October 15, 2021
Customary title gives teeth to kaitiakitanga
Tauranga Moana hapū and iwi are waiting to see if there is an appeal against a High Court Decision granting them customary marine title over the southern arm of the Tauranga Harbour.
The court this week granted Ngā Pōtiki, Ngāti Pūkenga, Ngāti Hē, Ngāi Tukairangi and Ngāti Tapū title to Te Tāhuna o Rangataua under the Marine and Coastal Area (Takutai Moana) Act, but said the evidence wasn’t there for Ngāti Ruahine and Ngāi Te Ahi).
Nga Potiki chair Peter Stokes says his hapū have been kaitiaki to the estuary for 300 years.
He says if there are no appeals it will sit down with the other hapū to work out a management structure.
“The CMT has given us some teeth in terms of kaitiakitanga. We’ve basically got the government or the ture behind us. We can stamp our authority on what we want to do in terms of our kaitiakitanga over Te Tāhuna o Rangataua,” Mr Stokes says.
He says the application was relatively straightforward, and the stage two application covering other parts of the harbour involves far more groups.