RMA Reform Submission by Tīwaiwaka Ropu
1. Ko wai ō mātou / Who are we?
The Tīwaiwaka collective is a committed group of multidisciplinary professional New Zealanders focused on healing the mauri (life force) of the whenua (land).
We bring together our gifts, abilities, mātauranga, skills, experience, and national networks. We represent the diverse facets of the community from health, environment, sciences, politics and arts, as representatives of various collectives and individuals, all committed to realising the vision of caring for the whenua, each in our own way, regardless of culture, religion, beliefs, history, or worldviews. We are a volunteer group of like-minded professionals who have aligned our expertise to support promoting kaitiakitanga (agents of action in protecting, conserving, guarding and stewarding) the healing of the whenua.
Tīwaiwaka, is a vision, to empower people to care for the whenua. We share a common voice that, in time, will embrace the whole of Aotearoa.
Tīwaiwaka is one of the many names Māori have for the fantail. Tīwaiwaka is often mentioned in Māori mythology. Of particular importance is the role the Tīwaiwaka played in Maui’s attempt to overcome death and become immortal. If Maui had of heeded Tīwaiwaka’s warning he would not have come to an untimely end.
By following the Principles of Tīwaiwaka (set out below) we have a way forward that gives us hope for the future. Keeping the whenua well is always the first priority. That is what will ensure our long-term future, especially for the generations that follow us.
2. Nā te aha koe i whakatakoto ai / Why are we submitting?
The Resource Management Act (RMA) is not fit-for-purpose in the current economic, environmental and cultural context of Aotearoa / New Zealand. Acknowledging this fact opens the space for a significant shift in focus of legislation in this country to ensure the taiao (environment) and whenua are cared for by future generations. The Earth is not an unlimited resource, by limiting ourselves to what the whenua can permit we can continue to allow ourselves the freedoms that we have come to expect.
The Tīwaiwaka collective sense that the government, regardless of political persuasion, is looking to work from the same starting point as ours, that the whenua is a resource to be cared for, not used without adequately considering the long-term future. A total rebuild of the RMA is required, starting from foundational principles and values from which the operational legislative components arise. We know that the new Natural & Built Environments Act (NBA) must be built upon a strong foundation of an agreed baseline principle, and we propose that Tīwaiwaka is used to represent these founding principles:
The Earth does not belong to us; We belong to the earth.
The new NBA should begin afresh based on a different world view, one that draws heavily on traditional wisdom. Indeed, this world view is the only one which perhaps guarantees us a future on this planet.
Our submission would like to emphasize that the new act must be founded in mātauranga Māori as it’s grounding worldview. Here is a definition of mātauranga Māori from Robert McGowan, known as Pa Ropata by many, traditional knowledge of native plants and medicines in Aotearoa New Zealand:
Mātauranga Māori is the knowledge of the land
from the people who belong to the land.
It is the result of their interaction with the whenua over many generations.
It is the knowledge they have accumulated by living on the land,
working with the land, harvesting from the land,
all the time listening, watching, caring,
to ensure that they can continue to survive.
Building a bridge between western science and mātauranga Māori will help us to advance on our journey of restoring the mana (status) and mauri (life force) of the whenua more readily and effectively. Such a bridge means setting aside the presumption that western science knows best, that it is superior to indigenous knowledge systems like mātauranga Māori. Such a view is barely tenable, given the dire state of Aotearoa’s natural world after less than 200 years of a western worldview dominating all aspects of society.
In bridging the space between two disparate worlds Sir Professor Mason Durie advocates for an approach which he calls ‘the interface space’. The interface space is likened to a ‘third space’ where a person or group who are looking to make innovative and long-lasting change stand. From that third space they look into the two different worlds, in this case western science and mātauranga Māori, and draw the best from both spaces, then weave those things together to create something new.
This approach enables indigenous knowledge systems to be seen, acknowledged and to have influence within western society. Many non-Māori New Zealanders have a biased and western constructed view and opinion of things Māori, the new NBA offers the opportunity to bridge these gaps in our society by role modelling how mātauranga Māori seeks to reflect, rather than dominate, its surroundings - the rivers, harbours, oceans, forests, bush and animals. Mātauranga Māori is about connections, regardless of culture. It is about relationships with people and things and with the whenua and the taiao.
The government seeks such reflections in the new NBA. The Tīwaiwaka collective knows that a new legislative environment grown from a mātauranga Māori foundation will support and sustain our world for future generations.
3. Mā Tīwaiwaka ka aha / What can Tīwaiwaka achieve?
In our view the NBA is consistent with Te Tiriti o Waitangi aspirations, the report and recommendations that came from Wai 262 (the flora and fauna claim) and Policy 11 to protect indigenous biological diversity in the coastal environment, local Government Act 2002.
The ‘concept’ of ‘Te Oranga o te Taiao’ underpins the reform but there is very little detail on the material impact of such a concept other than;
“For the purpose of the NBA, Te Oranga o te Taiao incorporates:
The health of the natural environment
The intrinsic relationship between iwi and hapū, and te Taiao
The interconnectedness of the natural environment; and
The essential relationship between the health of the natural environment and its capacity to sustain all life”
The real question is whether or not New Zealanders have the appetite for a new approach to how we manage the health and wellbeing of the whenua. The success and longevity of legislation such as the NBA will be determined by our shared values – irrespective of how competently written or well-meaning the legislation is.
This is where Tīwaiwaka has most to offer. It can help to change the hearts and minds of our population; people will come to see that caring for the taiao and whenua as the first and most important priority.
Tīwaiwaka is not an edict or something that can be legislated; it runs much deeper. Tīwaiwaka remains valid, irrespective of the legislation of the day. Imbedding Tīwaiwaka Principles into the NBA will help instill those principles into the hearts and minds of all people. When we achieve this, we have a much better chance of success. Tīwaiwaka is the foundation for protecting and preserving the mauri of the whenua.
The whenua can get by without us, but we can’t get by without the whenua.
By following the Principles of Tīwaiwaka we have a way forward that gives all New Zealanders hope for the future. Keeping the whenua well is always the first priority. That is what will ensure our long-term future, especially for the generations that follow us.
Tīwaiwaka principles:
The whenua, Papatūānuku, is the source of all life. She is the Mother. Ka ora te whenua, ka ora te tangata.
Caring for the whenua is the first priority. Everything else must be measured against this.
We are not the centre of the Universe but we are part of it.
All living creatures are our brothers and sisters, and we are the potiki, the last born.
Papatūānuku is our mother. We must care for them.
The Mauri is the web of connections that sustains life. If any of those connections is weakened or broken the mauri is less able to sustain life.
The integrity of the mauri and its web of connections has greater priority than the rights and needs of any individual or species.
Te tāngata, people, are not the masters of the mauri; we are part of the mauri and embraced by it.
Our role is to care for the Mauri. In doing so we are cared for by it. We find peace. We are at home.
No individual person is more important than any other. Each must contribute what they have to offer, and receive what they need to be well.
We are most well when we are sustained by the mauri, the web of connections that makes us who we are.
We give special care to the tiniest living creatures.
Even though they are too small to be seen they are the foundation that keeps and sustains all life.
The key to the Tīwaiwaka principles is “Mauri”. The mauri is found in the connections between places and species that allow life to thrive. The role of the NBA then is to ensure that those connections are nourished and cared for. This, in time, will ensure that sustainability is achieved in an enduring way.
4. Pēhea te whakamana o Tīwaiwaka / How do we enact
Tīwaiwaka?
How can we encourage people to think about the taiao and the whenua in a new way and then act in a new way? How can Tīwaiwaka support a shift in focus toward our future as a country?
The Tīwaiwaka principles have developed out of wananga held over the last 30 years to pass on the mātauranga (knowledge) and practice of rongoā Maori (traditional Maori medicine). The principles are the foundation of how the wananga are run.
Programs are being developed for schools and kohanga reo. The aim is to grow hope in tamariki, in place of the pessimism about the future that dominates so many rangatahi. If we care for Papatūānuku there is a future, not the worry of impending disaster that haunts so many rangatahi.
The Tīwaiwaka Principles are being used as a framework for environmental research throughout New Zealand. The first priority of the research is asking what is best for the whenua and the taiao, not what is of greatest benefit to mankind.
Tīwaiwaka is an action movement, promoting a significant shift in how we as humans interact with our whenua, to ensure our sustainable use of it for future generations. We do not have the right to exploit all the resources of our future.
Tīwaiwaka is gaining in momentum across a wide range of professions a couple of examples are as follows:
A) The Tīwaiwaka frame work is the basis of a Marine biology PhD being undertaken by Kiri Reihana at the University of Waikato in the earth and marine sciences faculty. Tīwaiwaka is being used as a mechanism to ensure these principles are actioned on the ground with iwi kaitiaki and council. This PhD is a collaborative project between UoW, BOPRC, Ngāti Awa, Upokorehe, Te Whakatōhea and Ngai Tūhoe through the Ōhiwa harbour Implementation Forum (OHIF). These principles will be the framework in which pipi and tuangi (cockles) will be managed by OHIF for future generations.
B) Haemata foundation is an all of government panel provider of resources for education, engagement, language and capability in the educational and Māori business sector. Haemata are building an education resource to support Kaiako (teachers) in the taiao curriculum for schools. This resource will be an introduction to the Tīwaiwaka principles, with supporting resources based on examples and how these principles can be enacted in their science and environmental classes with tauira (students). https://www.haemata.co.nz/
C) A series of 10 Auckland Council Parks staff training and public awareness
programs have been delivered 2020/21 with a further 26 planned over the next 12 months
D) On a remote property bordering Kahurangi National Park the Tīwaiwaka kaupapa has been adopted as the guiding philosophy by the charitable trust which has stewardship for the whenua. Run as a healing venue, guests are encouraged to become familiar with the tenets of Tiwaiwaka and reconnect with nature as part of their healing processes, basic rongoā Māori information is often shared and the vision for the land going forward is about a deeply held respect for, and partnership with, Papatūānuku.
5. Te kore / The infinite potential
Toitu te whenua, Toitu te taiao, toitu te mana Ake, ake, ake.....
Nature is for us, not against us, It just is.......
Stella Schmit, 2021
Whatungarongaro te tangata, toitu te whenua..
As people disappear from sight the land will remain..
The Nature and Built Environments Act 2021 is an opportunity to influence the development of national legislation that will impact on the future of our environment and country for the foreseeable future.
As the Tīwaiwaka collective we implore legislators to take this opportunity to help right the many wrongs that have brought our country and its environment to its present state.
This means taking that enormous step into the third space described on page two and three of this submission, to weave together the knowledge and wisdom of western science and mātauranga Māori to create a new future for Aotearoa.
We need to be brave enough to take that bold step.
In summary we leave you with our key points:
Ka ora te whenua ka ora te tangata. Our wellness depends on the wellness of the environment. Caring for the whenua must always be the first priority.
The role of the NBA then is to nourish and care for the connections than enable life to thrive. That means caring for Mauri.
The challenge for the NBA is to weave together the knowledge and wisdom of western science and mātauranga Maori to create a new future for Aotearoa.
We wish that the following names appear in full support for this submission;
Pa Ropata (Robert) McGowan, JP. QSM, MSocSc (Waikato). Amo Aratu for Nga Whenua Rahui.
Donna Kerridge, B.Hlth Sc. Comp. Med., Māngai, Te Kāhui Rongoā, Chair ACC Rongoā Māori Advisory Panel
Angela Palmer, Dip. Clin Herb Med, Clinical Medical Herbalist
Dr Anna Rolleston, Managing director, Manawaora / The centre for Health
Pippa Hayes,
Graedon Parker, B.Des, Edmund Hillary Fellow, Creative Director Organic Mechanic
Savanah Petero,
Tyne-Marie Nelson,
Sarah Reo,
Kiri Reihana, Environmental scientist, PhD Candidate, NZDaT, B.Arch, BEnv.St, McS.
Supporting links
https://www.Tīwaiwaka.nz/
