New Zealand mountain Taranaki Mounga granted the legal rights of a person

By Zach Lebowitz

In New Zealand, a law was passed granting a mountain, now referred to by its Māori name Taranaki Mounga, the full legal rights, protections and responsibilities of a human person, as reported by the Guardian. 

The decision was made as part of reparations to the Māori people settled in 2016 over the British Crown's breaches of the Treaty of Waitangi, New Zealand’s founding document established in 1840, the paper reported.

The mountain, and its surrounding peaks and environment, will be represented by a new legal entity comprised of four members from local Māori iwi (tribes) and four members appointed by New Zealand's Conservation Minister -- acting as the "face and voice" of the legal person, according to NPR.

The paper quoted that Paul Goldsmith, the lawmaker responsible for the settlements, who said "The mountain has long been an honored ancestor, a source of physical, cultural and spiritual sustenance and a final resting place."

Taranaki is now New Zealand's third environmental feature to be legally designated as a person, following the protected area of Te Urewera in 2014 and the Whanganui River in 2017, insuring treatment of respect and safeguarding preservation, the Guardian reported.