Nature Protection: When Rivers Go to Court

What if rivers, mountains and seas could speak in court? A growing European movement wants ecosystems to be recognized as legal persons, rather than treated only as useful resources.

The proposed European citizens’ initiative would ask the European Union to recognize ecosystems as “living entities with intrinsic value and fundamental rights.” Those rights would include existence, regeneration of biological capacities and life cycles, and restoration.

Because otters, silver willows and other inhabitants cannot present their own interests, citizens and communities would act as guardians and representatives. They could bring the needs of an ecosystem into construction planning and, if necessary, argue for them in court.

The movement plans to begin collecting signatures in mid-October. If it gathers one million signatures within a year, the European Commission would have to consider the proposal and explain any rejection.

Organizers are preparing the campaign at a gathering in Berlin called “Confluence.” Environmental researcher and urban planner Léon Gross, from the ecological design project Symbiotic Lab, described the Spree as the gathering’s host. Fifty-eight rivers and lakes from 18 countries, including 16 European countries, have been invited.

The campaign is also attracting academic attention. Imke Horstmannshoff, a doctoral researcher in Environmental Humanities in London, is studying nature-rights initiatives that have emerged along European rivers. Her work has taken her from Sweden to Italy and France as she examines the movement’s emerging ecocentric approach to law.

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The Spree is the host of Confluence.