BMGT5015: Te Arawa Lakes Strategy, Waitangi Principles & Biculturalism

This case study examines the Te Arawa Lakes Strategy in New Zealand and its alignment with the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi. It explores how the strategy incorporates the principles of partnership, reciprocity, and protection of Maori autonomy, rights, and interests. The analysis details the ...Read More

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Author Note

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Court of Appeal’s Incorporation of the Principles of Waitangi in the
Decision on NZ Maori Council Vs Attorney General
The Principles of Waitangi represent a partial attempt to reconcile the English and
Maori Language versions of the well-known Waitangi Treaty, the very first accord that was
signed between Maori Chiefs and officers of the British Empire in the northern part of New
Zealand on the 6th of February in the year 1840 (Xuefei, 2018). The treaty principles entail a
partnership between both the British and Maori races, reciprocity, meaning that the
partnership would be one that would include a mutual exchange of benefits and advantages,
protection of Maori autonomy, protection of Maori rights and interests by the British Crown
and fair and equal treatment for both the Maoris as well as the British settlers. The Te Arawa
Lakes Strategy Plan is one that has been strongly informed by the Watangi Treaty Principles.
It is meant to improve the health or the condition of the Rotorua Lakes while protecting the
cultural identity of the indigenous Te Arawa tribe at the same given time (Martin, 2015).
While the management for the Te Arawa Strategy is comprised mostly of Maoris or the
indigenous people of New Zealand, namely some elected representatives from the Te Arawa
Council, the Rotorua Lakes Council as well as the Bay of Plenty Regional Council, there is
also a member from the New Zealand Ministry of Environment who oversees the work that is
carried out by this management group (McLean, 2014). Thus the Te Arawa Lake Strategy is
one that looks into the protection and conservation of Maori identity while ensuring white
representation and interests at the same time. The upkeep of the Rotorua Lakes is something
that is to be carried out by the indigenous Maori representatives who head the Te Arawa

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Council in collaboration with the Ministry of Environment in the country, a ministry that is
mostly representative of the country’s white population.
Understanding how the Watangi Principles have been brought into Effect
by the Te Arawa Lake Strategy
The Watangi Principles emphasized collaboration between the Maori people and the
British Crown and stated that the Maori’s and the British should act reasonably and with
good faith when interacting with each other. The Te Arawa Lake Strategy is one that does
indeed put such principles into proper effect. The Te Arawa Lake Strategy advocates that
meaningful and binding relationships be formed between the Iwi or Hapu Maori
representatives who head the Te Arawa Lake Strategy Council and the local white people
(Orange, 2015). The people living in and around the lake areas should recognize the
importance and value of such ancestral lakes and act in a spirit of cooperation with the ethnic
Maori people who head the council, so that the conservation or preservation of these lakes
can be carried out in a smooth and efficient manner. The Watangi Principles lay special
emphasis on the protection of Maori interests to the extent that the land and water resources
owned by the Maoris are utilized to the fullest extent possible (Anaya, 2015). The Te Arawa
Lake Strategy Group has a Maori representative known as an IWI who as the virtual owner of
such lakebeds is one who ends up providing cultural advice regarding all aspects of the lakes
and their conservation (Martin, 2015). The Te Arawa Lake Strategy Group makes sure that
the cultural identity of the Te Arawa people who live in and around the lake areas is
something that is well protected and improved upon. The management of the Te Arawa
Lakes values the protection of Maori interests above everything else, something that is
entirely in keeping with the Watangi Principles. The conservation of the Te Arawa Lakes is

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what is to be accompanied by a protection of the cultural identity and values of the Te Arawa
ethnic minority who inhabit this specific and significant part of New Zealand (Bargh, 2016).
Understanding how the Te Arawa Lake Strategy Addresses Environmental
Impact
There are a number of different ways by which the Te Arawa Lake Strategy addresses the
issue of environmental impact. Firstly, there is an effort being made to engage in sewerage
reticulation for all the communities that are living on the lakeside. Phosphorous locking is
carried as an engineering solution. Lake weeds continue to be harvested in an ongoing
fashion and floating wetlands are constructed every now and then. A geothermal plant for the
removal of nutrients has been put in place and a number of aeration devices have also been
established. The purpose of these aeration devices is to prevent what is known as algal
blooms and also to prevent nutrients from being released from the lakebeds. A number of
land management plans have also been put in place by the Te Arawa Lake Strategy
management group that is meant to reduce all the run off on nutrients as well as sediments
(Jenkins, 2016). Land is also being converted to the type of land that has very low nitrogen
levels and permanent land use is something that is being entirely changed through the process
of gorse cleaning. All the methods that have been put in place for the purpose of addressing
environmental impacts are cost effective and easy to implement. Such methods are known to
have a very high rate of success and some of the results of putting such methods in place can
be seen immediately upon their implementation. The Te Arawa Lake Strategy places
environmental conservation in addition to the conservation of the ethnic and cultural identity
of the Te Arawa people as its top most priority (Fox & Bretton, 2016). The solutions that are
undertaken by the Te Arawa Lake Strategy Group to meet the challenge of environmental

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change or degradation are therefore well thought out, fool proof and executed by experts in
the field of environmental conservation.

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References
Anaya, S. J. (2015). Report of the Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in
the Situation of Maori People in New Zealand. Ariz. J. Int'l & Comp. L., 32, 1.
Bargh, M. (2016). Opportunities and complexities for Māori and mana whenua representation
in local government. Political Science, 68(2), 143-160.
Dodson, G. (2014). Moving forward, keeping the past in front of us: Treaty settlements,
conservation co-governance and communication.
Fox, C., & Bretton, C. (2016, February). Māori participation rights and interests. In annual
conference of the Resource Management Legal Association. Retrieved (Vol. 1).
Jenkins, B. (2016). Sustainability analysis of the management approach for six New Zealand
lakes. Lake and Reservoir Management, 32(2), 101-115.
Martin, B. (2015). Te Tiriti o Waitangi principles for shared governance: From the Foreshore
to Freshwater. State of the Pākehā Nation: Collected Waitangi Day Speeches, 14.
McLean, I. (2014). Community action and science help restore New Zealand
lakes. Solutions, 5, 46-55.
Orange, C. (2015). An illustrated history of the Treaty of Waitangi. Bridget Williams Books.
Xuefei, W. (2018). Treaty of Waitangi. Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal, 5(2).