The city of Linhares, Brazil, has granted legal rights to the waves at the mouth of the Dolce River, the first instance in which a government has conferred rights upon part of the ocean.
The city is aiming to better protect its coastal waters in the wake of the 2015 collapse of the Fundão dam. The dam held back more than 10 billion gallons of waste at an iron mine upstream, and when it failed, a wave of sludge poured into the Doce River. Over time, the sludge built up at the mouth of the waterway, weakening the waves that had long drawn surfers to Linhares. The waves were only restored in 2022 after a flood cleared out the buildup.
In June of this year, the city approved a bill declaring that its waves have the right to continue breaking perfectly at the mouth of the Doce River, and in August it codified the measure, Hakai reports. The new law requires Linhares to protect the natural flow of the river and to guard it from pollution. It must also safeguard connected waters.
Latin America has been at the forefront of the global movement to grant legal rights to nature. In 2008, Ecuador was the first country to recognize the rights of nature in its national constitution, and in 2011 Bolivia was the first to do so in national legislation. The high court of Colombia has recognized the rights of rivers, a lake, and a national park. In 2022, Panama recognised the legal rights of Nature. Earlier this year, the Marañón River, which flows from Peru’s Andes mountains into the Amazon river, was proclaimed by a Peruvian court to have “intrinsic” value and possesses the rights to exist, flow, and be free from pollution, among other rights.
By one estimate, 80 percent of national initiatives recognizing the rights of nature can be found in the Americas.