Earth and the rights of nature Care for a river or a forest becomes practical when it lands in a process that can receive it. In New Zealand, that is often a council submission on a consent, a plan, or a policy. This page is about that, and about two statutes that already give a place legal personality. The form stays in your browser. It does not send the submission, and it does not store what you type. Two New Zealand precedents Te Awa Tupua, the Whanganui River, is a legal person under section