Project Title: Co-governance on whose terms? Aotearoa/New Zealand’s first marine park and lessons for the Pacific Northwest

Description: What happens when a community's push for collaborative governance meets shifting political priorities and contested understandings of Indigenous worldviews? In Aotearoa (New Zealand), the Ahu Moana co-governance initiative proposes to partner iwi (Tribes) and local communities in protecting coastlines along Tīkapa Moana (the Hauraki Gulf), a nationally treasured marine park. However, despite broad support, shifting central government agendas and opponents’ perceptions of co-governance as “anti-democratic” have slowed implementation. This project examines the complexities of marine co-governance in Aotearoa and offers lessons for similar arrangements in the Pacific Northwest, advancing justice and supporting inclusive democracy on local and global scales.