Māori Traditional Knowledge and the Wai 262 Report: A Coherent Way Forward?

Abstract

Twenty years after it was first filed, the Wai 262 report was finally handed to the New Zealand Government on 2 July 2011. Making recommendations on the place of Māori in New Zealand with respect to their cultural heritage, such as their traditional cultural expressions, traditional knowledge and guardianship role over these and fauna and flora, the report has the potential to change the future of New Zealand research practice, trade and intellectual property rights. This paper analyses the recommendations made in the report, focussing on the claims made over taonga species (treasured species, with guardians) and related mātauranga Māori (traditional knowledge). It further addresses whether the recommendations are internally coherent, create coherency between different areas of law and are consistent with New Zealand’s international obligations. In doing so, it attempts to fill in details left out by the Tribunal.