茄子视频app官网

Photo caption:听Dr David Jefferson, from the 茄子视频app官网鈥檚 Faculty of Law, is investigating the impact of the Plant Variety Rights Act 2022.

Te Whare W膩nanga o Waitaha | 茄子视频app官网 (UC) legal anthropologist Dr David Jefferson is researching the Plant Variety Rights Act 2022 and other legal frameworks, focusing on the impacts and potential for iwi- and hap奴-owned native plant nurseries to protect taonga plants and m膩tauranga M膩ori.听听

He teaches Environmental Law, Land Law and Intellectual Property and has previously worked in other countries looking at the protection of indigenous knowledge systems 鈥� in New 茄子视频app官网known as 鈥榤膩tauranga M膩ori鈥�.听听

鈥淎s of early 2024 new protections for taonga species and m膩tauranga M膩ori that were created in 2022 have not yet been implemented, so many questions remain about how these changes will function in practice,鈥� he says. 鈥淥ne of these legal developments, the Plant Variety Rights Act 2022, may eventually provide useful tools for iwi- and hap奴-owned initiatives that commercialise native plant-based products in accordance with tikanga M膩ori.鈥�

Over the past year Dr Jefferson has visited six iwi-owned or marae-affiliated plant nurseries in five different parts of the country, with additional fieldwork planned at two additional sites. His project has further scope to include other M膩ori-owned nurseries and native plant enterprises.听

鈥淭here are revegetation efforts underway all over the country, along riverbanks, on mountain slopes, coastal hills, and waterways located on agricultural land,鈥� he says.听

鈥淭hese efforts are laudable, but they are not always, or maybe even often, led by mana whenua, so there are ongoing Treaty [of Waitangi] issues around who decides what species to plant and where, from where to source seeds, and generally how to manage the whenua.鈥澨�

He says there are also vast differences between iwi and hap奴 in relation to resourcing, such that in some areas, mana whenua have significant input into and control over biodiversity restoration efforts, while in others, mana whenua are effectively excluded.鈥�

鈥淧lant variety rights are a form of intellectual property, similar to patents. If a new plant variety distinct from others is created, then a Plant Variety Right can be applied for. For example, a plant breeder may develop a new variety of a native plant such as harakeke and seek to protect it with plant variety rights. Under the new Plant Variety Rights Act, the breeder would need to demonstrate that obtaining exclusive rights to this new variety of harakeke, a native plant, would not have adverse effects on kaitiaki relationships with that species.鈥�

Adverse effects could include the potential that the new variety could hybridise with native varieties and affect ecosystems, or that the commercialisation of the new variety by non-M膩ori businesses could gain an unfair competitive advantage over M膩ori-owned native plant enterprises.听

鈥淚n the field work I鈥檝e been doing so far with M膩ori-owned native plant nurseries, to the extent that people even know about the Plant Variety Rights Act, they don鈥檛 really think it鈥檚 that significant because they鈥檙e not really interested in protection for their varieties. They are generally not concerned with claiming property rights for taonga,鈥� Dr Jefferson says.听听

鈥淲estern science views plants and other biodiversity 鈥榬esources鈥� as potentially commercial. For M膩ori, there鈥檚 whakapapa in these taonga. There鈥檚 also recognition that taonga plants naturally range across tribal boundaries. Tangata whenua I鈥檝e spoken to do not think that any one iwi should have exclusive rights to taonga plants.听听

鈥淧eople familiar with environmental and intellectual property law policy suggest some sort of separate framework for the protection of taonga plants and m膩tauranga M膩ori that would be based on Treaty principles of partnership.鈥�

Dr Jefferson鈥檚 research will likely be published early next year.听听

Background:
Since the early 1990s, when the 鈥淔lora and Fauna鈥� (Wai 262) claim was lodged before the Waitangi Tribunal, the question of who owns native biodiversity has been debated. When it evaluated this claim, the Tribunal concluded that M膩ori do not have property rights in taonga plants, but they do have special rights as kaitiaki, which the law should recognise. The Plant Variety Rights Act is the first major legal reform to implement the recommendations that the Waitangi Tribunal made in response to the Flora and Fauna claim.