Whenua is of vital importance to Māori. It is essential for Māori that land is retained through generations. It is whakapapa. The vital relationship that Māori have with land is recognised as whanaungatanga, and if Māori can act as guardians of the land's natural and physical resources, that is kaitiakitanga. There are more than 27,000 blocks of Māori land under the present Te Ture Whenua Maori Act, comprising 1.4 million hectares, about 5 percent of the total land mass of New Zealand. It has been estimated that up to 80 percent of Māori land is underperforming for its owners. In many cases, this is because of structural issues which stem from the existing legislation. Under current legislation, fragmentation is getting worse, not better, and there are thousands of owners who remain disconnected from their land.