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Green Plans in Action: New Zealand: The Native Peoples and the RMA
The Resource Management Act (RMA) contains provisions involving Maori rights and adherence to the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi. All local plans are charged with recognizing Maori interests as matters of national importance, including the relationship of Maori culture and traditions with ancestral sites [section 6(e)]; and local Maori responsibility for guardianship and stewardship of land and resources [section 7 (a)]. Planners and local councils must consult with the native tangata whenua, "People of the Land," as plans are being made or changed. The success of this has been spotty until recently, as with other provisions of the RMA, because the act itself was difficult for many local councils to understand, and left much to their discretion without necessary training in the different laws and agreements. A series of court cases related to Maori rights and their rights to develop their resources under the Treaty has been on-going since the mid-1980s. It has been a time of privatization of some government responsibilities, and the government proposed allowing the transfer of large tracts of Crown land, to which Maori laid claim, to newly created and commercially operated state-owned enterprises. The New Zealand Maori Council sued to stop the transfer of Crown assets, and the Court of Appeal's decision was in the Maori Council's favor. Maori groups currently oppose stringent laws the government has implemented with respect to cutting down forests, saying there are better ways some of the forests could be utilized. Maori groups have claims on 40%-45% of New Zealand's forests. According to some of their representatives, they will seek an exemption from charges on cutting down the trees. There is a need for greater Treaty-partner solutions to deforestation, as well as environmental protection in a broader scope. Read more in "Planning for Sustainability" New Zealand under the RMA," by Ericksen, Berke, Crawford, and Dixon, international edition, Ashgate Publishing Company, Burlington, Vermont. For more information on the Maori (More...) |
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