whenua, tangata whenua - and indeed all New Zealanders - must not be underestimated. The importance of this land arises from its archaeological history as an early Māori settlement, where the first Māori gardeners lived and worked, using the stones and the microclimates they created to grow their crops. It is also one of the last surviving places where the land and stone walls used by Māori for growing new crops, such as the wheat and European vegetables that were cultivated and supplied to the Auckland markets prior to 1863, still exist. The land is connected to one of New Zealand’s oldest continuously inhabited papakāinga. Despite not having possession of the land, mana whenua at Ihumātao have maintained a close physical and spiritual connection to the area and continue to demonstrate that connection through their current residence on the land at Ihumātao. Scrutiny by the international human rights system It is also significant that the human rights situation at Ihumātao has been scrutinised - and is currently being scrutinised - by international human rights bodies. In recent years, United Nations treaty bodies have made recommendations to the New Zealand Government aimed at strengthening compliance with indigenous human rights, particularly free, prior and informed consent in development activities. For example, in 2018 the UN Committee on Economic Social and Cultural Rights recommended that the Government: “Take effective measures to ensure compliance with the requirement of obtaining the free, prior and informed consent of indigenous peoples, notably in the context of extractive and development activities, and conduct social, environmental and human rights impact assessments prior to granting licences for extractive and development activities and during operations.” In 2017 the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination also made the following recommendation after submissions from groups involved in the dispute at Ihumātao: “The Committee recommends that the State party review, in consultation with all affected Maori, the designation of Special Housing Area 62 to evaluate its conformity with the Treaty of Waitangi, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and other relevant international standards, and 20