A New Zealand court just granted this national park the same rights as a human being

Can a national park be a person? New Zealand says yes

Te Urewera national park has been granted legal personhood, meaning nobody owns it. The park has the same rights and powers as a citizen. The ruling could set a new precedent for land rights and conservation around the world.

Posted by The Guardian on Saturday, September 3, 2016

IN 2008, ECUADOR WAS THE FIRST COUNTRY to codify “rights of nature” in its constitution. But New Zealand is now the first country to grant legal personhood rights to specific pieces of nature. Te Urewera national park now officially has the same rights and powers as a citizen. So does the Whanganui River.

Pita Sharples, the former minister of Maori affairs, said about the ruling “This is a profound alternative to the human presumption of sovereignty over the natural world.”

Watch the video above to learn more.

Source: matadornetwork.com