local GeoPackages for your own rohe
- decide separately what stays restricted and what can be published
See the QGIS guide if you are new to the software.
Start quickly
- Install QGIS.
- Download the starter package above.
- Extract it into a stable GIS folder.
- Open the supplied QGIS project.
- Find your marae, whenua or rohe.
- Select the layers relevant to a real question.
- Export local copies into your own GeoPackage.
- Record where the information came from and when it was obtained.
The full setup guide explains each step and what to do if a layer cannot find its data source.
Useful next steps
- Māori land mapping
- Māori and Aotearoa place names
- Whenua mapping workflows
- Taiao mapping
- GIS data for Aotearoa
- Māori GIS data sovereignty and governance
- Ngā Poutama Matawhenua videos and StoryMaps
Original Matawhenua resources
The starter kit was also published as the interactive Matawhenua GIS Mapping StoryMap. The wider Matawhenua StoryMaps collection includes imagery, 3D mapping, freshwater, council GIS and other worked examples.
Common questions
Is the Matawhenua GIS starter kit free?
Yes. The starter package is free to download and QGIS is free open-source software. Source datasets have their own licences and conditions, so check those before redistribution.
Is it just for experienced GIS users?
No. It is specifically useful for people who are new to GIS because it gives you an existing project and organised data rather than an empty map.
Can iwi or hapū add their own information?
Yes. The recommended approach is to keep your own information in a separate local GeoPackage or project structure, with clear access and sharing rules.
Does it need the internet?
The downloaded project and local datasets can be used mostly offline. Internet access is useful when you want current basemaps, updated datasets or online services.
Where are the detailed instructions?
Use the Matawhenua GIS Mapping guide. It covers setup, local data extraction, coordinate systems, data currency, privacy and practical mapping workflows.