MAOR212 W10, L1

Course Logistics and Administrative Announcements

  • Timeline: The course is currently in Week 10. There are very few lectures remaining.
  • Week 12 Schedule Change: For the final week, there will only be one lecture. This session will not be held on Monday but will take place on Wednesday instead.
  • Final Lecture Content: The Wednesday session in Week 12 will serve as a comprehensive recap of the entire course.

Introduction to Environmental Development

  • The Scope of Study: This week focuses on the various dimensions and contexts surrounding environmental development. This includes reviewing past frameworks like the Resource Management Act (RMA) and looking forward to topics such as environmental restoration and co-governance.
  • Ethical and Practical Significance:
    • Maori and Indigenous Impact: Maori and other indigenous groups are disproportionately affected by environmental disasters and environmental harm. Their industries and livelihoods are heavily reliant on the health of the ecosystem.
    • Value Systems: Environmental development is critical due to specific values Maori hold regarding the protection of the natural world.
    • Global Concerns: In a general sense, environmental development is vital for controlling pollution, mitigating climate change, preventing resource depletion, and stopping species extinctions.
    • Political Agency: For Maori, environmental development is a core component of Tino Rangatiratanga (Self-determination).

Core Maori Values and Principles (Te Tai Ao)

  • Historical Context: Pre-contact Maori values emphasized a non-extractive, sustainable relationship with natural resources. They practiced conscious harvesting, ensuring resources would regrow and be available for future generations.
  • Key Principles:
    • Whakapapa (Genealogy): Everything in the universe is related and connected. Mountains (maunga) and rivers are viewed as literal ancestors.
    • Utu (Balance and Reciprocity): The relationship between humans and the environment is one of give-and-take rather than dominance.
    • Kaitiakitanga (Guardianship): This involves protection, preservation, and sheltering of the environment. Note that animals can also be regarded as kaitiaki.
    • Mauri (Life Force): The capacity of an environment to support life. A river with strong mauri is evidenced by flourishing plants and abundant wildlife.
    • Mana (Prestige/Authority): Recognition that authority and prestige are possessed by the natural world, not just human beings.
    • Shape Shifting: Maori recognize the spiritual significance of shape-shifting, where animals may act as signs or vessels for those who have passed, providing further incentive for their protection.

The Whakapapa and Genealogy of Water

  • Visual Representation: The "whakapapa of water" is famously depicted in a painting by Robin Kahukiwa. This symbolizes that water is not an inanimate resource but a family member.
  • Genealogical Flow (Atua/Gods):
    • At the pinnacle are Ranginui (Sky Father) and Papatuanuku (Earth Mother).
    • Their son is Tane Mahuta (God of the forests and birds).
    • Parafenua Mea represents the fresh water that springs forth from the earth.
  • Conceptual takeaway: Environment components are viewed as kin (whanau) and ancestors, mandating respect and preservation.

Theoretical and Spiritual Framework of Wai (Water)

  • Spiritual Attributes: Water (Wai) is linked to identity and well-being. It possesses its own Wairua (spirituality), Mauri, Mana, and Ho (breath of life).
  • Ritual Use: Water is used extensively in rituals for healing, purification, and protection, a practice paralleled in many global religions.
  • Rights and Interests:
    • Maori hold Kaitiakitanga duties rather than ownership in a Western sense.
    • Mana Whenua status over a territory includes authority over the bodies of water within it.
    • Waitangi Tribunal Findings: Lakes, rivers, and springs are recognized as Taonga (treasured possessions). Under Article 2 of the Treaty of Waitangi, the undisturbed possession of Taonga is guaranteed.

Traditional Environmental Management and Ethics

  • Waste Management (Tikanga): Traditional laws (Tikanga) strictly prohibited discharging any waste into water. This included bodily waste, food scraps, fish scales, guts, or even pippi shells. All waste was required to be discharged to land to keep waterways clear.
  • Water Contamination: Water becomes haparu or paru (contaminated) when its natural flow is modified by unnatural means or when separate water courses are fused, mixing the mauri unnaturally.

Linguistic Analysis of Water and Identity

  • Etymology of Wairua: Comprised of Wai (water) and Rua (two). This implies two entities that are simultaneously oppositional and complementary, reflecting a "balanced wholeness."
    • Wai can mean unique/special/unprecedented.
    • Rua can mean abyss or container.
    • Together, Wairua means "that which is unique, special, and contained within."
  • Ko Wai Koe? (Who are you?): Literally translates to "Who is the water?" Identifying oneself involves stating which waters (river, lake, spring) one descends from.
  • Pepeha (Introduction): A formal way of introducing oneself that prioritizes landmarks over personal names. The typical order includes:
    1. Maunga (Mountain)
    2. River/Waterway
    3. Waka (Canoe)
    4. Iwi (Tribe)
    5. Hapu (Sub-tribe)
    6. Marae
    7. Whanau (Family)
    8. Name

Categorization of Water and Geographical Place Names

  • Types of Water in Te Ao Maori:
    • Wai Ora: Pure water.
    • Wai Maori: Fresh water with normal mauri (potable water).
    • Waikino: Polluted water where mauri is negatively affected.
    • Waimate: Dead water where the mauri has departed.
    • Wai Tai: Salt water/ocean water.
    • Waiariki: Hot springs or curative waters.
  • Place Name Meanings:
    • Waikato: Full flowing river.
    • Waiarake: Place where pools were used as mirrors.
    • Waiarapa: Glistening waters.
    • Waiwhitu: Star waters.
    • Waitake: Tears of Aauraki.
    • Wai Makariri: Cold waters (Makariri meaning cold).

The Resource Management Act (RMA) and Maori Interest

  • Definition: The primary New Zealand legislation for the sustainable management of natural and physical resources.
  • Recognition of Tikanga: The act incorporates the term Kaitiakitanga, defining it as the exercise of guardianship by Tangata Whenua in accordance with Tikanga Maori.
  • Significant Sections for Maori:
    • Section 6 (Matters of National Importance): Authorities must provide for the relationship of Maori with their ancestral lands, water, sites, Wahi Tapu (sacred spaces), and other Taonga.
    • Section 7 (Other Matters): Authorities shall have "particular regard" to Kaitiakitanga.
    • Section 8 (Treaty of Waitangi): Authorities "shall take into account" the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi. Critics argue "take into account" is weak phrasing regarding Crown obligations.
  • Participatory Processes: Local authorities are required to consider Iwi Management Plans. Statistics from 20032003 and 20042004 show:
    • 65%65\% of councils had written criteria for determining if Tangata Whenua were affected parties.
    • Approximately 10,00010,000 resource consents (roughly 20%20\% of the total) involved formal consultation with Iwi.

Current Legislative Reforms and Critiques

  • Labor-led Reforms (Previous Government): Passed the Natural and Built Environment Act 2023 and the Spatial Planning Act 2023. Proposed a Climate Adaptation Act. These aimed to strengthen environmental protections and give greater recognition to Te Ao Maori.
  • Current Government Policy (National-led): Scrapped the Labor reforms and returned to the RMA temporarily while writing two new laws: a Planning Act and a Natural Environment Act.
  • Fast-Track Approvals Regime: A "one-stop shop" for development projects aimed at cutting red tape for housing and infrastructure.
    • Critiques: Opponents argue this privileges private property rights and extractive industries (mining) over environmental protection.
    • Democratic Concerns: The process bypasses standard environmental law and limits public/Iwi consultation. It centralizes power within three specific ministers.
    • Organizational Warnings: Groups such as Greenpeace, Forest and Bird, the Environmental Defense Society, and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) have issued warnings that this regime makes communities unsafe from potentially life-altering developments.
    • Expert Commentary (Richard KP, Forest and Bird): Claims the minister has been clear that commercial interests precede ecological or biodiversity values.
    • Expert Commentary (Tina Poro, Environmental Consultant): States the bill is constitutionally flawed and ignores the fact that Te Tiriti o Waitangi is a foundational document in every layer of law.

Questions & Discussion

  • Question (Student): Regarding the rescheduled Week 12 lecture, what time would that be?
  • Response (Lecturer): It will be at the normal time on Wednesday. It will function as a course recap.
  • Question (Lecturer to Audience): Why is environmental development important?
  • Response (Student 1): Maori are disproportionately affected by environmental issues because of their industries.
  • Response (Student 2): It relates to the values Maori hold for protecting the environment.
  • Response (Student 3): Specifically for managing renewable resources.
  • Question (Lecturer to Audience): Has anyone heard of a taniwha before?
  • Response (Context): A taniwha is often viewed by Pakeha as a supernatural creature. From a Maori perspective, they are spiritual beings and guardians located at bends in rivers (e.g., the Waikato River) to protect the water and the local hapu.
  • Question (Lecturer to Audience): What do we usually see in a family tree?
  • Response (Student): Parents and children; families.
  • Question (Lecturer to Audience): Regarding the video of the East Coast flooding, what stood out?
  • Response (Student): The specific river (Te Horoi) was a place where the family washed when they had no running water. It served both a functional and spiritual purpose, and now it is unusable due to silt and runoff.
  • Question (Lecturer to Audience): Regarding the Christchurch Mahinga Kai video, what was a key takeaway?
  • Response (Student): The elders' foresight to list all the fish species in the late 19th19^{\text{th}} century so future generations would know what had been lost.

Case Study: Mahinga Kai in Christchurch (Otakaro River)

  • Context: Restoration efforts in the Christchurch "Red Zone" following the earthquakes.
  • Habitat Restoration: Movement of structures away from the waterway creates a "cushion" that filters runoff and improves water quality.
  • Geographic Significance: The Otakaro connects to the Iutai Estuary, which connects to the Opawaho (Heathcote River). This area was historically central for Tuahurui (the primary hapu of the area, whose takiwa extends from Hurunui to Ashburton).
  • Resource Depletion: Scientists estimate that less than 5%5\% of the original wetlands in Canterbury remain. For 200200 years, the river was treated as a "waste pipe."
  • Species identified by ancestors: Kanakana (lampreys), patiki, eels, unanga (whitebait), kekewai (crayfish), and kakahi (mussels).
  • Cultural Philosophy: The land and water are inseparable. If the water and fish are healthy, the people will prosper. Restoration is not just a "Maori thing" but a benefit for all New Zealanders (e.g., whitebaiting).