<
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/new-zealand-opens-marine-reserves-with-groundbreaking-maori-co-management-model/>
"DUNEDIN, Aotearoa New Zealand — At a U.N. meeting in 2015, Aotearoa New
Zealand’s then Prime Minister John Key made a major announcement that drew
praise from international conservation groups: His administration would turn a
swath of waters far larger than the country’s land mass into a marine protected
area (MPA).
The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary, planned for New Zealand’s northern waters, would
have been one of the largest fully no-take MPAs in the world, but the sanctuary
violated Māori fishing rights enshrined decades earlier. Key’s government had
done relatively little to consult with Māori groups about the proposal, many of
whom resisted the plan, calling for more recognition of their authority and
their role in ocean governance. The sanctuary plan fell through.
Yet, even as Key’s top-down exercise drew criticism, a more bottom-up approach
to marine governance was underway in the country’s far southeast.
There, Māori leaders helped develop a network of small MPAs, five of which
became official on July 1, 2026, after more than a decade of grassroots and
governmental work. A key aim is to protect seabed habitats, offshore canyons,
rocky reefs, tidal lagoons and kelp forests. The network, called Te Au Roa o Te
Rakihouia, is co-managed by the regional Māori tribe Kāi Tahu (Ngāi Tahu in
standard Māori), and the Department of Conservation. The reserves are the first
in the country to be co-managed by Indigenous people and the government using
shared decision-making and a joint marine ranger team. The network name refers
to the long wake of Te Rakihouia, a Kāi Tahu ancestor who explored the South
Island’s waters.
“This is the only example of its type in the country and … could well be quite
a good model going forward,” Edward Ellison, a Kāi Tahu leader and one of six
governors of the network, told Mongabay. “It’s taking the best out of our
legislation that we can and making it work in a way that carries the spirit of
us exercising our
rakatirataka [
rangatiratanga in standard Māori], which is
authority, and
kaitiakitaka [
kaitiakitanga in standard Māori], which is
guardianship.”"
Via Susan ****
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
