In New Zealand in 2012, indigenous Maori leaders were able to gain protection for their sacred but threatened Whanganui River by getting the river declared a legal “person” with rights to its own well-being. The Maoris’ negotiator explained, “Rather than us being masters of the natural world, we are part of it. We want to live like that as our starting point. And that is not an anti-development, or anti-economic use of the river but to begin with the view that it is a living being, and then consider its future from that central belief.” Indigenous values hold untapped potential to guide
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