IN what’s being described as a first, lawmakers have approved giving human rights to a river.

    In a push that started way back in 1870, New Zealand’s Whanganui River this week was signed into a legal status under the Whanganui Treaty settlement. Under the approved bill, there is no legal difference between damaging the river and damaging tribespeople; thus, they are one in the same and subject to the same charges and prosecution in the eyes of the law.

    Two local guardians were set to oversee the affairs of the river, located in the North Island and the country’s third-largest.

    “I know the initial inclination of some people will say it is pretty strange to give a natural resource a legal personality,” Treaty Negotiations Minister Chris Finlayson said. “But it’s no stranger than family trusts, or companies or incorporated societies.”

    However, local lawmaker Adrian Rurawhe affirmed that this wasn’t such a unique concept for their community, as the prosperity of the river and the prosperity of the people were directly connected and reflected in the Maori expression “I am the river and the river is me.’’(SD-Agencies)