The Environmental Defence Society believes a coastal commission could be the ideal way to balance Maori and non-Maori interests in the foreshore and seabed.
The idea was suggested by a ministerial review on the Foreshore and Seabed Act led by former High Court judge Edward Durie.
Gary Taylor from the Environmental Defence Society says his group had been working on a similar idea, which acknowledges the kaitiakitanga or guardianship role Maori wish to play.
He told Waatea News a coastal commission does not need to be a large bureaucracy and said it could sit comfortably within an environmental protection agency the Government plans to set up.
