UDTR Global Rights of Nature Radar

Aotearoa New Zealand: A laboratory for future marine conservation

Identification

Public canonical key

doi:10.1016/j.marpol.2025.106711

Authors

Daniel Hikuroa · James Nikitine · Harry Burkhardt · Kura Moeahu · Katherine Short · Mereana Berger · Jeanine Clarkin · Schannel van Dijken · Kate Brown

Reported year

2025

Reported language

en

Source type

article

First detected

2026-11-09T19:04:47.955797+00:00

Last metadata observation

2026-11-09T19:04:47.955797+00:00

Last HTTP verification

Not checked

Institutions reported by the source

University of Auckland · University of Canterbury

Reported affiliation countries

NZ

Documentary abstract — original language

Te Au o Te Moana (the Voice of the Ocean) was a session presented at IMPAC5. It gave an account of world views found across Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa (the South Pacific), but with a strong emphasis on Aotearoa New Zealand. In Aotearoa New Zealand natural features are personified by Indigenous Māori as atua (deities) and tūpuna (ancestors) through whakapapa – the relational Māori worldview in which everything derives from the primal parents Ranginui (Sky-father) and Papatūānuku (Earthmother). The concept of legal personhood is established for awa (rivers) and maunga (mountains) in Aotearoa New Zealand. Inspired by this, exploration of extending it to the ocean is underway, including what giving a voice to marine environment and species to avoid their commodification and defend their own intrinsic value might look like. Historically, marine conservation has manifested many ways, including mahinga kai (Māori food gathering practices), and in the 1970s no-take reserves. Since the late 1990s, there has been enabling legislation to integrate local communities, iwi (tribes) and hapū (sub-tribes) in decision-making. Today, marine research programmes weave mātauranga Māori (Māori knowledge) with interdisciplinary sciences, pioneering different forms of management, integrating the māramataka (Māori lunar calendar) and undergoing a silent revolution. Large nationwide programmes such as the Sustainable Seas National Science Challenge are exploring sustainable blue economy innovative solutions, and many NGOs are proposing ways forward anchored in Te Tiriti o Waitangi (Aotearoa New Zealand’s 1840 founding document). This paper presents examples as to why Aotearoa New Zealand, tucked between the Pacific islands and the Southern Ocean, is currently becoming a significant laboratory contributing to the future of marine conservation.

Identifiers

OPENALEX

W4409536350

DOI

10.1016/j.marpol.2025.106711

HANDLE

2292/76628

Documentary context

Documentary family

Scholarship

Source-reported types

article

Jurisdictions studied — explicit sources

NZ

Natural entities mentioned

River · Mountain · Ocean · Sea · Species

Entity mentions are not evidence of legal recognition. Jurisdiction studied is separate from author affiliation country.

Sources

OpenAlex · Record 1 · Record 2 · Record 3

• DOI · https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpol.2025.106711
• Handle · https://hdl.handle.net/2292/76628
• OpenAlex · https://openalex.org/W4409536350

Documented bibliographic relations

Source-declared references and links; they do not establish legal support or UGLC qualification. Up to 20 outgoing references are displayed.

• openalex:w2078016313 · CITES
• openalex:w4237670074 · CITES
• Connecting Science to Indigenous Knowledge: kaitiakitanga, conservation, and resource management · CITES
• Designing Law and Policy for the Health and Resilience of Marine and Coastal Ecosystems—Lessons From (and for) Aotearoa New Zealand · CITES

0 incoming references within the detected corpus

Documentary status

Relevance pending

Library

This identity is not yet included in the Legal Library.