A conservation partnership for development? Marine conservation and indigenous empowerment at Mimiwhangata

In New Zealand indigenous participation is identified as a means to achieve effective environmental conservation and indigenous empowerment. This article suggests that within current frameworks the scope for meaningful authority and control to be devolved to indigenous communities is limited. The Mimiwhangata project demonstrates the importance of participatory processes in confronting policy shortcomings. Although the successful implementation of culture-centred conservation offers a conservation model both accommodating state-led goals and providing for indigenous cultural empowerment, structural change is required within conservation policy to achieve this outcome.