New Zealand’s Maori king has launched an unprecedented appeal to protect whales

According to King Tuheitia, whales should have the same rights as humans. He believes that we can no longer turn a blind eye to their decline.

Kiingi Tuheitia Pootatau te Wherowhero VII, the king of the Maori of New Zealand, is a king with a purely honorary title and whose words are rare. And he has been making headlines since Thursday March 28 after launching an unprecedented call to recognize whales as having the same right as humans to live in a healthy environment in order to restore their endangered population. In addition, New Zealand, which the indigenous Maori people call AoTearoa, meaning the land of the long white cloud, is a pioneer in recognizing the rights of nature. Nothing could be more natural to Maori, who never see only trees and stones in the landscape, but deities, heroes or ancestors.

This is undoubtedly the reason why New Zealand is today the only country in the world to recognize the river and Mount Taranaki as legal entities as living beings, which now protects them from projects that could harm them. The mountain and river that Maori consider their ancestors. “Our ancestors whose song has faded and whose habitat is endangered”King Tuheitia urged on Thursday before calling for immediate action for the whales.

A king who represents 17% of New Zealand’s population

The last time King Tuheitia was really talked about was in 2014. That’s when Prince William and Duchess Kate, who were on tour in New Zealand, asked to meet him, but he declined because they only offered him 90 minutes face-to-face. – face time. A special relationship to time for Maori who walk slowly in the morning, not too fast in the evening. His refusal then greatly shocked England and much further afield, as many tabloids around the world reported on the “affair”.

Let’s hope his call for whale rights makes as much noise as this story. Because although he has no legal power, he still represents 17% of the New Zealand population who, like him, believe that we can no longer turn a blind eye to the decline of whales. A decay that disrupts the delicate balance of all life in Te Moana, both at sea and beyond life on land. Earth, “this mother who never dies”as the Maori saying goes, but who is still not in very good shape and it would be time for a cuddle.