Your search

Biodiversity is about existence and well-being based on protecting the variety of earth's life forms. Although natural processes can cause species depletion and extinction, the prime cause in the last 100 years has been human activity. Internationally, everyone has a responsibility to sustain biodiversity and maintain the widest genetic pool of biological wealth for future generations. In New Zealand, Maori have a unique role to play in sustaining indigenous biodiversity, not only in terms of kaitiakitanga but in achieving national biodiversity goals through the provision of another cultural perspective, another knowledge system, which will help plans for the future. Traditional concepts and perspectives are summarised. A research framework is proposed to show the role biodiversity could have for Maori advancement and to underpin a bicultural approach for achieving national biodiversity outcomes.

This report was written in response to the new freshwater reforms and VMO research objectives. The initial research question to be answered was: What is the role of cultural monitoring to inform the collaborative process? This research question was broadened to “provide Māori values and perspectives that inform collaborative processes and planning for freshwater management”, and includes a section on the role of cultural monitoring in collaborative processes. Key objectives were: • Document the Māori historical and legislative context for the collaborative process, including the role of the Treaty of Waitangi • Collate case study information from around New Zealand, on co-governance, co-management and co-planning and define these terms • Provide a range of useful tools to support successful collaboration by Māori and councils in collaborative freshwater management • Identify future challenges.

In response to widespread water quality and quantity issues, the New Zealand Government has recently embarked on a number of comprehensive freshwater management reforms, developing a raft of national discussion and policy documents such as "Freshwater Reform 2013 and Beyond" and a National Policy Statement for freshwater management (NPS-FM 2014). Recent resource management reforms and amendments (RMA 2014), based on previous overarching resource management legislation (RMA 1991), set out a new approach and pathway to manage freshwater nationwide. Internationally, there is an increasing trend to engage with indigenous communities for research and collaboration, including indigenous groups as active participants in resource management decision making. What is driving this change toward more engagement and collaboration with indigenous communities is different for each country, and we document the progress and innovation made in this area in New Zealand. The indigenous rights of Māori in New Zealand are stated in the 1840 Treaty of Waitangi and in many forms of New Zealand's legislation. Local and central governments are eager to include local indigenous Māori groups (iwi/hapū) in freshwater management planning processes through meaningful engagement and collaboration. Key to the success of collaborative planning processes for Māori are enduring relationships between local government and Māori, along with adequate resourcing for all partners contributing to the collaborative process. A large number of shared governance and management models for natural resource management have emerged in New Zealand over the past 20 years, and some recent examples are reviewed. We provide some discussion to improve understanding and use of the terms used in these management models such as cogovernance, comanagement, and coplanning, and describe some of the more important frameworks and tools being developed with Māori groups (e.g., iwi/hapū), to strengthen Māori capacity in freshwater management and to support good collaborative process and planning.

The term 'sustainable development' has been widely used since the latter part of the 20th century. The concept implies economic and social development, economic growth, and environmental responsibility in order to sustain improved standards of living based on economic growth, to achieve some form of social equity, and to manage the environment in a sustainable way. Sustainable development should generally be at a rate that allows future generations to meet their needs without causing degradation of the natural environment, and should avoid economic or social decay. The concept has been debated and criticised by many as being ambiguous, untenable, and difficult to achieve, and frequently labelled part of global capitalism. But the concept provides a challenge to all of us, on how to balance economic, social, and cultural goals, while at the same time safeguarding and responsibly managing the environment for future generations. Attempts by indigenous peoples internationally to achieve sustainable development have been based on holistic approaches and frameworks that seek to balance economic, social, cultural and environmental objectives, and these provide effective models for viable sustainable development approaches. Maori Sustainable Development in Aotearoa-New Zealand is a term often used to describe a pathway to Maori autonomy, self-determination, the building of human and social capacity, as part of a strategic direction to capitalise on opportunities in the 21st century. This paper outlines research undertaken between 1998 and 2002 and funded by the Foundation for Research, Science, and Technology (FRST) in the programme "Maori Sustainable Development in Te Puku o Te Ika", contract UOWX0005, simply referred to as the MSD programme. It focuses on the importance of determining Maori values, a vision, strategic planning and development of information systems as a holistic framework and process method to achieve Maori sustainable development.

A framework/model based on Māori knowledge, values and perspectives is presented that distinguishes ‘cultural values’ from ‘cultural services’ and extends the definition of cultural values across the whole ecosystem services framework. Māori aspirations and well-being are interdependent on ecosystems and ecosystem services. Ultimately Māori wish to use these ecosystem approaches and frameworks to increase participation and inclusion in decision-making, to achieve multidimensional aspirational goals and desired indigenous outcomes.

This section reviews changes to water management and governance in the past ten years. We open with a summary of Aotearoa New Zealand's historical legislative context in regard to rivers, catchments and freshwater resources. We describe the roles of local government, Maori and central government. We detail the growing recognition of tangata whenua values in water management alongside belated development of national policy direction on water quality and allocation. Drawing on the description of modelling advances, we summarise how models are being used in contemporary water management. Finally, we review the implementation of freshwater policy and the integration of science and water policy. In concluding, we argue that integration and implementation challenges must be addressed as hydrologists look beyond 2021 towards future significant legislative changes affecting water and catchment management nationwide.

Freshwater environments are challenged by multiple pressures from all parts of society, as well as contests over ownership and availability as a public or private resource. In many parts of the world, indigenous peoples are one part of society asserting rights in relation to water and advocating for the inclusion of indigenous knowledge within policy frameworks. Aotearoa New Zealand provides a fascinating case study of efforts to demonstrate the value and utility of indigenous knowledge (mātauranga Māori) in addressing contemporary issues of freshwater management. National policy statements for freshwater now recognize the role of Māori communities in decision-making and acknowledge the potential for mātauranga Māori to inform the management of freshwater. In a regional context, treaty settlements have resulted in specific provisions for tribal (iwi) consultation and engagement, and the formulation of iwi management plans that will underpin freshwater management into the future. The New Zealand experience illustrates the challenges of integrating different value sets and knowledge traditions as part of the governance and management regime. We argue that “post-normal” science provides a theoretical basis for problem-solving complex issues related to science and indigenous knowledge based on the notion that uncertainty, value loading, and the plurality of legitimate perspectives are an integral part of the context for policy making, particularly for the natural environment.

For the past decade, collaboration has been the preferred method of devising land and water policy in Aotearoa New Zealand to achieve agreed outcomes. However, the use of collaboration in policymaking is at a crossroads, as some argue it is unrealistic to expect stakeholders and tangata whenua with competing interests to work in partnership on contentious policy issues. To help clarify the future direction of collaboration, this paper provides authorising agencies (those with responsibility for the policy problems) with prompts to reflect ex ante on the advantages and disadvantages of pursuing collaboration. Based on a retrospective review of collaborations in New Zealand’s land and water policymaking, and a two-day symposium with collaboration practitioners, we identify situations that are potentially less suited to collaboration owing to factors that are challenging to overcome through process design. Four issues that affect the success of collaborations are identified: the nature of the policy problem, the personal and collective qualities of those involved, power relationships, and the collaborative process. Finally, we draw together practical lessons from history, the symposium, and the literature to develop a list of questions for authorising agencies to use to reflect on the advantages and disadvantages of pursuing collaboration.