MOANANUI-SANCTUARY: A-Macroeconomic-Model-for-Whale-Personhood-and-High-Integrity-Nature-Markets
Year: 2026
Type: dissertation
Abstract: MOANANUI SANCTUARY: A Macroeconomic Model for Whale Personhood and High-Integrity Nature Markets ABSTRACT: The primary aim of this research is to actualise an Indigenous-led framework for a regenerative blue economy. Grounded in the cosmological and ontological foundations of Polynesian and Māori worldviews and situated within the researcher’s positionality as an Indigenous (Ngāti Porou, Te Whānau-ā-Apanui, Rongowhakaata, Tainui) practitioner-scholar in ocean-climate conservation, this work employs applied Kaupapa Māori action research to fundamentally reimagine the relationship between nature, law, and capital. Central to this reimagining is the conceptualisation of the 'Economy of Aroha'. This paradigm represents a vital axiological shift in how value is defined and generated. Departing radically from conventional economic theories rooted in scarcity and extractive competition, often contextualised within Indigenous frameworks alongside 'Economies of Mana', this thesis theorises the Economy of Aroha as a bio-circular economy governed by the absolute logic of reciprocity and kinship. It asserts that true economic value is not derived from extraction, but from relational care. Therefore, it argues that for Nature-Based Solutions (NbS) to be effective and equitable, they must shift from the commodification of natural assets to an investment in the uplift of mauri (vital essence), biodiversity and the continuous regeneration of ecological relationships between tangata (people) and taiao (nature). The framework is operationalised through the Moananui Sanctuary Model, a proof-of-concept that harmonises Indigenous principles (kawa) with international nature market standards to ensure systemic Indigenous equity. This comprehensive framework is articulated through three interdependent research outputs: First, the Te Mana o te Tohorā Climate Bill, formalises the status of whales as ancestral kin and vital climate regulators. In doing so, it circumvents the restrictive boundaries of "legal personhood," instead anchoring their rights in a relational, Indigenous ontological framework. Second, the Moananui Sanctuary Agreement establishes a trans-Pacific covenant designed to unify fragmented whale sanctuaries and elevate regional stewardship. Drawing upon the ancestral morphology of the fe’e (octopus), whose reach extends dynamically across ocean pathways while remaining bound to a singular core, the Agreement replaces a disjointed mosaic of jurisdictional boundaries with a cohesive, ancestral sanctuary. Encompassing an initial 12.5 million square kilometres and scalable to 30 million square kilometres, this governance model ensures that monitoring and enforcement are as fluid, far-reaching, and interconnected as the Polynesian Triangle itself. Third, the Moananui Nature Standard establishes a novel financial architecture to address structural deficiencies in climate finance. It redefines tradeable assets around verified stewardship outcomes and Indigenous-led ecological restoration, moving beyond conventional "carbon captured" frameworks to value the holistic recovery of mauri, biodiversity, and high-integrity natural assets. Grounded in the Deep Code of ancestral tikanga and cosmic order, this work ultimately asserts that the indigenisation of nature markets through the Economy of Aroha is not only a regional necessity, but a global imperative for achieving climate equity and a regenerative blue economy.
DOI: 10.26686/r35w-yhas
Author: Mere Takoko
Institution: Conservation International
Language: English
Subfield: Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7171641928