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Story: Conservation – a history

The Maruia Declaration petition

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The Maruia Declaration petition

The Maruia Declaration, signed in the Maruia valley near Lewis Pass on 4 July 1975, called for legal recognition of native forests and an end to their milling. It was later circulated as a petition (shown above) which received over 340,000 signatures. Thirty years later, most of its demands had been met.

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Archives New Zealand - Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga

Reference: AAUM W4044 1/16/12

Permission of Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga must be obtained before any re-use of this material.

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How to cite this page

Simon Nathan, Conservation – a history – Environmental activism, 1966–1987, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/document/13938/the-maruia-declaration-petition (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Simon Nathan, published 2 March 2009, updated 1 August 2015.

Comments

Te Ara
16 May 2012
Bob, you're right it was a bit ambiguous. I've changed the title to be clearer that the image is of the petition, not the original declaration.