Decolonising Blue Spaces In The Anthropocene: Freshwater Management In Aotearoa New Zealand

Description

This book crosses disciplinary boundaries to connect theories of environmental justice with Indigenous people’s experiences of freshwater management and governance. It traces the history of one freshwater crisis – the degradation of Aotearoa New Zealand’s Waipā River– to the settler-colonial acts of ecological dispossession resulting in intergenerational injustices for Indigenous Māori iwi (tribes). The authors draw on a rich empirical base to document the negative consequences of imposing Western knowledge, worldviews, laws, governance and management approaches onto Māori and their ancestral landscapes and waterscapes. Importantly, this book demonstrates how degraded freshwater systems can and are being addressed by Māori seeking to reassert their knowledge, authority, and practices of kaitiakitanga (environmental guardianship). Co-governance and co-management agreements between iwi and the New Zealand Government, over the Waipā River, highlight how Māori are envisioning and enacting more sustainable freshwater management and governance, thus seeking to achieve Indigenous environmental justice (IEJ). The book provides an accessible way for readers coming from a diversity of different backgrounds, be they academics, students, practitioners or decision-makers, to develop an understanding of IEJ and its applicability to freshwater management and governance in the context of changing socio-economic, political, and environmental conditions that characterise the Anthropocene. Acknowledgments......Page 7 Contents......Page 10 Abbreviations......Page 12 List of Figures......Page 13 List of Tables......Page 19 1: Introduction......Page 20 Settler-Colonialism......Page 29 Indigenous Environmental Justice......Page 34 The Organisation of the Book......Page 46 References......Page 47 2: Environmental Justice and Indigenous Environmental Justice......Page 58 EJ: Distributive Justice......Page 59 Procedural Justice......Page 62 Recognition Justice......Page 64 Critique of Recognition......Page 67 Beyond Recognition: Indigenous Ontologies and Epistemologies......Page 71 Conclusion......Page 80 References......Page 81 3: ‘The past is always in front of us’: Locating Historical Māori Waterscapes at the Centre of Discussions of Current and Future Freshwater Management......Page 93 Te Ao Māori (The Māori World)......Page 94 Knowledge, Values and Guiding Principles......Page 98 Waterscapes of the Waipā......Page 104 Waste and Water: The Two Should Never Mix......Page 108 Te Ao Māori at the Time of European Contact......Page 110 Divergent Understandings of Land: Rights Versus Ownership......Page 112 Lead up to Colonisation: 1830s......Page 116 Te Tiriti o Waitangi (The Treaty of Waitangi)......Page 119 Historical Context: The Invasion, Raupatu (Confiscation) and Alienation of Whenua 1863–1885......Page 122 Conclusion......Page 126 References......Page 128 4: Remaking Muddy Blue Spaces: Histories of Human-Wetlands Interactions in the Waipa¯ River and the Creation of Environmental Injustices......Page 138 Settler Imaginative Geographies of the Waipa¯: 1850s–1860s......Page 144 Post-Invasion Realities: Life on/in the Wetlands......Page 150 Māori Engagements with Wetlands and the Settler-Colonial State......Page 162 Government Responses......Page 166 Te Kawa Wetlands and the Operations of the Kawa Drainage Board......Page 169 Conclusion......Page 184 References......Page 185 5: A History of the Settler-Colonial Freshwater Impure-Ment: Water Pollution and the Creation of Multiple Environmental Injustices Along the Waipaˉ River......Page 197 Water Pollution: An Unacknowledged Problem......Page 198 Consequences of Pollution on Health......Page 202 Disposal of Waste......Page 207 The Resource Management Act and the Limits of Recognition......Page 210 Procedural and Recognition Environmental (In)Justices: Continuity and Change......Page 223 Conclusion......Page 237 References......Page 240 6: Legal and Ontological Pluralism: Recognising Rivers as More- Than-Human Entities......Page 251 Indigenous Knowledge, Laws, and Worldviews......Page 253 Tikanga Māori: The First Legal Order of Aotearoa......Page 255 Limited Recognition: Indigenous Legal Traditions with Settler Legal Order......Page 258 Decolonising Freshwater Governance: (Mis)Recognition of the Treaty and Tikanga......Page 261 Treaty Settlement: Ngā wai o Maniapoto (Waipā River) Act and the Waiwaia Accord......Page 270 Treaty Settlement: Te Awa Tupua (Whanganui River)......Page 273 Complexities of Enacting Legal Pluralism......Page 278 Conclusion......Page 285 References......Page 286 7: Transforming River Governance: The Co-Governance Arrangements in the Waikato and Waipaˉ Rivers......Page 299 Water ‘Rights’ and ‘Responsibilities’: Water Co-Governance and Justice......Page 301 Treaty Settlements and Reconciliation......Page 305 Treaty Settlements, Legislation, and Co-Governing and Co-Managing the Waikato and Waipa¯ Rivers......Page 306 Vision and Strategy (V&S) for the Waikato River/Te Ture Whaimana o te Awa o Waikato......Page 308 Waikato River Authority (WRA)......Page 309 Assessing the Implementation of Co-Governance Arrangements......Page 311 Distributional (In)Justices: Lack of Resources and Capacities......Page 313 Procedural and Recognitional (In)Justices: Iwi Involvement in Planning Processes......Page 318 Procedural and Recognitional (In)Justices: Critiques of the WRA......Page 321 Recognitional (In)Justice: Ngāti Maniapoto Ontologies and Epistemologies......Page 323 Conclusion......Page 329 References......Page 330 8: Co-Management in Theory and Practice: Co-Managing the Waipaˉ River......Page 340 Indigenous Co-Management of Freshwater......Page 341 The Resource Management Act: Recognition of Māori Interests......Page 345 Giving Effect to Co-Management of the Waipā River......Page 346 Principles for Co-Management of the Waipa River......Page 347 River Objectives......Page 351 Crown-Iwi Accords......Page 352 Iwi Management Plans......Page 353 Joint Management Agreements......Page 354 Integrated Management Plan......Page 357 Not Trickling Down to Flax-Roots-Level......Page 358 Co-Management Strengthening Procedural Inclusion and Recognition......Page 359 Conclusion......Page 364 References......Page 365 9: Decolonising River Restoration: Restoration as Acts of Healing and Expression of Rangatiratanga......Page 373 The Emergence of Ecological Restoration as a Field of Study and Practice......Page 375 Critiques of Ecological Restoration......Page 377 Co-management and Restoration Planning......Page 382 Constraints on Restoration Efforts......Page 384 Getting the Values Right......Page 386 Defining Restoration......Page 391 Iwi-Led Restoration Projects: Enacting Kaitiakitanga......Page 393 Grief and Hope......Page 404 Conclusion......Page 418 References......Page 420 10: Rethinking Freshwater Management in the Context of Climate Change: Planning for Different Times, Climates, and Generations......Page 432 Indigenous Critiques of Climate Change: Indigenising Intergenerational Climate Justice......Page 436 Framing Climate Change in Aotearoa as an Economic and Technical Problem......Page 443 Kaitiakitanga and Climate Justice for the Waipa¯ River......Page 456 Tuna and Climate Change......Page 458 Conclusion......Page 464 References......Page 466 11: Conclusion: Spiralling Forwards, Backwards, and Together to Decolonise Freshwater......Page 476 Distributive Justice......Page 480 Procedural Justice......Page 483 Recognition as Justice......Page 486 Interweaving and Layering of Justice: Pluralistic Accounts of IEJ......Page 488 Beyond Recognition to Encompass Indigenous Ontologies and Responsibilities......Page 489 References......Page 492 Appendix: Table of Interview Participants......Page 496 Glossary of Te Reo Ma¯ori Terms......Page 497 Index......Page 502