Mount Taranaki / Taranaki Maunga

Anima Mundi Law Initiative

Rights of Nature Case Study Mount Taranaki / Taranaki Maunga

In December 2017, the New Zealand government and eight Taranaki iwi signed a Record of Understanding with respect to Egmont National Park (Taranaki Maunga) which states their shared intention that the mountain will be recognised as a living being with legal personality.

Location Aotearoa / New Zealand Date December 2017 Source Record of Understanding Jurisdiction level National

Context Mount Taranaki is a dormant volcano in the Taranaki region on the west coast of New Zealand’s North Island. At approximately 2500 metres high, it is the second highest point in the North Island after Mount Ruapehu, and is between 120,000 to 135,000 years old.

The British began to colonise New Zealand in the early 19th century, leading to significant land dispossession of the Indigenous population, among other impacts. In 1865, the Crown confiscated Mount Taranaki and surrounding land from local Māori iwi (tribes) under the powers of the New Zealand Settlements Act 1863 and gave this to British settlers as farmland. These actions resulted in prolonged land and related disputes and lengthy Treaty of Waitangi negotiations between the government and the different iwi with ancestral connections with the mountain. A Waitangi Tribunal report from 1996 found that there was no valid basis for Mount Taranaki's confiscation from Māori.

On 20 December 2017, Ngā Iwi o Taranaki, which represents the interests of the region's eight iwi (Ngāruahine, Taranaki Iwi, Te Atiawa, Ngāti Mutunga, Ngāti Ruanui, Ngaa Rauru Kiitahi, Ngāti Tama and Ngāti Maru), signed a dual language Record of Understanding with the government with respect to the status of the mountain and the path forward. Rights of Nature The Record of Understanding sets out broad terms for anticipated redress recognition arrangements which include granting Mount Taranaki legal personality, meaning it will own itself. This extends to all Crown-owned land within the Egmont National Park, which will become the joint responsibility of local Māori and the Government.

It confirms that these arrangements are intended to recognise the mountain as a living being and indivisible whole, affirming (under provision 3.4) that it “…is a living, indivisible whole incorporating the peaks, to be referred to by their Tupuna names, including Taranaki, Pouakai and Kaitake” and

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“encompasses all of the physical and metaphysical elements of Nga Maunga from the peaks through to all of the surrounding environs.”

The collective redress deed and legislation will provide for the establishment of a new joint governance entity to be the human face of, and act in the name of, the legal personality for Mount Taranaki, comprised of up to eight members with half of the members appointed by Ngā Iwi o Taranaki and half of the members appointed by the government. This new governance entity will act as the representative for the mountain, must act in its interests and consistently with the Maunga values (see below) and have standing and the right to appear and be heard in any statutory planning or other processes before courts and other bodies in New Zealand. Its functions will also include developing relationships with other regulatory bodies whose activities or policies might impact directly on the relevant area and developing a document to, at a minimum, fulfil the requirements of sections 45 to 47 of the National Parks Act 1980 in relation to the mountain.

In connection with these governance arrangements, the Record of Understanding notes that the anticipated collective redress deed and legislation will provide for a set of guiding values which will focus on, among other things: the status of the mountain as an indivisible whole and ancestor; the preservation and protection of its natural environment and features and its relationship with Ngā Iwi o Taranaki and all people; upholding the ancestral, historical, spiritual and cultural relationships of Ngā Iwi o Taranaki with their ancestor mountain.

The Record of Understanding outlines the arrangements for broader iwi and community engagement and relationship with the mountain as follows:

Te whanganga ki te hunga whaipanga: Engaging with key stakeholders. The parties consider that local government, conservation and recreation groups and other interested groups have shown there is strong support for protecting the unique identity of Nga Maunga, and a common view that it is a place of outstanding natural, cultural and recreational value. Ongoing engagement with those interested parties will continue through the negotiations process.

Te whanganga ki te Kahui Tupua: Engaging with other iwi. Nga Iwi o Taranaki and those iwi with interests in the Tongariro and Whanganui National Parks have longstanding whanaunga relationships. The parties have recently engaged with those iwi to continue sharing korero in relation to protecting the unique identity of Nga Maunga, and affirming that it is a place of outstanding natural, cultural and recreational value.

The Record of Understanding envisions that the collective redress deed will include: an agreed account of the historical relationship between Ngā Iwi o Taranaki and the Crown as it relates to Nga Maunga, which is to be developed by the parties; the Crown’s acknowledgment of its acts and omissions, as they relate to Nga Maunga, which have breached the Treaty of Waitangi and its

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principles, and caused prejudice to Ngā Iwi o Taranaki; and a Crown apology for those breaches. No financial redress will be included.

Significance Mount Taranaki/Taranaki Maunga is the third geographic feature in New Zealand to be granted a legal personality, after Te Urewera former national park and the Whanganui River. These legal developments were considered ground-breaking globally and an innovative settlement of longstanding land dispossession and related disputes which was significant in its embrace and codification within the national legal system of an Indigenous cosmovision that views the mountain as an ancestor and kin, and understands humans and the rest of the natural world as inextricably interconnected. This stands in stark contrast to the dominant western legal paradigm that views the natural world as ‘property’ to be used or exploited by humans.

The Record of Understanding describes the spiritual and cultural relevance of the mountain as follows:

The maunga are pou that form a connection between the physical and the social elements of our lived experience. For Iwi of Taranaki, they have been ever present and remain personified ancestors, a site of shared history, a physical resource, and the citadel of a unique ecosystem. Wider Taranaki society continues to look upon these maunga as key reference points for the region, shaping an immediate sense of place and social association with mutual identity. Their presence pervades our scenery, projecting mystery, adventure and beauty, capturing our attention and our imagination in how humanity can be closely bound to a landscape.

The maunga are pou that transcend our perception of time, location, culture and spirit. They help configure how whakapapa, environment, the past and future are understood, engaged with and transmitted to future generations. This is a framework of tangible and intangible resources available to be accessed and applied in our daily lives, and open to be interpreted by various social groupings, Maori and non-Maori, in terms of spiritual, cultural and ethical values.

It was also an important step towards redressing some of the immediate and ongoing injustices faced by Māori people in New Zealand in connection with the impacts of colonisation, with the Minister for Treaty Negotiations affirming that the agreements "…are a major milestone in acknowledging the grievances and hurt from the past as the Taranaki iwi experienced some of the worst examples of Crown behaviour in the 19th Century”. The Record of Understanding also references complementary separate settlement arrangements with each of the local iwi groups.

Implementation Section 7 of the Record of Understanding sets out the next steps for further negotiations, affirming that the parties will continue negotiations aimed at reaching agreement to an agreed historical account, the Crown acknowledgements and apology, and cultural redress arrangements in the form of a collective redress deed and draft legislation to give effect to such deed.

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The collective redress deed and draft legislation have not yet been finalised. Key documents ҉ Te Anga Pūtakerongo - Record of Understanding (20 December 2017) and links ҉ Terms of Negotiation (14 March 2017) ҉ Related government information about the historical background and settlement with local iwi