Summary
In November 2023, the municipality of Eijsden-Margraten became the first in the Netherlands to officially recognize the rights of nature. The motion (proposed by the PRO Eijsden-Margraten political party) seeks legal personality for nature in the municipality of Eijsden-Margraten, and states that doing so “can improve attention to and protection of our natural environment and stimulate innovative approaches to sustainability.” The motion expresses that there is no need to wait for national legislation to protect Nature and that “the municipality of Eijsden-Margraten can play a pioneering role by committing itself to the recognition of legal personality for nature at a local level.”
The motion the council to
1) Conduct research into the legal and practical feasibility of granting legal personality to nature in the municipality of Eijsden-Margraten.
2) Always take into account the interests of nature when developing new policies and make these interests transparent in new council proposals.
3) Involve all relevant social organizations, local experts and other stakeholders in this research into the implementation of rights for nature in Eijsden-Margraten.
The rights of nature would be voiced by a yet-to-be-appointed guardian who will represent the interests of nature and ensure that those interests become an integral part of every council decision-making process in the municipality. It is not yet known what exactly the new policy will look like (legal and organizational) in Eijsden-Margraten.