The Mar Menor can become a legal entity. And then? The Whanganui River in New Zealand was the first in the world to have this status. That’s how you defend
ILP, the Platform that promotes the Legal Personality of the Mar Menor, It managed to gather 100,000 more signatures than necessary (639,826) for the Congress to debate a revolutionary and transformative idea, that the Mar Menor has legal personality.
If the initiative goes ahead, the Mar Menor could enter the short list of natural areas that already have legal status, such as the Ganges River in India, the Whanganui River in New Zealand and Lake Erie in Ohio (USA).
If so, what would happen after that? Who would the Mar Menor belong to? Who and how would their rights be defended? While everything has yet to be traced in this possible itinerary, we can look at an actual case in progress, the Whanganui River in New Zealand.
The example of the Whanganui River
In New Zealand, in the land of the Maori, a river became a legal entity almost two years ago. The Whanganui River was the first in the world to have this status. The Whanganui River is important to the Maori. A people who, according to their own migration histories, arrived in New Zealand several hundred years before the European settlers.
The river owns itself. Or in Maori terms: the river it’s the same
In 2014, New Zealand recognized that Whanganui had legal personality, respecting a principle that says: The river owns itself. Or in Maori terms: the river it’s the same.
How is this articulated? Since 2014 the river has been represented by a minimum of two and a maximum of six «tutors». Half of the tutors are appointed by the state and the other half by the local Maori community.
Guardians act and speak on behalf of the river and are tasked with recognizing and serving the health, well-being and interests of the river. Among other things, managing the river property.
Not only Maori, but also local government, security services, commercial and recreational users and other social organizations have a relationship with the river. Therefore, the Guardians elaborate the Strategy of all the River with all these people and organizations: a plan in which social, cultural and economic issues are related to the main objective: the health and well-being of the Whanganui River.
It is not yet clear how the river will fare as a legal entity. A ten-year plan is being drawn up and it will take several years to say more about how decision-making powers and processes were actually shaped. The Mar Menor has just entered this process. For now, in the absence of enough votes in favour.
It might interest you:
Mar Menor, the toxic sea that was an Eden
When the Mar Menor was formed