The authors explore the decision-making processes of a sample of Māori landowners in Te Tairāwhiti to understand the extent to which funding programmes and afforestation incentives from the New Zealand Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) enable them to meet their own aspirations for their land. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 13 Māori land-use decision-makers that represent a range of Māori landowner entity types, including Māori incorporations, ahuwhenua trusts, ahuwhenua trusts administered by Te Tumu Paeroa and family trusts.

Key findings:

Several key challenges emerged that are faced by Māori land decision-makers. These relate to:

• the historical context of Māori land use and development
• governance
• accessing expertise and resourcing
• communication
• the logistics of native forestry establishment
• challenges specific to the NZ ETS