Tokelau

Forestry legislation

Tokelau is an overseas territory of New Zealand. Its legislation and judicial systems are based on New Zealand¿s Tokelau Act of 1948. In practice, this means that unless expressly extended to Tokelau, New Zealand statute law does not apply to the territory. The principal laws are established by the Fono Council, which has statutory power to enact its own laws covering island affairs. At present, a major law reform project is being implemented to ensure that Tokelau has a coherent body of law which responds to current needs and gives due recognition to local custom.

New Zealand¿s environmental and forestry legislation has not been adopted by Tokelau and, to date, the territory has not established forestry or environmental legislation. It does, however, have some village laws pertaining to environmental issues. In 2000, Tokelau released an Environmental Management Strategy, which outlined 20 Action Plans in key environmental areas, including a need to formulate environmental regulations and to develop a national environmental management and planning policy, as well as to review village environmental laws.

The Tokelau Islands Amendment Act of 1967 provides that Tokelauans may dispose of custom land among themselves but may not alienate land to non-indigenous people. Land holdings pass from generation to generation within families, usually being held by the head of a closely-related family group although some land is held in common.

last updated: Monday, October 1, 2007