Atrato River
Posted on by GW Environmental and Energy Law

Riverine Rights Around the World – Three Case Studies

By Monishaa Suresh

As countries around the world begin to grant legal personhood to environmental resources, three stand out in conferring legal personhood to rivers – New Zealand with the Whanganui, Colombia with the Atrato, and India with the Ganges. New Zealand chose to grant personhood to the Whanganui via legislative action, whereas, the Atrato secured legal personhood in Colombia in a High Court decision. In India, a state court granted the Ganges personhood, which was ultimately reversed at the Supreme Court level. The precedents set in New Zealand and Colombia, however, offer India possible pathways to re-grant the Ganges personhood at the national level.

In 2017, New Zealand set international precedent by establishing the Whanganui River as the first river in the world to be granted legal personhood. Since the 1800s, there has been conflict between the native Maori and settlers and colonizers in New Zealand, specifically with regards to access to and ownership of the Whanganui River. Even within the Maori, there was conflict from long-standing rivalries between upper and lower Whanganui River Maori. The 2017 legislation not only recognized the river as a person, granting it rights and protection, but it also symbolized the New Zealand government’s recognition of the Maori perspective on human-environment relationships, affirming the spirit of the river system and the idea that the river is “owned by no-one.” 

The legislation, known as the Te Awa Tupua, or the Whanganui River Claims Settlement Act of 2017, officially recognized the river as a living entity and legal person with judicially enforceable rights. The legislation also establishes a system of enforcing those rights. The Act requires the appointment of a guardian body, the Te Pou Tupua office, which is composed of two officers (one Maori representative appointed by the Maori communities, and one state represented appointed by the government) who have the power to act and speak on behalf of the river and take reasonably necessary actions to protect the health and well-being of the river. The Act also establishes a second group, the Te Kopuka, a strategy group composed of Maori community representatives, local authorities, the government, and others who have interests in the river to act on behalf of the health and well-being of the river.

Soon after New Zealand, Colombia granted the Atrato River legal personhood when the High Court recognized for the first time that a natural resource has rights that the State has a responsibility to protect. The Atrato flows through one of the most biodiverse jungles on Earth, which now faces three main threats: loss of habitat, indiscriminate hunting, and intense mining. Unlike the Whanganui, which has more unified indigenous groups fighting for rights, the Atrato River region has been home to many different indigenous and Afro-descendant communities for centuries. These communities continue to struggle for the survival of their way of life by fighting for the rights of their surrounding nature. Though granting legal personhood stemmed from judicial action and not legislation, the High Court’s order also created a commission of 14 river guardians who represented seven organizations from along the length of the river. The river guardians protect not just the river itself but also the “biocultural rights” of the surrounding communities, thereby acknowledging the interconnectedness of the legal communities and the environment. 

Though legal personhood for natural resources is relatively new and in the process of being  implemented, its impact is more than merely symbolic. In New Zealand, the Te Awa Tupua settlement  was over $98 million. The strategy group, once established and selected, met in 2019 and created a detailed strategy, the Te Heke Ngahuru, which is required to be reviewed and updated every 10 years to ensure progress and protection. In Colombia, a study showed that in the years immediately following legal personhood, while there has not been much judicial enforcement of rights from the guardianship, the new status has resulted in a plan to restore the river’s ecosystem with the Ministry of the Environment adopting a “practice and participatory” approach. Additionally, local communities in the Atrato region have been given a stronger voice in policymaking to ensure that new plans reflect their perspectives as well.A few days after the Whanganui was granted legal personhood, the Ganges River was granted legal personhood by a courtin Uttarakhand, a state in northern India. However, at the Supreme Court level, the order was stayed and the personhood was revoked as it was considered unsustainable and impractical since the river passed through multiple states and it was unclear how compensation claims caused by natural disasters like flooding would be resolved. The Ganges is important to protect not just as a natural resource (as a source of water and a home to endangeredspecies) but also for its religious and economic significance. In Hinduism, the Ganges is the most holy element of nature, and is considered the most holy place to have ashes spread or to conduct cremation ceremonies. The riverbanks are also home to many businesses, especially tanneries, and are often used as a means of commercial transportation. However, as vital as this river is, it is often considered the most polluted river in the world despite cleanup efforts, due to both improper cremations and industrial waste.  Looking to the river personhood decisions from Colombia and New Zealand, India would benefit from a legislative proposal similar to the one in New Zealand but acknowledging the diverse interests in the river, including religious, economic, cultural, and environmental, similar to the River Guardians in Colombia.

Additional Sources

Monishaa Suresh
Monishaa Suresh

Monishaa Suresh is a third year law student at The George Washington University Law School interested in environmental and energy law.

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