Abstract
Marine protected areas (MPAs) can be deemed a desirable policy tool for protecting biodiversity in the face of anthropogenic climate change. In Aotearoa-New Zealand, MPAs can be designated through sui generis legislation that locates within a patchwork of other conservation, fisheries, resource management and Treaty settlement statutes. Yet the logic of ‘conservation as preservation’ may sit at odds with the constitutional anchors provided by Te Tiriti o Waitangi, and may fail to grapple with conflicts between economic values, ecosystem values, and relational values.
As a way forward, there is political impetus to implement collaborative decision-making platforms: organisations that are expected to integrate diverse, potentially incommensurable values within environmental policy-making. However, there is a paucity of research on how collaborative platforms address relational values when designing or managing MPA networks. There is also little analysis of how the polycentric marine regulatory regime affects the extent to which collaborative platforms can deliver high-quality options for environmental policy.
This thesis characterises the ‘seascape’ of governance for three sui generis marine protection platforms of Te Waipounamu: the Fiordland Marine Guardians, Kaikōura Marine Guardians, and the now-completed South-East Marine Protection Forum. I look ‘inside’ each organisation via in-depth interviews with appointed members representing Kāi Tahu and stakeholders. The multi-method, multi-case approach reveals how actors apprehend the tasks of collaborative decision-making within a seascape of policies and institutions. I provide thick analysis of each organisation regarding how social and relational values are represented; how knowledge is integrated; and how collaborative decision-making might address climate change impacts on MPA values. The research explicates major differences between the collaborative structure of each organisation and the wider institutional environment, to show how institutional design can empower or constrain collaborative policy delivery.