“I am the Park and the Park is me”
A unique law in New Zealand gives legal personage to an ancient landscape declared National Park in 1954.
Recent agreement between the government of New Zealand and native Maori groups have resolved long-running disputes on the custody of the natural resources of the country. A law, unique not only in New Zealand but in the entire world, has given legal personage to the Te Urewera National Park, which encompasses 2,127 square kilometers (821 square miles) on the North Island. According to the New Zealand Attorney General, Chris Finlayson, the problem was resolved by taking into account the Maori mentality which is, in part, defined by its way of looking at the world: “I am the river and the river is me,” he said. “Their geographic region is part and parcel of who they are. ” In the mythologies which gather the tales of origin and the wisdom of the Maori, as does the folklore of many other ancient peoples throughout the world, we find many references to rivers, forests and mountains with human characteristics. These cultural ties are part of their history and their mentality.
From this came the Te Urewera Law in which the government renounced its formal ownership of the land, making it a legal entity with all the rights of legal personage, similar to the status of an incorporated business. This legal personage implies that, among other attributes, the Park can sue in the name of the land in order to protect it. Legal custody of the park will be shared between representatives of the native groups and the New Zealand government. Approving this law, the then-Minister of Maori Affairs, Pita Sharples, declared: “The settlement is a profound alternative to the human presumption of sovereignty over the natural world.” Next to become a legal person will be the Whanganui River, New Zealand’s third longest. The local Maori tribe views it as “an indivisible and living whole, comprising the river and all tributaries from the mountains to the sea — and that’s what we are giving effect to through this settlement,” Mr. Finlayson said. It is expected to clear Parliament and become law this year of 2016.
Visitors can still enjoy Te Urewera the way they could when it was a park, although permits for activities like hunting are now issued by a board that includes government and Maori representatives. A similar board will be set up for the river. (www.nytimes.com Bryant Rousseau July 13, 2016)
