Why help the Federation become a public interest organization?

TLDR :

The Tāhei ‘Auti ia Mo’orea Federation acts to enforce the law and protect Moorea-Maiao from environmental damage and illegal construction.
Despite widespread public support, such as the petition with over 3,000 signatures for Temae, the Federation must constantly prove its “interest in acting” in court, which slows down its efforts.

Obtaining recognition as a public interest organization would strengthen its legal legitimacy, speed up its legal actions, and enable it to defend the collective interests of the people of Moorea more effectively.

👉 To achieve this, the Federation needs to reach at least 200 members—an essential milestone for Moorea’s voice to be fully recognized.

Full article:

The Tāhei ‘Auti ia Mo’orea Federation is forced to resort to legal action to enforce the law, i.e., to ensure compliance with regulations and legislation.

The list of violations is long. There are too many environmental violations due to illegal earthworks and embankments. There is pressure from numerous Tahitian and international luxury real estate developers who build without permits in the hope of regularizing their situation after the fact. Archaeological sites are being destroyed.

The population supports our actions. They call on the federation, reporting violations and asking “what should we do?”

The federation, backed by active sponsorship that enables it to cover legal costs and skilled professionals who contribute their expertise, has already succeeded in getting the regulations recognized and enforced.

BUT, each time, it has to justify its “interest in taking action” to the courts.

What is “interest in bringing proceedings”?
The law requires that in order to bring an appeal or a complaint, the person taking action must necessarily be affected by the issue they are bringing before the court.

Therefore, whenever the Federation takes legal action, it must justify its “interest in taking action.”

In the statutes of Tāhei ‘Auti ia Mo’orea, the “interest in acting” is very clear:

Article 4 – Corporate purpose

The purpose of the federation is to oversee, contribute to the preservation, protection, and restoration of the shared environmental heritage of Moorea-Maiao, and to work toward the ecological transition and sustainable development of Moorea-Maiao, in line with the real needs of the population and its long-term well-being.

It also aims to combat all forms of pollution, nuisance, and any direct or indirect damage to:
– natural or urbanized areas,
– natural resources and environments,
– sites and landscapes,
– air, water, and soil quality,
– animal and plant species,
– ecosystems, including common biodiversity areas that constitute a heritage contributing to the well-being of the inhabitants of Moorea-Maiao.

One of the objectives is for Moorea-Maiao to retain its authenticity and remain worthy of the tangible and intangible heritage passed down to it by previous generations.

The federation therefore aims to:

1/ Bring together its associations, collectives, member organizations, and all individual members

2/ Represent and defend all causes related to its purpose:
– Take legal action before administrative, civil, criminal, European, or international courts, bring civil proceedings, and claim damages;

Our statutes therefore state that we represent the general interest of the population in preserving our island.

The best proof of the reality of our legal position is the Temae case, with its ER No. 22 reserved right of way.
We mobilized and circulated a petition to have the subject of this famous reserved right of way placed on the agenda of the Moorea-Maiao Municipal Council. The petition gathered more than 3,000 signatures from voters, out of more than 11,300 registered in Moorea-Maiao. No elected municipal list has garnered as many signatures in two terms of office!

And yet, every time Tāhei ‘Auti ia Mo’orea appears in court, our “interest in taking action” is challenged by the opposing parties’ lawyers. This, of course, slows down the proceedings.

By requesting “recognition of public interest” from the Territory, we will be able to remove the first obstacle that is significantly slowing down our legal proceedings.

👉 To achieve this, the Federation needs to reach at least 200 members—an essential milestone for Moorea’s voice to be fully recognized.