Rights of Nature Toolkit: How to Protect Rivers in England and Wales
The Rights of Nature Toolkit: How to Protect Rivers in England and Wales, has been created by the Legal Clinic at King’s College London. It is a practical guide designed to help protect rivers and their natural surroundings. It is aimed at lawyers, paralegals, student legal clinics, community activists, and environmental advocates. London Waterkeeper helped develop the Toolkit and it incorporates our way of working.
Rights of Nature (RoN) is the idea that nature has intrinsic rights, similar to human rights. This legal framework values and protects nature for its own sake, rather than for its utility to humans. Countries like Ecuador and New Zealand have already granted legal personhood to natural entities such as rivers and forests.
The toolkit provides practical advice on using existing laws to protect rivers in England and Wales, covering areas such as:
Gathering information and making information requests
Submitting complaints and pursuing criminal prosecutions
Judicial review and environmental planning law
Human rights claims and public participation
It also discusses the right to a healthy environment as a potential legal pathway to further protect rivers and natural sites.
Learn More
Read about the launch of the Rights of Nature Toolkit, and download the full Toolkit here
