The Evolution of Protecting Natural Resources in Aotearoa New Zealand

The conference “From Stewardship to Legal Personality: The Evolution of Protecting Natural Resources in Aotearoa New Zealand” took place at the Department of Life Sciences of the University of Coimbra. It was delivered by Trevor Daya-Winterbottom FRSA FRGS PhD, Professor of Law and Director of the Centre for Environmental, Resources, and Energy Law at the University of Waikato (New Zealand), and moderated by Fátima Alves*.

In his talk, Professor Daya-Winterbottom traced the conceptual evolution of natural resource protection in New Zealand – from the ethics of stewardship, through the guardianship of lakes and fjords, to the recognition of legal personality and ownership vested in mountains and rivers. A journey that reveals not only new ways of rethinking our relationship with nature, but also indications of where this path may lead.

This event also marks an important step towards strengthening collaborations and future projects with our research group, around the themes that unite us: the multiple ways of understanding and protecting nature.

*Societies and Environmental Sustainability Research Group of the Centre for Functional Ecology – Science for People & the Planet, Associate Laboratory TERRA of the University of Coimbra and its Branch at Universidade Aberta de Portugal.