A report to iwi on the kaupapa Māori environmental outcomes and indicators kete

Abstract

Tangata whenua in Aotearoa have been largely excluded from participation in local government planning since colonisation, but tikanga and Māori values have for the past two decades been acknowledged in resource management and local government legislation, especially the Resource Management Act, 1991 (RMA) and Local Government Act, 2002 (LGA). For example, the RMA has provisions in over 30 sections for councils to give effect to Māori interests.

In practice, however, there is widespread concern that despite these provisions, Māori are largely excluded from local government resource management processes and their values subordinated to those of the wider community, particularly western scientific values.

This report describes research that resulted in a kaupapa Māori outcomes and indicators framework, and associated methods, that can be used by iwi to assess the quality of statutory plans and the environmental performance of councils in their rohe.