A mountain in New Zealand will now have the rights of a human being under legislation to be passed by parliament. 

Taranaki Maunga and his companion peaks are to become a legal person to be called Te Kāhui Tupua when the Taranaki Maunga Collective Redress Bill becomes law on January 30. 

The area has become increasingly popular for tourists after Lonely Planet named it one of the best places in the world to visit and the new law will mean that if a person harms or mistreats the mountain it will be the same legally as harming a tribe. 

New Zealand’s Department of Conservation put out the call this week for four traditional owners who would like to sit on a panel alongside four Crown representatives to represent the mountain on the country’s south island.

The Crown agreed to give up ownership of the land two years ago with the panel known as Te Tōpuni Kōkōrangi given responsibility to caretake the mountain range.

The Crown had previously agreed to share its ownership of the mountain with the region’s eight iwi, or tribes, and also apologise for historical breaches of the Treaty of Waitangi against the mountain, but there will be no financial or commercial redress.

Moutn Taranaki is a dormant volcano which last erupted in 1775. It holds significant cultural importance to local tribes and is also the most frequently climbed mountain in the country. 

The New Zealand government has also previously granted legal personhood to the Whanganui River.

Taranaki Maunga in New Zealand has gained the rights of a human being after a new bill passed the country’s parliament

The Department of Conservation said the purpose of the panel ‘is to be the human face and voice’ of the mountain range.

‘We are seeking nominations from those with knowledge in strategic and governance leadership, mātauranga Māori, environmental management, stakeholder management, finance, local government, nature conservation, earth sciences, recreation, tourism and the local community,’ the department continued.

Conservation board members are also being sought which will include three members for Taranaki Whanganui.

The Taranaki Maunga Collective Redress Bill will become law after it’s second and third readings are held at Parliament on January 30.

The reading will officially recognise the peaks as ancestral mountains which will grant the land human status.

Once this occurs the mountain will officially own itself and the park will be renamed Te Papa-Kura o Taranaki.  

This new law will fulfill the redress agreement for the confiscation of Taranaki Maunga, also known as Te Ruruku Pūtakerongo.

Former Treaty Settlements Minister Andrew Little, who signed the Te Ruruku Pūtakerongo redress agreement, said cultural, spiritual, ancestral and historical values of the land would be cemented into law while he was in the job in 2023.

Former Treaty Settlements Minister Andrew Little (pictured) said the values of the committee would be signed into law

Going forward the Department of Conservation will retain day-to-day management of the grounds but ‘everything that happens within Te Papa-Kura-o-Taranaki will be guided by these values’ set by the new committee, Mr Little said.

All new management plans for the land will need approval from both the conservation minister and another group with a representatives from each iwi, Te Tōpuni Ngārahu.

Jamie Tuuta, who led the negotiations for the new laws, said Te Ruruku Pūtakerongo meant ‘weaving a foundation for reconciliation’.

‘It is more than just the recognition of our tupuna maunga and the recognition of our iwi, but… how we might build a platform of reconciliation for this generation and the generations to come,’ he said.

Mr Little had previously said the Crown caused ‘immeasurable harm over many decades to ngā iwi o Taranaki and to your tūpuna’ through it’s failures to honour past treaties. 

Nominations for the role of the oversight committee panel will remain open until February 12 and nominations for the conservation board will close on January 31.