Three rivers are now legally people – but that’s just the start of looking after them

In the space of a week, the world has gained three notable new legal persons: the Whanganui River in New Zealand, and the Ganga and Yamuna Rivers in India.

Three rivers are now recognised as persons.

In New Zealand, the government passed legislation that recognised the Whanganui River catchment as a legal person. This significant legal reform emerged from the longstanding Treaty of Waitangi negotiations and is a way of formally acknowledging the special relationship local Māori have with the river.

In India, the Uttarakhand high court ruled that the Ganga and Yamuna Rivers have the same legal rights as a person, in response to the urgent need to reduce pollution in two rivers considered sacred in the Hindu religion.

Read the story on The Conversation by a Senior Fellow at the Centre for Resources, Energy and Environment Law at the University of Melbourne, Erin O’Donnell and a PhD candidate from the  Environmental/Institutional Economics at the Australian National University, Julia Talbot-Jones - “Three rivers are now legally people – but that’s just the start of looking after them.”