Customary practices are alive and well among indigenous people in the Pacific, and leaders are looking to embed them further into the Western framework, especially in conservation efforts for protecting whales.
They plan to use concepts such as rāhui in the context of marine resource protection, as a temporary restriction on access to a marine area to allow resources to replenish. There is a similar practice in the 15 islands of the Cook Islands called marae moana, where certain islands have temporary restrictions to gather fish.
A spokesperson for Ui Ariki Ngateitei o te Kuki Airani Inc Society, a customary leadership body in the Cook Islands that represents the House of Ariki (Cook Islands Māori: Are Ariki), Puna Rakanui says “It’s a rāhui. The marae moana is the entire exclusive economic zone of the Cook Islands and we have imposed a customary rāhui on that.”
