The king of New Zealand’s Maori population asked on Thursday that whales be given legal rights similar to human rights to protect these vulnerable marine species, the AFP news agency quoted Agerpres as saying.

King Tuheitia Paki called for recognition of the right of these creatures to live in a healthy environment so that their population can be restored.

“The intensity of our ancestors’ song has weakened and their habitat is threatened, so we must act now,” King Tuheitia said in a statement.

In 2017, New Zealand granted legal entity status to Mount Taranaki and the Whanganui River, which are considered ancestral by the Maori population and hold special spiritual significance for them. Since then, the statute has been used to slow or cancel several development projects and require their proponents to consult with local communities.

There are almost a million Maori indigenous people living in New Zealand

Maori, the indigenous Polynesian people, make up 17% of New Zealand’s total population, which is approximately 900,000 people. King Tuheitia’s rare intervention, also signed by Cook Islands tribal leader Travel Tu Ariki, also calls for science to take greater account of indigenous knowledge in order to take a “more holistic approach” to protecting whales.

“We can no longer turn a blind eye to this,” said tribal leader Travel Tu Ariki. “Whales play a vital role in the health of our entire ocean ecosystem. Their decline disrupts the delicate balance that supports all life in Te Moana,” he added.

“We must act as soon as possible to protect these magnificent creatures before it is too late,” he insisted. Six of the 13 species of whales on Earth are classified as “endangered” or vulnerable, according to the non-governmental organization World Wildlife Fund.