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RESOURCES: ARTICLE

Taranaki Mounga: New Zealand mountain granted same legal rights as a person

January 30, 2025

Peak formerly called Mount Egmont after being named by European settlers has spiritual status formally recognised

The second-highest mountain on New Zealand’s North Island and its surrounding peaks have been granted legal personhood, becoming the country’s third natural feature to gain the same rights, duties and protections as individuals.

Taranaki Mounga* (Taranaki Mountain) is one of the most symmetrical volcanic cones in the world, and looms impressively over the flat Taranaki plains on the North Island’s west coast. It is believed to be the country’s most climbed mountain and has become a popular tourist destination.

The mountain region is of considerable cultural significance to Taranaki Māori and its designation of legal personhood is a long-awaited acknowledgment of their relationship to it, including that it is considered an ancestor.

After a promise made in 2017, parliament unanimously voted in favour of a law on Thursday that would formally confer Taranaki, its companion peaks and surrounding environment the status of a legal person – to be named Te Kāhui Tupua. The area’s interests will be represented by a collection of appointees from both iwi (tribes) and the crown.

It is also the first time a New Zealand geographic feature will be solely referred to officially by its Māori name, laying to rest its former colonial name, Mount Egmont. The surrounding peaks and natural features will similarly revert to their original Māori names.

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