It's everyone's concern' Plan for Antarctica to get legal 'personhood' gains traction

Cormac Cullinan has a dream. A dream that, he says, will "change how humanity sees, understands and relates to Antarctica".

- Donna Ferguson

This vast frozen continent, home to emperor and adélie penguins, leopard and ross seals, and a feeding ground for orcas, beaked whales and albatrosses, should be recognised as an autonomous legal entity "at least equivalent to a country", says the environmental lawyer. And this week that came one step closer to reality as judges awarded Cullinan the Shackleton Medal for the protection of the polar regions.

The £10,000 prize is for people who have shown "courage, determination, ingenuity and leadership" in protecting the polar regions, indicating that Cullinan's radical plan for an Antarctica declaration is gaining momentum.

Cullinan, who is based in South Africa and was once an anti-apartheid activist, previously achieved recognition for his work fighting - often successfully - for legal systems to recognise the rights of rivers, forests and things "other than human beings" so they could be defended in court. The idea of giving species and places legal "personhood" is part of a wider nature rights movement gaining traction globally.