Restoring Taranaki Maunga: 'Religion' and Conservation in Aotearoa New Zealand

This thesis analyses the relationships between religion and conservation in contemporary Aotearoa New Zealand. I argue that spiritual and religious dynamics are profoundly influential for conservation. The thesis pays attention to the interactions of religion, spirituality, sacrality, experiences of awe, and secular reimaginings, recognising these as vital for understanding how conservation is conceived and practised. Drawing on qualitative and ethnographic fieldwork on Taranaki Maunga, a prominent charismatic mountain, I show just how salient conversations about religion, understood expansively, remain in this post-colonial and increasingly post-Christian country. Using both established and innovative frameworks in the field of Religious Studies – including lived religion, reverential naturalism, and concepts of sacrality – this thesis investigates the religious practices of people who disavow religion. I trace the emerging contours of spiritualities of the land which are significantly reshaping both Indigenous Māori and Pākehā/European identities. A crucial dynamic within this are ongoing negotiations over bicultural politics, which bring Māori spiritualities and sacralisations into conversation with a broader array of conservation actors, including government entities and conservation volunteers. I argue that attention to these spiritually charged conservation practices provide valuable insight into how connections to the land inform conservation, and, concurrently, how conservation practices influence nascent forms of spirituality.