New Zealand grants mountain same legal rights as a person 

Mt Taranaki will own itself

A New Zealand mountain has been granted the same legal rights as a person under a landmark settlement recognising its cultural and spiritual significance to Māori.

The agreement, which has now become law, means Taranaki Maunga [Mt Taranaki] will effectively own itself, with governance shared between representatives of local iwi (tribes) and the government.

The legislation seeks to redress historic injustices against the Māori of the Taranaki region during colonisation. “We must acknowledge the hurt that has been caused by past wrongs, so we can look to the future to support iwi to realise their own aspirations and opportunities,” said Paul Goldsmith, the government minister responsible for negotiations.

The Taranaki Maunga Collective Redress Bill, passed by New Zealand’s parliament on Thursday, gives the mountain legal personhood, formally recognising its status as an ancestor and a living entity. It also restores its original name, removing the title ‘Egmont’ — bestowed by British explorer James Cook in the 18th century — from official use.

For many Māori, the decision marks a long-overdue acknowledgment of Taranaki Maunga’s sacred status. “Today, Taranaki, our maunga [mountain], our maunga tupuna [ancestral mountain], is released from the shackles, the shackles of injustice, of ignorance, of hate,” said Debbie Ngarewa-Packer, co-leader of political party Te Pāti Māori [the Māori Party].

Hundreds of Māori from the region gathered at parliament to witness the bill’s passage, celebrating the legal recognition of their connection to the mountain.

“Taranaki is what connects us and what binds us together as a people,” Aisha Campbell, a member of a local iwi, told 1News.

The settlement also includes a formal apology from the government for the historic confiscation of Mount Taranaki and more than a million acres of surrounding land in the 1860s, which caused profound and lasting harm to Taranaki Māori.

Goldsmith acknowledged the significance of the agreement, stating that “breaches of the Treaty mean that immense and compounding harm have been inflicted upon the whānau [wider family], hapū [sub-tribe] and iwi of Taranaki, causing immeasurable harm over many decades.”

Importantly, the new legal status does not alter public access rights. “All New Zealanders will be able to continue to visit and enjoy this most magnificent place for generations to come,” Goldsmith confirmed.

The move follows similar legal recognition of natural features in New Zealand. In 2014, the Te Urewera native forest became the first to be granted personhood, followed by the Whanganui River in 2017, both settlements aimed at integrating Indigenous perspectives into environmental governance.

Taranaki Maunga’s new status also reflects a growing global movement to extend legal rights to the natural world. Earlier this year, lawyers from Simmons & Simmons supported the development of Te Mana o Te Tohorā (The Enduring Power of Whales), a legal framework that seeks to grant whales legal personhood, recognising their ecological importance and sentience.