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Environment
Oluwabusayo Wuraola, Lecturer in Law, Anglia Ruskin University

Rivers are increasingly being given legal rights. Now they need people who will defend these rights in court

The River Ouse near Lewes in Sussex, England. Melanie Hobson / shutterstock

A district council in England has passed a motion to grant its local river the rights to flow freely, to be free from pollution and to enjoy its native biodiversity. The move by Lewes District Council in East Sussex to recognise the fundamental rights of the River Ouse is the first of its kind in the UK.

The Ouse (not to be confused with larger rivers of the same name in Yorkshire and East Anglia) flows southwards for 35 miles into the English Channel and suffers from the usual problems afflicting many rivers in the UK: chemical pollution, sewage dumping and so on.

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