Me Tū ā-Uru: for a flourishing and abundant environment
This action plan presents a vision for a healthier natural environment, and for healthier long-term human and environmental relationships.
Mount Maunganui
We have guided our action plan with four key themes
OUR RELATIONAL FRAMEWORK
Theme 01
Whanaungatanga – Relationships
Whanaungatanga refers to kinship between all people and things – their connections through lines of whakapapa, and their interdependence with each other.
Theme 02
Utu – Balance and Reciprocity
Utu acknowledges the reciprocal nature of all relationships, and the obligation to sustain them in appropriate balance.
Theme 03
Mātauranga – knowledge and ways of seeing
Mātauranga refers to knowledge and understanding – to a way of seeing the world through a lens of kinship, of recognising the reciprocal responsibilities that arise from human-environment relationships.
Theme 04
Mana and Rangatiratanga – authority with care
Mana refers to authority, handed down through generations, to take action in the world.
The vision
"A flourishing and abundant taiao that sustains and nurtures all people of Aotearoa. Tangata whenua and tangata Tiriti valuing, being informed by, and in good relationships with Papatūānuku, and each other."
Many New Zealanders of all cultures share a sense of personal connection with, and aroha for, the environment; and New Zealand’s laws and policies increasingly reflect a shared commitment to protect the environment from harm.
Yet, despite progress in recent decades, Aotearoa’s systems for environmental governance still do not fully prioritise balance and reciprocity in human and environmental relationships.
The challenge
Aotearoa’s environmental and social relationships are out of balance. We are facing multiple, inter-related crises including climate change, biodiversity decline, poverty, and homelessness.
The solution
Me Tū ā-Uru proposes a new approach which prioritises balanced and healthy relationships between people and te taiao using a relational framework.
Recommendations for change
Me Tū ā-Uru includes themed recommendations for Crown and all of government, Tangata Whenua and Tangata Tiriti.