One could argue that the current way in which UK Environmental Law is set up is not in the best interest of the Natural world. Nature is treated as an object under UK Law, protected through statutes and appointed regulatory agencies designated for the enforcement of the statutes. We believe this system is flawed.

For example, a River or Tree treated like an object under the law limits the protection of that Tree or River. Not only can this provide ‘doorways’ for misuse and harm to the environment, treating nature alike property, to be owned, exploited and so on, plants another seed for separation, the disease of disconnect from Mother Earth.

Therefore, we feel, shifting the view and changing the words through law, whereby rivers, forests, seas and so on are seen as the ‘entities’ they are, with inherent rights that deserve to be respected, enforced and protected, is a needed paradigm shift.

Current Rights of Nature approaches have been focused on granting Rights for specific habitat types/components of interconnected ecosystems, specifically Rivers.

One such framework for granting natural entities rights is through granting Rivers, Mountains, or Forests - Legal Personhood (Legal recognition), which has developed and evolved over decades to emulate a society's understanding of who or what is entitled to legal rights. Humans, companies and even ships have legal recognition, so why not Nature?

Environmental personhood is an eco-centric legal concept that can give a River a voice by granting a River the status of a legal person. This shifts a River from an ‘object’ under law, to being recognised as an entity with legal 'standing', one with intrinsic value and essential rights that deserve to be enforced and protected. This has the power to change and deepen relationships between humans and nature, away from one of domination, to one of balance.

This has been done before! Since 2008, Rights of Nature have been a part of Ecuador’s constitution, when Article 10, recognising Nature as a holder of constitutional rights, was adopted. This followed legal shifts such as legal rights for beaches, mangroves, monkeys and forests being recognised. Other international examples whereby environmental entities have been granted Legal Personhood include both the Whanganui River and the Te Urewera Forest in New Zealand. In 2021, the Magpie River in Canada, in the Innu language known as the Muteshekau-shipu, was also granted Legal Personhood, with nine specific rights, including the right to flow, the right to be safe from pollution, the right to sue, and so on. Moreover, in 2022, the Mar Menor Lagoon in Spain was declared a legal person.

These are just a few examples of where this movement is happening and being supported on a global scale.

Currently, there are no Rivers and other natural entities in the UK for which the law has been changed to grant them Legal Personhood/Legal recognition with rights that are enforced, respected and protected.

However, movements and momentum for Rights of Nature in the UK are growing, as many local councils are now recognising Rights of their local Rivers through motions, declarations and charters. The first of these to take place was for The River Ouse in Sussex in 2025, when the Lewes District Council (LDC) agreed to formally support a charter identifying the Rights of the River Ouse, recognising the River Ouse as a living entity, the first decision of its kind taken by a local authority in the UK.

Several other local councils have passed motions to recognise Rights of Rivers in the UK, and many other local groups are working towards bringing about the same local recognition. Other River groups, trusts, and organisations are also forming local River guardian groups, and/or running projects, workshops, talks/events around River rights to coincide with these movements.

You can check out more info on current local River and Nature Rights movements taking place in both the UK Rights of Rivers Network and Rights of Nature networks.

At Voices of Water Foundation (VoW), we are working towards a new and interconnected ecosystem-based Rights of Nature approach, one that we wish to be legally binding for the precious Helford Riverscape, Cornwall.

We are calling this a ‘Flowscape’ Rights of Nature approach, with which our founder, Marine Biologist, Writer and filmmaker Emmeline, is currently developing, alongside some fellow scientists, supported by those in law, policy and local community.

More information coming soon.

Nature’s Inherent Voice