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Rivers have been legal personhood in some parts of the world e.g. https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20200319-the-new-zealand-river-that-became-a-legal-person
In the UK the fight to pass nature rights laws is quietly gaining pace see: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/jul/17/laws-of-nature-could-uk-rivers-be-given-same-rights-as-people-aoe
Lewes council has passed a motion recognising The River Ouse’s rights to protection, amid growing concerns over pollution of waterways. See: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/mar/01/sussex-river-ouse-first-in-england-legal-rights-aoe
Could the Teifi be given these rights to help protect it from pollution?
This is what I submitted – last time they responded, so I shall see what comes through this time.
“Residents of the area of Cilgerran and Cardigan are working hard to protect the river Teifi which is one of the UK’s worst polluted rivers. We would like help in following in the footsteps of communities in New Zealand who managed to grant their river personhood and thus legal rights for protection (https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20200319-the-new-zealand-river-that-became-a-legal-person) and the community around the River Ouse who have been granted rights to protection (https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/mar/01/sussex-river-ouse-first-in-england-legal-rights-aoe)
We are a small community of like-minded people who have seen our beautiful river (which used to be an amazing Salmon run) become a sewage pit. We see tourists travel here every year and swim in the poisoned waters, our local beach has been granted Blue Flag status even though the waters are toxic. In short we need help. We have been failed by Dwr Cymru who have failed to invest in the existing infrastructure and now want bill payers to fund the clean up effort. If Wales has a Future Generations act then we wish to have your help in ensuring we have a future to live in.”I had gone down the rabbit hole a year or so ago trying to understand about the Wales Future Generation act and whether it actually held any water 😉 for real visible change. I lost momentum with it, but I did get a response from them when I submitted the idea of the Teifi being granted protection as personhood so I will submit it again and see what comes through. This is where I found the place to submit ideas:
Let’s do it! Wales’s mountains and forests could also be given concrete protections if we followed these inspiring climate action examples:
Great question. Wales’s mountains and forests could be given the same rights as humans too if we followed these inspiring examples: https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/apr/01/its-only-natural-the-push-to-give-rivers-mountains-and-forests-legal-rights
More examples of rivers given concrete protections: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/article/these-rivers-are-now-considered-people-what-does-that-mean-for-travelers
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