Rights of nature

The Guardiões do Bem Viver (Guardians of Living Well) organization is working to legally establish the rights of the Arapiuns River in the Brazilian Amazon. This will protect the river and its important role in food supply, health, accessibility and nature conservation.

Rights of the river

The inhabitants of the Amazon depend on rivers for their food supply and transportation. Children go to school and the sick go to the hospital or emergency room on river boats. But with pollution and dropping water levels threatening their most important waterways, people are becoming more isolated and their health is at great risk.

“Logging companies dump waste and oil into our water.”

Thaís Isabelle de Oliveira lives in the Arapiuns region of the Brazilian Amazon. She sees how climate change is drastically changing life in the rainforest. “Last year we had extreme drought and heat. Fish died, fruit trees died, and families dependent on fishing and agriculture lost their income.”

On top of that, there is serious deforestation and pollution. Thaís describes how logging companies use the Arapiuns River to transport huge amounts of felled trees to the port: “They pollute the river with toxic bark, waste and oil from the ferries that is dumped directly into the water. Indigenous communities depend on the river: we wash in it, we use it for food and to get around. But because of the dirty water, there are fewer and fewer fish, and people are getting skin and stomach diseases.”

Nature’s guardians

In 2020, Thaís and other young people decided to take action. They founded Guardiões do Bem Viver, (Guardians of Living Well), a collective that defends the rainforest. Thaís: “Living well is about the traditional way of life that Indigenous communities have always practiced. The customs of our ancestors revolve around community spirit and the importance of sharing. We want to preserve and protect that, as well as the rainforest and the river, which are inextricably linked to it.”

The river as a legal entity

With support from Hivos, Guardiões do Bem Viver and other local organizations are working on a bold plan to protect the Arapiuns River. “We are in the process of submitting a bill that recognizes the river as a living entity. This will give the Arapiuns rights that guarantee the river’s well-being and recognize the role the river plays in our food supply, health, accessibility and culture.”

And why shouldn’t nature have rights? There is a growing movement worldwide that argues that ecosystems have rights that must be respected and protected. In countries such as Canada, Colombia and New Zealand, mountains and rivers have already been recognized as legal entities. According to Thaís, it is time that the lifeblood of the Amazon is also recognized and protected.