The Ohio River Bill of Rights petition was submitted to shift the legal view from nature as property, to one that acknowledges the rights of the river’s ecosystem, giving the watershed a right to thrive and exist on its own. httpss://www.alleghenyfront.org/a-cincinnati-group-thinks-the-ohio-river-should-have-rights-of-nature/
A resolution sponsored by Save the Colorado was adopted in 2021 and states that the Board of Trustees intends to protect the creed by including the rights of nature as a primary consideration in town actions.
In 2019 the citizens of Toledo Ohio passed a resolution establishing a bill of rights for the Great Lake and granting it legal standing in suing polluters. httpss://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/toledo-ohio-just-granted-lake-erie-same-legal-rights-people-180971603/
A law setting out to protect Victoria’s Yarra River has been identified by the United Nations as a legislative example of the rights of nature and signifies a shift in the way the government thinks about protecting the natural environment. httpss://lens.monash.edu/@politics-society/2023/03/03/1385376/australias-rights-of-nature-push-flows-from-the-yarra-river
Sussex RiverSussex River could be first in England to get Legal Rights 3/2/23 For the first time, a river in England could be granted the legal right to good health, writes Isabella Kaminski. A motion passed by Lewes district council states that the river Ouse’s wellbeing could be secured by recognising its right to flow, …
On March 20th, 2017, the New Zealand government enacted legislation recognizing the Whanganui River as a legal person, holding rights and responsibilities equivalent to a person. httpss://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20200319-the-new-zealand-river-that-became-a-legal-person httpss://www.wcel.org/blog/i-am-river-and-river-me-legal-personhood-and-emerging-rights-nature httpss://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/mar/16/new-zealand-river-granted-same-legal-rights-as-human-being
March 23, 2017The high court in the city of Nainital in Uttrakhand declared that the Ganges and Yamuna were “legal and living entities having the status of a legal person with all corresponding rights, duties and liabilities,” reports Michael Safi at The Guardian. They appointed three officials as custodians of the rivers and ordered that a management board be …
in May 2017, the Colombian Constitutional Court publicly issued its ruling that the Atrato River, along with its tributaries, is a legal subject and has rights relating to its protection and conservation. httpss://www.ncronline.org/news/earthbeat/colombias-choc-region-river-guardians-protect-rights-rio-atrato
On Feb. 16 2021, the regional municipality of Minganie and the Innu Council of Ekuanitshit adopted separate but similar resolutions granting the river nine legal rights, including the right to flow, to maintain its biodiversity and the right to take legal action. httpss://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/magpie-river-quebec-canada-personhood-1.5931067