Listen Now: 
August 12, 2015
Maori need to have a key role in water management
Waatea Team
Posted On August 12, 2015
A Waikato University law professor says one of the key reasons the country's rivers and lakes are in such a bad state is because a Maori approach has not been taken towards their management.
Associate Law Professor Linda Te Aho says one of the reasons Maori around the country are asserting ownership of water is because with ownership comes access and control of water which for too long has been denied to Maori.
She says control involves everything from discharges and too much water being taken from rivers with over-allocation of water rights to looking after restoration.
"In a Maori world everything is interconnected. Water quality is very closely interconnected with water quantity and for too long our world view hasn't had precedent. So people have been looking at water in a very siloed way. And I think that is one of the reasons our waterways are in such big trouble" she says.
Linda Te Aho who is a panelist in the University's Winter Lecture Series this evening says urgent action is needed to clean up our waterways and Maori have to be a big part of that.
FOR THE FULL INTERVIEW WITH LINDA TE AHO CLICK ON THE LINK
http://www.waateanews.com/play_podcast?podlink=MzEzODA=
Copyright © 2015, UMA Broadcasting Ltd: www.waateanews.com
RELATED NEWS
