There is a growing global movement to recognise the rights of rivers, writes Debadityo Sinha. But rights alone are not enough. We must love and respect rivers, and even think like rivers to understand the vital functions they perform within landscapes and ecosystems, and so discover where their 'best interests' truly lie. And then we must be willing to act: protecting rivers and restoring them to health and wholeness.
… To discover the 'rights of a river', first think like a river Debadityo Sinha | 22nd May 2017 Comment … global movement to recognise the rights of rivers, writes Debadityo Sinha. But rights …
Should rivers be given legal rights like humans? A Bristol campaigner is testing the waters of British law in an effort to protect the Avon from further pollution.
… The rights of rivers Billy Stockwell | 9th August 2022 | News Rivers Pollution Ecocide Law Bristol Bristol … Should rivers be given legal rights like humans? A … pollution. Perched on the dusty bank of the River Avon at Conham River Park just a few …
Brazil has suffered its biggest ever industrial disaster, write Ana Luisa Naghettini & Geraldo Lopes. Breached and overflowing dams have released a massive slug of toxic muds and tailings from iron mining into the country's fifth largest river system that provides drinking water for downstream cities, destroying ecosystems in rivers and vast areas of biologically fragile ocean.
… 'the assassination of Brazil's fifth largest river basin' Ana Luisa Naghettini Geraldo … iron mining into the country's fifth largest river system that provides drinking water for … downstream cities, destroying ecosystems in rivers and vast areas of biologically fragile …
Brazil's new neoliberal government is intent on building a massive new dam deep in the Amazon rainforest on the on the Tapajós river, writes Helle Abelvik-Lawson, obliterating the indigenous territory of the Munduruku people in defiance of their constitutional rights.
… the Amazon rainforest on the on the Tapajós river, writes Helle Abelvik-Lawson, … 130 Indigenous families, who live between the river and their small fruit and manioc farms. … of many Indigenous villages along the Tapajós River that are home to the Munduruku people. …
The indigenous Wampis people of the Peruvian Amazon have demanded the immediate closure of a Petroperú oil pipeline after a series of devastating spills, writes Vanessa Amaral-Rogers. The company has already been found guilty of 'negligence' after previous oil spills contaminated the Wampis land and rivers.
… oil spills contaminated the Wampis land and rivers. The autonomous territorial government … pipeline before flowing into the Cashacaño River which itself flows into the river Morona. Wrays Perez Ramirez, recently …
Doima, a small town in the Colombian highlands, is on the front line of battle against a giant government-backed gold mine that would fill a nearby valley hundreds of metres deep in over a billion tonnes of mine waste. Hal Rhoades met Mariana Goméz Soto, an activist in Doima's campaign to defeat the mine project.
… Doima protestor: 'The oysters of our own river shine brighter than greed for gold'. … of Colombia. The town sits in the Magdalena River valley, between the eastern and central … in the Andes highlands which feeds the rivers, Doima is very rich in water. Many …
The impact of fracking on communities and ecosystems demands a complete rethink of the human relationship with nature, writes Shannon Biggs. Nature has rights - and this must be reflected in our laws.
… Welcome to 'frackland': does a river have the right not to be polluted? … How else could we legalize the damming of rivers, the removal of whole mountaintops for … with 63% of the votes cast. Should trees and rivers have 'standing'? Crucially, it …
Deep in rural Devon, the word is that the Government intends to trap the wild-living beaver family on the River Otter next month, and consign them to captivity. But as Alasdair Cameron writes, this is not only unnecessary and unpopular, but probably illegal as well.
… to trap the wild-living beaver family on the River Otter next month, and consign them to … in England too, living and breeding on the River Otter in Devon. Like most people I was … them. They are a recognised component our river systems. Natural England, the body that …
Our legal system needs a radical overhaul that asserts the rights of the whole ecosystem. A forthcoming conference will discuss the set out the vision for a Wild Law. SHEHANA GOMEZ reports
… natural features such as mountains and rivers. Legal personality Currently, human … The rights would simply enable a mountain, river or bird to do what it naturally does. In … previously recognised rights of the Atrato River. The first 'rights of nature' law was …
To save a small amount of money residents of Flint, Michigan, have been forced to consume hazardous levels of lead in their drinking water, writes Farron Cousins. Just the moment for the Republican House Speaker to attack the Clean Water Act.
… the city of Detroit's supply to the Flint River. And according to Occupy Democrats , this river was known to be both highly polluted and … and others knew that the water in the Flint River was poison - but you decided that taking …
Magnox has applied to dissolve spent nuclear fuel canisters and release the liquid into the sea near Bradwell nuclear power station in Essex, writes Chris Busby. This will wash radioactivity onto mudflats in a populated area already suffering from excess cancers, however the publicly available documents ignore this key fact. We must make sure this dangerous application is refused.
… radioactive waste into the estuary of the River Blackwater in Essex. This is something … and also relative to wards adjacent to the River Crouch, a similar muddy estuary to the … the sea or the muddy estuary of the tidal River Parratt with inland wards. Again, we …
The military targeting of civilian infrastructure, especially of water supplies, is a war crime under the Geneva Conventions, writes Nafeez Ahmed. Yet this is precisely what NATO did in Libya, while blaming the damage on Gaddafi himself. Since then, the country's water infrastructure - and the suffering of its people - has only deteriorated further.
… concrete cylinder pipes for the Great Manmade River (GMR) project, an ingenious irrigation … that the conflict had "put the Great Manmade River Authority, the primary distributor of … population: "Since the first phase of the 'river's' construction in 1991, Libya's …
Disastrous water pollution from gold mines in El Salvador has united government and people to oppose new metal mines, writes Lynn Holland. In Central America's most water scarce country, the imperative is to keep lakes, rivers and streams clean and wholesome. But there may be a heavy price to pay, with a Canadian mining company pressing a $300 million 'compensation' claim.
… country, the imperative is to keep lakes, rivers and streams clean and wholesome. But … of gold along the headwaters of the Lempa River in the department of Cabañas. The Lempa, … El Salvador's longest and only navigable river, supplies over half the country with …
In the battle to save America's real wild west of unlogged forests, grizzly bears, mountain goats, Bull trout, free flowing streams and roadless wilderness, a single person stands out, writes Jeffrey St Clair, for her dedication, courage and remarkable success: Arlene Montgomery of Friends of the Wild Swan, Montana.
… indeed. While doing surveys on the Flathead River, the fish biologists recorded a sobering … southern Oregon, and Oregon to the Jarbridge River in Nevada. In other words, almost all of … One biologist called it the grizzly of the rivers. It's also wide-ranging, with some bull …
Northern Ireland shows just how much we need the EU's laws protecting nature, writes Andy Atkins - and for the Government to enforce them. The province's wonderful natural heritage is at risk from aggressive and often unlawful developments. And the EU nature laws are essential for us to fight off a host of threats - among them sand dredging, gold mining, road-building and over-fishing.
… with ancient oak woods and the Owenkillew River winding through. The river holds the last viable population of … mine to be sunk in the hillside above the river. And yes, you've guessed: they did so …
End Ecocide has just days left in which to gather 1 million signatures from across Europe. Joselyn Morton urges all Ecologists to sign - and force the European Commission to progress the initiative.
… her Press Conference on HMS President on the River Thames yesterday, she explained why … the air we breathe, the water we drink; the rivers and oceans we love to swim and fish in. … we love to stroll in, the mountains, hills, rivers, forests and seas. It is devilishly …
Coal leases on public lands operated by the US Bureau of Land Management are responsible for 40% of US coal production and 14% of total US CO2 emissions, writes Mike Gaworecki - yet their environmental impacts have not been reviewed in 35 years.
… Change Law USA Coal Fossil Fuels powder-river-trains-cut.jpg Coal leases on public … 40% of coal extraction in the US. The Powder River Basin, which extends from central … aquifers "People living in the Powder River Basin have endured many hardships not …
The people of Sarayaku in Ecuador's Amazon rainforest are a leading force in 21st century indigenous resistance, writes David Goodman, resisting the incursion of oil exploration into their lands, winning legal victories, and inspiring other communities to follow their example.
… millions of gallons of toxic wastewater into rivers and leaving unlined pits of … The dense growth below is broken only by rivers the color of chocolate milk, the sinewy … him down to the edge of the broad Bobonaza River. We board a motorized canoe and head …
President Modi is determined to sweep away 'obstacles to growth' including the laws that allow marginalised communities to challenge the confiscation of their lands and forests for dams, mines and other 'development' projects, writes Arpitha Kodiveri. If proposed 'reforms' are enacted, the only remaining avenue of dissent may be one of armed conflict.
… of another mammoth dam on the Kanhar river in Dudhi Tehsil, in the Sonebhadra … of Uttar Pradesh, India. I was between river and forest, development and rights, …
The Conservation Law Foundation has just filed the first lawsuit against ExxonMobil for violations under the Clean Water Act and other laws, committed in its deliberate, reckless and deceitful cover-up of it's true knowledge of the dangers of climate change.
… Law Climate Change Corporations USA mystic-river-cut.jpg The Conservation Law Foundation … endangerment of communities along the Mystic River. It's the first lawsuit of its kind in …
Recognising nature as a legal stakeholder with inalienable rights in environmental law proceedings is a powerful counterbalance to corporate dictatorship, writes Mumta Ito. It empowers people and governments to stand up for nature - the underlying basis of our economy and our lives. And it stands in contrast to feeble approaches based on the financialisation and commodification of nature, which may be twisted to justify more destruction.
… decisions. In the past month or so alone, the Rivers Whanganui, Ganges and Yamuna made headlines as the first rivers in the world to be recognised as having …
We need a new paradigm for ocean governance focused on well-being and guided by principles of sustainability, ecosystem health, precaution and interconnectedness, argues MICHELLE BENDER of the US based Earth Law Centre.
… Shift Magazine in 2015. In 2017 alone, four rivers have been granted legal personhood … a juristic person. They include the Whanganui River in New Zealand, the Ganges and Yamuna Rivers in India, and the Atrato River in …
Spain's Coto Doñana shows the value of EU conservation law, writes Laurence Rose, as the UK tries to get rid of the Birds and Habitats Directives. Both have proved essential to the protection and restoration of one of Europe's greatest wetlands.
… or abstraction for agriculture, inappropriate river management, tourism and any other ill … tonne tsunami of mining residue into the rivers below. Some 5,000 hectares of farmland … reconnect a lost branch of the Guadalquivir river with the marshes, is on track for 2014, …
Environmentalists are near unanimous in believing the UK should remain in the EU, writes Harry Blain. Yet that puts us in the same camp as many of our fiercest enemies - neoliberal governments and corporate lobbyists for fossil fuels, cars and other polluting industries. Meanwhile the EU itself is increasingly undermining its own environmental protections as it pursues 'free trade' agreements around the world. Time for a rethink? You bet!
… from being poisoned by exhaust fumes, rivers from being turned into farm sewers ... … on its coal-fired power plant along the Elbe River in Hamburg would entail "significant …