Rivers around the world have been granted the same legal status as people in a number of countries. It first started with the Whanganui River in 2017 in New Zeland with a law granting personhood status to the river. The law declares that the river is a living whole, from the mountains to the sea, incorporating all its physical and metaphysical elements.
In 2019 Bangladesh granted ALL its rivers the same rights as people. The landmark ruling by the Bangladeshi Supreme Court is meant to protect the world's largest delta from further degradation from pollution, illegal dredging and human intrusion.
These countries have subscribed to an idea known as environmental personhood. It was first highlighted in essays by University of Southern California law professor Christopher D. Stone, collected into a 1974 book titled Should Trees Have Standing? Toward Legal Rights for Natural Objects. Stone argued that if an environmental entity is given "legal personality," it cannot be owned and has the right to appear in court.
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