Date of Award

Spring 6-12-2026

Document Type

Masters Thesis

Degree Name

M.A. in Anthropology

Organizational Unit

College of Arts Humanities and Social Sciences, Anthropology

First Advisor

Christina Kreps

Second Advisor

Alejandro Cerón

Third Advisor

Anna Sher

Copyright Statement / License for Reuse

All Rights Reserved
All Rights Reserved.

Keywords

Biocultural conservation, Co-management, Cultural heritage management, Indigenous sovereignty, Kākāpō conservation, Mātauranga Māori

Abstract

This master's thesis examines conservation as a form of living cultural heritage practice through the co-management of kākāpō (Strigops habroptilus), a critically endangered parrot and taonga species in Aotearoa New Zealand. Situated within ongoing histories of colonial dispossession and Western frameworks of land and species management, contemporary kākāpō conservation is shaped through the partnership between the Department of Conservation’s Kākāpō Recovery Programme and Ngāi Tahu. Drawing on semi-structured interviews collected during fieldwork from July to August 2025, this study examines how institutional partnerships structure decision-making, authority, and responsibility in contemporary conservation governance. Findings demonstrate that Māori knowledge systems and worldviews are increasingly embedded within kākāpō recovery through shared decision-making structures, iwi-led stewardship initiatives, tikanga-based protocols, and relational ethics of care. At the same time, co-management remains in some ways constrained, particularly with ongoing barriers toward land repatriation, Crown authority, and limitations on iwi access and participation. This thesis argues that kākāpō conservation functions not only as a project of species recovery, but also as a form of living cultural heritage management grounded in ecological, genealogical, spiritual, and interpersonal relationships. By analyzing co-management through mātauranga Māori, spiritual ecology, kinship, environmental agency, and decolonizing theory, this research demonstrates how heritage practices extend beyond material culture into multispecies relations, environmental governance, and Indigenous sovereignty. The Kākāpō Recovery Programme further provides an emerging model for the meaningful integration of Indigenous and Western scientific knowledge systems within a biocultural approach to conservation. This study contributes to interdisciplinary conversations across anthropology, heritage studies, environmental humanities, and conservation science, offering pathways toward more ethically grounded, relational, and decolonized approaches to community-based conservation.

Copyright Date

6-2026

Publication Statement

Copyright is held by the author. User is responsible for all copyright compliance.

Rights Holder

Sophie Perfetto

Provenance

Received from ProQuest

File Format

application/pdf

Language

English (eng)

Extent

176 pgs

File Size

4.4 MB

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