Nature as an Ancestor: Two Examples of Legal Personality for Nature in New Zealand

New Zealand has upheld the Maori cosmological view of nature as an ancestor and devised a legal framework for better protecting its interests. A river and what was a National Park have been accorded legal personality, with human guardians appointed to protect their interests. This chapter briefly outlines the indigenous Maori concept of nature as an ancestor, with the correlative human responsibilities of guardianship for nature. It then describes the two examples where nature is being given legal personality in New Zealand law: that of the Whanganui River and of what was previously Te Urewera National Park, now simply called Te Urewera. It then offers some concluding observations and comments