The Eijsden-Margraten City Council wants local nature to be given the status of a legal entity, as seen in last week’s budget discussions. Trustees who have not yet been appointed (e.g. nature organisations) must monitor all board decisions and ensure that the nature’s interests are taken into account.

The economy is often the top priority

The proposal came from the opposition party PRO Eijsden-Margraten (a local collaboration of PvdA, GroenLinks and D66). He believes that nature is not always treated with the same attention in the municipality, which is part of Maasdal and Heuvelland. According to the party, economic interests often come first. A motion to grant the realm legal entity status received a large majority in the city council.

Rights to Mother Earth

The municipality of Eijsden-Margraten was the first municipality in the Netherlands to recognize nature as a legal entity and in this way give it a voice.
There have been calls around the world for some time to give nature its due, and this is now happening here and there. For example, rivers in New Zealand, India, Colombia and England were given legal status, as was the Mar Menor lagoon in Spain. Ecuador has given rights to the ‘Mother Earth’ in its constitution.

way out

This subject is also on the map in the Netherlands. Efforts are underway to make the Wadden Sea and Meuse a legal entity; for example, last year a ‘Loop in the law’ application was submitted to the DPR. Environmental lawyer Jessica den Outer has been fighting for the ‘right to nature’ for several years; he spoke of him as Lord. this week and wrote a book on the subject. Various political parties also pay attention to the rights to nature.