For some time now, it’s being asked whether our river protections are failing – as, when discussing the state of our rivers, we want to know why, despite legal protections being put in place, many of them are in a dire state.
Now, rivers are increasingly being given legal rights, as reported by The Conversation:
A district council in England has passed a motion to grant its local river the rights to flow freely, to be free from pollution and to enjoy its native biodiversity. The move by Lewes District Council in East Sussex to recognise the fundamental rights of the River Ouse is the first of its kind in the UK.
This has been the result of years of pressure:
In 2018, Frome Town Council tried to give part of the River Frome and surrounding meadows legal personhood. [Photograph: Georgina Richards] Laws of nature: could UK rivers be given the same rights as people? | Rivers | The Guardian
The piece from The Conversation said legal rights need people who will defend these rights in court.
Today’s piece says that whilst some rivers have ‘legal personhood’, now they need a lawyer.
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