Informed by debates in recent literature on indigenous peoples’ role in water governance, our research examines recent initiatives to enhance the role of Māori in water governance in Aotearoa/New Zealand based on the case of recently reinvented hybrid governance arrangements for Te Waihora/Lake Ellesmere. The water governance landscape in New Zealand has been significantly reconfigured in the last 25 years, with wide-ranging changes precipitated by the neo-liberal agendas of recent governments.

Summary There are compelling reasons to encourage the employment of Indigenous Australians in the forestry sector. The benefits of, and constraints to, Indigenous employment in the sector were examined using a case study approach focused on Indigenous participation in ‘Operation Farm Clear’, an emergency response following Cyclone Larry in northern Queensland in 2006. The findings suggested that, given a supportive environment, there are opportunities for Indigenous people to benefit from employment in the forestry sector.

Numerous scholars agree that to integrate stakeholder demands into forest management is the central challenge facing forestry science. A necessary step is to translate public views and expectations into forest management techniques. This study uses document analysis and in-depth interviews to understand the values and expectations of New Zealand’s indigenous people (Māori) who have exotic species forests planted on their ancestral land.

This article discusses some emerging models of Indigenous engagement in environmental management in New South Wales and urges expansion of such engagement. NSW Aboriginal people own only around one per cent of the state's land, which suggests that land ownership and rights-based approaches to Aboriginal participation in environmental management are insufficient in NSW. Alternative approaches that recognise Aboriginal responsibilities to ‘care for country’ are needed.

This publication is the result of an initiative to promote an exchange between Brazil and African countries on lessons learned about the role of community forestry as a strategic option to achieve the goals of Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+). The initiative was supported by the World Bank with funding from the Global Environment Facility (GEF), and coordinated by the Amazonas Sustainable Foundation (FAS) with support from the National Forestry Agency International (ONFI).