Abstract The environmental issue associated with land development influences all the aspects of the Maori social life. Inappropriate land development results in the erosion, landslide risk, deforestation, and the decreased productivity of the soils. These processes affect the Maori health significantly because the Maori community’s development depends on the active use of land resources. Referring to the Maori community, it is necessary to state that the land development issue results in provoking the problems with Maori mental health and in affecting the rates of respiratory diseases and obesity among the Maori population. The RMA with amendments of 2005 can be discussed as one of the contemporary developments to address the problem of inappropriate land development in Aotearoa, New Zealand. Introduction Natural resources, flora, and fauna play the important role in influencing the aspects of the Maori social life and health because the Maori community depends significantly on the land resources. From this point, one of the most problematic environmental issues in Aotearoa, New Zealand, is the issue of land development. During the recent decades, the Maori approaches to utilising land resources have been changing significantly. The problem is in the fact that the focus on farming during the 19 th century and on industry during the 20 th century affected the aspects of the land development, and today, Maori land resources are often discussed with references to the issues of erosion and deforestation and to the consequences of mining and farming (Durie, 1998, p. 94). Thus, the land development as the environmental issue also affects the health of Maori in relation to the mental health, respiratory diseases, and diet because changes in the landscape and utilisation of land resources lead to changes in the people’s habits and everyday way of life. The Issue of Land Development in Aotearoa, New Zealand Land development as the environmental issue in relation to Aotearoa, New Zealand, should be discussed from many perspectives. On the one hand, during a long period of time, Maori have been cultivating crops and vegetables and growing livestock to address their demands in food. The developed farming activities were associated with the constant and active use of natural resources and led to landslide risks and erosion. The further development of industries and mining activities led to erosion and deforestation. On the other hand, at the current stage of discussing the environmental issue, it is important to note that today Maori land “comprises 1.466 million hectares, which is approximately 5.5 percent of New Zealand’s land mass”, but Maori suffers from such problems of land development as the erosion, decreased productivity of soils, deforestation, and the inappropriate use of lands ( Discussion Document: Te Ture Whenua Māori Act 1993 Review Panel , 2013, p. 14). The problem of land development affects all the spheres of the Maori community’s life. Relationship between Māori Health and the Land Development Environmental Issue The land development issue influences Maori health significantly. The inappropriate use of lands and the changes in the landscape influence the people’s mental health. Having strong cultural and spiritual bonds with the land, Maori negatively react to any changes associated