Rivers Rights of Nature Campaigns
Achievements:
Universal Declaration of River Rights:
The Declaration draws from victories for the rights of rivers worldwide—from Colombia to New Zealand to the United States—as well as scientific understandings of healthy river systems. Governments across the world are already using the Declaration as a template for their legislative drafting. You can sign the Declaration at the following link.
www.rightsofrivers.org. https://www.earthlawcenter.org/river-rights
Balkan Rivers:
Due in part to collective pressure from civil society—including a Bern Convention complaint—Serbia terminated an enormous mine in the Jadar Valley (although talks recently reopened).
Africa - Nile River Basin:
Training program on Rights of Nature for InfoNile journalists. The world’s longest river, the Nile River Basin stretches through 11 countries in Africa and supports millions of people. One of the world’s most biodiverse regions, it is severely threatened by climate change, which is causing increasing disasters and worsening water scarcity for the region’s fast-growing population.
Colorado:
Four successful river rights resolutions in the towns of Nederland, Grand Lake, Ridgway and Crestone.
https://www.earthlawcenter.org/rocky-mountains
Peru - Marañón River:
Through an amicus curiae brief, ELC supported the amparo action by which the Kukama Federation of Women demanded the recognition of the Marañón River as a subject of rights. They obtained a successful Ruling in March 2024.
https://www.earthlawcenter.org/empowering-indigenous-women-nature-defenders
In Progress:
Colorado:
Earth Law Center (ELC) works in the Rocky Mountains to recognize the rights of watersheds and give them a voice in law. A focal point is the Boulder Creek Watershed, building from the work of Boulder Rights of Nature—one of the first community Rights of Nature groups whose mission continues through ELC. We also work in other regions, including ELC’s home watershed, the San Juan.
Chile:
The Declaration of Rights of the Biobío River: recognizing the inherent rights of the river to exist, flow, and regenerate. https://www.earthlawcenter.org/biobio-river
Queco River: Earth Law Center (ELC) leads a collaborative effort to secure lasting protection for Chile’s Queuco River through the creation of a legal water reserve (reserva de caudal). https://www.earthlawcenter.org/regions/#latinamerica
Ríos Protegidos Initiative: The initiative's current efforts are focused on strengthening existing legal river protection mechanisms and advocating for new legislation with an ecocentric approach that considers the health of whole ecosystems. The proposed bill would introduce into law No. 21.600 the figure of "Río Protegido," establishing a major legal precedent for protection of Chilean rivers from certain harmful human activities and developments. https://www.earthlawcenter.org/rios-protegidos-initiative
Lough Neah, Northern Ireland:
Supporting community-driven efforts to explore legal rights and self-ownership of Lough Neagh in Northern Ireland, the UK’s largest freshwater lake. https://www.earthlawcenter.org/lough-neagh
Washington State:
Lower Elwha Klallam Tribal citizens are calling for the protection of the Elwha Watershed from deforestation. https://www.earthlawcenter.org/elwha-legacy-forests
Litigation to protect Elwha Watershed and Elwha Legacy Forests https://www.earthlawcenter.org/elwha-legacy-forests
Balkan Rivers:
Una River: The Rights of the Una River project will elevate the voices of Bosnian citizens, particularly those who live along and depend on the river, empowering them to take a more formal role in shaping its future—including their potential role as legal guardians of the river. https://www.earthlawcenter.org/balkan-rivers
Other River Protections: ELC advances ecocentric law in the Balkans, including supporting community partners in submitting Bern Convention complaints to protect wild rivers and ecosystems, including fighting the Skavica Dam on the Drin River in Albania. We also support Earth Thrive and others in Serbia to advance the rights of rivers. Finally, we are co-leading a campaign for the EU to stop classifying new hydropower as “renewable energy,” as it permanently destroys freshwater ecosystems. More imminently, in Bosnia and Herzegovina, we seek a permanent ban on new small hydropower plants. https://www.earthlawcenter.org/balkan-rivers
Africa - River Ethiope:
Initiative to establish legal rights for the River Ethiope in Nigeria. This river, sacred to local communities, is believed to be the deepest inland waterway in Africa. https://www.earthlawcenter.org/river-ethiope