In partnership with tangata whenua, comprehensively review and amend environmental legislation and regulation to:
acknowledge the interdependence and interconnection between people and te taiao; acknowledge interdependence within te taiao’s ecosystems; and acknowledge and enhance the mana of te taiao and of special places and species
recognise and protect relationships between tangata whenua and ancestral places / species, acknowledging these relationships as essential to the identity and wellbeing of tangata whenua
reconsider the legal status of significant mountains, lakes, rivers, wetlands, forests, oceans and other parts of te taiao – providing for them to be recognised as legal persons if requested by tangata whenua
provide for Tiriti-based partnership at all levels
recognise the rights of tangata whenua to care for and sustain their ancestral environments according to tikanga
recognise ownership as one interest in te taiao, alongside other interests including those of kaitiaki, the wider community – including interests in the health of the environment and in human wellbeing
create legally binding obligations upon owners to nurture and care for te taiao – to maintain and enhance te mana or te taiao – now and into future generations.
Commit resources to build capacity and capability within government agencies so they can build long-term relationships with tangata whenua; and appropriately support and resource tangata whenua to build and maintain those relationships.
Commit resources to support iwi, hapū and whānau so they can build and maintain relationships with their special places and species.
Government agencies and local authorities
Commit to building long-term relationships with tangata whenua aimed at supporting shared goals for the overall health of te taiao now and into future generations; prioritise relationships over ‘transactional’ approaches such as one-off consultation.
Engage with tangata whenua over existing strategies, policies, plans, governance structures and funding arrangements, with a view to recognising the special relationships of tangata whenua with the places and species within their rohe; and recognising the rights of tangata whenua to make decisions about and manage those taonga in accordance with tikanga.
Where desired by tangata whenua, establish comprehensive co-governance arrangements for environmental taonga and places, based on partnership at all levels between tangata whenua and tangata Tiriti (including government, local authorities and the wider community).
Provide for all environmental and resource management decision-making to be centred on whanaungatanga and associated values – with particular emphasis on collective wellbeing, intergenerational sustainability and care ethics approaches.
Commit to restoring environmental and human relationships that have been severed or damaged by the process of colonisation.
Tangata whenua
Reflecting on your (whānau, hapū, iwi) relationships with people and te taiao:
How might you want to connect or reconnect with whakapapa, iwi, hapū and whenua?
How might you want to support your iwi, hapū and whānau to prioritise a healthy taiao and healthy, flourishing relationships among people? How might you support the healing of whenua and tangata together?
Which environmental relationships are important to you (whānau, hapū, iwi)? How do you want to build or support those relationships? What rights do you want to exercise as kaitiaki?
If living away from your ancestral lands, how might you (whānau, hapū, iwi) want to build relationships with the local environment, and with mana whenua? How might you want to support the aspirations and mana of mana whenua?
How might you use tikanga-based processes to guide your relationships with people and te taiao – including, for example, relationships with whānau, hapū and other iwi? How might relationships be mana enhancing?
How might your actions now reflect the mana of past generations, and benefit or impact on future generations?
Tangata Tiriti
Consider your own relationship with te taiao – how does te taiao sustain and nurture you, and how do you in turn sustain and nurture te taiao? What places and species matter to you? How do those places and species enrich your life?
Take time to read and learn about tangata whenua and their connections with te taiao – including places of occupation and use, and other special places and species. Who are the mana whenua where you live and what specific relationships do they have? How have kaitiaki relationships changed over time? What has affected those relationships? How might those relationships be supported and restored?
Consider the place of whanaungatanga in your life, including your relationships with people and the environment; and consider how applying a whanaungatanga lens to environmental governance might benefit human and environmental relationships.
Speak to others about what you discover. Acknowledge that everyone has their own life experiences and perspectives – and that in Aotearoa some perspectives dominate others.
Ask decision-makers to prioritise a healthy taiao and healthy, flourishing relationships among people – reflecting the importance and value of whanaungatanga.
Consider how past actions have shaped Aotearoa’s current environmental relationships, and how present day actions will impact on future generations.
Utu – balance and reciprocity
Whole of Government / The Crown
In partnership with tangata whenua, review and amend environmental legislation and governance structures to:
prioritise the restoration of balance in human-environment relationships; and within te taiao’s ecosystems, and in environmental governance – particularly with respect to the sharing of authority between government, kaitiaki and the wider community
acknowledge that tikanga exists as a system of law, values and norms that sustain balance in human and environmental relationships;
provide for environmental decisions at all levels to be consistent with tikanga (including the values of whanaungatanga, mana, utu, kaitiakitanga and manaakitanga); and provide legal protection for the exercise of tikanga (for example through declarations of rāhui by tangata whenua)
recognise and respect the rights of kaitiaki to manage and make decisions about environmental taonga in accordance with tikanga and ritenga
support all decision-makers to sustain and nurture te taiao in a manner that preserves environmental and ecological balance now and into future generations.
Commit funding (for example grants, scholarships, salaries etc) to support tangata whenua to build relationships and work in partnership with the Crown at multiple levels (for example government agencies, local government, universities etc).
Ensure information, research and data on the environment is transparently shared with tangata whenua particularly about their special places.
Develop, in relationship with tangata whenua, accountability measures to ensure balance between Te Tiriti partners. This might include, for example, a Te Tiriti auditing process across government, involving close examination for Tiriti compliance of policies, plans, procedures, expenditure, results and outcomes.
Government agencies and local authorities
In partnership with tangata whenua:
review existing strategies, policies, plans, and funding mechanisms to reflect the importance of balance in human-environment relationships, and within te taiao’s ecosystems – recognising the interconnections within those relationships
review governance structures and decision-making processes to ensure appropriate balance in relationships between tangata whenua and tangata Tiriti, and to provide for the exercise of kaitiakitanga, tikanga and ritenga in environmental relationships
commit to restoring environmental and human relationships that have been severed or damaged by the process of colonisation
Develop, in relationship with tangata whenua, accountability measures to ensure balance between Te Tiriti partners.
Tangata whenua
Reflecting on your experiences of te taiao in your rohe and throughout Aotearoa:
How has balance been maintained or disrupted within te taiao? What changes might be needed to restore balance?
How has balance between maintained or disrupted between tangata whenua and environmental decision-makers? How might balance be restored?
Do current systems appropriately balance the needs of people and te taiao? And the needs of present and future generations? How might balance be improved or restored?
How can the mana of all genders and identities be recognised and respected in environmental decision making? Acknowledging the diverse and balancing roles of ira wāhine, ira tāne and ira tangata. How might these be better balanced?
How might tikanga Māori legal traditions (such as rāhui) contribute to better balance within te taiao? How might those traditions be better supported?
Are there ways in which you and your community provide additional unpaid environmental care work or support? Keep a record of how and where this occurs. How might those contributions be acknowledged and recognised in a fairer and more balanced way?
Tangata Tiriti
Consider your own relationship with te taiao – in what ways is it balanced, or out of balance? Is the relationship mutually sustaining? How might balance be increased or restored?
Consider how your community relates to te taiao – is it in balance? If not, how might balance be increased or restored?
Learn about the methods used by tangata whenua to sustain balance in relationships among people and the environment – including tikanga and ritenga, and values such as kaitiakitanga and manaakitanga.
Consider the ways tikanga Māori processes provide benefit to your community? How can you and your community reciprocate?
Speak to others about what you discover. Acknowledge that everyone has their own life experiences and perspectives – and that in Aotearoa some perspectives dominate others.
Ask decision makers to prioritise the restoration of balance within te taiao, and in environmental decision-making.
Mātauranga – knowledge and ways of seeing
Whole of Government / The Crown
In partnership with tangata whenua, review legislative protections for mātauranga Māori – ensuring:
that tangata whenua retain decision-making authority over their mātauranga, including uses for public benefit and commercial purposes; and that other actors are accountable for unauthorised uses of mātauranga;
that tangata whenua can sustain environmental relationships that are important for the retention and ongoing development of mātauranga;
that mātauranga Māori and tikanga Māori – including values such as whanaungatanga – appropriately guides environmental decision-making;
that appropriate recognition is given to mātauranga Māori as a science within Aotearoa’s scientific communities and funding streams.
Support tangata whenua to maintain and transmit mātauranga Māori, both with adequate resourcing and by ensuring that tangata whenua have access to and authority over environmental taonga.
Explore creative funding arrangements and processes for supporting mātauranga Māori.
Government agencies and local authorities
Recognise, support and resource mātauranga Māori as a science, and as a source of knowledge and guidance for environmental monitoring and decision-making.
Recognise the right of tangata whenua to retain and control mātauranga, and to sustain relationships that are important for the retention of mātauranga.
Ensure funding for mātauranga experts is consistent with that provided to other scientists and expert consultants.
Tangata whenua
Reflecting on mātauranga Māori in relation to the environment:
What steps might be needed to foster, develop and support mātauranga within iwi, hapū and whānau collectives in accordance with tikanga?
Which taonga are important to mātauranga in your hapū/iwi and rohe, and how might taonga relationships be sustained and nurtured?
How might opportunities be provided for rangatahi and whānau to connect with and continue learning mātauranga ā iwi?
What steps are needed to protect mātauranga and ensure it is used in a manner that is tika? Where external parties wish to use mātauranga, how might that occur in a manner that protects the taonga concerned, ensures that hapū and iwi retain rangatiratanga over the taonga and mātauranga, and ensures that relationships are ongoing and reciprocal?
In what ways might the diversity of Māori identity and knowledge bases be best supported? How might knowledge be stored and (where appropriate) shared?
If you live outside your rohe, how you can stay connected with the mātauranga of your iwi/hapū/whānau? How can you support the same for mana whenua?
Tangata Tiriti
Consider your knowledge and understanding of te taiao – what do you know about Aotearoa’s species, habitats and ecosystems, and those in your community? Where do you get information from?
Take time to learn about mātauranga Māori – what information is available about taonga places and species, and about human-environment relationships? How do values such as whanaungatanga and kaitiakitanga support or challenge your ways of viewing and relating to te taiao?
Consider the place of mātauranga Māori in Aotearoa’s systems of science and environmental governance – what could be done to nurture and sustain mātauranga? How might mātauranga Māori and western viewpoints work together to produce the best outcomes for te taiao?
Consider your use of mātauranga Māori – does it support the mana and rangatiratanga of Māori communities from which it came?
Speak to others about what you discover – while acknowledging that you are not an expert on mātauranga Māori.
Ask decision makers to prioritise mātauranga Māori as a science and as a source of knowledge and guidance for environmental decision-making.
What are some ways that you can enhance/restore mana whenua in engaging with their mātauranga Māori? If you own private land, how might your land contribute (or have contributed to) this knowledge?
Mana and Rangatiratanga - Authority with care
Whole of Government / The Crown
Enter negotiations with tangata whenua over the constitutional relationship between the kāwanatanga and rangatiratanga spheres, with a view to ensuring that the tino rangatiratanga of hapū and iwi in relation to their ancestral rohe are reflected in New Zealand’s constitutional arrangements, and in legislation and political decision-making.
In partnership with tangata whenua, review and amend environmental and local government legislation to:
recognise the ancestral relationships, kaitiaki responsibilities, mana and tino rangatiratanga (decision-making authority) of tangata whenua in relation to their territories, environments, including special places and species;
provide legal protection for the mana of te taiao, including the mana of whenua, awa, moana, ngāhere, species, the atmosphere, and all other tāonga;
ensure that governance structures at all levels appropriately reflect the rights of tangata whenua to exercise mana and tino rangatiratanga in relation to their ancestral environments;
consider the relationship between local governance structures and powers, and those of tangata whenua;
provide for appropriate representation of tangata whenua and Māori on all bodies with environmental responsibilities;
direct government departments and agencies to provide for the exercise of tino rangatiratanga and fulfilment of kaitiaki obligations through their policies and practices.
Government agencies and local authorities
Acknowledge the mana of tangata whenua and te taiao;
Acknowledge that mana whenua exercised local and environmental governance for many centuries before current systems of governance were established, and that the governance rights of mana whenua endure.
In consultation with tangata whenua, review existing strategies, policies, plans, governance structures and funding arrangements to ensure that all environmental decision-making:
is mana-enhancing for people and te taiao;
is based on values of manaakitanga and kaitiakitanga;
provides for the exercise of tino rangatiratanga at all levels;
is consistent with tikanga and ritenga.
Where desired by mana whenua, establish comprehensive co-governance arrangements for all environmental taonga and places, based on partnership at all levels between tangata whenua and tangata Tiriti (including government, local authorities and the wider community);
Commit to restoring mana wherever it has been harmed by the process of colonisation.
Tangata whenua
Reflecting on mana and rangatiratanga:
How might they be enhanced and strengthened in your relationships; in relationships among your iwi and hapū; and in relationships with mana whenua where you live?
How can leadership in your communities most effectively enhance mana among people and te taiao? Does leadership reflect a spirit of service to community and to the diversity of tangata whenua experiences?
How can government and other decision-makers more effectively support mana and tino rangatiratanga in decision-making about environmental relationships? How can those decision-makers more effectively acknowledge and respect tikanga as a system of law?
How can the kāwanatanga, rangatiratanga and relational spheres most effectively operate together? In particular, how should the relational sphere operate in order to genuinely provide for tino rangatiratanga and give effect to Te Tiriti? What is the appropriate balance between recognition of the rangatiratanga sphere, and recognition of tino rangatiratanga and tikanga within the Crown’s systems of law and governance?
How might mahi aroha be more effectively recognised, documented, supported and valued? While mahi aroha is a core foundation of Māori leadership and community it should not be taken advantage of in support of Crown or tangata Tiriti processes.
Tangata Tiriti
Consider what ‘mana’ means to you, and to your community and environment. How do your actions strengthen your own mana, the mana of people and te taiao?
Consider how your community relates to the environment – what can be done to enhance the mana of te taiao, and of people?
Learn about mana whenua and their connections with te taiao in your area – how is the mana of te taiao sustained? What is the tikanga and ritenga for managing environmental relationships? How has the exercise of rangatiratanga and kaitiakitanga changed over time? How might kaitiaki relationships be supported and restored? Consider how you can respect and support the mana of mana whenua where you live.
Speak with others about what you discover. Acknowledge that everyone has their own life experiences, perspectives and preconceptions.
Ask decision makers to prioritise the mana of people and te taiao, and to prioritise the restoration of kaitiaki relationships.