UDTR Global Rights of Nature Radar

A Green Theory Perspective on the Legal Personhood of the Whanganui River, New Zealand

Identification

Public canonical key

doi:10.32492/jpp.v10i1.10110

Authors

Gertha Maria Gultom · Yoga Ramadhani · Farisa Azzahra Abidin Putri · Amarillyn Narestara Khalisha Kandhi · Putri Alyaa Safira · Bintang Corvi Diphda

Reported year

2026

Reported language

en

Source type

article

First detected

2026-11-09T19:04:47.533497+00:00

Last metadata observation

2026-11-09T19:17:04.147650+00:00

Last HTTP verification

Not checked

Institutions reported by the source

University of Brawijaya

Reported affiliation countries

ID

Documentary abstract — original language

This study addresses the global environmental crisis caused by modern anthropocentric paradigms that detach humans from nature, reducing ecological entities to mere commodities. It specifically explores the legislative transformation of the Whanganui River in New Zealand through the enactment of the Te Awa Tupua Act 2017. Utilizing Matthew Paterson’s Green Theory framework, this research examines how this landmark legal reform functions as a structural response to ecological degradation. Methodologically, this study is conducted as a qualitative case study that analyzes historical policies, colonial legal frameworks, and environmental conflicts within the Whanganui River system The principal conclusion demonstrates that by granting legal personhood to the river, the Te Awa Tupua Act 2017 offers a conceptual challenge to the deep structures of modernity, including the state system, capitalism, knowledge, and patriarchy. This shift from anthropocentrism to eco-centrism provides a pathway to reconstruct environmental governance, redistribute ecological risks, and serve as an influential model for global decolonization and ecological justice.

Identifiers

DOI

10.32492/jpp.v10i1.10110

OPENALEX

W7167104795

Documentary context

Documentary family

Scholarship

Source-reported types

article

Jurisdictions studied — explicit sources

NZ

Natural entities mentioned

River

Entity mentions are not evidence of legal recognition. Jurisdiction studied is separate from author affiliation country.

Sources

OpenAlex · Record 1 · Record 2

• DOI · https://doi.org/10.32492/jpp.v10i1.10110
• OpenAlex · https://openalex.org/W7167104795

Documented bibliographic relations

Source-declared references and links; they do not establish legal support or UGLC qualification. Up to 20 outgoing references are displayed.

• openalex:w2332430928 · CITES
• Whanganui River and Te Urewera Treaty Settlements: Innovative developments for the practice of rangatiratanga in resource management · CITES
• Rights of Nature: Rivers That Can Stand in Court · CITES
• openalex:w2895560189 · CITES
• Constructing Rights of Nature Norms in the US, Ecuador, and New Zealand · CITES
• openalex:w2921558884 · CITES
• Legal personality and economic livelihood of the Whanganui River: a call for community entrepreneurship · CITES
• openalex:w3005461573 · CITES
• Nature as an Ancestor: Two Examples of Legal Personality for Nature in New Zealand · CITES
• He Whiringa Muka: The Relationship between the Whanganui River, Marae, and Waiata · CITES
• Culture Shock: the legacy of the 1960s power generation schemes in Aotearoa New Zealand · CITES
• Beyond legal personhood for the Whanganui River: collaboration and pluralism in implementing the Te Awa Tupua Act · CITES

0 incoming references within the detected corpus

Documentary status

Documentary validated

Library