Rights of River

We continue to develop our flagship work to support a meaningful and practical Ouse Rights of River charter. This follows Lewes District Council passing a motion in February 2023. The motion acknowledged the growing global movement to give nature rights, and believes there’s a case for considering our interactions within the context of ‘Rights of Rivers’ through which the health and wellbeing of the river can be addressed. The motion also agreed to explore with local communities and relevant stakeholders the implementation of Rights of Rivers for the Ouse by working towards the production of a ‘Declaration’ for possible endorsement by the Council within 2 years.

Legal scoping by leading International Lawyer

How legal mechanisms might work as part of a Rights of River charter is a BIG question. National press around the potential Ouse charter has attracted leading figures in the movement and we are very lucky to have Monica Feria-Tinta now providing valuable pro bono support in consultation with the Environmental Law Foundation to make recommendations for an Ouse tailored charter. Monica is a barrister specialising in public international law with expertise in the rights of nature and the protection of biodiversity. She is also an experienced litigator in environmental law matters and has acted in several cases concerning the protection of rivers. She acted in the first Rights of Nature case before the Constitutional Court of Ecuador which was the first case law to fully develop rights of nature concepts. She is a member Expert of the UN Harmony with Nature expert pool and a member of the World Commission on Environmental Law IUCN.

Thank you so much to Monica Feria-Tinta for offering her time to come to Lewes to speak with Love our Ouse Directors Emma Montlake and Matthew Bird about her Rights of Nature work.