“Managing People for the Benefit of the Land: Practicing Earth Jurisprudence in Te Urewera, New Zealand”

This journal article explores New Zealand’s 2014 Te Urewera Act, which recognizes the Te Urewera forest as a legal person with rights. Emerging from a treaty settlement with the Tūhoe tribe, the Act reflects their view of the forest as a living being with spiritual authority. It establishes a new governance model with guardians who represent the forest, supporting proactive environmental protection and legal recognition of nature.