Peak Protection

MOUNTAIN RECOGNISED AS 'LEGAL PERSON'

In 1770, the British explorer Captain James Cook spotted the peak of a mountain on the West Coast of New Zealand's North Island, from his ship and named it 'Mount Egmont'. Soon after its name was taken, so was the mountain. Now, 255 years later, the snow-capped dormant volcano, known by the Maori as 'Taranaki Maunga' and always considered an ancestor by Indigenous people, has been granted 'personhood', with all the rights and responsibilities that entails, and the legal recognition will be used to protect the mountain and all the wildlife that lives there.

The legal recognition fulfils an agreement of redress from the government to Indigenous people in recognition of the mountain's theft from the Maori after New Zealand was colonised. Paul Goldsmith, a lawmaker responsible for the settlements between the government and Maori tribes, told Parliament in a speech on Thursday, "The mountain has long been an honoured ancestor, a source of physical, cultural and spiritual sustenance and a final resting place," .

Taranaki Maunga's legal personality is viewed as having "a living and indivisible whole." It includes Taranaki and its surrounding peaks and land, "incorporating all their physical and metaphysical elements." The law also says that four members from the local Maori tribes together with four members appointed by the Conservation Minister will come together to be "the face and voice"of the mountain.

A popular spot for hiking and recreational sports, Taranaki's surrounding peaks and lands include lush waterfalls, swimmable fresh water pools, rainforests and mossy swamps. It's the latest notable geographical feature to be recognised as a legal person in New Zealand, which has previously awarded both Te Urewera, a stretch of sacred land (in 2014) and the Whaganui River (in 2017), with 'personhood status'.

Public access will remain, but the mountain's legal rights will be used to guard and protect the area, stop any forced sales, restore its traditional uses and allow conservation work to protect the native wildlife.